Cambodian artists are showing artworks that criticize the society

Cambodian artists are now showing  artworks that criticize the society (Photo: Chan Lida, RFI)

13 January 2012
By Chan Lida
Radio France Internationale

For the past dozen of years or so, Cambodian artists, especially those among the younger generation, have shown courage to display artworks that openly criticize the negative aspects of social life in Cambodia. To these artists, art not only serves to show Khmer identity, but it also serves to change the negative mindset of social policies.

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Kingdom of Wonderful Shame: Cambodia is the paradise for men

The Kingdoom of "Paradise Lust" for men?

កម្ពុជា​ជា «ស្ថានសួគ៌» សម្រាប់​បុរស

ដោយ ម៉ៅ សុធានី
2011-12-11
RFA

A number of married men, not just the rich and powerful owes, but also men from the middle class, always go out to have young and beautiful mistresses. Problems between mistresses and first wives are creating havoc within the Cambodian society. Even though there is no statistics on the number of unfaithfulness in married couples, a number of married men – some very old – have mistresses who are as young or younger than their daughters or granddaughters. Why do these women accept to become mistresses? “They are needy women, they don’t care. They do everything to get as much money they can for spending – either for themselves or for their parents and relatives – because it’s easy money for them, they don’t have to work hard to get money for their spending … Let me ask you this: between working in the field under scorching sun and riding a Lexus car, pampered by servants, living in air conditioners, what do you choose?...” a beauty parlor owner claimed. As for the men, some use their power and wealth to buy young women for sex by offering them material wealth such as jewelry, cars and expensive clothes etc…

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បុរស​មួយ​ចំនួន​នៅ​កម្ពុជា ដែល​មាន​ភរិយា​ហើយ មិន​ថា​តែ​មាន​ទ្រព្យ​សម្បត្តិ​ស្ដុកស្ដម្ភ និង​មាន​បុណ្យ​សក្ដិ​ខ្ពស់​ទេ អ្នក​មធ្យម​ធម្មតា​ក៏​តែង​តែ​លប​លួច​ទៅ​មាន​ស្ត្រី​កំណាន់​ចិត្ត​ក្មេងៗ ដែល​មាន​រូបរាង និង​សម្ផស្ស​ស្រស់​ស្អាត​ដែរ។

បញ្ហា​ស្រី​កំណាន់​ចិត្ត ឬ​ប្រពន្ធ​ដើម និង​ប្រពន្ធ​ចុង​នេះ គឺ​ពិត​ជា​កំពុង​កើត​មាន​ឡើង​ច្រើន​នៅ​ក្នុង​សង្គម​ខ្មែរ​បច្ចុប្បន្ន។ ទោះបី​ជា​គេ​ពុំ​មាន​ស្ថិតិ​ចំនួន​បុរស​ជា​ស្វាមី ដែល​ផិត​ក្បត់​ក្នុង​ចំណង​អាពាហ៍ពិពាហ៍​ក្ដី ប៉ុន្តែ​គេ​សង្កេត​ឃើញ​ថា សព្វ​ថ្ងៃ​នេះ បុរស​រៀប​ការ​មួយ​ចំនួន​ដែល​ខ្លះ​មាន​វ័យ​ចំណាស់​ៗ បាន​លប​លួច​ទៅ​មាន​ស្ត្រី​កំណាន់​ចិត្ត​ក្មេងៗ ដែល​ខ្លះ​អាច​ធ្វើ​ជា​ឪពុក ឬ​ជីតា​របស់​ស្ត្រី​ក្មេង​ៗ ទាំង​នោះ​បាន​ថែម​ទៀត​ផង។

គ្រោះថ្នាក់​ថ្មី​សម្រាប់​យុវវ័យ​សម័យ​ក្រោយ​សង្គ្រាម​ - New danger for post-war youths

យុវជន​ខ្មែរ​សម័យ​ថ្មី (សុវណ្ណារ៉ា) - Modern Cambodian youths (Photo: Sovannara)

ពុធ 19 តុលា 2011
ដោយ ប៉ែន បូណា
Radio France Internationale 

Synopsis: Cambodian youths who were born after the war are considered very lucky when compared to past generations who lost their childhood and youth to the war. Modern youths do not have to experience dodging bullets, unlike their elder, however, modern youths do not properly benefit from peace and development in the country. Why is that so?

1. Children of the well-to-do and the middle class have everything at their disposal, be it food or education, but regretfully, some of these children are more attracted to a leisure life instead.
2. Poor children do not benefit from peace and development in the country because they live far away from the development areas, in other words, social development just pass them by.

Analysts on social evolution in Cambodia discern a number of important factors:

1. Parents are at fault because they lack the ability to guide their children.
2. Due to their low level of education and their inability to follow the situation, Cambodian youths succumb to leisure life.
3. Difficulties to counter negative and unclear external social factors allow bad cultural influence introduced by world globalization to take over the Cambodian society which is unable to offer any remedy to these problems.

