Monks Spread Morality in Schools [hopefully not the Tep Vong kind of immorality]

Suon Kanika, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13/07/2007

Monks from a Buddhist foundation have begun moving through primary schools in Phnom Penh, seeking to teach greater morality in what they see as a culture in decline.

The monks—from the Foundation of Education, Culture, Peace and Non-Violence—teach children the five precepts of Buddhist morality: do not kill living things, do not steal, do not lie, avoid sexual misconduct, "refrain from intoxicants which lead to heedlessness."

The precepts are to be followed by laymen and taught by monks, part of the "Three Gems" of Buddhism.

Monks told VOA Khmer they had seen a decline in Cambodian morals and were seeking to bring them back through schoolchildren.

In spite of the authorization from their orders, few monks voted

(Photo: Khem Sovannara, Cambodge Soir)

Monday, April 02, 2007
By Ung Chamroeun
Cambodge Soir
Unofficial Translation from French by Luc Sâr

Click here to read Cambodge Soir’s original article in French

Deprived from voting in 2002, in the name of religious impartiality, the monks are authorized to vote now, but not many of them showed up to the polling stations.

In a pagoda in Takhmao, Kandal province, four young monks are discussing on this commune election Sunday morning. Three of them are showing off proudly their index finger blackened by the voting ink, a proof that they have already voted. The fourth monk, too young, does not bear this distinctive mark. However, he is not the only one who had not voted, several elder monks who could vote, did not take part in the voting even though a monk edict was issued to this effect by Tep Vong, the supreme patriarch of the monks in Cambodia, allowing them to officially vote as a “citizen,” – a right which was not given to them in the previous election so as to preserve “religious impartiality.”

“I was somewhat ashamed to go to vote as a monk, in front of other citizens. So, I did not go to vote early, at the opening of the polling station,” one of the four young monks said. “Participating in the election is part of our duties. We are citizens like others.” “The commune chief is also our chief,” one of the four monks added. “He has influence over the pagoda, he participates in some decision-makings, he is in charge of security during religious festivals…,” the monk said, as is to justify his voting action while wearing his saffron robe.

Samen, a 28-year-old monk from Wat Botum in Phnom Penh, fulfilled his citizen duty for the first time. He believes that this is not totally conforming to “the true Buddhist discipline, according to which, voting is tantamount to betting and should therefore be banned.” “But what can I do? The law said that we are citizens like other people. And we are repeating nonstop that we must maintain the relationships between the Buddhist world and the laymen world. That’s why I went to vote!” he explained. Samen remains nevertheless an exception in his pagoda: “Several monks are not interested in the elections and they are not even registered on the voting lists. But this is not a problem for me. Voting or not, it’s the freedom of each one of us,” he concluded.

Election Monitor Says Monks Should Vote But Not Run

Kong Sout
VOA Khmer
Washington
21/02/2007

The director of one of Cambodia’s election monitoring groups says that Cambodia’s monks should exercise their right to vote in elections but not run in them.

The constitution allows for all Cambodians over the age of 18 to vote, regardless, making the country’s 500,000 Buddhist monks potential voters, Comfrel Director Kul Panha says.

Tep Nitha, secretary-general of the National Election Committee, says his office has always encouraged monks to exercise their right to vote.