6/04/2006
Greg Mellen, Staff writer
U-Entertainment
Long Beach Press Telegram
AS A CHILD, Oni Vitandham saw horrors in her homeland almost beyond comprehension. In the United States, the broken promise of a new life in its own way was almost worse.
Vitandham not only survived the genocide of the Killing Fields in Cambodia as a child, but the streets of Long Beach as a teen and young adult.
She emerged as more than just a survivor, which would be commendable enough, but as a person committed to making a difference in her home country.
On Saturday, Vitandham will host a book signing at the New Paradise Restaurant to celebrate the publication of her first book, "On the Wings of a White Horse: A Cambodian Princess's Story of Surviving the Khmer Rouge Genocide."
A vivacious mother of one, Vitandham has the kind of sunny disposition the belies the life she has led.
More remarkable still, was her willingness to revisit her painful past in a book that was 12 years in the making.
Her story begins in the jungles of Cambodia where Vitandham, who says she's of royal descent, was hidden in a cave as a toddler. Her mother died in childbirth and her father was presumably slain later in the country's civil war, fighting against the Khmer Rouge.
Vitandham recalls in vivid details the deaths of her godparents at the hands of the Khmer Rouge communists and her battle to survive.
Along the way there are adventures, narrow escapes from death and heartache as she witnesses atrocities and loses loved ones along her treks across Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam and eventually to a Thai refugee camp.
The orphan Vitandham is finally able to leave Cambodia with a family that eventually settles in Long Beach.
However, her adoptive mother is abusive and eventually Vitandham is driven to the streets and even a couple of abortive suicide attempts.
Her travails continue when she is raped and then marries the Cambodian who impregnated her.
It isn't until Vitandham meets a local lawyer and gives birth to her daughter (she loses a twin to a miscarriage) that she begins to take charge of her life.
Vitandham leaves her abusive husband and sets out to try and fulfill a prophecy she remembers from an old monk in Cambodia that she will return to bring good to her country.
The book is a brisk read at a relatively trim 195 pages. It is an impressive undertaking for a person whose first language isn't English.
So many are her adventures and narrow escapes, that they sometimes read a bit like a Hollywood movie. In this memoir — and the memoir of a very young child at that — it is sometimes hard to know how much of the narrative is trustworthy. That isn't to say any of this is false, but childhood memory is a tricky proposition.
Even today, the depth and ruthlessness of the Khmer Rouge's brief, murderous reign still strains any kind of rational understanding.
The book would be particularly suited to teen readers and those who are unaware of the atrocities committed in Cambodia. And the message of perseverance is certainly uplifting.
Today, Vitandham helps lead Progressive United Action Association, a nonprofit group that runs 14 schools in Cambodia. She is also a tireless writer of letters to public officials and a campaigner for Cambodian causes and issues. Oh, and she has two music CDs, one in English and one in Cambodian. They are available on her Web site: www.onistory.com.
Vitandham hopes one day to return to her homeland, maybe even, as the book proclaims, "On the Wings of a White Horse."
Greg Mellen can be reached at greg.mellenor (562) 499-1291
Vitandham not only survived the genocide of the Killing Fields in Cambodia as a child, but the streets of Long Beach as a teen and young adult.
She emerged as more than just a survivor, which would be commendable enough, but as a person committed to making a difference in her home country.
On Saturday, Vitandham will host a book signing at the New Paradise Restaurant to celebrate the publication of her first book, "On the Wings of a White Horse: A Cambodian Princess's Story of Surviving the Khmer Rouge Genocide."
A vivacious mother of one, Vitandham has the kind of sunny disposition the belies the life she has led.
More remarkable still, was her willingness to revisit her painful past in a book that was 12 years in the making.
Her story begins in the jungles of Cambodia where Vitandham, who says she's of royal descent, was hidden in a cave as a toddler. Her mother died in childbirth and her father was presumably slain later in the country's civil war, fighting against the Khmer Rouge.
Vitandham recalls in vivid details the deaths of her godparents at the hands of the Khmer Rouge communists and her battle to survive.
Along the way there are adventures, narrow escapes from death and heartache as she witnesses atrocities and loses loved ones along her treks across Cambodia, Laos, North Vietnam and eventually to a Thai refugee camp.
The orphan Vitandham is finally able to leave Cambodia with a family that eventually settles in Long Beach.
However, her adoptive mother is abusive and eventually Vitandham is driven to the streets and even a couple of abortive suicide attempts.
Her travails continue when she is raped and then marries the Cambodian who impregnated her.
It isn't until Vitandham meets a local lawyer and gives birth to her daughter (she loses a twin to a miscarriage) that she begins to take charge of her life.
Vitandham leaves her abusive husband and sets out to try and fulfill a prophecy she remembers from an old monk in Cambodia that she will return to bring good to her country.
The book is a brisk read at a relatively trim 195 pages. It is an impressive undertaking for a person whose first language isn't English.
So many are her adventures and narrow escapes, that they sometimes read a bit like a Hollywood movie. In this memoir — and the memoir of a very young child at that — it is sometimes hard to know how much of the narrative is trustworthy. That isn't to say any of this is false, but childhood memory is a tricky proposition.
Even today, the depth and ruthlessness of the Khmer Rouge's brief, murderous reign still strains any kind of rational understanding.
The book would be particularly suited to teen readers and those who are unaware of the atrocities committed in Cambodia. And the message of perseverance is certainly uplifting.
Today, Vitandham helps lead Progressive United Action Association, a nonprofit group that runs 14 schools in Cambodia. She is also a tireless writer of letters to public officials and a campaigner for Cambodian causes and issues. Oh, and she has two music CDs, one in English and one in Cambodian. They are available on her Web site: www.onistory.com.
Vitandham hopes one day to return to her homeland, maybe even, as the book proclaims, "On the Wings of a White Horse."
Greg Mellen can be reached at greg.mellenor (562) 499-1291
1 comment:
Wow, a Khmer princess living in Long Beach, CA? I wonder what is her royal family name. The last name "Vitandham" seems to be of the Sanskrit or Pali origin. In addition, what does a reference white horse mean? Does that mean that she will marry an American man or something?
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