August 28, 2007Mu Sochua
Kampot
The Sam Rainsy Party sign stands tall, though clearly damaged, in Koh Sla district, the last stronghold of the Khmer Rouge in this mountainous region of Kampot province. As the party Secretary General and new leader of this province, my first question to the SRP commune chief was “Why has the sign not been repaired?” The owner of the house, a young man in his early 30s, interrupted my question and began to tell the story of the first SRP sign in Koh Sla.
The young man’s father, Mr. Keo Min, a civil servant in the post-war period, was among the handful of men and women who joined the SRP in 2001, six years after this opposition party was formed. His first attempt to put up the sign nearly cost him his life. The day after the sign was erected, it was found at the foot of the mountain, chopped in many places. The SRP pioneers of Koh Sla braved threats and intimidation, and made more attempts to put up their party sign at the same location. Each time the sign was torn down and hacked, eventually in 26 places. It quickly became a symbol for what the SRP is known for nationwide: the candle-light party that perseveres for social justice.
The group filed a complaint with the UN Special Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia against the officials of Koh Sla for political threats and intimidation. With special protection from the UN and local human rights organizations, the group launched SRP’s political campaign in preparation for the first commune elections in 2002. SRP won its first 226 votes: too few to gain a seat in the commune council, but enough to show that the winds of change were stirring.
Today, SRP signs in Koh Sla stand tall in every village, and the party is represented by two councilors on the five-member commune council. SRP commune representatives are proud of the strong, vocal campaign that they organized for the second commune elections in April 2007.
Koh Sla is among the toughest communes for SRP supporters in Kampot province. Four Westerners were kidnapped and murdered here by former KR soldiers in 1994. Landmines can still be found in the rice fields and surrounding forests. Malaria is widespread. Voters remain in close watch of former Khmer Rouge officers, many of whom have joined the party in power and have substantially benefited from land deals and illegal logging. Few big trees have survived two decades of deforestation. The officers in control of the area are now involved in dubious or illegal activities such as selling state-owned lands, which they undertake by misusing state power.
Mrs. Suon Chhai Yut is one of the growing number of SRP women and men who tirelessly persevere, braving all obstacles to bring the message of change to Koh Sla. Mobilizing women is more challenging than men for various reasons, including the high rate of illiteracy and gender-based violence. To mobilize women, the party requires women with leadership training and developed skills to communicate with voters and to address the two main issues that affect the daily lives of women: health care and domestic violence. Being a female activist with the SRP is a dangerous venture, as the party is repeatedly the target of the ruling party and local officials who fear the strength of the opposition’s base. Women are not spared from political threats and intimidation.
Two weeks after the visit to Koh Sla, the most shocking images that remain in my mind are the hollow faces of young children suffering from malnutrition, chills and high fever, symptoms of malaria. Their families, like others who went to the SRP meeting, walked two hours from the foot of the mountains in the hope of getting medical care. The parents took turn carrying their sick children. The older children had to make the long walk without help, despite the hunger and sickness.
The debate I initiated on this visit was on the need for change, a change to come not from the use of bullets, but rather from the power of the ballot. This change will only happen when people vote for SRP. For this region, long under the Khmer Rouge, change is associated with more fighting, more years of war and suffering. I took great care to stress that change can materialize with just a simple vote for the party that cares for the people, the party that has consistently fought for justice and for better living conditions. Conscious of the reality of Koh Sla commune, I took time to discuss concrete examples of the suffering and injustices that each family lives with. I referred to the sick children, their deprivation from education because school is at a two hours' walk, the health center that is short of even the basic supplies of medicine, and the farmers’ crops that never reach the local market.
My audience, mainly women, became animated and chatted among each other, then held their hands up to ask for more answers to their problems. When a young girl of about six asked her mother when she will have the chance to attend school, I realized that the more than two hours of soft campaigning had turned into a full blown campaign. It was then that I asked the audience to go back to their villages and to bring ten new votes each for me, a woman and a candidate for SRP, walking this campaign trail to empower women voters to recognize the value of their votes.
Although the next parliamentary election is still one year away, SRP is mounting its nation-wide operation for the major campaign, which can begin officially only one month before the election. As in any race, only hard work, a well-prepared program, strenuous exercise and strict discipline will propel the runners to the finish line. This well-prepared program of exercise starts with a visit to the base, such as Koh Sla. Even the most remote villages and the strongholds of opponents should not be overlooked, as every single vote counts in the election. As opposition, SRP has gained its nation-wide strength mainly by making home-visits, organizing small community meetings and reaching out to voters who remain under the control of local officials working for the party in power.
The campaign day in Koh Sla, like any campaign day in remote villages, takes me to places where I have never been, to places that remind me of my childhood, running in the rice fields, catching fish and crickets, just for pure fun. But that childhood is long lost as genocide and years of armed conflicts have changed Cambodia, affecting every one of us.
Meeting people on the campaign trail gives me the needed energy to defy fatigue, the fear of stepping on landmines, and the long and rough rides on dirt roads. Walking this trail provides the power that makes me believe that change is real, and that change is happening every day, brought about by courageous women and men who are not willing to let their lives be determined for them.
The sight of the SRP candle in a remote area like Koh Sla always chokes me. Very deep inside, I pray for a better Cambodia, for the children living in deprivation, for more generations lost if change does not come in time. I pray, and I work.
