Original report from Washington
13 August 2009
Cambodians in the US should mark their calendars for Aug. 15, no matter where they are, with events planned on the east and west coasts.
Cambodians are preparing for a forum on cultural, civilization and social issues to be held Aug. 15 in Takoma, Washington, aimed at building solidarity, relationships and a chance to exchange experiences among Cambodians in the US.
Organizers expect many participants from neighboring states, along with Washington state lawmakers, and they plan to have several guest speakers knowledgeable in religion, culture, tradition, education, law, history and deportation issues.
One of those guest speakers, Ros Darachan, said she was planning to discuss parenting skills, which can be quite different between the US and Cambodia.
Cambodian parents usually advise their children to respect their siblings, parents and elders and to speak morally, while they rarely show love to their children, worrying they may misbehave, she said.
“American parents like to encourage and show love to their children, so that children will show love back to their parents,” she said.
The Cambodian cultural forum will also present a photo slideshow of Cambodian traditions, such as the delivery of a child, first-year baby photos, and wedding and funeral ceremonies.
Washington state has the third-largest population of Cambodians, after California and Massachusetts.
“We hope and believe that all our brothers and sisters will learn from each other, understand each other and travel into the future together, with strong solidarity and a good alliance,” Yon Saray, a participant in the forum, said.
Meanwhile, the Cambodian community in Lowell, Mass., plans to have its own festivities Aug. 15, with a boat festival that has been running since 1997. The festival will include exhibitions, classical dance and traditional modeling.
The Lowell boat festival sees participants of many nationalities, with competitors from Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US joining the Cambodian hosts. But while participants and onlookers from many states usually attend, Cambodia has failed in recent years to field any boats. Many people say this is because of a lack of care.
Cambodians are preparing for a forum on cultural, civilization and social issues to be held Aug. 15 in Takoma, Washington, aimed at building solidarity, relationships and a chance to exchange experiences among Cambodians in the US.
Organizers expect many participants from neighboring states, along with Washington state lawmakers, and they plan to have several guest speakers knowledgeable in religion, culture, tradition, education, law, history and deportation issues.
One of those guest speakers, Ros Darachan, said she was planning to discuss parenting skills, which can be quite different between the US and Cambodia.
Cambodian parents usually advise their children to respect their siblings, parents and elders and to speak morally, while they rarely show love to their children, worrying they may misbehave, she said.
“American parents like to encourage and show love to their children, so that children will show love back to their parents,” she said.
The Cambodian cultural forum will also present a photo slideshow of Cambodian traditions, such as the delivery of a child, first-year baby photos, and wedding and funeral ceremonies.
Washington state has the third-largest population of Cambodians, after California and Massachusetts.
“We hope and believe that all our brothers and sisters will learn from each other, understand each other and travel into the future together, with strong solidarity and a good alliance,” Yon Saray, a participant in the forum, said.
Meanwhile, the Cambodian community in Lowell, Mass., plans to have its own festivities Aug. 15, with a boat festival that has been running since 1997. The festival will include exhibitions, classical dance and traditional modeling.
The Lowell boat festival sees participants of many nationalities, with competitors from Laos, Thailand, Vietnam, and the US joining the Cambodian hosts. But while participants and onlookers from many states usually attend, Cambodia has failed in recent years to field any boats. Many people say this is because of a lack of care.
3 comments:
Many of us know too well that any thing different would consider UnAmerican. A boat show is a spectator sport. It can draw a lot of attention. Perhaps in the wrong way in America and perhaps many of us just don't care about attention. Why?, because they either hate it or don't understand. Try it with Cambodian men that have the office jobs or busy working. They are just too tired to even bother with it. Hell no! I'm not going to get on that boat. They say and just rather grab a bear bottle crashing on the bed or couch or else just go and be a watcher instead. I know that person too well :) Sorry..., but it true.
It takes people with special interest to pull thing like that.
Don't announce or call up people a week or two before and say hey can you get on that boat for racing on Aug 15th? It doesn't matter, if it's to honor the whole Khmer race. It won't work. People just can get up their behinds to do it.
Create a racing boat club or something at the beginning of a warm season. You'll be surprise how many will turn up. There are young Cambodian out there that are lost or having no where to go or entertain, but wasting time doing nonsense things everyday. We do need real leadership here.
cultural exchange with american/khmer is always good for building good and understanding relationship between our two countries.
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