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នៅ​កម្ពុជា​​យុវវ័យ​​​​​ដែល​កើត​​ក្រោយ​​សម័យ​​សង្គ្រាម​​ត្រូវ​គេ​​ចាត់​​ទុក​​ថា​​មាន​​សំណាង​​ខ្លាំង​ ណាស់​​​​​បើ​ធៀប​ទៅ​​នឹង​មនុស្ស​​សម័យ​​មុនៗ​​​ដែ​ល​​ភាគ​ច្រើន​​បាន​បាត់​​បង់​​ទាំង​​ស្រុង​​នូវ​ ​កុមារ​ភាព​​​ឬ​​យុវភាព​របស់​ខ្លួន​​ដោយសារ​សង្គ្រាម​ស៊ីវិល។យុវវ័យ​​សម័យ​​នេះ​កើត​​មក​​ដោយ​​មិន​បាន​រត់លូន​គេចគ្រាប់កាំភ្លើងដូច​ រៀមច្បងសម័យមុនឡើយ។ ប៉ុន្តែ យុវវ័យ​សម័យ​ថ្មីជា​ច្រើន​មិន​បាន​ទាញ​យក​​ប្រយោជន៍​​ពី​ស្ថានភាព​សន្តិភាព និងការ​អភិវឌ្ឍន៍​ប្រទេស​ឲ្យបានសមស្របទេ។ តើហេតុ​អ្វីបានជាដូច្នេះ?

នៅកម្ពុជា សន្តិភាពពេញលេញទូទាំងប្រទេសទើបតែកើតឡើងចាប់ពីឆ្នាំ១៩៩៨តែ​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ​គឺបន្ទាប់ពីក្រុមខ្មែរក្រហមចុងក្រោយបានចុះចូលនិងធ្វើសមាហរ័ណកម្មទាំងស្រុងជាមួយ ​រដ្ឋាភិបាល។

យុវវ័យដែលធំដឹងក្តីឡើងក្នុងសម័យសន្តិភាពឬហៅថា«ក្មេងក្រោយសង្គ្រាម» មាន​សំណាង​ណាស់​ដោយ​ហេតុថា ពួកគេមិនត្រឹមតែមិនបានរត់លូនគេចពី​គ្រាប់​កាំភ្លើង​ប៉ុណ្ណោះ​ទេ ប៉ុន្តែ ពួកគេហាក់មានឱកាសច្រើនណាស់ក្នុងការទទួលយក​កាលានុវត្តភាពថ្មី។

Understanding the Khmer Sociological-Cultural Observations - By Dr. A. Gaffar Peang-Meth

Gaffar Peang-Meth - Understanding the Khmer Sociological-Cultural Observations
http://www.scribd.com/fullscreen/61424224?access_key=key-itsw2no751lgsf2laoz

"Happiness for doing good deed, Unhappiness for doing bad deed": Opinion by Ven. Maha Phirum

http://www.box.net/shared/tolpgotk2ex93axzm7pp

Tribunal Not a Cure-All, Experts Warn

Chhang Youk, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (Photo: Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer)

Cambodia remains a fractured society, with people divided amongst themselves and differing on how they might one day, if ever, have national reconciliation, a leading researcher told a US university on Monday.

Men Kimseng, VOA Khmer
New Jersey Thursday, 22 April 2010

“So you can see that Cambodia is not just only broken but also [Cambodians] are divided as an individual, as a family, as a nation.”

Cambodia remains a fractured society, with people divided amongst themselves and differing on how they might one day, if ever, have national reconciliation, a leading researcher told a US university on Monday.

Chhang Youk, director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia, told a gathering at New Jersey’s Rutgers University that survivors prefer different ways to seek reconciliation and justice.

Some only require a simple apology; some seek the full truth; some want legal punishment for the perpetrators; still others would prefer the country move beyond a trial of Khmer Rouge leaders.

“So you can see that Cambodia is not just only broken but also [Cambodians] are divided as an individual, as a family, as a nation,” Chhang Youk said. “And that’s [not] because we don’t care about justice—because we do care about justice, so much.”

Cambodians don’t want to see atrocities like those of the Khmer Rouge repeated, because these are difficult to reconcile, and at times “impossible,” he said.

Chhang Youk’s Documentation Center has worked for years to compile evidence of Khmer Rouge atrocities. This has included interviews with survivors, documenting their accounts, and writing a book of history on the regime.

Chhang Youk told the audience Monday that the prevention of genocide was the responsibility of every individual, university, institution and nation. Once genocide occurs, reconciliation of a nation’s suffering is hard to find.

The Khmer Rouge ruled for only four years, but it has taken more than 30 to relieve the trauma, he said. And it’s still there.

Still, he said, all is not lost.

“It sounds very disappointing about Cambodia with the number of people killed, with the infrastructures that have been destroyed, with poverty, corruption, good governance, and so forth, but there’s hope,” he said. “There’s hope for change.”

That change requires action now, he said, or the trauma will remain, not just within victims, but in their children.

Currently, the UN-backed Khmer Rouge tribunal is holding five leaders of the regime. It has completed the trial of one, Kaing Kek Iev, or Duch, and is working on its second case, which involves Nuon Chea, Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary and Ieng Thirith.

Proponents of the trials, which have cost the international community millions of dollars and been plagued with delays, say they will bring a measure of reconciliation. Skeptics say this may not be so, at least not entirely.

“With genocide, I don’t know if the people will get closure with the tribunal,” said Marco Oliviera, a third-year student of criminal justice and political science who attended the lecture. “The way, I think, is a simple apology, [which] will largely bring closure, and we have to move on.”

“Too often, I think, people think the tribunal is somehow going to bring truth and reconciliation, and that is setting the tribunal up for failure,” Alexander Hinton, director of the Center for the Study of Conflict Resolution and Human Rights, told VOA Khmer. “We have to recognize the tribunal for what it is.”

The tribunal can accomplish some things, such as bringing forward evidence and understanding of the past, as well as holding leaders responsible for their actions, he said. “But it can’t do everything.”

Key to Survival of Khmer Buddhist Sangha and Laity ― Embracing Progressive Politics

Horde of poor beggars await the rich patrons of pagodas in Phnom Penh (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

AK-47 gunpoint is the "religious respect" shown by cops in the Hun Xen's regime to Khmer Krom monks who tried to send a petition to the Vietnamese embassy in Phnom Penh

“Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.” – Mohandas Gandhi, Political and Spiritual Leader of the Indian Independence Movement (1869 - 1948).

