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Click here to listen to the song (MP3) posted at the Veticar websiteFriday, August 21, 2009
KI-Media
Veticar.com is a Phnom Penh-based news web portal that recently appears on the web. This professional and polished web portal includes several new articles from pro-government and pro-CPP newspapers.
We also noted that Veticar is posting several Khmer Oldies songs by the famous Cambodian singer Sin Sisamouth. However, to our surprise, we found that, among the songs posted by Veticar, an anti-Sihanouk song titled “Av Yoan Ké Mer” (The Yantra Shirt, a heritage from Mother) is also featured there. This song first appeared in the 70s, following the coup d’état toppling then-Prince Sihanouk by General Lon Nol. The lyrics of the song talk about a man leaving to the front to defend the country and the lands that “were sold to the Vietcong by the king, the traitor of the nation and the religion.”
This song was also heavily broadcasted in 2006 by Hun Sen’s controlled radio stations prior to his administration’s signing of the Supplemental border treaty to the illegal 1985 border treaty concluded with the occupying Vietnamese troops. Hun Sen ordered the broadcasting of anti-Sihanouk material because, at that time, the former king opposed this supplemental border treaty. Through this broadcasting, Hun Sen wanted to prove that he was not the only one concluding treaties with Vietnam.
In any case, we hope that our note will not force Veticar from removing this piece of history from its website, younger generations of Cambodians need to learn all the facets of our history, whether they are ugly or not.
We also noted that Veticar is posting several Khmer Oldies songs by the famous Cambodian singer Sin Sisamouth. However, to our surprise, we found that, among the songs posted by Veticar, an anti-Sihanouk song titled “Av Yoan Ké Mer” (The Yantra Shirt, a heritage from Mother) is also featured there. This song first appeared in the 70s, following the coup d’état toppling then-Prince Sihanouk by General Lon Nol. The lyrics of the song talk about a man leaving to the front to defend the country and the lands that “were sold to the Vietcong by the king, the traitor of the nation and the religion.”
This song was also heavily broadcasted in 2006 by Hun Sen’s controlled radio stations prior to his administration’s signing of the Supplemental border treaty to the illegal 1985 border treaty concluded with the occupying Vietnamese troops. Hun Sen ordered the broadcasting of anti-Sihanouk material because, at that time, the former king opposed this supplemental border treaty. Through this broadcasting, Hun Sen wanted to prove that he was not the only one concluding treaties with Vietnam.
In any case, we hope that our note will not force Veticar from removing this piece of history from its website, younger generations of Cambodians need to learn all the facets of our history, whether they are ugly or not.
