Cambodia: Valentine's Day Sparks Controversy

Sunday, February 14th, 2010
By Sopheap Chak
Global Voice Online

Valentine's Day was first celebrated in Cambodia in 2000. It is now a popular event in the country, especially among the youth. The government, with the help of some bloggers, use this occasion to promote sexual health and reproductive health rights among the younger generation

Celebrating Valentine's Day is relatively a recent phenomenon in Cambodia. It was only in the past decade when Valentine's Day was celebrated in the country. Though Valentine's Day has gained much popularity among the younger generation, its definition and practice remain controversial. They spark an alarming attention especially on the wrong practice associated with this global occasion.

Many writers regret that the meaning of Valentine's Day has been misinterpreted. Chhay Sophal, in his article on ” ប្រយ័ត្ន​ទិវា វ៉ាឡិនថាញដេ ក្លាយ​ជា​ទិវា​ស្នេហ៍កម្មជា​ទិវា​នៃ​ក្តី​ស្រឡាញ់” [Be Warned of Valentine's Day to Become a Regrettable Eve], emphasized that the youth have confusingly transformed the meaning of Valentine's day:

ដោយ​ឡែក​នៅ​កម្ពុជា ​វប្បធម៌​នេះ​ក៏​មាន​ប្រជាប្រិយ​ផង​ដែរ​ចាប់តាំង​ពី​ឆ្នាំ ២០០០ មក​ពិសេស​ក្នុង​ចំណោម​យុវវ័យ។ អ្វី​ដែល​គួរ​ឲ្យ​កត់​សំគាល់ គឺពួក​យុវវ័យ ​មួយ​ចំនួន​បាន​យក​អត្ថន័យ​នៃ​ទិវា​នេះ​ទៅ​ជា​ទិវា​មួយ​សម្រាប់​គូស្នេហ៍​ទៅ​វិញ ដោយ​បក​ប្រែពាក្យ វ៉ាឡិនថាញ ដេ (valentine day) ថា​ជា​ទិវា​សង្សារ​ទៅវិញ ដែល​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​ពួក​យុវវ័យ​ខ្មែរ​យល់​ខុស​វក់​នឹង​សង្សារ មិន​បាន​គិត​ពី​មិត្តភក្កិ​ដទៃ ពិសេស​ឪពុក​ម្តាយ​បង​ប្អូន​របស់​ខ្លួន។

Valentine's Day has become popular among young generations in Cambodia since 2000. Strikingly, some young people have wrongly defined this Valentine's Day as the “Eve for Lovers” instead of “Eve for Love” with the latter referring to love for parents, relatives and friends in general.

Sophal also highlighted the negative impact resulting from the misinterpretation of Valentine's Day. This includes sexual misconduct among young lovers, which is a violation of Cambodian culture, especially for unmarried couples. Another impact is the possible harm on the reproductive health of young women.

ជា​ការ​ពិត យើង​មិន​ទោមនស្ស​នឹង​ក្តីស្រឡាញ់​របស់​យុវវ័យ​នោះ​ទេ ប៉ុន្តែ​អ្វី​ដែល​យើង​ព្រួយបារម្ភ​នោះ​គឺ​ស្រ្តី​វ័យ​ក្មេង​អាច​បាត់បង់​កិត្តិយស អាសោច​កេរ្តិ៍ដោយ​តែ​បាត់​បង់​ភាព​បរិសុទ្ធ។ ជាង​នេះ​ទៅ​ទៀត ពួកគេ​អាច​ប្រឈម​នឹង​ការ​មាន​ផ្ទៃពោះ​ដោយ​ចៃដន្យ ប្រសិន​បើ​ការ​រួមភេទ​ជា​មួយ​បុរស​ជាសង្សារ​នោះ​មិន​បាន​ប្រើប្រាស់​ស្រោម​អនាម័យ​ឲ្យ​បាន​ត្រឹមត្រូវ ហើយ​ការ​មាន​ផ្ទៃ​ពោះ​នេះ​គឺ​ឈាន​ទៅ​ធ្វើ​ការ​រំលូត​កូន ដែល​ប្រការ​នេះ​ពិត​ជា​ធ្វើ​ឲ្យ​ស្រ្តី​វ័យ​ក្មេង​ប្រឈម​នឹង​បញ្ហា​សុខភាព​បន្តពូជ​ទៅ​ពេល​អនាគត។

Though we do not mind about the youth's love affairs, we are much concerned about young women whose dignity will be damaged given the fact of their lost virginity. Even worse is that they may be pregnant and it may lead to abortion. This will be harmful to women reproductive health.