Friday, April 16, 2010
Op-Ed by NEAY KRUD’TH

While Americans ruminate over the issue of pushing religion on their government and leadership (politicizing religion) despite the principal of separation between church and state, we Khmer, the laity and the Sangha community, cannot afford to continue down the path of relative passivity while being ensnared by the religious paradox which was the unintended consequence of the Theravada Buddhist tradition established by our predecessors during the previous centuries.

While struggling to recover from the recent trauma and at the same time gathering strength to crawl out of the carnage, we must also realize that the perpetual dark era of self-destruction afflicting us Khmer was hardly the result of an unmitigated interference of the Khmer Sangha and laity with the game of political monopoly of the privileged ruling elites. On the contrary we have been so naïve to remain silent not to “rock the boat” until politics run amok, and swept our lives, hopes and dreams over the precipice. Our present adversaries (foreign and domestic) continue their flagrant encroachment on our liberty and security with impunity because they conclude that we have degenerated into an amorphous, fractionalized nation without clear leadership or central structure. Slowly but persistently they have exploited our disunity by keeping us isolated, surrounding us with sustained threat, intimidation and uncertainty to wear down our resolve, until such time when no one is looking they will then swiftly finish us off.

The foundation of our Khmer nation has been and continues to be rice farming. Cambodia has no natural wealth to speak of other than its people, the land, and the mercy of the monsoon rain. The author has heard of the latest discovery of oil and gas off-shore, but remains very skeptical as to how much, if any, our country will truly benefit from this new found wealth. Throughout our history, the mutual duties and the intimate relationship between Sangha and laity has provided a stable basis for the persistence of our Buddhist faith (Sāsana) through the centuries, which in the absence of a reliable central civic leadership became the de facto source of our comfort, certainties, moral guidance and strength that kept us moving along through the rise and fall of our country’s economic and political fortune.

Traditionally, the socio-economic make up of our country is predominantly peasants and farmers. Khmers have always been a very independent and proud race ― we like neither take nor give orders. In recent past, common Khmers would eagerly tell any foreigner that “we Khmer may be poor and unsophisticated, but we are contented people”. But since the Paris Peace Agreement of October 1991, the country is seeing more and more of its population moving out of rural farmland, perhaps not by choice but out of necessity, or worst as of lately by brutal evictions (which is often sanctioned by the powerful elites), at an unprecedented rate, to become urban laborers, pouring en-masse into urban slums to eke out a living off city sweatshops, construction sites, and out of all places city streets and landfills. This new phenomenon should serve as an ominous sign of a serious breakdown in our social fabric. This growing evidence of social degradation must never be allowed to escape the conscience of any Khmer. It should be seen as a dire warning which should prompt all of us to urgently exercise our collective wisdom and act decisively to avert the devastating impact on the old and fragile mutual social support system which is already on a shaky ground. The author would like to ask our compatriots to imagine what has happened to “failed states” such as Somalia (No.1 at the bottom of the heap, Cambodia is at No. 49 and sliding), Zimbabwe, Sudan, Haiti and the one close to home ― Burma. There must be an urgent and serious effort to figure out what measure or remedy readily available that can be applied to stem the rising tide of poverty and hopelessness among our less fortunate citizens who are rapidly becoming dispossessed people in their own ancestral land. The prospect of a genuine, meaningful governmental or outside intervention on our behalf is slim to none.

The author doesn’t think the answer to our survival lies in the past, but rather in the realm of the future. Thus, using traditions to put constraint on our monastic orders, such as favored by a certain sector of our traditional Buddhist Elders, is self-defeating, and is hardly a viable solution to the crushing challenge laid in our path. We must not forget that personally and collectively we have paid an utterly steep price for adopting the traditional approach of total obedience, conformant, and avoiding collision with the status quo. We have played this political game into the hand of the oppressors and put ourselves at a grave disadvantage. It’s irresponsible of us to subject future generations of Khmer Sangha or otherwise, to this kind of blunder and keeps on paying the horrendous price. For those of the laity and the Sangha Elders who advocate narrow interpretation of the monastic orders code of conduct given in the context of traditional Theravada teaching, the author would like to offer this excerpt of the Buddha addressing his disciples in the preaching hall at Rajagaha shortly before he passed away, for the purpose of further discussion:

“O Bhikkhus, as long as you remain united and meet together frequently, so the Sangha will continue to flourish and prosper. So long as you meet together and decide all important questions in union and harmony one with another, and do not make new and oppressive rules, hard to keep, where I have made none, but strictly for your help and protection, ― so long as you do this, the Sangha will never decay and die out.”

Mahaparinibbana

The History of Abuses Past and Present:

The Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime was full of demagoguery and false promises. In addition to running a popularity contest against the Sangha for legitimacy of its party and securing loyalty from the laity community, it treated the Sangha with contempt ― a proclaimed Buddhist State, Sangkum-Reastr-Niyum’s Cambodia put three dissidents on public execution by firing-squad.

The Khmer Republic regime of General Lon Nol and Samdech Sisowath Siri Matak burned the bridge to the Sangha. Field commanders of the Khmer Republic Army hard-pressed by strategic and tactical imperatives often violate the sanctity of Khmer wats and the monks with impunity.

