Speeches
Remarks by Ambassador Joseph A. Mussomeli, Opening Ceremony, Battambang American Corner
University of Management and Economics
December 12, 2007
Your Excellency Prak Doeun, Deputy Governor of Battambang,
Mr. Tun Pheakdey, President, University of Management and Economics,
Teachers and students,
Members of the Press,
Ladies and Gentlemen, colleagues and friends,
It is my pleasure to be here today for the opening of Cambodia’s third American Corner. We are honored that the University of Management and Economics has joined with us to establish this facility here in Battambang. We hope this American Corner will be a resource for all Cambodians living in and around Battambang to learn more about the United States. This venue will help deepen friendship and understanding between our two countries.
You may be thinking: what is an American Corner? Well, it is many things. Most importantly, it is a place where users may learn more about American society and culture. An American Corner is a resource center and a meeting place. More than one hundred American Corners have opened throughout the world already – from Rwanda to Russia to Malaysia. Each of these Corners is a partnership between an American Embassy and a local institution.
This American Corner has much to offer. It will offer an extensive book, periodical, and video collection, covering topics as diverse as English teaching, student advising, fiction, business, and government. The American Corner also offers Internet access and other electronic resources such as databases.
This American Corner will also be the site of lively public programs featuring speakers and other guests. Although it is housed in a library, the American Corner is not meant to be a quiet repository of books. The American Corner staff here will arrange programs featuring speakers brought in from the US, staff from the US Embassy, and Americans residing in Cambodia, including academics, journalists, or librarians. Other public events at the American Corner might include video screenings or an English club. And having an American Corner in Battambang gives us a good excuse to bring more cultural programming to this city, such as the hip hop band that we have performing tonight at 6:30 near the river.
In all of these programs, the American Corner exists not only for students and faculty of UME. This Corner is open to the public and will serve all the people of Battambang and surrounding areas, including university and high school students, government officials, members of the press, civil society representatives, and any community member who wants to gain a better understanding of the United States, its culture and society.
In America, the word “corner” has many positive connotations that might not be understood by those who are not native speakers of English. The “corner” table at a restaurant is what you ask for when you want an intimate, special meal. The “corner” of the street is where you rendezvous with close friends. The “corner” stone is the foundation for any building that is going to last a long time. Turning a corner, means getting past a difficult period and having a fresh start—just like Cambodia is having now and just like relations between Cambodia and America. To corner the market is to have a strong advantage in a particular business, even if that business is just cultural relations. To be in someone’s corner, is to support them and help them. And, of course, for those of us who like children’s books, in the stories about Winnie the Pooh and Pooh Corner we recognize that a corner as a place to get away from one’s worries and relax and enjoy oneself.
I am confident that this American Corner will be a fun, friendly, and lively place that promotes dialogue and mutual understanding between Cambodians and Americans. All of us will work to strengthen Cambodian-American relations through the programs offered here. This American Corner is yours to build and grow, and will go wherever your imagination and initiative take it.
To conclude, I would like to quote from a man that is well respected for using his reading habit to change his life and the lives of many others, the 16th President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. He said, "A capacity, and taste, for reading, gives access to whatever has already been discovered by others. It is the key, or one of the keys, to the already solved problems. And … it gives a relish, and facility, for successfully pursuing the [yet] unsolved ones." I hope the people of Battambang will incorporate Lincoln’s spirit in their quest for knowledge and that this American Corner will help them in this pursuit.
Thank you.