Sophal further emphasized that young women are more prone to HIV/AIDS if their sexual partners do not use condoms. They can also be victimized by pornography scandals that may jeopardize their future and the reputation of their family. Thus Sophal warns young women to be careful not to fall into the love trap during this Valentine's Day. He advised that the youth will be in a better position to celebrate this occasion with their beloved parents, relatives or friends in a proper manner.

These observations have been shared by Vutha Morn who questioned the link of culture identity and cultural preservation while Sidaroth Kong wrote in her Facebook status that “Valentine's Day and Controversy Khmer Culture: Is sleeping with your partner the only way to show that you love him?”

According the a cross-sectional research on “Love and Sexual Relationship: Experiences and Plans of Middle Class Young People Regarding the Upcoming Valentine's Day In Phnom Penh in 2009″ done by Soprach Tong, who surveyed 458 youths aging from 15 to 24, majority of them do not understand the background of Valentine’s Day. Asked if the middle class young people in Phnom Penh plan to be sexually active on the upcoming Valentine’s Day, Soprach found that:

“In the results, 12.4 percent of all respondents answered that they expect to be able to have sex on the upcoming Valentine's Day, and more than 14.3 percent of young people in a couple answered that they expect to be able to have sex with their sweethearts on that day too, and a few couples plan not to use a condom. Meanwhile, more than a third (39.5%) of the young people in a couple surveyed (n=38) stated that it will be the first time for them to have sexual intercourse. And the other two thirds (66.6%) of young males in couple (n=25) will pressure or force their girlfriend on having sex using many devices, if they do not agree. And at least seven percent of young males who answered that they expect to be able to have sex are open to being involved in Bauk [Gang rape, a slang term occurs after one (or two) youth(s) negotiate a price with a sex worker, or solicit a woman’s affection and arrange a proposed destination for sexual intercourse. Then the woman is taken to a hotel or guest-house, where numerous other young men are waiting, or will soon arrive] on the upcoming Valentine’s Day”

From this result, the author urged for attention on sexual consent, sexual reproductive health and HIV/AIDS programs which target young people in the urban areas of Cambodia.

Given these alarming facts and concerns, the Cambodian Ministry of Women's Affairs, initiated five-minute spots educating the teenagers about the “meaning of the Valentine's day” in order that the young will be encouraged to expresses their love to family first, followed by teachers and then friends. This educational spot which aims to warn Cambodian teenagers against engaging in promiscuous sex has been welcomed by majority of students, teachers, and bloggers.

Tat Marina's story turned into a graphic novel by Stanford students

Tat Marina before her acid attack

Click here to read Shake Girl online
Sample from Shake Girl
Sample from Shake Girl

Stanford students try writing a graphic novel

Thursday, May 8, 2008
Justin Berton
San Francisco Chronicle Staff Writer (California, USA)

Tom Kealey has taught a lot of writing classes at Stanford University, but never one that asked students to consider the dramatic pause provided by the "page flip."

Or how wide to draw "the gutter."

Kealey and co-instructor Adam Johnson taught a winter course titled The Graphic Novel, and assigned their students to write, edit and illustrate a collaborative final project. The result is a 224-page graphic novel titled "Shake Girl," based on the true story of a Cambodian karaoke performer named Tat Marina who was the target of an "acid attack" after she had an affair with a married man.

"In a normal writing class, you'd write a poem or finish a chapter and you'd own it," Kealey said. "In this class, we had to collaborate every step of the way, every idea, and make compromises. It was the most difficult and rewarding class I ever taught."