Until this day the author is still wondering ― what if Samdech Norodom Sihanouk and General Lon Nol had the God-given wisdom to make conciliatory gesture toward the Sangha to encourage them to open up and voice their concerns, and to tap into their input at the time, before dragging the uninformed Khmer mass into the impending doom? Would our fate have turned out differently? Similar egomania is still being observed in the country’s “high places” today.

The Khmer Rouge regime began to move-in on the Sangha long before their final victory in 1975. No sooner than when their control apparatus was up and running, KR swiftly and brutally uprooted the monastic orders and buried them along the laity. If anyone had a better knowledge about wat politics, it was the KR cadres who possessed a deep and thorough understanding of the influence of the Sangha on the laity and the dynamics of the mutual relationship between the two communities. How do they get to be that clever? ― They were the sons of rural peasants and farmers who were once sheltered and fed by the wats while pursuing higher education away in the cities and provincial towns. To KR leaderships, the Sangha/Laity solidarity is the equivalent of a powerful locomotive with an activate/energize switch (the Sangha) followed by a long line of freight cars (laity), waiting to be activated/energized at any moment by the consensus of the people, unleashing the run-away train on the upcoming violent regime. To leave this threatening mechanism standing is suicidal. Unfortunately, unbeknown to both communities, the logic circuit was severed by KR long before anyone even had the wisdom to realize that such a mechanism existed.

Additionally in hindsight, considering the socio-economic condition at the time, the author envisions that if the laity were relatively prosperous and stable to where they can afford to keep the youngsters in school, or to induct them into traditional temporary service in the monastery, while the employment prospect was not so bleak for them, the idea of accepting AK-47 rifles and rocket propelled grenades from either faction to hunt down one another in exchange for a daily ration would not have become so appealing to the hearts and minds of young Khmers. The author still remember the year preceding the regime change of 1970, our then beloved Samdech Norodom Sihanouk went on the national airwave chastising and threatening to punish our dimwitted peasants for undermining the national and provincial road embankments in many part of the country while they were digging for crickets, frogs, crabs, and snakes along the sides of the roads. During the entire episode, neither Samdech nor his administration mentioned a word about the country “food shortage” and/or “hungry population”.

The present regime, CPP & Associates, Inc., does not even bother to invent new bag of tricks to perform their deeds, they just replay the old familiar political scripts from the Sangkum Reastr Niyum era.

Currently the Sangha are being exploited by the establishment through seemingly charitable acts, such as sponsoring the reconstruction and restoration of dilapidated wats in exchange for the Sangha’s loyalty to the regime ― the practice of “see no evil, hear no evil” is expected of the community receiving the gift. This tactics also works as a wedge to split the already weaken Sangha/Laity solidarity further apart. The author has heard tales of Lexus SUV’s jamming dirt roads in and around the wats during Buddhist events and ceremonies, when new crop of wealthy elites pay visit to their “sponsored” wats to demonstrate their pious deeds or in other words to “max-out” merits with fresh cash, while ragged beggars and hungry homeless children warily looked on.

Buddha’s terms for democracy and politics ― “conditions of welfare” and the “precepts of righteousness”

Ajatassatu the king of Magadha had just launched a coup against his father king Bimbisara and took over the throne, and now is planning to invade a peaceful neighboring state of the Vajjis. He sent one of his Brahman (an equivalent of a Prime Minister) as an envoy to probe what the Buddha might think or say ― “I will bring the Vajjis to utter ruin! Come now, O Brahman, and go to the Blessed One; inquire in my name for his health, and tell him my purpose. Bear carefully in mind what the Blessed One may say, and repeat it to me, for the Buddhas speak nothing untrue”. The Brahman PM ran off to Buddha’s abode, greeted him and delivered the message.

Instead of answering the PM directly Buddha first turned to Venerable Ananda (his lifetime aide-de-camps) and asked ― “Ananda, have you heard that the Vajjis hold full and frequent public assemblies (i.e. congressional sessions)?” Ananda replied ― “Lord, so I have heard,”

He then went on ― “Ananda, so long as the Vajjis hold these full and frequent public assemblies, they may be expected not to decline but to prosper. So long as they meet together and in concord, so long as they honor their elders, so long as they respect womanhood, so long as they remain religious, performing all the proper rites, so long as they extend the rightful protection, defense and protect the monks and priest, the Vajjis may be expected not to decline but to prosper.”

Finally, he turned to Ajatassatu’s envoy and said ― “When I stayed, O Brahman, at Vasali (the city-state of the Vajjis), I taught the Vajjis these conditions of welfare, that so long as they remained so instructed, so long as they continue in the right path, so long as they live up to the precepts of righteousness, we could expect them to not to decline, but to prosper”

Note that Buddha’s concept of democratic government and social equality and justice is more than two thousand years prior to the American Founding Fathers and the U.S. Constitution. Additionally, his diplomatic and political principle is nothing short of magnificent and was way ahead of his time ― instead of telling the envoy to “do or don’t”, he showed him the “moral high-road”, so as to let the PM and his king make informed decision among themselves. Instead of simply say “you can’t beat the Vajjis, they are solid as rock because they practice democracy” he emphasized that the Vajjis will always prevail; they know how to live as a united and virtuous nation; and that Buddha himself taught them this virtue. His wisdom and foresight is revolutionary, and astounding.

The author considers Buddha’s teaching was, and is clearly a very progressive political virtue, so relevant to the old as much as to the new world we are living in. Ironically we Khmer have not been a Progressive Buddhist Nation. The only probable explanation which comes to mind is that perhaps we have only consumed the “bark of the Dharma Tree”, in other words the superficial aspect of Buddhism such as rituals and ceremonies etc, but have yet to taste the “core of Buddha’s Dharma”. It is now critical and urgent that Khmer must shed our utter ignorance and begin to search earnestly for the solid foundation of true wisdom and strength within this core. Until we find it, our collective existence as a free nation is increasingly overburdened with fear, disorientation, disunity, and misery that will end only after our cultural heritage, religion, identity and freedom is finally crushed and reduced into an ash heap of history.

