A letter to all of our Khmer Krom elders
By Miss Sothy Kien
As an active youth working for KKF, I have been fortunate to travel far and wide to help advocate on behalf of our people back in Kampuchea-Krom. Through my travels, I have met many inspiring Khmer nationalists whose determination and commitment towards the Khmer Krom cause is one that has earn my highest respect. Unfortunately in a world of growing globalisation and corruption, not many people can truly say that they are Khmer nationalists. Many claim to be so and yet at the face of real and difficult challenges, often look the other way or even worse attempt to destroy the hard work of other organisations.
Some organisations such as the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation are formed to inspire positive movement towards human rights realisation while others resort to violence as a means to reclaim their ancestral lands and territories.
The fact that I have grown up in a democratic society have opened my eyes to the wonders of free speech and movement. Unfortunately for many of the youths abroad today, we often take for granted such rights and little do we know the phenomenal power that we have to use such instruments to help our beloved people back in Kampuchea-Krom.
What is alarming is the fear that continues to be instilled in many of our elders. Many, who have lived under the Vietnamese rule, took arms and ferociously fought against communists, are now standing silent as Vietnamese destroys what is left of the Khmer culture.
The mere act of participating in a peaceful demonstration has sent many hiding in their homes, claiming that they will not be able to return home. Others say that if they were to be involved, their families will be in dire trouble with local authorities. Either way, I believe that those are merely selfish excuses. We are not talking about one individual being in trouble but the whole civilisation of Khmer Krom facing extinction as a result of Vietnamese discriminatory and destructive policies to eliminate the Khmer Krom people as peoples.
I don’t need a university degree to understand the motive of certain organisations to use other organisations for their own benefit. And I am deeply saddened to see the divide of our elders forming a separate organisation and stepping on other people’s toes in order to achieve their objectives.
The struggle of Khmer Krom people is not about a single individual, about who is better than whom or who is going to be the top person if independence is ever to be achieved. It is about helping our people realise and exercise their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and even the Vietnam constitution.
Without knowing and having access to such rights, how can our people even begin to reclaim our lands? Like a baby that learns crawls before it walks, our struggle must start with our rights. We must have patience, the famous Angkor Wat and the foundation of our Khmer Krom civilisation and temples wasn’t built overnight. Thus, the struggle of our people and nation will be long time in coming but each action that we take to work together and bring Khmer Krom issues to the international forefront; we are one step closer to achieving the goal of self determination.
Some people have approached me and asked if there is hope for Khmer Krom? A quote by Edmund Burke goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing." I believe that spirits and hope of ancestors continues to burn brightly within each and everyone of us Khmer Krom abroad and especially in Kampuchea-Krom. As long as we continue to fight as one, we will fuel the fire of hope for our people.
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." - Abraham Lincoln
It is up to each of us to make a difference. Don’t wait for the right time to be involved; make it so that the right time is now to be active.
In writing this letter, I hope that our elders find within themselves the truth and not be influenced by power or money. It is not about you or me, it is about our nation and that is something we must put at the forefront to be considered a genuine Khmer nationalist and not just our current generation or the next one but your generation a true Propang Tong Rakessy (root of bamboo shoot) [KI-Media note: Tumpaing Snorng Russey] as defined by our past ancestors.
Some organisations such as the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation are formed to inspire positive movement towards human rights realisation while others resort to violence as a means to reclaim their ancestral lands and territories.
The fact that I have grown up in a democratic society have opened my eyes to the wonders of free speech and movement. Unfortunately for many of the youths abroad today, we often take for granted such rights and little do we know the phenomenal power that we have to use such instruments to help our beloved people back in Kampuchea-Krom.
What is alarming is the fear that continues to be instilled in many of our elders. Many, who have lived under the Vietnamese rule, took arms and ferociously fought against communists, are now standing silent as Vietnamese destroys what is left of the Khmer culture.
The mere act of participating in a peaceful demonstration has sent many hiding in their homes, claiming that they will not be able to return home. Others say that if they were to be involved, their families will be in dire trouble with local authorities. Either way, I believe that those are merely selfish excuses. We are not talking about one individual being in trouble but the whole civilisation of Khmer Krom facing extinction as a result of Vietnamese discriminatory and destructive policies to eliminate the Khmer Krom people as peoples.
I don’t need a university degree to understand the motive of certain organisations to use other organisations for their own benefit. And I am deeply saddened to see the divide of our elders forming a separate organisation and stepping on other people’s toes in order to achieve their objectives.
The struggle of Khmer Krom people is not about a single individual, about who is better than whom or who is going to be the top person if independence is ever to be achieved. It is about helping our people realise and exercise their basic human rights and fundamental freedoms embedded in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and even the Vietnam constitution.
Without knowing and having access to such rights, how can our people even begin to reclaim our lands? Like a baby that learns crawls before it walks, our struggle must start with our rights. We must have patience, the famous Angkor Wat and the foundation of our Khmer Krom civilisation and temples wasn’t built overnight. Thus, the struggle of our people and nation will be long time in coming but each action that we take to work together and bring Khmer Krom issues to the international forefront; we are one step closer to achieving the goal of self determination.
Some people have approached me and asked if there is hope for Khmer Krom? A quote by Edmund Burke goes, “The only thing necessary for the triumph [of evil] is for good men to do nothing." I believe that spirits and hope of ancestors continues to burn brightly within each and everyone of us Khmer Krom abroad and especially in Kampuchea-Krom. As long as we continue to fight as one, we will fuel the fire of hope for our people.
"I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong." - Abraham Lincoln
It is up to each of us to make a difference. Don’t wait for the right time to be involved; make it so that the right time is now to be active.
In writing this letter, I hope that our elders find within themselves the truth and not be influenced by power or money. It is not about you or me, it is about our nation and that is something we must put at the forefront to be considered a genuine Khmer nationalist and not just our current generation or the next one but your generation a true Propang Tong Rakessy (root of bamboo shoot) [KI-Media note: Tumpaing Snorng Russey] as defined by our past ancestors.
4 comments:
Wow, very inspiring. With enough people like you we can have our land back.
We need the people like you to lead and and to help our people.
i really admire you that you have this Idea,Good luck you!
A nation needs leaders to lead for its survival as such. Many Leaders in many fronts. Since after Angkor era, khmer "leaders" had no more any motive, any vision nor encourgement to produce any leaders to lead the country. So the downfall of Kampuchea. Learn what take to be a leader and how to produce a leader and start to produce leaders, and work diligently to cast out darkness of oppression with the light of knowledge and wisdom on human rights in Kampuchea Krom (and also in Kampuchea Leu.) Lack of knowledge is the root cause of destruction and death of any nation. Worse, rejecting knowledge and wisdom is to accept to die with agonizing death. Collectively, that we just doing since a millenium.
Knowledge to produce leader can be learned.
Do we know this? To want to lead is not enough. Know how to lead and what are required to lead effectively are also required. The obviuous is so clear and so bright that it blinds us.
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