A Tragic Journey in Circle

The author would like to pose the following few simple questions to the ruling elites, who have just recently amassed impressive scholarly titles and credential such as Ph.D. and “Académicien”:

• What more does it take, for all of you to realize that the Khmer Chronological Time Clock has been moving at a warp speed backward (counterclockwise)?
• With the evidence of “backward-slide” the country is experiencing today, can you with absolute certainty and honesty, look your children and grand-children in the eyes, and tell them that you have done your absolute best to secure each of them a spot under the sun, on the land of their birth, free of future class struggle, hatred, and violence, and free of foreign intervention?

Thursday, April 29, 2010
Op-Ed by NEAY KRUD’TH

Staring at the photographs below, the author is amused by the resourcefulness, crude ingenuity, and the resilience of our people despite the unfathomable adversity. However, deep down inside, there is a feeling of profound sadness over their unrelenting suffering and humiliation. The author would venture to say that these images must be affecting every conscientious Khmer in a similar manner. In a span of 50 years, or half a century, this unfortunate land and its people have been exploited, abused, plundered, and robbed by one despot after another, not to mention foreign aggressors looming in the horizon. As a nation we have journeyed from a point in time where we had at least a little of something tangible and recognizable, then ended up at the starting point just to find all things tangible and recognizable have completely vanished ― we have made a tragic journey in circle.

The black and white photograph below has been taken out of a book titled “Cambodia: Land of Contrasts” by Ruth Tooze, an American Education Specialist working as US Advisor to the Cambodian Ministry of Education in 1960. The book was first published in 1962 by Viking Press, Inc. N.Y. The author found this book in a thrown-away book pile along with another one titled “The Land and the People of Cambodia” by David P. Chandler, which contains accounts of everyday life of Khmer people up to the time of the regime change in 1970. It was published in 1972 by J.B. Lippincott Co. Philadelphia/New York. Both books were among outdated public library materials taken out of circulation and slated for disposal by the author’s hometown public library more than 20 years ago. The author just happened to walk-by one day, and became curious enough to sort through a pile of old books stacked by the library doorstep. It was his lucky day. He found and salvaged these treasure troves full of detailed narratives and memorable black and white photographs of our country during a relatively peaceful era, viewed from foreign observers’ perspective. So here it is, out of the waste heap of history, the tales of our country recent past.

Circa 1960: Photo by Dr. Thomas S. Weir, USAID.

The photo depicts an old beat-up antiquated colonial French “Renault” bus, which was the standard mode of public transportation all over the country. Reading from the placard on the side of the roof, this particular bus ran between rural town of Kampong Thmor and the market town of Kampong Cham. Note that everyone paid for the ride. However our peasant passengers do not usually get a decent seat inside the bus. More often they get piled-on over the overhead cargo on the top deck among fish traps, sacks of grain, prahok, dry fish, poultry, fruits, vegetables, wood, bicycles etc., and yet they put up with it with plenty of sense of humor to spare. Sorely unmonitored and unregulated by the government, all of the public transportation systems of that era always operated for maximum efficiency ― packed people like sardines in a can. Everyone looked normal and happy, excited and anxious to hit the big town of Kampong Cham without a fuss.

Circa 2010: Photo by Tang Chhin Sothy, AFP/Getty Images/Jan 17, 2010

Half a century later, the picture comes in digital format with multi-colors, tints, and hues, but the pain and the sadness in the face of the adults and children are more apparent and are hard to miss. After the war, public transportation serving the rural poor never been restored because there’s no profit to be made. Resources are being diverted to redevelop and rebuild the capital city, casinos, resorts, hotels, high-rise apartments, golf courses, swimming pools, urban roads, and anything that facilitates rapid exploitation of natural resources, and quick return on investments. Anything labeled “public” almost always tied to a certain profitable enterprise owned and operated by powerful elites and foreign investors. The government has abandoned the rural poor to fend for themselves as we see here. The author wonders how these children survive the carbon monoxide poisoning from breathing-in fume generated by the gas engine, not to mention loud noise that will cause them to experience hearing loss in the future.

This is a form of “economic violence” perpetrated on Khmer peasants and farmers, sanctioned by the current leadership in Phnom Penh. The planning and implementation of the rail line restoration will only be meaningful if the main objective is to improve the lives of the population along the track corridor. The interest of the surrounding communities must be the principal focus. If the train is just zipping through the landscape on its way to other more attractive venues or more profitable destinations, it will be just another déjà vu ― a train to nowhere, such as the line laid by the colonial French to serve their own economic interest, and the line laid by the Sangkum Reastr Niyum to haul imported goods (to include war supply for VC/NVA) from Sihanoukville to Phnom Penh, oblivious to the dire economic condition of the people and communities on either side of the track.

Before retreating to his corner post, the author would like to pose the following few simple questions to the ruling elites, who have just recently amassed impressive scholarly titles and credential such as Ph.D. and “Académicien”:

• What more does it take, for all of you to realize that the Khmer Chronological Time Clock has been moving at a warp speed backward (counterclockwise)?
• With the evidence of “backward-slide” the country is experiencing today, can you with absolute certainty and honesty, look your children and grand-children in the eyes, and tell them that you have done your absolute best to secure each of them a spot under the sun, on the land of their birth, free of future class struggle, hatred, and violence, and free of foreign intervention?

Your response will be very welcome, but we know better not to hold our breath!