“In the land of the blind, the one-eyed man is Lord” ― Niccolò Machiavelli, Italian Philosopher/Writer (1469 – 1527)

What Is Success?

First published in February 2008 in The Phnom Penh Post as part of the Voice of Justice columns. We go from one year to another, since our nation's new birth as a democracy in 1993, with the hope that our "leaders" would learn from the past and provide us opportunities to also learn from the past and move away from it. But each year, we are more and more dismayed as they perpetuate the fear, violence and poverty of the past, and believe we should take it with a grateful smile because they "put an end to the Khmer Rouge".

Let us put an end to this revisionist history and get two things clear:

One, it was liberation (thank you) through invasion (not "volunteer humanitarianism"). With physical occupation for the next decade (leading to international sanction and the radical K5 Plan - a brainchild of General Le Duc Anh - killing unknown, unremembered tens of thousands; arrested by the collapse of the Soviet Union) and mental occupation to this day. (Why the chicanery and obfuscation surrounding the pulling out of a few illegal border posts in the middle of rice fields of Khmer farmers leading to the breathtaking measure of re-stripping the opposition leader of his parliamentary immunity, his arrest warrant, and the draconian arrests of innocent Svay Rieng villagers only trying to protect their homes? Why Vietel, owned by the Vietnamese military, is given arguable treasonous privileges in the sensitive telecommunications sector? Is it true Vietel bypassed the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications? Why call it a national airline when it's really owned and controlled by Vietnam?)**

Two, the Khmer Rouge regime has ended, yes, but not the KR mentality of leadership. If so, then please, do not obstruct the work of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal to try the additional very reasonable 6 more suspects.

** A word of caution to us Cambodians with regards to our ugly language toward each other, the Vietnamese people and others: They want to live peacefully just like you and me. Please stop the ugly language. Their condescension and racial slurs against us cannot, do not justify similar treatment. Also, the ugly language makes it more difficult for individuals like Sam Rainsy, Rong Chhun, Son Soubert and other human rights activists to raise serious legitimate concerns on the very real problem of territorial encroachments and the deep grievances of landless villagers. Our anger should be directed at our "leadership" and the policies which have created this oppressive environment, not at the innocent people who are only trying to live. I am deeply proud to know that my parents gave refuge to their Vietnamese neighbors during the pogroms of the early 1970s, most shamefully ordered by General Lon Nol. (I intentionally chose this photograph to accompany this column because I've been told I look 'Vietnamese' and I think Vietnamese women are beautiful - so, thank you for the compliment!) Remember how we felt when we were mistreated as refugees; let us not perpetuate the same madness. We should follow the example of Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

WHAT IS SUCCESS?

In this culture where we worship money, brute power, materialism, where form, posturing and external appearance pass for dignity and meaning, it should not be surprising then if society defines "success"—through words or action—as the pursuit and obtainment of these things.

However, permit me to be a social contrarian and posit alternative, less glamorous perspectives.

Success is the ability to see things in their true light. It is to know that one's worth derives not a cent from another's derision and even less from another's praise. To accept the latter is to accept it at the full venom of the former. Clarence Darrow states it another way: one shouldn't take either gratification or disappointment too seriously.

Rather, success is the realization of one's inherent value as drawn solely, completely in being made in the image of God. It is the ability to discern strength in gentleness and kindness and the courage to pursue them.

Success is the integrity to stand up to injustice and say "Enough!" at the expense of one's reputation and well-being. In speaking truth to power, mental poise shields one from the spin doctors and all other machinations of character assassination because one's actions are not guided by the opinions of the fickle and gossip-prone public; rather, a reasoned conscience directs one's path.

Success is longsuffering. It is a virtue that is obtained only through the actual experience of waiting. Amidst the waiting hope dwells. Twinned to long-suffering (or patience) is forbearance, the ability to show mercy and love amidst being wronged.

St. Augustine, in The City of God (Book I, Chapter 9) speaks of suffering. "... the fire which makes gold shine makes chaff smoke; the same flail breaks up the straw, and clears the grain... Thus, the wicked, under pressure of affliction, execrate God and blaspheme; the good, in the same affliction, offer prayers and praises. This shows that what matters is the nature of the sufferer, not the nature of sufferings. Stir a cesspit, and a foul stench arises; stir a perfume, and a delightful fragrance ascends. But the movement is identical."

Success is the refusal to succumb to one's circumstances. But success is more than the refusal to succumb. It is living with passion, with exuberance, with meaning.

Success is to let go of the past, to live in the present, and to build for the future. Certainly, it is important to know and learn from history. However, I see Cambodians' inclination to dwell on the past counter-productive in two ways.

First, we Khmers euphorically and intently focus on the glory of the Angkor period and pay scant attention on working in the present and future. Don't misunderstand me; I am first among Khmer admirers. But let us not be trapped by past illusions; there's much work to be done presently that requires our full mental exertion.

Second, we Khmers are psychologically scarred by the evil unleashed by the Khmer Rouge. Let us face this dark period of history straight-on—by seeing it for what it is, dealing with it privately, and holding the perpetrators to justice publicly. Let us not see ourselves as victims of past evils to justify our present state of malignity; we need not be the products of our environment; the ability to love is always within us. We need to want it, to reach for it. It hurts my ears to hear the oft-repeated justification for corruption, "In Cambodia, one must learn to flow with the meandering river in order to survive and get anything done."

