Rights Workers Dismayed as Court Upholds Sentences in Activist Murder
Heng Reaksmey, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
12/04/2007
Rights workers who sought to free two men they say were unjustly convicted in the murder of a labor leader were disappointed Thursday, as the Court of Appeals upheld 20-year sentences for the men.
The court's decision flew in the face of international pressure, as well as claims from former King Norodom Sihanouk that the men, Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun, were innocent.
The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, a coalition of 23 rights organizations, called the decision by Appeals Judge Saly Theary "very unjust and politically biased."
"The court did not use its independent power to make a fair and reasonable decision on this case," the committee said in a statement following a Phnom Penh hearing Thursday where the two convicted men did not appear.
The men "should be released immediately," the committee said.
Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun were arrested just one week after the murder of outspoken labor leader Chea Vichea, and rights workers and lawyers say their quick prosecution, despite a lack of evidence and witnesses, was deeply flawed.
The court's decision flew in the face of international pressure, as well as claims from former King Norodom Sihanouk that the men, Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun, were innocent.
The Cambodian Human Rights Action Committee, a coalition of 23 rights organizations, called the decision by Appeals Judge Saly Theary "very unjust and politically biased."
"The court did not use its independent power to make a fair and reasonable decision on this case," the committee said in a statement following a Phnom Penh hearing Thursday where the two convicted men did not appear.
The men "should be released immediately," the committee said.
Born Samnang and Sok Samoeun were arrested just one week after the murder of outspoken labor leader Chea Vichea, and rights workers and lawyers say their quick prosecution, despite a lack of evidence and witnesses, was deeply flawed.
30 comments:
The Appeal Court's verdict did not come as a surprise to me when the court had chosen 12 April for its announcement and its hurry to make it before even 7.30 in the morning. This was a deliberate calculation to minimise reactions to its verdict when Cambodians are busy celebrating their new year. It did not come as a surprise either when the practices in Cambodian courts are bent on the accused's confessions, the presumption of guilt of the accused and the defence's burden of proof to the contrary, and not on factual evidence to prove that the accused are guilty beyond reasonable. A court of law that “protects the rights and freedoms of the citizens”, as one of its constitutional duties is, would summon all witnesses to testify and be cross-examined in court and get the prosecutor and the investigating judge to submit sufficient evidence to prove that the accused had committed the crime as charged. I've learned that at both trial hearings, at the Phnom Penh court and at the Appeal Court, none of the prosecution witnesses came to testify and be cross-examined. The drawer of the sketches of the alleged offenders were not at court. Both courts have relied on police reports, prosecution witnesses' statements before the police and the investigating judge, and Born Samnang's confessions. There is a lot of doubts about all this evidence.
Perhaps deep down, any acquittal would create two serious problems. One would be for the police: their investigation would be seen as seriously flawed. Good governance would call for an inquiry into police investigation to identify flaws and shortcomings. The other would be for the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM): Investigating judge Hing Thirith at the Phnom Penh court was right in dropping the charge against the accused in 2004 and the SCM was wrong in discipling him soon after. Let's not forget that both the President and the Prosecutor-General of the Appeal Court are ex-officio members of the SCM.
All seem to have conspired to lock this Pandora's Box by locking up Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun in prison for 20 years for the crime these two men in all probability have not committed. In all probability too this is a huge miscarriage of justice. Would this miscarriage of justice hurt the conscience of the Cambodian nation when judges make judgments in its name? On the other hand, does the Cambodian nation have any conscience at all?
The Appeal Court's verdict did not come as a surprise to me when the court had chosen 12 April for its announcement and its hurry to make it before even 7.30 in the morning. This was a deliberate calculation to minimise reactions to its verdict when Cambodians are busy celebrating their new year. It did not come as a surprise either when the practices in Cambodian courts are bent on the accused's confessions, the presumption of guilt of the accused and the defence's burden of proof to the contrary, and not on factual evidence to prove that the accused are guilty beyond reasonable. A court of law that “protects the rights and freedoms of the citizens”, as one of its constitutional duties is, would summon all witnesses to testify and be cross-examined in court and get the prosecutor and the investigating judge to submit sufficient evidence to prove that the accused had committed the crime as charged. I've learned that at both trial hearings, at the Phnom Penh court and at the Appeal Court, none of the prosecution witnesses came to testify and be cross-examined. The drawer of the sketches of the alleged offenders were not at court. Both courts have relied on police reports, prosecution witnesses' statements before the police and the investigating judge, and Born Samnang's confessions. There is a lot of doubts about all this evidence.
