Vindictive Behavior

Thursday, April 30, 2009
Op-Ed by Justin Sok

In HIS letter of April 19, 2009, the former King Norodom Sihanouk had offered to the general public his proposal. HE stated that the general public has continued to criticize HIM for spending more time living abroad than in HIS own homeland. Former King Norodom Sihanouk explained that HIS medical problems are HIS only legitimate reason for HIS continuing to stay abroad. Former King Norodom Sihanouk would return to Cambodia and live there, but not without challenging Khmer people living abroad to do the same. HE wrote in his letter, “. . . . . but I never ceased to serve my Homeland and the Khmer People. To conclude, allow me to ask these Khmer people from Canada, France, etc… why they are not returning to Cambodia to live there and to serve her, and serve her People[?]” (KI Media).

In retrospect, there were series of political event, which ended tragically.

1. March 1970, King Norodom Sihanouk appealed from Peking over the radio. "Brothers and sisters," he said, "go to the jungles and join the guerrillas." The scarves/handkerchiefs, with the local “Sankum Reastr Niyum” were distributed to the local “small” Khmer people. They were scrambling in the fields to get their hands on those scarves. The scarves were part of a political propaganda campaign and made the “small” Khmer people believe they were a special gift from their “God King”. Unfortunately, none of them had any knowledge that those scarves were later used to wrap their own corpses. At the same time, King Norodom Sihanouk appealed for the formation of the Khmer National United Front, to join with the Khmer Rouge to fight the Lon Nol government. What happened to them?
2. April 1975 – the Communist Party of Kampuchea herded hundreds of Lon Nol’s soldiers and they were taken in trucks to receive King Norodom Sihanouk in the jungle. What happened to them?
3. September 1975 – the Communist Party of Kampuchea invited Khmer intellectuals (nearly two thousand of them) that were living abroad to return to Cambodia to help rebuild the country. A co-worker of mine, who knew that her great aunt was still living in France before the collapse of Phnom Penh, but had lost contact with her since that time, went to Cambodia in the early 2000’s to search for her aunt. Tragically, she found her auntie’s picture hanging on the wall among thousands of other victims at the Tuol Sleng Museum. What happened to them?

In general consent, Khmer people, whether they are living abroad or inside Cambodia have gotten tired of the same old political shenanigans. They would want to see Khmer leaders come together and work on solutions for Cambodia’s problems and for her people. Historically, when it comes to working on to improve our country; Khmer leaders would often prefer to choose divisiveness over cooperation. They have, during the course of their “political” lives, made so much noise and filled the air with so much political rhetoric and authoritative banality that they have had no time to form an original thought, nor have they given themselves the opportunity to hear and learn anything from listening to anyone else. They would reject any idea and/or proposal, which did not come from their own party. “You lost the election; so you have no right to tell me what to do.”

As a practical matter, arguments are not the process by which we help each other. Cooperation is a tool with which we can achieve an end, satisfy a want, and fulfill a desire. Cooperation is the mechanism by which we reveal how we can help each other. It is the incomparable art by which we connect and interact successful with the other. Quite the opposite, Khmer leaders would love to strut about and say what each one has and how they could destroy the other. We continue to repeat with the same stupid mistakes that we have made since the 1600’s.

The ability to listen and to see must be more important than the ability to speak, else why would the “Higher Being” have given us two eyes and two ears and only one mouth? Khmer leaders had never taken any time to listen and value another’s point of view. It is always all about mine, not yours, which is more superior. Have you ever seen two dogs standing nose to nose, hair bristling on their backs, tails wagging in those short, stiff wags? Then someone pokes the larger of the dogs with a stick, and the larger dog attacks, not the person who poked him, but the smaller dog. Khmer leaders are like that. Both sides search for scapegoats. They each finger pointing at one another. They each continue to label and/or show each other negative in a bad light: Khmer Rouge; Khmer Viet Minh; Khmer Serei; Khmer Issarac; Khmer Lon Nol; Sihanoukist; Khmer Hun Sen; Khmer Sam Rainsy; and Khmer living abroad versus Khmer living inside Cambodia. When is this going to end?

It is with great honor to be invited by our former King Norodom Sihanouk to return to Cambodia and to serve her people. The bait is in the water, and the fish is watching and contemplating it to see whether it is a real bait or fake. But one may have to give it serious consideration, what would be the price for taking the bait? No, it is not about the position and/or rank. It is about the security and safety issues of those who would like to contribute to the cause of rebuilding Cambodia. It is not about greed, power, and control. It is not about being the puppet master. It is not about making people do what you want and seeing how many balls you can keep in the air at once. It is all about our beloved Cambodia and our beloved Khmer people.

We are still able to treat each other with a modest dose of civility. We ought to be able to disagree without being disagreeable. The judge cannot obtain justice without the skill of lawyers who present him with the facts; the parent cannot form the successful child without the love of the child; and the boss is powerless to achieve production without the respect and aid of his employees. Likewise, the leader cannot lead the country and her people to peace, freedom, and prosperity without the will of the people. Quality people – conservative, business oriented, temperate, highly moral, intelligent, and ambition – change the political landscape of the country – and if we can do that, then we can have our Constitution in place, protect the rights of our people, reform our education institutions, honor the scholars, keep our children in school, restrict the cultural garbage that exploit us by foreigners, which is consumed by our children, reform our judicial systems; improve our infrastructure; provide access and affordable health care services for women, children, and the poor; seal our borders, and protect the true Cambodian way of life. Remember, nothing worthwhile is without sacrifice. But we have to sacrifice together as one!

To the Khmer leaders, when you get to the end of the your road, you have to look at the community woodpile and decide if you added to it while you were here or whether you just took from it. No, it is not about stripping the flesh off the bones, like our recent Khmer history has taught us, “Bones piled up at the Tuol Sleng Museum.” It is about the accomplishments, achievements, and the legacy that you would leave behind for future generations. In fact, it is about adding to the woodpile. Indeed, it is always an honor thing to serve your country.

*I would like to take this opportunity to say to each and every Khmer people living abroad and inside Cambodia, “Hello!” and “Sur Sdey!”

Justin C. Sok
April 29, 2009