Success is to be sure-footed and not wince in the face of intimidation. It is to realize that intimidation is nothing other than insecurity disguised as authority. Success is freedom of the soul. It is to chip away at that overwhelming sense of hopelessness imposed by poverty, by tradition, by social expectations, by institutions, by history, by unjust laws, by one's own self.

Life functions on two levels simultaneously, on a social and an individual plane. On the social level, institutions and laws proscribe our activities. Individually, our mind proscribes our limitations.

It is disingenuous to think that our individual choices are not informed by societal laws and institutional constructs, in particular, as beneficiaries of these laws. Alternatively, it is as disingenuous to ignore the uniqueness and ability of each individual to make choices and be held accountable for his choices.

We must be held accountable for the choices we do make, but we must also be mindful that not every choice has the same quality.

Theory must be tempered with reality, justice with mercy.

This should be a sobering reminder to all of us who too easily believe that we have achieved all by our own individual merit.

This said, the external environmental factors do shape the development of one's mind, but they do not necessarily have to be proscriptions absent the individual's permission.

Freedom of the soul finds root in this mental poise.

Success deletes from one's thinking that 'philosophy of the stop sign'. No. Don't. Can't. Yield.

Success moves one from self-pity and envy to gratitude.

Success is the training of the mind to meditate on what is praiseworthy, excellent, right, true, pure, lovely, admirable, and noble.

It is to understand that the pursuit of these qualities takes place .in the shadow of appearances, posturing, and the aggressiveness of every day commonalities.

Because things are not what they seem, generosity of spirit and love must be present at all times, but they must exist within a definite boundary. Growth of character corresponds with the ability to ever expand this boundary. Let others call it naiveté, but naiveté functions in ignorance with no boundary. At some point in time, enough is enough and it must be called.

Success is to know and not care whether someone else knows that you know. It has no room for pride.

Theary C. SENG, former director of Center for Social Development (March 2006—July 2009), founded the Center for Justice & Reconciliation (www.cjr-cambodia.org) and is currently writing her second book, under a grant, amidst her speaking engagements.

Cambodia needs 'systematic overhaul' of society

November 25, 2009
By Gaffar Peang-Meth
Guest Commentary
UPI Asia.com

Washington, DC, United States, — A “progressive and systematic overhaul” of its society is what Cambodia needs, according to Dr. Naranhkiri Tith, a specialist in country risk analysis, former civil servant with the U.N. Conference on Trade and Development and a former professor at the Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies.

Overhaul Khmer society? Tith says that only by freeing itself from its past can Cambodia gradually resolve its economic, institutional, legal, political and social problems.

Cambodia has been a monarchy since the first century A.D. – except briefly under the 1970-1975 Khmer Republic under Lon Nol, and the 1975-1979 Democratic Kampuchea under Pol Pot. That is the legacy Tith refers to, although he knows that criticizing something that has been the only way and the only thought of a people for 2,000 years will not make him popular.

Yet Cambodia is the land of his birth, he insists, and no one is going to prevent him from thinking and applying his best thoughts to help bring change, even if he has to step on toes.

Actually, that’s what leaders do, says bestselling author, entrepreneur and blogger Seth Bodin. Leaders have curiosity, they ask questions, they challenge what is, and they commit to working to bring about change.

From the standpoint of former Czech playwright and dissident Vaclav Havel, who became the first president of the Czech Republic in 1993-2003, that’s what an intellectual does: to “constantly disturb … bear witness to the misery of the world … be provocative by being independent, rebel against all hidden and open pressures and manipulations … be the chief doubter of systems.” An intellectual “stands out as an irritant wherever he is,” says Havel.

And to borrow Burmese human rights activist Aung San Suu Kyi’s words, it is important for a person to have a “questing mind” that is always questioning and always seeking for ways and means to get out of and solve problems. For Suu Kyi, a questing mind is necessary to help withstand violence and oppression, especially in a society in which people are generally conditioned to obey without questioning the situation.

Khmer-born and Western-educated in Europe and the United States, Tith migrated to the United States in 1960-1961 because “I felt that I was not allowed to be myself,” he says. In other words, he could not grow.

Tith sees the “pervasive and crushing role of the monarchy,” combined with the conservative nature of Khmer society – “such as the belief in prophesies and the rigidity in social organization and behavior” – as contributing to the “inertia and the inability to allow new ideas and capable leadership and entrepreneurial spirit to emerge.” In the final analysis, this keeps Cambodia “perpetually underdeveloped,” he says.

For nearly five decades now I have reflected on Cambodia, which is also the country of my birth and of my primary and secondary education. I have thought about Tith’s descriptions of inertia and the inability to allow new ideas, capable leadership and entrepreneurial spirit to grow in Cambodia.

I remember reading a Cambodian statesman’s political analysis of Khmer history while doing research for my doctoral dissertation in the early 1970s, about Khmer valor, the Khmer Empire and the builders of Angkor, the Khmer “warrior race,” when Hindu influences were paramount. Then Buddha’s doctrine of peace, kindness, compassion and acceptance came to replace the old ways.

I have asked myself if there is a dichotomy within a person with an inner tug-of-war between the combative warrior personality and the peaceful Buddha-like personality.

I have read the late Khmer professor Sar Sarun’s “Proloeng Khmer” (1973) – and re-read time and again the translation, “Khmer Mentality,” in Tith’s website. Sarun describes the Khmer mentality as insensitive to social and legal rules except where there is coercion; an artistic spirit in a soft, fanciful and romantic state with a tendency to be confused about commitments.