Perhaps deep down, any acquittal would create two serious problems. One would be for the police: their investigation would be seen as seriously flawed. Good governance would call for an inquiry into police investigation to identify flaws and shortcomings. The other would be for the Supreme Council of the Magistracy (SCM): Investigating judge Hing Thirith at the Phnom Penh court was right in dropping the charge against the accused in 2004 and the SCM was wrong in discipling him soon after. Let's not forget that both the President and the Prosecutor-General of the Appeal Court are ex-officio members of the SCM.
All seem to have conspired to lock this Pandora's Box by locking up Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun in prison for 20 years for the crime these two men in all probability have not committed. In all probability too this is a huge miscarriage of justice. Would this miscarriage of justice hurt the conscience of the Cambodian nation when judges make judgments in its name? On the other hand, does the Cambodian nation have any conscience at all?
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
So what is our court motive for
punishing these two alledged
innocent individual citizen, Dr.
Lao?
Dear Dr Lao Mong Hay,
We seem to have so many Doctor in law in Cambodia but how can Hun Sen can ignore all legal actvities in Cambodia? It prove to me that because we have so many lawyers training in differents countries and cannot compromise to each other to make a common laws, therefore, the monky can jump in to make their own laws. Is it the case? I wish all Cambodian lawyers to work together to make a common laws which everyone can surrender themself to the laws and will put everyone under the laws. At present there so many people are living above the laws because some of the laws have been created by a few monky !!!!!
We have common laws that work
great and resonate throughout
SE Asia, and we don't need any
Gringoes' Slave help.
To: 10:23
In some cases the reasons for which a court convict and sentence an accused are straight forward because there is factual evidence to prove that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable. One cannot not be clear about the reasons when there is no factual evidence to prove that the accused is guilty beyond reasonable doubt. In the Born Samnang and Sok Sam Oeun case, even the prosecutor asked for re-investigation. So there is no factual evidence as yet to prove they are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. There are of course other flaws and shortcomings in the procedure as well as in the system that cause doubt about their conviction.
In civilised societies, it is "better that ten guilty persons escape than that one innocent suffer" as the English jurist William Blackstone formulated as a principle of criminal law.
To: 11:27
There are many Cambodians who are knowledgeable about laws and who are lawyers or jurists. Though they have been trained in different legal systems, for instance in the civil law (French) system or common law (Anglo-Saxon) system, they read and apply the same Cambodian laws in Cambodia. They differ in practice though. Some continue the practices of the communist days (presumption of guilt and conviction based on confessions), other want the practices that are closer to the laws and procedures in force and to the international standards and norms which Cambodia has adhered to and which some people have found unacceptable. Furthermore, though we have a lot of laws already, many of these laws or provisions of many of them are not enforced. Sometimes they are enforced differently to different people as if there are two laws, one for me and one for you, which is incompatible with the rule of law.
In countries governed by the rule law, all are equal before the law and the law provides equal protection. A Russian writer, Fyodor Dostoevsky, divided people into two categiories: extraordianary people and ordinary people. You and I are ordinary people. We steal an egg together, we will be arrested, charged and convicted for robbery and sentenced to at least 5 years in prison. Extraordinary people rob millions and they can get away with their crime. Not only that. They are sometimes worshipped, feared. In Cambodia there are such people, unfortunately. But we need to change them into ordinary people like you and me.
However, deep down, the lack of morals and ethics is a big, if not the cause of abuses which are exeperiended every day in Cambodia. I think what Prem Tinsulanonda, former Prime Minister and Head of the Privy Council of the Thai King, said, alluding to the then Primine Minister Thaksin Sinawatra, applies also in our case:"There will be corruption, fovouritim, nepotism and greed if leaders lack ethics and morals."