The young man’s father, Mr. Keo Min, a civil servant in the post-war period, was among the handful of men and women who joined the SRP in 2001, six years after this opposition party was formed. His first attempt to put up the sign nearly cost him his life. The day after the sign was erected, it was found at the foot of the mountain, chopped in many places. The SRP pioneers of Koh Sla braved threats and intimidation, and made more attempts to put up their party sign at the same location. Each time the sign was torn down and hacked, eventually in 26 places. It quickly became a symbol for what the SRP is known for nationwide: the candle-light party that perseveres for social justice.
The group filed a complaint with the UN Special Representative on Human Rights in Cambodia against the officials of Koh Sla for political threats and intimidation. With special protection from the UN and local human rights organizations, the group launched SRP’s political campaign in preparation for the first commune elections in 2002. SRP won its first 226 votes: too few to gain a seat in the commune council, but enough to show that the winds of change were stirring.
Today, SRP signs in Koh Sla stand tall in every village, and the party is represented by two councilors on the five-member commune council. SRP commune representatives are proud of the strong, vocal campaign that they organized for the second commune elections in April 2007.
Koh Sla is among the toughest communes for SRP supporters in Kampot province. Four Westerners were kidnapped and murdered here by former KR soldiers in 1994. Landmines can still be found in the rice fields and surrounding forests. Malaria is widespread. Voters remain in close watch of former Khmer Rouge officers, many of whom have joined the party in power and have substantially benefited from land deals and illegal logging. Few big trees have survived two decades of deforestation. The officers in control of the area are now involved in dubious or illegal activities such as selling state-owned lands, which they undertake by misusing state power.
Mrs. Suon Chhai Yut is one of the growing number of SRP women and men who tirelessly persevere, braving all obstacles to bring the message of change to Koh Sla. Mobilizing women is more challenging than men for various reasons, including the high rate of illiteracy and gender-based violence. To mobilize women, the party requires women with leadership training and developed skills to communicate with voters and to address the two main issues that affect the daily lives of women: health care and domestic violence. Being a female activist with the SRP is a dangerous venture, as the party is repeatedly the target of the ruling party and local officials who fear the strength of the opposition’s base. Women are not spared from political threats and intimidation.
Two weeks after the visit to Koh Sla, the most shocking images that remain in my mind are the hollow faces of young children suffering from malnutrition, chills and high fever, symptoms of malaria. Their families, like others who went to the SRP meeting, walked two hours from the foot of the mountains in the hope of getting medical care. The parents took turn carrying their sick children. The older children had to make the long walk without help, despite the hunger and sickness.
The debate I initiated on this visit was on the need for change, a change to come not from the use of bullets, but rather from the power of the ballot. This change will only happen when people vote for SRP. For this region, long under the Khmer Rouge, change is associated with more fighting, more years of war and suffering. I took great care to stress that change can materialize with just a simple vote for the party that cares for the people, the party that has consistently fought for justice and for better living conditions. Conscious of the reality of Koh Sla commune, I took time to discuss concrete examples of the suffering and injustices that each family lives with. I referred to the sick children, their deprivation from education because school is at a two hours' walk, the health center that is short of even the basic supplies of medicine, and the farmers’ crops that never reach the local market.
My audience, mainly women, became animated and chatted among each other, then held their hands up to ask for more answers to their problems. When a young girl of about six asked her mother when she will have the chance to attend school, I realized that the more than two hours of soft campaigning had turned into a full blown campaign. It was then that I asked the audience to go back to their villages and to bring ten new votes each for me, a woman and a candidate for SRP, walking this campaign trail to empower women voters to recognize the value of their votes.
Although the next parliamentary election is still one year away, SRP is mounting its nation-wide operation for the major campaign, which can begin officially only one month before the election. As in any race, only hard work, a well-prepared program, strenuous exercise and strict discipline will propel the runners to the finish line. This well-prepared program of exercise starts with a visit to the base, such as Koh Sla. Even the most remote villages and the strongholds of opponents should not be overlooked, as every single vote counts in the election. As opposition, SRP has gained its nation-wide strength mainly by making home-visits, organizing small community meetings and reaching out to voters who remain under the control of local officials working for the party in power.
The campaign day in Koh Sla, like any campaign day in remote villages, takes me to places where I have never been, to places that remind me of my childhood, running in the rice fields, catching fish and crickets, just for pure fun. But that childhood is long lost as genocide and years of armed conflicts have changed Cambodia, affecting every one of us.
Meeting people on the campaign trail gives me the needed energy to defy fatigue, the fear of stepping on landmines, and the long and rough rides on dirt roads. Walking this trail provides the power that makes me believe that change is real, and that change is happening every day, brought about by courageous women and men who are not willing to let their lives be determined for them.
The sight of the SRP candle in a remote area like Koh Sla always chokes me. Very deep inside, I pray for a better Cambodia, for the children living in deprivation, for more generations lost if change does not come in time. I pray, and I work.
5 comments:
There is no pure, perfect freedom, but there is a free society. That is all it takes; the will to not be afraid. With precious few exceptions, most people who seek power do so for very selfish reasons, and willing to do anything to get it, and are usually equally willing to do anything with it. A free society must be one in which the freedoms of the rulers are subject to the same limits as the freedoms of the people.
"The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and that is the path of surrender, or submission." John F. Kennedy
I am so touched by this message. Lets do sth for change with SRP.
Mu Sochua, You are one of the best women in Cambodia who dares to risk your life for a better Khmer future generation. Please keep on the great work you have done.
Its very impressive to see khmer men or women with such a wonderful heart and mind for us, especially khmer for khmer. Respect and prayes to all of you out there and you all have God's favor and God's blessing.
you are working to serve Cambodians and protect them.you and your party members have a pure and precious heart,I pray for you all to win for the next coming election.
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