I have asked myself, who and what is this Khmer whom Sarun was describing?

Visna Sann, author of “Who is Khmer?” (2005) wrote in Tith’s website, “Some Cambodians adhere to a policy of exclusion in which only 100 precent ethnic Khmers may be considered Khmer.” He described prejudices recounted by a Cambodian of Chinese heritage.

"I am disturbed by these examples of exclusion,” he wrote, “We cannot afford to exclude our own people.” Sann charged that Cambodia’s “policy of exclusion … has contributed to our country’s decline in the same way as Khmer fighting against Khmer.”

Tith includes in his website Marie A. Martin’s “Cambodia: a Shattered Society” (1994). She writes that, “respect for elders and for hierarchy remains sacrosanct” in Cambodia, and reminds us that, “In the traditions of Khmer moral training, to protest against a parent’s decision, to criticize one’s boss or spiritual master, to rebel against a husband is inadmissible.”

"It is understandable how such a mentality can lead to an abuse of power but also how dangerous a lack of wisdom and scruples can be, for once the link of confidence is broken, the divorce is irreparable and the authority is forever rejected. Younger persons must keep quiet,” wrote Martin.

"And adolescents have no chance to express themselves, much less to argue. It is not surprising if later they allow themselves to be trampled by an ‘elder’ who is in the wrong or less competent than they are, if they remain defenseless in the face of a national tragedy or prefer to let a foreigner speak or act in their place,” said Martin.

Of course, all these are not really pleasant to hear. But Tith isn’t afraid to confront them.

As the saying goes: “The past is behind, learn from it. The future is ahead, prepare for it.

The present is here, live it.”
--
(Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United States. He can be contacted at peangmeth@gmail.com. Copyright Gaffar Peang-Meth.)

Resiliant Cambodia battles history

DETENTE: A Thai and Cambodian soldier stand together in the Thai military camp just across the border from Cambodia near the Preah Vihear temple. Leaders of the two armies were in talks following a two-day firefight. (MICHAEL FOX/Stuff.co.nz)

18/11/09
By Michael Fox
Stuff.co.nz

Cambodia is a land of both brutality and promise.

It embodies some of the world's major social problems: inequality and unbridled growth with scant regard for human, social or environmental consequences.

It bears the scars of war, fanaticism, cruelty and what happens when the rest of the world turns a blind eye.

But it also shows remarkable resilience.

As the historian John Tully noted, it is a misfortune for a country to be known primarily for a brutal history. So it is for Cambodia, which is working to shake its tag as the home of Pol Pot, the Killing Fields and Tuol Sleng.

I arrived in Phnom Penh on a two month exchange where I would be working for the Phnom Penh Post - one of two English language papers in the predominantly Khmer-speaking country.

In contrast to the expanse of Suvarnabhumi Airport in Bangkok, where I had travelled from, the Cambodian capital's airport was about the size of a Four Square.

After a customs official decided he was going to charge me a few extra dollars for the sake of it, I knew I was in for an interesting stay. That wasn't helped by being soundly ripped off by the first couple of tuk tuk drivers before I wised up and realised that whatever they tried to charge, about a third of that was acceptable.

Caked in sweat, slightly disoriented and batting off drug dealers, it took a while to take in where I was.

Being my first time overseas my mind was reeling - the heat, the beggars, the unregulated traffic and the food, of which I had no idea what was safe to eat.

I was fortunate that working over there allowed me to take in some sights I might not otherwise have seen and I got to work on some stories which showed me the less well-known sides of the Kingdom.

One was tracking down three villagers in a hospital in Siem Reap after they had been shot by police following a land dispute.

The hospital was what I'd heard hospitals were like in developing countries, but I was still shocked by what I saw. Two of the injured men were on mats on the ground surrounded by some very sick looking patients, crammed into corridors in the stinking heat. Doctors were hard to find.

Sitting on the floor with the men, surrounded by curious locals, I had a translator who could barely speak English which made the interview even more difficult.

Another work highlight was being sent to a village about 20 minutes from Siem Reap where a "robber family" had reportedly killed 100 people and buried them in their backyard. I hired a tuk tuk driver to act as a translator and he took me to the house, down a long dirt road far off the main road. The house was a tin building in a large barren compound, surrounded by a high wire fence. Blood was still visible on the ground and the wall from where the alleged murder had taken place. Locals who had also heard the talk were making the same journey en mass.

Ad Feedback It turned out to be a rumour though - only one person had been killed there.

I was sent to Preah Vihear on the Cambodia-Thailand border following two days of shooting where three Thai soldiers were killed. I was to spend time with Cambodian troops.

The two countries, Thailand and Cambodia both claim a small section of land near the Preah Vihear temple - a 900 year-old monument built at the height of the Khmer empire awarded to Cambodia in 1962 and made a World Heritage Site in 2008.

In the preceding days' fighting a marketplace was completely destroyed by shelling, leaving many vendors desolate, and Preah Vihear temple was damaged by Thai bullets.

The journey on pot-holed roads took the better part of two days, first travelling from Phnom Penh north to Siem Reap then on to Anlong Veng, near the grave of Pol Pot, where we stayed the night, and then on to Preah Vihear the next day.

The site of the standoff was something pretty foreign to me as a New Zealander.

Machine gun nests, AK47s and sand bagged trenches littered the plateau, rocket launchers leaned against walls unattended while armed soldiers who spoke no English lounged around in hammocks. The Thai camp was a stone's throw away across a gully littered with landmines - a scourge in Cambodia.

It was interesting to see the clash between the old and the new here. The soldiers on the Cambodian side were camped around Preah Vihear temple. Atop a vast plateau with views stretching for miles back into Cambodia and over into Thailand, it was reportedly perched there so that visitors to the ruler were overawed by the occasion.