We need to instill ethics and morals in our leaders, judges, prosecutors and lawyers, in fact, in all of us.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Lao, respectfully, you are not
answering my question. You are
giving me lecture on westerner
laws phylosophy that I am fully
aware off already. Furthermore,
you claimed that it is civilized,
but I don't fully agree with it.
However, let's take it one step
at a time if you don't mind.
Here we have a case where 2 men
were sentenced two 20 years prison.
You claimed that they are innocent.
My question is simply why would
our court wanted to punish 2
innocent men? Do they love to feed
prisonners? I would preferred that
they be out working and produce
tax revenue. Are they covering up
something with these 2 men? Does
these 2 men have something that
could damage the court or the
government? Is this a revenge? ...
What is your theory?
Forget the due process. I take it
that you don't agree with that.
We will debate that after if you
like, but not at the same time.
Dear 6:40. Your court would want to punish two innocent men because the punks running Cambodia told them to - period. As to why the punks running Cambodia would want to punish two innocent men, they need to punish someone, and if they punish the persons who ordered the killing of Chea Vichea, they would have to confess to murder. But please, don't confuse the matter by suggesting that the judges involved in this case are anything more than errand boys.
Hey folks, please make your comments a little bit short. Thanks
10:22, who said that we required
to catch the real Vichea's
muderer? There are lot of murderers
that we can't catch, and you know
it well. Thus, we need not to
accused any innocent people to
make the case worse. Am I wrong?
So come on, give me the truth.
Everyone is invited?
And yes, 11:18, we're all annoyed
with long bickering nonesense!
To: 6:40
I really hate using numbers to address people as we are humans and should have names so that I can call them Mr, Mrs, Miss or Ms so and so.
I did not and do not expect people to agree with me though I believe we can have unity in diversity. I did not claim both men were innocent in all my communication on their case. I looked at the evidence, procedure, system and practices to arrive at truth and justice which I have found wanting.
As to your assertion that what I said was "westerner laws philosophy", I would suggest you read a short piece belw on what a wise judge should be and do. I took it from a book entitled The Teaching of Buddha. It is published by the the Japanese Society for the Promotion of Buddhism. There is a Khmer vesion as well. This version is now available at the Buddhist Institute's library and also at Samdech Hun's Library in Phnom Penh. It can be purchased online from http://www.bdkamerica.org/default.aspx?MPID=53. The English version from which the piece below is extracted is available at http://hinduwebsite.com/sacredscripts/buddhist_bible.asp#ch2ins.
I fear you might consider the teaching of Buddha as "westerner" philosophy as well when Buddha was born and was preaching his philosophy in India which is located to the west of Cambodia.
Enjoy your reading.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
PS: My apologies to commentators who find this comment too long.
Text on the wise judge:
"6. A wise judge will temper his verdicts with compassion. He will try to consider each case with clear wisdom and then make his verdict accord with five principles: First, he must examine into the truthfulness of the facts presented [Emphasis added]. Second, he must be sure that they fall within his jurisdiction. If he renders a judgement with full authority it is effective, but if he renders judgement without authority it only causes complications; he should wait for a right occasion. Third, he must judge justly, that is, he must enter into the mind of the defendant and if he finds that the deed was done without criminal intent, he should discharge the man. Fourth, he should pronounce his verdict with kindness and not harshness, that is, he should apply a proper punishment and should not go beyond that. A good judge will instruct a criminal with kindness and give him time to reflect upon his mistakes. Fifth, he should judge with sympathy and not in anger, that is, he should condemn the crime but not the criminal. He should let his judgement rest upon a foundation of sympathy, and he should use the occasion to try and make the criminal realize his mistakes and thus give the man an opportunity to be reborn under better conditions."
Source: The Teaching of Buddha, Brotherhood, III In Service, 6 [Wise Judge]
Don't worry about being formal,
Dr. Lao. We all are on
international water. Number is
fine. I am not a bit offended in
anyway. Come on, I am not even
offended as being called baboon,
CPP dogs, ..., I love Free Speech.
And I mean Free Speech, not ill-
will Defamation or Slander as in
the border issues that we have
had in the past.
