It’s the most dangerous country you’ll ever visit, because you’ll fall in love with it…and then it will break your heart – Joseph Mussomeli, former US Ambassador to Cambodia

Sothy Tep, Member of Parliament (2013-18) and Oxford Foreign Service Programme student, will describe in this talk her personal experiences – in a picture-story format – from Cambodia as a refugee to the USA and back as a successful female politician in a male-dominated political role. Despite Cambodia’s past tragedies and current challenges, she is optimistic and hopeful that the country will gradually recover to its former title, The Pearl of Southeast Asia, as hailed by the first Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kwan Yew. H.E. Tep will also provide an overview of the roles and responsibilities of a Cambodian Member of Parliament balancing family life, and how she ended up in Oxford.

Recommended film: The Trap of Saving Cambodia, one step forward – twenty steps back, how aid, investment, and globalisation are killing a country.