Action brings change -- bad or good

April 21, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Pacific Daily News (Guam)

I wrote last week that Alexey Semyonov of the Sakharov Foundation and Professor Baktybek Abdrisaev of Utah Valley University called Kyrgyzstan Central Asia's only nation to have "forced regime change," both observing that its people are "willing to fight for their rights."

We each can profit from learning about the interconnections among seemingly unrelated events to draw lessons and build a better world. Change breeds change. The Kyrgyz situation will evolve further -- as will situations in Myanmar, Cambodia and elsewhere. Nothing shall remain the same.

But change doesn't always bring good things.

Ideas are the catalyst of action. People of different temperament patterns -- organizational consultant Dr. Linda V. Berens called them theorist, catalyst, improviser, and stabilizer -- seem essential for good thinking and action.

President Andrew Jackson advised: "Take time to deliberate; but when the time for action arrives, stop thinking and go in."

Action opens door to many possibilities: the good and the bad.

Two strong proponents of action, former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and President Theodore Roosevelt, leave us with invaluable insights.

"I never worry about action, but only about inaction," Churchill said. "Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts" -- "going from failure to failure without losing enthusiasm."

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are," Roosevelt said. "Get action. Seize the moment. Man was never intended to become an oyster." And: "In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing, the next best thing is the wrong thing, and the worst thing you can do is nothing."

"You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life," Churchill said.

Roosevelt noted: "No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his body, to risk his well-being, to risk his life in a great cause."

On April 7, the Kyrgyz people acted in Central Asia, and Asian parliamentarians petitioned Association of Southeast Asian Nations leaders meeting in Hanoi to sanction and expel Myanmar from ASEAN.

On that day, in Bangkok, Thai Premier Abhisit Vejjajiva proclaimed a state of emergency after the antigovernment red shirts, supporters of tycoon turned populist former Premier Thaksin Shinawatra, broke into the parliament building, sending legislators climbing over walls and cabinet ministers scrambling to get on a helicopter to be rescued.

Then came the April 10 violent clashes between the red shirts and the military: 23 protesters and soldiers were killed, some 900 were wounded.

Sopon Onkgara wrote in Bangkok's English language newspaper, The Nation, on April 13 that the red shirts were armed with M-16 and AK-47 assault rifles, M-79 grenade launchers and hand grenades as they faced soldiers "who got direct orders from politicians with no battle experience."

Gone from Thailand, apparently, is the idea of a parliament as a house for democratic debate. When angry demonstrators take to the streets, lawless riots usually ensue and mob rule's tyrannical, imperious and oppressive characteristics emerge.

Swedish expatriate journalist and author Bertil Lintner's "The Battle for Thailand: Can Democracy Survive?" in the July/August 2009 Foreign Affairs magazine reads: "The political crisis is best understood as a simple power struggle between two different groups of elites. ... Neither side could accurately be described as democratic. If Thaksin's tenure was characterized by undemocratic practices, his opponents are even more openly antidemocratic."

On April 15, The Washington Post editorialized: Three times in the past four years, the yellow shirts, opponents of Shinawatra's populist movement, created chaos in the streets of Bangkok and brought down Thailand's "democratically elected governments." Now the Vejjajiva government, "backed by the same alliance of the middle class, business and traditional elites, has itself been cornered by the same tactics."

"Neither side in Thailand's class-based political conflict is a paragon of democracy," the editorial stated.

Shinawatra "violated press freedoms and allowed massive violations of human rights by security forces. The root of Thailand's years of conflict, however, is the unwillingness of the old establishment to accept that (Shinawatra) has the support of the country's majority."

In neighboring Cambodia, Premier Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party control the country with an iron fist. Main opposition leader Sam Rainsy told the Voice of America in July 2009 of his party's decision to abandon street demonstrations and protests -- tools guaranteed by domestic and international laws -- saying the party found it "much more constructive and effective" to bring change through "other mechanisms."

While Rainsy visited France, in January Sen's court sentenced Rainsy in absentia to two years in prison for uprooting Cambodia-Vietnam boundary posts. On Feb. 25, the Deutsche Presse Agentur reported Sen as saying, "This time the court sentenced (Rainsy) to jail -- no pardon this time" and "In the next election (in 2013) there will be opposition parties, but this person will not be there."