While the study of comics and graphic novels has steadily become an acceptable part of college curricula - "Maus" creator Art Spiegelman taught a course at Columbia University last year - the project-based graphic novel class offered at Stanford appears to be the first of its kind.

Karen Green, a librarian at Columbia who has been acquiring graphic novels for three years, said Yale and Cornell have growing graphic novel collections, and Michigan State, Ohio State and Duke all have archived comic strips and books that span decades.

Yet for the graphic novel, the leap from archived material to in-class study and production at a major university marks an upgrade in status.

"It's a different way to tell a story that has specific rules," Green said. "And to have somebody teaching those rules, that's impressive."

Kealey and Johnson accepted 40 applications from undergrads and graduates in the English and art departments, and accepted 14.

Kealey said most of the students were already familiar with the works of Spiegelman and Marjane Satrapi's "Persepolis," set in post-revolution Iran, and were aiming to tell a complex, serious narrative.

Eric Pape, a journalist studying at Stanford on a Knight Fellowship, offered the class his nonfiction piece published in 2006 by Open City magazine about the phenomenon of acid attacks against women in Cambodia.

"It was clear from the outset while we were discussing ideas that the class wanted to do some sort of good with this project," Pape said, "not make it just a vanity project."

Pape said even though the basis of "Shake Girl" is rooted in actual events, the graphic novel genre gave the story more dramatic energy, while maintaining the theme of love gone horribly wrong. He said he wanted to see out the adaptation in part to attract readers who prefer visual to text-only stories.

"Young people read graphic novels," Pape said. "The newspaper industry is struggling, and it's looking for new models to tell stories. Journalistically speaking, this is a domain worth exploring."

One reason graphic novels are being read in university classrooms is that the term sounds more academic than comic books, said Ivan Brunetti, a lecturer at Columbia College in Chicago and the University of Chicago, who has taught the course Writing the Graphic Novel on both campuses for the past three years.

Brunetti says the phrase "comic book" still rings childish to administrators; "graphic novel" is more acceptable when pitching a class.

"Graphic novels are really comic books wrapped in book covers with spines," Brunetti said. "But for some reason, 'graphic novel' sounds more lofty and people have bought into it. The term has helped to create a distinction in people's minds that there's an important art movement occurring that is more concerned about long and serious work; and that's partially true."

The U.S. retail market for graphic novels has grown precipitously over the past decade, reaching $375 million in 2007, up 12 percent from 2006, according to a report last month from ICv2, a trade company that tracks pop culture industry trends. Much of the growth is due to the mainstreaming of the genre by specialty publishing houses, such as Drawn and Quarterly in Montreal and Fantagraphics Books in Seattle, and more recently to traditional houses like Pantheon, which has a graphic novel imprint that publishes Spiegelman, Satrapi and Daniel Clowes, among others.

Thomas LeBien, publisher of Hill and Wang, an imprint of Farrar, Straus, and Giroux, who oversees the company's 2-year-old graphic novels division, attributes rising sales to the medium's growing storytelling capabilities. He refers to Hill and Wang's "The 9/11 Report: a Graphic Adaptation" by Sid Jacobson and Ernie Colon, a controversial work he said forced mainstream book reviewers to ditch the "graphic novel" term for "graphic nonfiction" and "sequential art narration."

"There's an audience out there that doesn't view this as 'comic books,' but as sophisticated storytelling," said LeBien. "The reason professors and universities are so interested in teaching it is the form is so versatile. It does very particular things just like movies do, and just like books of prose do."

At Stanford, Kealey and Johnson knew asking 14 students to collaborate to produce one book was an ambitious task. And their class had six weeks to do it.

"Co-writing with one person is difficult," student Pape said. "Co-writing with 14 was extremely difficult."

After the writing, students cut the story into five acts, and the art students created storyboards from a rough draft. The illustrators mulled over the "page flips" - the kapow-y action sequences often found on the right-hand panels. When the flips are done to maximum effect, the time it takes the reader to turn the page can serve as a dramatic pause.

Kealey said, "That's not something a novelist normally has a chance to do."

"Shake Girl" can be viewed at shakegirl.stanford.edu.
E-mail Justin Berton at jberton@sfchronicle.com.