Anyway, correct me if I am wrong,
since you did not give me any
theory as to why the court is
sentencing these 2 men, that
you don't have a theory and that
this is just a plain mistrial
according to your standard as well
as HR, and NGOs, ... .
Furthermore, youd did not claimed
that the 2 men where innocents.
Why not? Somdach Euv once convinced
that the 2 men where innocent along
with other NGO and HR organization,
not to mention Sam Rainsy, ..., and
Chea Mony. Why can't you claim
their innocent as everyone else
did? What keep you from being firm
like everyone else?
As for you text on wise judge:
I agree with it 100% and I am sure
our judge believe in it also.
However, how many trials have you
seen that went according to text
book? The judges are human just
like me and you and sometime they
do make mistake because of
distraction... . In other words,
people know how to drive car, but
no one is exempt from an accident,
am I wrong? And if one did get
into an accident, is it moral
to treat them like garbage?
Next ASSUMING that is was a true
mistrial, do you think having
a bunch of outsiders trying to
bully our court will help the two
presummably innocent prisonners
any, not to mention coaching the
prisonners to curse our judge and
the court ... .
I can't tell you the truth, but
I urge everyone to back off, let
things cool down, then approach
the court with a little more
diplomacy and without politicizing
anything is my reccomendation;
that is if anyone is to ever know
the truth to this case. Again,
this is srok Khmer, not France.
How dare you did what you did?
Mr. 1:56
Judging is not the same as driving. Laws and prosecures must be meticulously adhered to. Recently in Hong Kong, the appeal court ordred a re-trial of a case when the accused had not been told of her right of silence at the lower court which convicted her, although she remained silent for most of the trial.
As regards injustice, some people have made sacrifices to fight against it. In France, the famous writer Emile Zola sacrificed his liberty and wealth to criticise the military tribunal and the army for having convicted an army officer named Alfred Dreyfus and sentenced him to life imprisonment for a crime Emile Zola was conviced Dreyfus had not committed. Emile Zola was afterwards convicted for criminal defamation and had to sell all his wealth to pay damages to the army. He was ruined and had to flee to England to avoid arrst and imprisonment. But in the end, the truth came out and Dreyfus was found innocent.
If you are interested in the Dreyfus Affair and if you can read French, you can read it at http://www.assemblee-nationale.fr/histoire/Dreyfus/index.asp. Or you can read the story in English at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreyfus_Affair.
You may also be interested in a more recent huge miscarriage of justice in France. This is the Outreau Affair. The full story of this affair is availalble in English athttp://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affaire_d'Outreau.
I'm very sorry to bombard you with such stories. But let's not forget that injustice itself is disorder.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Dr. Lao, I too will fight
unjustice, but there is no
unjustice here. What we got here is
a bunch of clowns trying to turn
our court in to a political
circus. Thus, at minimum, they are
guilty of contempt the court. If
we are to allowed anyone to do
whatever they please to our court,
then well mind shut down the whole
justice system.
Moreover, IF (big if) the two
prisonners are indeed innocent. I
don't see any problem in getting
them release, but I will not
mention my approach, at this time,
maybe 6-9 months from now. Hehehe,
I want them the serve some times
for their foolishness. However, I
will tell you, it is no rocket
science, and you needn't to have a
Phd either. If you can let go your
westerner knowledge for a moment,
and allowed it to clowd your mind,
and learn about our judge in real
life, not textbook, the solution
shall be obvious. Right now,
regretfully, I say you are heading
in the wrong direction. You will
not find anything good but
nightmares at your destination.
Mr.4:48
I don't think Cambodian leaders such as Samdech Hun Sen, H.E. Dith Monty (now President of the Supreme Court), H.E Hor Nam Hong, H.E. Tia Banh, etc... were heading in the wrong direction when they signed the Paris Peace Agreements in 1991 which contain some have called a lot of "westerner" ideas for the governance of Cambodia, including international standards and norms for trials, human rights, the rule of law and liberal democracy. I don't think these leaders were hypocrites or cheats when they signed those Agreements. The whole of the Cambodian nation which adopted the Constitution of 1993 which contains all these "westerner" ideas was not heading in the wrong direction either. The Cambodian people who put on "westerner" clothes, used "westerner" equipment, use and accumulate American dollars, rive "westerner" cars, used "westerner" language and technology (like you and me), etc..., are not heading in the wrong direction.
