Oppressors must fall if people unite

December 8, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS

No regime can stand without the people's support.

Some two million people converged in Phnom Penh for Cambodia's annual water festival, celebrated Nov. 20-22. On Nov. 22, an estimated 5,000 to 8,000 people jammed the seven-meter-wide, 101-meter-long Diamond Island bridge. As rumors of "electric shocks" were heard by those on the bridge, the structure "swayed," fear of the bridge's collapse heightened, the crowds pushed and a stampede resulted in the deaths of more than 350 people, with several hundred others suffering injury.

Would any responsible government allow such huge crowds on a narrow bridge without crowd control?

As Cambodians in the country and abroad asked why, and where the responsibility lies, they mourned the dead. Long-serving Premier Hun Sen told the nation -- with "crocodile tears," say Khmer analysts -- the stampede was a lesson learned; no official would lose his job. It was also announced the government would provide the equivalent of $12,000 in compensation to the families of each person who was killed -- to hide the guilt, some say.

Many called for those with some responsibility for the government's failure to resign, but such entreaties fell on deaf ears.

Complaints

My column, "Do complaints serve a purpose?" was dissected by some Khmer bloggers in the West Coast. "They do," some argued. But then what? I quoted a Chinese saying, "Talk doesn't cook rice."

And so, we are, again, complaining, denouncing, pointing fingers, calling for justice -- even more passionately than before.

Yet, what have these verbal demands produced? The straw leviathan with shaky wooden legs stays strong. The irony is, he stays strong and rules ruthlessly because the most powerful force that can run him out of town -- the people -- isn't yet convinced how those who might replace him would better serve the people's interests. Democrats have not convinced them they can succeed in fighting for their rights and freedom.

The leviathan is strong because democrats are weak and in disarray.

Only thing to fear

If one wakes up every morning, saying to oneself one cannot succeed, then of course one will fail. An anonymous Khmer blogger who commented on my column last week said positive thinking is beyond the capacity of the sick and the poor. He seemed to condemn the sick and the poor to a perpetual sickbed and eternal poverty -- an encouragement to the leviathan's oppression.

Failure is human and people fail; but it's not the end of the world. Success is not irreversible either. Recall Winston Churchill's words, "It's the courage to continue that counts."

So decide what you want, make a strong commitment to achieve it and act resolutely to reach that goal. Actions open doors to many options. Theodore Roosevelt advised, "Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."

Fear of the leviathan? The Germans say "Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is."

Edward Yashinsky, a Yiddish poet who survived the Holocaust, wrote: "Fear not your enemies, for they can only kill you; fear not your friends, for they can only betray you. Fear only the indifferent, who permit the killers and the betrayers to walk safely on the earth."

But leave the last words to Franklin D. Roosevelt, chiseled on stones in the Roosevelt memorial in the nation's capital: "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself."

Do something

My political activism dates back to my college years. When I did my doctorate in Ann Arbor, Mich., I supported the Khmer Republic because Vietnamese troops occupied Khmer territory, used as a springboard in the Vietnam War against the Americans and their allies, and because of my attachment to democracy, individual rights, freedom and the rule of law -- which I wanted to see flourish on my native soil. I have not wavered from these ideals.

In 1980-1989, I served in the nationalist Khmer resistance because of Hanoi's military occupation of Cambodia and what I wanted to see established in Cambodia.

The physical battles to improve life for the people of Cambodia must continue. With my brain and my pen, I contribute what I can.

I liked German-born American physicist Albert Einstein's words: "The world is a dangerous place. Not because of the people who are evil; but because of the people who don't do anything about it."

I did. Now, others need to do something. Complaints serve a purpose. Actions make things happen.

Freedom can be won

Khmers can win their rights and freedom.

One immediate task is for Khmers to unite around a carefully designed grand strategy to liberate Cambodia from dictatorship and install a regime of the people, for the people, and by the people. Recall Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's urging that Khmer democrats unite behind a comprehensive political program, rather than behind a political figure.

Khmers need to strengthen independent social groups and institutions -- families, schools, non-government groups. People are empowered when they find collective support to achieve a goal.

Khmers must build the people's self-confidence, resistance skills and determination to liberate themselves, and create a powerful, internal resistance determined and willing to endure oppression to deny the tyrants the people's obedience, submission and cooperation, which they need.

No regime can stand without the people's support.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.