Sen said, "You must be jailed first, if you are brave enough to come and be jailed."

Today, Rainsy remains in France. His political actions in Cambodia may have to be postponed for a while. Former premier Prince Ranariddh had to foreswear political activities to be able to return to Cambodia from self-imposed exile in Malaysia.

The "sheep culture" that reigns in Cambodia does not help.

A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.

PROFILES IN COURAGE: Vignettes from Cambodian Life

First published in September 2008. Since mid-2009, the Center for Social Development (CSD) has been effectively non-functioning and run aground as staff who could not be absorbed by the Center for Justice & Reconciliation struggle to survive. Two years ago, CSD had some 80 local staff. Where is Madam Chea Vannath, now that she has succeeded in claiming her Board status via the court injunctive order? The last I heard, the some tens of thousands of dollars worth of equipment were sold off or stored in a "laveng" on the outskirts of Phnom Penh.

Profiles in Courage is a tribute to the former CSD staff, wherever they are, who still believe and who still trust, despite... thearyseng.com

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PROFILES IN COURAGE:
Vignettes from Cambodian Life

In this Voice of Justice column, we write often of disposition and virtues which we believe to be first principles - foundational blocks for meaningful living - in the hope that these reminders will turn into clarion calls to action. We ourselves are very much aware of the precarious position we are in as a public purveyor of these messages and at the need for humility, that we ourselves should be actualizing these 'principles of first things' from empty, aspirational rhetoric into daily, growing habits. As we know, it is action which speaks louder than words.

Here, we focus on one of the virtues most needed in this culture of embedded fear: COURAGE. Courage, according to Merriam-Webster, is the ability to conquer fear or despair; valor; bravery.

It is interesting that courage is something that is simultaneously most needed and most shown often and brightly here in Cambodia.

Not despairing amidst trying circumstances

We Cambodians have an amazing ability of resilience amidst great odds, not to despair but hope in the face of hopelessness. This ability not to despair shines most brilliantly among rural Cambodians.

In my travels through the provinces - albeit for the CSD "Justice & National Reconciliation" public forums or Civil Party Orphans Class seminars, other meetings or for just pure pleasure - I am deeply moved oftentimes by the sheer determination not to despair (courage!) of Cambodians in the most trying, poverty-ridden, poverty-persisting living conditions as reflected in the smiles and laughter and warm, embracing welcome to visitors of faraway, foreign Phnom Penh.

Daily acts of bravery against abusive powers

I remember several elections ago smiling and at times being moved to tears when I see shack holding up an opposition sign when these signs were rare and potential dangerous attractions; this family was going to vote its conscience despite the odds and forgoing potential social/material benefits. Whatever is one's political persuasion, it is difficult not to admire this type of courageous convictions. During these most recent elections as well, in CSD's work of elections monitoring, we witnessed and heard firsthand acts of bravery and valor of common Cambodians, forgoing personal gains for the sake of their conscience and dignity.

I read with overwhelming pride of the two students who were the only ones who achieved all A's in their exams. What odds when one thinks of the culture of corruption in schools and the larger unfriendly environment of noise, tight living quarters, inadequate materials, for learning. But amidst these odds what great courageous accomplishments!

We see time and again the bravery of common Cambodians standing up, with only their conscience and moral compass, to abusive acts of power of authorities and the wealthy, whether relating to land or other fundamental rights. What valor!

Courage to stand up and be counted at the ECCC

One of my joys working with participants of CSD justice and reconciliation forums and with victims who'd like to become civil parties in the criminal proceedings at the Khmer Rouge tribunal is witnessing the courage and bravery of these individuals, who have already suffered so much, coming forward and sharing with each other their long-held stories and pains - with most of them, open to sharing their stories with the world, no matter how difficult it is for them to tell this story. In a culture where falsely we believe "men are diamonds and women are white cloth easily stained", imagine the courage of a woman who had been raped filing a complaint and going public with this?!