All Asian nations that have adopted "westerner" ideas, technology, science, clothes and many other things such as political system, laws, courts of justice, public administration, management, etc... are not heading in the wrong direction, or are they?
Pol Pot excluded "westerner" ideas and knowledge and he destroyed the Cambodian nation. Many Nations, such as Easter and Central Euprean countries, Russia, Mongolia, even China and Vietnam, that excluded "westerner" ideas, knowledge and system of government, have now embraced or are embracing them. To my knowledge, China is receiving assistance from the American Bar Association to improve its legal system. China sent its judges, law professors, lawyers and students to study "westerner" laws and legal practices to improve its justice system. Vietnam is doing the same. The Canadian Bar Association is helping Vietnam to improve its legal system.
Back to Cambodia, part of Khmer philosophy is also about justice. A set of stories on justice (tolaka) is published as one of the nine books entitled "Prochum roeung preng khmer"(Compiliation of Khmer Stories). It's good reading for all Khmers. I have read many of them and all the stories on justice. The book The Teaching of Buddha I have mentiioned to you contains a good chapter entitled "In Service" which is to me Buddhist governance. You might also be interested in the Buddhist constitution and economics. There are books written by Thai leading Buddhist scholars and are available in English. If you are familiar with all this Khmer and Buddhist knowledge, we have a lot in common, beginning with impartiality, non-partisanship and openness.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
I am not saying that all
westerner's ideas are bad, but
some of it don't fit Khmer, some
don't fit China, ... and some
don't fit Burmese.... .
Do you think we all wear the same
size shoes, pant, ..., and shirt.
It is dangerous, Dr., you may
trip and brake something, if you
wear and oversize pant for
instant. Futhermore, we don't have
much choice when are asking for
financial aids from westerners,
they insist on certain condition.
So we were not accepting
westerners idiology on our own
free wills.
Last, I forgot to mention your
Hong Kong appeal example. Do
you really think Hong Kong and
Cambodia is alike or something?
They are so rich that they can
afford to call for an appeal should
a cock roach caused a few people
to panic in the trial if they
wanted to, but we can't do that.
Hence, expecting Khmer implement
Hong Kong due process is highly
impractical. So do you have any
other examples of an appeal case
using similar countries to
Cambodia? How about Kenya, where
that UN Convoy idiot (Ghai) came
from? I bet Cambodia justice
system is far better than his.
Am I wrong?
Mr. 8:13
There are a lot criticism of American incarceration of alleged terrorists all over the world. There is a lot of criticism of miscourages of justice in England. There is a lot of criticism of the Philippine justice system, the Bangladeshi justice system, the Sri Lankan justice system, the Indian justice system and the justice system of other countries. Some countries have undertaken judicial reforms when there are flaws in the system, others which are mainly ruled by authoritarian governments don't and rebuke critics, and their people continue to suffer from injustices including torture, physical and psychological.
People should not just be condemned because the state is too poor to conduct proper investigations and collect enough evidence to prove they are guilty beyond reasonable doubt. Lacking such resources is no fault of those people, is it. Let's not forget that Pol Pot simply killed off people because there were no courts to try them, no prisons to detain them, no food to feed them and no guards to guard them.
Our indegenous people in the North East have their own traditional way, that is, settlement of crime though the offender paying damages in various forms to his or her victim(s) or their family. But they accept our state laws, and offenders are punished by our courts. They have not protested against the laws and the courts which were are not theirs traditionally. They have also abandoned their tradition of buring babies alive when their mothers die.
