4/10/08
Leonard Low
State Hornet (CSU Sacramento, California, USA)
On Wednesday, Sacramento State's Cambodian Student Association hosted the second annual Khmer: Culture Show to a diverse crowd of students and faculty.
The club members introduced the audience to their culture through artifacts, a slide presentation, a fashion show and dancing.
Club President Johnny Pang began the show with a synopsis about Cambodia's past and present.
Pang, a junior international business major, talked about the current constitutional monarchy, the Buddhism religion and the French influence on the educational system, which was brought on by French colonization of Cambodia.
Freshman Spanish major Julia Halligan said she is interested in Buddhism and wanted to learn more about this culture. She also learned about the Cambodian war between the Republic and the Communists, which occurred from 1975 to 1979 and resulted in the death of 2 million people.
Like any culture, the Cambodians have their specific customs. Halligan found out a Cambodian bride will wear elaborate clothing using gold and silk during her wedding. The bride will change her dress seven times throughout three-day wedding, which lasts from morning until night. The groom will also offer a dowry to the bride's family in the form of bulls, cows or pigs.
Puthika Chao, a senior civil engineering major, said this year's culture show is more extensive because there are more active members to help out. He co-founded the association three years ago and was also last year's president.
Chao, a Cambodian, said many marriages in his culture are prearranged by family members and may involve different social classes. Arranged marriages are less common in the United States, Chao said.
"The Cambodian club did an amazing job of portraying the Cambodian culture," said Jomer Belisario, a senior kinesiology major. "It was an enjoyable and educational experience. It was fun watching the Cambodian dancers perform their traditional dances."
The event was cosponsored by the Multi-Cultural Center, which helped promote the show. It was a precursor to the Cambodian New Year celebration this weekend in Stockton.
Khmer means one has a Cambodian heritage, said Molly Dugan, a journalism professor and one of the group's advisers.
For more information or to join the Cambodian Student Association, Sacramento contact them at csasac@gmail.com.
Leonard Low can be reached at llow@statehornet.com.
The club members introduced the audience to their culture through artifacts, a slide presentation, a fashion show and dancing.
Club President Johnny Pang began the show with a synopsis about Cambodia's past and present.
Pang, a junior international business major, talked about the current constitutional monarchy, the Buddhism religion and the French influence on the educational system, which was brought on by French colonization of Cambodia.
Freshman Spanish major Julia Halligan said she is interested in Buddhism and wanted to learn more about this culture. She also learned about the Cambodian war between the Republic and the Communists, which occurred from 1975 to 1979 and resulted in the death of 2 million people.
Like any culture, the Cambodians have their specific customs. Halligan found out a Cambodian bride will wear elaborate clothing using gold and silk during her wedding. The bride will change her dress seven times throughout three-day wedding, which lasts from morning until night. The groom will also offer a dowry to the bride's family in the form of bulls, cows or pigs.
Puthika Chao, a senior civil engineering major, said this year's culture show is more extensive because there are more active members to help out. He co-founded the association three years ago and was also last year's president.
Chao, a Cambodian, said many marriages in his culture are prearranged by family members and may involve different social classes. Arranged marriages are less common in the United States, Chao said.
"The Cambodian club did an amazing job of portraying the Cambodian culture," said Jomer Belisario, a senior kinesiology major. "It was an enjoyable and educational experience. It was fun watching the Cambodian dancers perform their traditional dances."
The event was cosponsored by the Multi-Cultural Center, which helped promote the show. It was a precursor to the Cambodian New Year celebration this weekend in Stockton.
Khmer means one has a Cambodian heritage, said Molly Dugan, a journalism professor and one of the group's advisers.
For more information or to join the Cambodian Student Association, Sacramento contact them at csasac@gmail.com.
Leonard Low can be reached at llow@statehornet.com.
7 comments:
Folks, when you watch the royal dance, do you watch the golds and jewels or the dance?
I think if we stripped their golds and jewels the dance suck. Can you give me your opinion on this.
Furthermore, by teaching people to look at that much wealth will only weaken their temptation and lead them to corruption. It is a bad moral teaching. We must stop promoting such dance to people. Do you see the connection between the dance and corruption?
Clearly, we have a person above is very insensitive and idiosyncratic and lack of knowledge regarding one cultural heritage. Need I say more? But, let me use an American Indian, the Pow Wow Dance. Would one tell the American Indian to strip of the Rainbow bright color costumes and remove all painted/unpainted feathers from his/her costumes?
When you are talking about a particular culture, the issue is very sensitive. You need to open your head and learn what a person or a group of people have to offer regarding their native cultural heritage and pride!
owing to the first comment,would like to say that it is not wrong with having the golds or anything valuable as long as these things are earned in the right way.and just having shown such things is not something leading to the corruption.it is the way of beautifizing the man.
3:49PM you fucking communist! don't you remember you stupid head do not have sidewalk in 1992 befer the UN election?
You fucking communist make people dress in rag you stupid bitch!
3:49PM idea is a short cut mind of the uneducated communist!
That why the communist is fell, because the rely on phisical controle and make every one poor!
The Capitalist in reverse they try to make every one rich! that why it sucess like in the US no one stay hungry with out help!
congratulations to these students. thanks for showing and teaching the world khmer's identity. by during this, people all around the world will get exposed to khmerness and are aware of khmer culture and tradition and hopefully they will want to visit cambodia to see and enjoy the khmer richness. god bless cambodia.
Come on, guys, let's be realistic about this. If you teach our kids to have such high standard (I mean way beyond Hollywood Lifestyle), we will never get rid of corruption, and Cambodia will always be a "dog eats dog" world to try to achieve all those gold and diamond. Think about it, will you?
Furthermore, most king and queens who own that much gold and jeweleries had felt and became powerless already. Is that the direction you want us to follow?
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