Courage of CSD Staff fighting for dignity and voice, for their present and future

During the almost three years I have been at the helm of CSD, I am repeatedly stunned anew by the people who work with me -their sheer refusal to succumb to despair and most difficult circumstances, and in the process shining like stars, balancing with great aplomb family life as father or mother (of one, two, three children), husband or wife, and the larger extended family relations who often-times depend on their financial support. And amidst it all, they produce excellent work for CSD, too regularly working overtime, unasked, with me oftentimes requesting that they go home early to their family or before it gets too dark to risk security in their long journey home. Then, there are the staff who make unimaginable sacrifices as they live and work separately from their spouse and/or newborn children in order that they may provide for their family. Given their pleasant demeanor and their valiant spirit, you'd never know of these sacrifices.

Many of them are known to you as a result of their solidarity and braved stance in response to personal acts of public destruction, speaking with one voice against abusive power, most recently when I was away for an August family wedding in California. The staff are not only advocating others to be courageous; they are living by example. It moves me to know that these are the courageous, high-quality individuals I am honored to work alongside.

Courage is the only response to fear

As with any other disposition, courage is only fixed in us through practice. As Aristotle notes in the Nicomachean Ethics almost 2.400 years ago, we become brave only by doing brave acts: "By being habituated to despise things that are terrible and to stand our ground against them we become brave, and it is when we have become so that we shall be most able to stand our ground against them."

Moreover, when we encounter obstacles, let us be reminded that they are only invitations to courage.

Theary C. SENG, a member of the New York Bar Association, former director of Center for Social Development (March 2006—July 2009), founder and Board of the Center for Justice & Reconciliation (www.cjr-cambodia.org), founding adviser of the Association of Khmer Rouge Victims (www.akrvc.org), is currently writing her second book, under a grant, amidst her speaking engagements. For additional information, please visit Theary's website at thearyseng.com.

The Courage for Changes

Supporters of Iranian Presidential candidate Mir Hossein Mousavi hold placards and pictures depicting injured protesters during a protest against the election results in Iran near the Iranian consulate in Istanbul. Western leaders expressed rising anger at Tehran's crackdown on protesters disputing Iranian election results and on foreign journalists covering the story soiled diplomatic relations. (AFP/Bulent Kilic)

June 21, 2009
Op-Ed by Jayakhmer

"The changes from within can only happen when the majority of Cambodian people feel that the country is heading toward a wrong direction and have the courage to express those desires for changes in elections."

Watching the development in Iran, one could not help but wonder why the U.S. does not take a stronger action to a situation that started as a protest against allegedly fraud elections turned into the challenge to the regime.

As of today at least 10 protesters were killed during the courageous acts of defiance to the regime that endorses what widely believed to be rigged Iranian election of June 12th. The protesters are directly challenging the Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khomeini who approved the questionable elections that declared President Mahmoud Amahdinejad as a winner over the opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi.

Senator Bob Casey of Pennsylvania told John King of CNN on Sunday morning in response to the criticism that the current administration does not do enough that President Barack Obama “strikes the right balance.” Congress also passed non-binding resolutions “to condemn the ongoing violence against the demonstrators by the government of Iran, and expressed its support for all Iranian citizens who embrace the values of freedom, human rights, civil liberties, and the rule of law.”

Iranian analyst Afshin Molavi told CNN that President Obama takes the right approach, “He needs to be on the record in standing with the Iranian people, but that does not mean he should aggressively insert himself into the political debate in Iran or aggressively insert himself the battle between the regime and the protesters.”

The delicate balance has to be taken because the U. S. has to deal with Iranian nuclear capability which continues to be a vexing issue that the U.S. will have to resolve to stabilize the region.

The way in which the U.S. handles the situation in Iran puts those who inspired by idea of democracy in notice. That includes all of us. While Cambodia desperately needs changes, external supports are only secondary to the changes from within. The U.S. by its nature has worldwide responsibilities for its security and worldwide security that largely driven by regional stability.

The changes from within can only happen when the majority of Cambodian people feel that the country is heading toward a wrong direction and have the courage to express those desires for changes in elections.