We should strive to attain the standards of justice which our leaders and our people altogether have adopted and which are enshrined in the international human rights law, the constitution of the countries. We should assume and presume that critics have any particular "political" agenda. Their criticism is made within the framework and on the basis of our Constitution and our international human rights obligation under the Paris Peace Agreements which Samdech Hun Sen, H.E. Hor Nam Hong, H.E. Dith Munty, H.E. Tia Banh, and others had signed in Paris in 1991. And they were sincere when they signed them. I was one of the eye witnesses to their signing.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Dr. Lao, I know exactly what you
like to have, and I am not object
to it, but it is just plain not
practical. We do what we can. That
is all we can do. It doesn't matter
who fault it is. I am sure we all
love to have DNA identification
in the investigation ..., but you
are dreaming. Only a small number
of rich country can have those, but
that does not mean we can't
effectively protect our innocent
people without it.
Look, the idea behind all this is
to protect the innocent citizens.
And it doesn't matter what you do,
you can't protect them all. If you
make your system too difficult
to lock up criminal, the criminal
will victimized your citizens, and
if you make your system too easy
to prosecute the criminal, you end
up accidently victimed some of
your citizens. Therefore, a dead
citizens is equal to a dead
citizens. How can you say one is
better than the other. The truth is
there is no good way of protecting
all citizens from criminals,
regretfully.
Continue:
Oh as for signing anything with
sincerety, what do you expect, Dr.?
hehehe.
Mr. 10:22
I would expect the signatories to honour their obligations under the agreements, treaties or contracts.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Easy for you to say, Dr. Loa, but
I am sure it will become a double-
standard if your children depended
on the communist to survive.
Anyhow, what ever happened to the
justice system that we were
talking about? How much superior
is yours (westerner's) compared to
ours in protecting innocent people?
Convince that you were lost in the
westerner's smoke bombs?
hehehe/joke.
Anyone in here not convinced that
our debate here is nothing but pure
100% bickering without
contributing anything good to
Cambodia but causing chaos? hehehe.
Mr. 10:57
Buddhist based justice, not communist based justice, is my justice too as I'm a Khmer national. I live in my homeland and stay and work in different countries around the world. I'm very proud of be Khmer. My first ID card carred Khmer nationality not Cambodian nationality after communism. And I had a very good Khmer (moral and cultural)education too, not human resource develpment as education is called these days after communism. I graduated from a Khmer university. I was a Khmer civil servant and a Khmer army officer before continuing my post-graduate studies in England. I'm not a "minority Khmer" as the Khmers who fled communism and lived overseas are called in the communists and after. I have only my Khmer nationality and my Khmer passport.
I took part in fighting communism and have felt humbly satisfied communism as an ideology has disappeared in my homeland and many parts of the world. And I have colleagues who are in the government and who are members of the Cambodian People's Party, Sam Rainsy party, FUNCINPEC party, Norodom Ranariddh party, etc... I have students who are now working in the government, in those political parties, in NGOs, in many parts of my homeland. Furthermore, I have worked in and travelled to all provinces in Cambodia, except Stung Treng.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
I have not a single doubt of what
you are telling us, Dr. Lao, and
I applause your countributions to
our nation. However, respectfully,
I questioned your faith in our
forefathers. Do you think they are
dumb and/or meant us ill-will by
teaching all of us the way we are?
You seem very anxious to change
everything that they have taught
us, except for our skin and DNA,
hehehe. Why?
Mr.10:14
I've learned and have also been teaching that the Khmer race had built a very high and civilisation, so high and solid that, despite its continued decline and many prolonged periods foreign invasion and occupation, Siamese, Annmite and French, and its own self-destruction, it has managed to survive as a nation with of course a shrinking territory. Its culture and civilisation is like a spring. It is squized down when under foreign occupation and comes back up again when realeased from pressure.
I would indeed advocate change when I find something wrong with our culure and traditional way of life or if I can find something better to replace what is not so good. Don't you want to do the same? It would sound stange not to so?
I have yet to learn more about our forefathers' faith. I would appreciate it very much if you would kindly familiarise me with it so that I can understand it better and make sure I will not corrupt it. Please teach me that faith and send me your writings on it or send me references on it my e-mail address:laomonghay@netvigator.com. If you don't want to reveal your e-mail address, please write about that faith as comments on this blog. I will read your writings on our forefathers' faith without fail.