Following peace talks, we crossed to the Thai side and it was here I got a bit lost.

As I followed a group of armed troops it wasn't until about 200m down a track, getting further and further away from Cambodia that I realised I was on my own and following a group of Thai soldiers, without my passport.

I fast tracked it back to Cambodia and sanctuary, through the Thai front line and across the de-mined path. I still haven't told my mum.

On the same trip I travelled further along the border to near the Cambodia-Thailand-Laos tri-border as part of a field trip with representatives of a shared conservation project.

As I waited in a small village at the intersection of the two roads, I became aware I was the star attraction. I was like a circus freak - a foot taller than everyone else and pale(ish) skinned. The Khmers are also not shy about staring and are known for making foreigners the butt of their jokes. There isn't much you can do but smile back and keep walking.

Not being able to speak with anyone made it difficult to order any food or drink. Having run out of clean clothes as I could only carry with me what I could fit in my back pack, trying to buy a clean shirt proved fruitless also. They're generally smaller over there.

It showed me the strange relationships that can develop between neighbouring countries. In one area, Thais and Cambodians were shooting at each other while 17 miles away they were working together to preserve the environment.

This turned out to not be quite the case however, as the trip ultimately revealed the Cambodian armed forces were building a military base and two major roads through the protected forest. This apparently did not jeopardise the project.

Working some days on the business desk it was interesting to note the issues a developing economy faces.

There is much to dislike about Cambodia.

Corruption and impunity are endemic. Brutal crimes are rife and the street is littered with beggars with missing limbs and deformities, the result of landmines and battlefields and poor maternal health.

Yet there is also much to love and admire. The people, while out to make a quick buck, are relentlessly positive, quick to laugh (albeit often at your expense), loyal to their families and attempting to get on with their lives.

Their tenacity and resolve is admirable when only three decades ago was one of the world's worst atrocities.

While I was there the Khmer Rouge trials were on and I was privileged to speak with Cambodians about their experiences and their opinions. It is one thing to know about what happened from 1975 to 1979 but it is another thing to hear people talk about it happening to them.

The country has its faults but as a burgeoning destination and a country on the mend it is a must-see for those touring South East Asia.

Michael Fox was in Cambodia courtesy of the Asia New Zealand Foundation.

Big Government under Big Mouth

March 10, 2008
Opinion by Kok Sap
Originally posted on RepublicofCambodia Yahoo Group

Cambodia claims Buddhism its national religion. This religion strongly embraces self restraint in basic five precepts. In reality from Royal Palaces to the village chief stall, daily activity is nothing close to Buddhist. In pecking order, officials behave as they are above land creatures and impose fear on constituency.

It appears in every poor inhabitant seems full of fear to even look at the official face. The visible rise of classism, societal division, alcoholism, prostitution, gambling, shameless feudalism and bribery is sprung up all over the country. It is frightening to see systematic feudalism-ego eccentric and immoral conduct thriving in short span of time up to the sky limit.

In cities, the poor especially female learns how to entertain and drink alcohol in early teen in order to work in restaurants or night clubs. The future Cambodia mother and wife are strapped with government social mischief and development failure. In the same hand imagine, who are the patrons and operators of these sin filled establishments?

Meanwhile poor young male sees glamour of self cheating in society and in officials of in government to amassing wealth. The emergence of communist control and materialism drowned Buddhists to the bottom of Canal Vinh Te and Preah Vihear.The erosion in patriotism and self righteousness is incredible. People do not trust government. Worst most do not see hope in life.

Let's examine the big government leader behavior. He forgets Cambodia belong to citizens who sure can replace any government in either way. Never failed in each of public address, the big mouth fell in love in own speeches. He loves to berate opponents in vulgar tone, character defamation, and self perpetuation. He thought all made him look good worldly. Insult own people to impress foreign benefactors a la Sihanouk. The big mouth never encourages people in self determination and rights to stand up to hypocrisy. He sees people beneath him and family. This is surely a mental disease. It is an error in his Mekong prawn brain judgment.

No secret, such behavior reflects in the poor living along Cambodia borderlines. There are countless examples recurred in Eastern, S Eastern, S Western , North and Northwestern zone. The government armed forces dissipated in the wind when crisis arrived and let land owners stranded alone then pulled back while the neighboring countries sent in reinforcement of armed battalion. The government big mouth shut his hole and never bothered to climb on his helicopter or else to personally find facts. In all incidents, big mouth never dared to send armed forces to secure people safety and homes. No matter what the neighboring armed men can intrude and destroy citizens' properties as they please. Never once big mouth would raise his Iron Fist.

Fear of democratic process and accountability, the big government under big mouth increases tactics to put fear in own people hearts and belligerence toward the world handful sympathizers. Big mouth saw no fault in his big speeches and systematic corruption. All are well and good in his disturbed mind yet he is so fearful of his own shadow let alone to walk the street in day time. Big mouth never ceased to boast millions love him but completely forgets a handful of keys big government personality never believed a word he said. This is the problem, big mouth lies too much so he almost believes his own craps.

Since 1982, in spite of long historical feuds and misrepresentation injected by neighboring countries the big government never encouraged proper education in geography and history so people would know what to look for when dispute arose. All borderlines dispute remain myth and false rhetoric in big mouth arguments. Usually no matter what, government obliges people demands. But under big mouth government, it is the other way around. To date big government is good in increasing national debts and decreasing future human resources and morality. All voters, it's time to move on and vote own conscience for a change to restore country moral duty and Buddhism.