It’s Now or Never!

Sister Mu Sochua and other ordinary Cambodian sisters who stood up against the ruling Viet's puppet in Phnom Penh (Photo: Den Ayuhtyea, RFA)
One man against many tanks in Tianamen Square 1989 (Photo: Magnum)

Monday, July 19, 2010
Op-Ed by Neay Krud’th

“Three armies may be robbed of their leader, no WRETCH can be robbed of his/her WILL” - Confucius

The author has recently noticed many of the spins regarding Sister Mu Sochua’s stance against Phnom Penh judicial systems’ ruling appear to be unjustly hinged upon her gender and her SRP affiliation.

If one isolates the tree from the forest, and set aside all biases, one would find a valiant Khmer freedom activist emerging from a dejected citizenry, and onto a war path for citizen rights and justice. The only apparent oddity seen by many in this arcane political wasteland is her stubbornness in applying 21st Century approach of struggle for democratic principles to confront stone-age barbarians. Well… so were Lady Aung San Suu Kyi, and most vividly in recent memory the Chinese student who stood in front of a 60-ton moving tank in Tiananmen Square, naming a few. They did not necessarily and/or explicitly win, but their image is indelible from the psyche of freedom and democracy advocates around the world for years to come by virtue of their willingness to leverage their personal life and liberty for fellow countrymen who are unable or unwilling to toe the line. In this respect Sister Sochua has just raised the “bid price” of citizen rights and justice for every Cambodian man, woman, and child, while many including this author are still feeling “puny”.

To better present the argument, the author would like to borrow from the old sage Confucius the following quote ― “Three armies may be robbed of their leader, no WRETCH can be robbed of his/her WILL”.

The generally expected outcome as a result of this stand-off is the ego contest scoring against the ruling Viet’s puppet in Phnom Penh, which is futile because as we know barbarians have no concept of civilized sportsmanship, their cognitive system is programmed to behave as predators. The other expected gain would be the raising of the international community’s awareness and concerns regarding our plight, in particular among the champions of democracy such as the U.S., Europeans, Australians, etc. But make no mistake, these so-called world leaders’ deeds speak louder than their words. These economic and political/military superpowers have their special agenda, and at times are seen preoccupied in competing for turf, favor, and secured access to trade ― the script of the old “cold war” drama is being dusted off and re-enacted under the title of “Angkor Sentinel Exercise” right here and now in Cambodia as we speak.

In the author personal opinion, the enormous true benefit we Cambodian people hope to gain will be a “jolt” to our sleeping psyche from Sister Sochua’s implicit message that we are that “WRETCH” Confucius referred to, and that her spark of “WILL” shall be multiplied 14.8 Million times over, to get all of us across this tyrannical landscape with dignity and pride as Khmers and as member of the human race. The urgency of her message is “the time to act is NOW” lest we all become ROAD-KILLS.

P.S.: Dear Khmers make way for your sisters to SHINE!