I thank you in advance and look forward to reading your writings or refenrences on our forefathers' faith.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
I see, but first, let me say that
I am not anti-change at all, and
yes, we should continued to evolve
by fixing issues that hindering us
from moving foward with the rest
of the world, but we must do this
very carefully with responsibility
and very thoughfully not to cause
any irriversible havoc. Moreover,
I have no objection to copying
westerner either, but if we do,
just make sure the condition are
alike. There are lot of things that
westerner can do, that we can't do.
Youth activities, for example,
it doesn't matter what the
consequence is, westerners always
have the resources to make up for
it. For instant, if their kids
become dangerous and violent in
schools, they can afford to
install gun detectors, hire extra
guards, ... to watch them. What if
the same hapenned to us, what are
we going to do? Think of our
neighbors also, how this can
affect them ... Be patient, don't
rush things. Think of life as long
long long marathon. Right now we
are behind, but if we rush to
catch the pace makers now, we will
certainly run out of breath and
have to pull out of the race
prematurely. Don't worry about who
lead the race, most likely the
front runners will not make it
into the stretch for the finish
line. Do you know what I mean?
I don't have any comprehensive
composition from our forefathers,
but I have no doubt that the way
most of us are today is evolution
from century to century that
involved with much bloods and
sacrifices. They have iron out
many of our problems along the
way the best they can, and we can't
just throw all that away without
thinking about it at least a dozen
times or so. That will constitute
an abuse to their blood and
sacrifices. We are not the same as
we were 600 or 700 years ago, no
sir. Some people, just used that
as an excuses to wipe out their
precious wills for us from this
planet. For, the last 15 years, on
my spare times, I have gathered
what my grandma, father, relatives,
and neighbors wills for their
children and analyze it very
carefully -- BTW, I am a scientist
-- and I don't see any issue
anywhere, given the weaths and
resources that the average people
have at their disposal. I can't
tell you everything, but if you
want to change something I
recommend to consult with
many khmers in various places,
not just the city. That way, if
anything happened, you wouldn't
feel that regretted. I read
Cambodiaforum.com now and then,
if you want to discuss something,
you can post it there, and I will
joined with you.
As for the KR Tribunal, don't kill
each other over it. The thing
we shall learn and teach to our
children is against Racism,
temptation, and Greed. If we fully
understand that, the KR is dead
forever.
Mr. 2:14
Perhaps like me you have found something missing in our society and your expertise in and knowledge of our forefathers' faith could make up. We Khmers do not seen to have any set of common core values and this absence of common core values has probalby been one of the causes of our continued conflicts. If you agree with me, we can start building these core values out of our forefathers'faith. This is why I believe your expertise in and knowledge of it come very handy. Please share that expertise and knowledge with me. Your scientific training can even help us all to be more objective.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Dr. Loa, thanks for your confident
but that will take sometime to put
my finding together. Meanwhile,
just remember, there is a good
purpose as to why yours, mine, and
other's grandparent, parent,
uncle, ..., teach and discipline
us the way they do, despite
most of them don't even know why
they did it. I guess they learn it
from their own local teacher
that they trust, and then they
spread it out. And when you trust
your teacher, many times you don't
bother asking them for the reason.
You just follow your teacher. As
you know our people is a faithful
people.
For example, our women fashion or
dress code, one upon a time, I
guess we had some issue with rape
crime. So to resolve the issue,
they disciplined our women to
cover up themself well and not to
invite petpertrator to commit the
act, not to mention how women
should conduct themselves and
interact with men. You know we
don't wear full clothing because
we love it, especially in the
brutal tropical weather. There are
reason and purpose for that.
Despite time and condition have
change, we should nevertheless be
carefull when adopting some of the
European low cut fashion, LOL. You
never know how this can impact our
society. Sometime we think we
change thing to move forward, but
if we are not carefull, we will
end up moving backward, hehehe.
And that is the idea that I like
to pass along. Again, take it easy.
Don't rush thing. The end of the
world is not in site yet.
Let's be impartial. Let's be open. Let's share. Let's not brand people or ideas. We are all humans and humans thinks and have ideas. But certain values such as truth and justice are unioversal and not subject to change. Only the ways to attain or apply those values may differ. And people may diagree with one another.
LAO Mong Hay, Hong Kong
Post a Comment