Ung Kilong, the 50-year-old author of “The Golden Leaf”. (Photo: Courtesy of Ung Kilong)Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
Washington, D.C Wednesday, 04 August 2010
“Young people joined the Khmer Rouge because they lacked understanding,” he said. “With the schooling in place they will have more knowledge.”The author of a Khmer Rouge memoir who now lives in the US is raising funds to help education in Cambodia.
Ung Kilong, the 50-year-old author of “The Golden Leaf,” said he hopes better education will promote free thinking and a break from the kind of political ideology that led to the disaster of the Khmer Rouge.
“Young people joined the Khmer Rouge because they lacked understanding,” he said. “With the schooling in place they will have more knowledge.”
Ung Kilong is working with a group of associates to build a primary school in Thmor Kol district, Battambang province, where students are taught by underpaid teachers in a dilapidated school and without proper uniforms.
Ung Kilong is himself originally from Battambang, but he fled to the US with his sister following the Khmer Rouge and the loss of their parents and other siblings.
“I was lucky to come here, so I want to help Cambodia, so that in the future, Cambodian children can raise up the face of the country,” Ung Kilong told VOA Khmer from Portland, Oregon, where he was fundraising for the school project.
Cambodia’s ambassador to the US, Hem Heng, who attended the fundraising ceremony, urged other Cambodians to do more to help education, health and social issues.
“As Cambodians, no matter where we go and no matter what citizenship we hold, our blood is still Khmer,” he said. “Therefore, we always think of our country.
16 comments:
Siv Sichan wrote "Golden Bone"
This guy "Golden Leaf"
and someone else maybe "Golden Teeth"
Good will but bad decision.
Buiding schools means nothing, Hun Sen does it 1000 per year and you, you do it 1 a year.
The solution is not school building because Cambodia has schools.
I hope you are smarter than that, the problem is TEACHER SALARY.
build schools is useless, PAY TEACHER if you really want to help.
My beloved Kilong!
I strongly disagree with your philosophical confidence's statement that the young Khmers joining KR because of simply lacking education.
Did ye acknowledgeably know that a lot of scholarly and brilliantly educated Khmers are primarily joining Communism?
The indefinably uneducated Khmers as myself were desirably joining KR, not because of lacking any basic education or schooling, but because of being naturally inferior and fully hating the rich Khmers!
According to Marx's repeating prediction, the communist revolution is inevitable, because of the struggle between social and economic classes.
As a Math professor, ye should exclusively compose this kind of rhetorical triumph more philosophically reasonable.
In short, I hope that ye ain't still love SenVarman too much!
3:06! I take Golden Tooth!
Kilong! You may be was too young to undestand war! event old age but stupid like Shihanouk still don't don't know what was going on!
Whw war stated by a bunch of hypocrit with the support of foreigner they force kids and all of us regular citizens to joint them or else!
SEE what ah Kwack try to recrude the reserve now do you thing the poor kids can say nolike the son and nephews of ah Hun Xen?????
GO think more Golden Manure!
good view, mr. kilong! it is one of the contributing factors in the KR called for revolution, etc... education from the west could help to eleviate injustice in the future of cambodia or the world, even. i think there ought to be a campaign in cambodia against illiteracy. everyone in cambodia should be required to at least finish high school education. no one should be left behind, i think!
If we can do it again, in 1970, all of Cambodians should go to the jungle, not because of Sihanouk but because of Cambodia.
There is no action that is more noble than die for his country for his people.
Going to join Khmer rouge IS a noble action, the bad thing is Pol Pot and his followers. Killing their own people.
I was force by Lon Nol to fight and the stupid eghead thing I on Lon nol side!
WHY MOTHERFUCKERS ARE SO STUPID????
In 1979 I volunteer to joined Khmer Rouge, not because of Pol Pot, or lack of Edc. but, because of Yuon Invader!
Some Matherfuckers may said I was stupid... to joined Khmer Rouge to fought with Yuon Invader and Ayang Yuon?
And you know what I have Golden Eye.
Wrong place at the wrong time!!!!
Some motherfuckers stay at the right place and time all the time!
Mother fucker evil parasite!!!!
a lot of khmer people don't really disliked the KR regime, they just don't like the way pol pot and his group killing khmer people and starving people, that's all! that's when all went wrong! without the killing of khmer people and starving people, i think most people would be ok with it. but again, we know they killed people and starve people, so, they ruined their own credit for their so called revolution. i think any revolution should go forward, not backward into the stone ages, dark ages, etc... i don't think pol pot and his clan was smart about it! they were stupid, to say the least!
Pol Pot is not entirely differentiated from SihanoukVarman and SenVarman, all of them are psychologically afraid of losing power, because of some educated Khmers are not only patriotically wanted to rebuild the nation, but courageously having the foundamentally national conscience.
Pol Pot's ultimate mistake was killing his righthand man, Hou Youn who bravely spoke in front of Pol Pot and his Comrades,
"Why are we must quickly evacuating people out of Phnom Pehn City? Let them stay, so we can rebuild the nation from here!"
12:31AM! don't you see all the motherfucker comminist, start with your grand father Lenin Starline mother fucker was beated and hell!
Your fucking communist is unfaire and evil!!!!
THe one wholike the communist is you motherfucker and ah CPP!!!!
Anonymous said...Build schools! build schools!; education! education!;well educated people.All the above are fabulous,but the ideologists are different: in the whole world has two ideologies-the communism world and freedom world.These two worlds have schools,educations,and have well educated people also.We look at our Khmer country during Sihanouk ERA,we have Khiev Samphan,chau Seng,Hou Yun,Hou Nim,and much,much more who had high education and well educated people,but not Pol Pot,he learned communist doctrine only .Did they do the right things all those people ?How could we help our Khmer country right now ? The Vietnam,the Lao,and how about Cambodia, are they communist? We have Hun Sen,a dictator,who is Vietnamese slave.What we can help Khmer state at this time unless we change the recent government and how we change it?
Above all, we should stand shoulder to shoulder and help Mr. Ky Long building a school. You need to read his book to understand where Cambodia had taken him and why there is a strong desire to do so. May God bless my brother,
Post a Comment