Wednesday, February 25, 2009

A Weak State with a Strongman

This is my responding to a Vietnamese who commented on my blog <read more>

Well said Hoang,

I love the concept to live in the present and look for the future. Also I love to be friendly and mutually understandable, rather than to face or confront with each other. This trend is practically successful for the modernistic approach.

But to live in the present without learning from the past is surely lacking something substantial. Cambodian people want to see the progressive present and the brighter future. But the status quo of the brutal past is still haunting them. The past has been strongly politicizing Cambodians. And the past persons are still in there and watching them closely.

I am pragmatical to believe Pol Pot who said that if Khmer Rouge didn't defeat Lon Nol first, Vietnam will defeat them and annex Cambodia into a great Indochina Peninsula. Pol Pot has branded as a political paranoia, but some of his speech is not groundless.

The disengagement of Vietnam with China is the key policy of Uncle Ho to free his country from the threat of Great China. Uncle Ho was smart to understand China's ambition. Uncle Ho was rightly predictive to the possible conflict between Russia and China. Uncle Ho planned to ally with Russia to benefit both freeing Vietnam from China and annexing Cambodia and Lao into the organization once created by French. Uncle Ho has renewed the legacy of French colonial.

As a Cambodian younger generation, I admire the gradual success of Vietnamese leadership in expanding their territory, developing their economic, particularly the right predicting of their future's political engagement with the outside world. Currently, Vietnam has been a strong state with strong leadership, strong economic tendency, and self-reliance. Though, Vietnam is a communist-leadership style, but this country is considered as a "strong state".

Looking at Cambodia, not mention the case of Lao who has been totally possibly under the vanguard of Vietnam; Cambodia is still considered a weak state under a strongman, Hun Sen. Communist or democracy is not important thing for any state nowadays, but the important thing is the viable structural government and the legal implementation of that country.

Cambodia is not in that category because:
- One leader is strongly showing his ability. How smart he is, single leader cannot ensure the strong structure of complex government administration. From past to present, one country with one lasting leader cannot avoid from division, conflict and disaster.
- One strong leader in Cambodia with his patronage government has no will and effort to develop self-reliance. Cambodia is weak because it is surviving through foreign aids, elites domination and intervention of lasting friendship policy particularly Vietnam. Vietnam who has supported Hun Sen and his group to lead this country ever since.

---Cambodia is still considered very weak and easily fragile, and with this weakness I admire Uncle Ho's planning attempted being a lasting friend with Cambodia and Lao---

This is a tale of "A weak state with a Strongman"

I will talk to you more next time, Hoang

Please, accept my sincere regards

KY

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Dear KY,
I am one of your country men, I am proud of you to have replied to Mr. Hoang like an educated person. I am so annoyed with those who have posted their comments like an illiterate person or ganger.

Anonymous said...

My beloved KY!

Even though I am openly illiterate, I patiently have so uncountable conversations with our beloved centuried traditional friends, Youn, in a few of Khmer's websites. Evidently speaking of their Mighty supperior attitudes, most of them were pleasantly and reasonably insulting and mockering us, because of their highly and scholarly intelligent and academic education. Am I feeling personally ashamed of my lacking education, because I was one of the Killingfield's children who psychologically had lost almost everything? No!
I am heavenly proudful to be Khmer!

Anonymous said...

No, that's wrong, KY! A state is never weak; it's a fake strong man who is weak. He's only strong among the weakest poor and innocent defenseless people. If a statesman is strong, the state is also srtong; just take a good look at Israel and Taiwan as examples. Perhaps he's strong in the eyes of the fools.

Anonymous said...

Merci MR KY de votre réponse à Mr HOANG il me semble que ce drenier a oublié l'aide des Khmers avec la bénédiction de Samdach Ta et la vrie fausse Khmere IZZY qui a fait transiter et facilmiter les vietcongs ou vietnamiens tout court dans le nord du Cambodge Comme recompense les Vietnamiens nous ont encore picpoketter 5 km de terre du coté de Takeo . Hélas l'histoire ne fait que répéter Bientôt bientôt si les jeunes générations khmers ne font pas attention les cambodgiens vont etre classés comme les derniers des Mohicans ou comment on peut coloniser d'un pays apres la violence physique pas la colonisations des gens occupations des terrains controles et noyer l'administration au plus haut niveau . Je me pose la question il y en a combien des généraux vietnamiens dans l'armée khmer . Il suffit de regarder le photo de l'obsèque de HOK LUNDY . C'est sur on me traite de racisme envers les vietnamiens mais est un crime d'aimer son pays .
UN KHMER DE RATTANAKKIRI

Anonymous said...

Thank KY for your respond to the Vietnamese guy. To me, I never blamed Vietnamese, but I blamed our notorious leaders, Pol Pot and his cliques. As you can see at S-21, most Khmer Rouge cadres were killed because they are accused of being connected to the Vietnamese or Vietnamese spies. But in fact, they had nothing to do with those Vietnamese. Personally, I think that Prime Minister Hun Sen has done the right things and it is good that Vietnam attacked the Khmer Rouge, so it could save most Cambodian lives before we started to renovate our country.

Anonymous said...

Cambodia is run by a bunch of Khmer Rouge commanders, who suppose to be in U.N. Khmer Rouge Trial right now.

When is the ECCC going to bring Hun Sen, Chea Sim and Heng Samein to U.N. Khmer Rouge Trial?

Anonymous said...

The laws in Cambodia is supervised by Hun Sen, how can the ECCC hange Hun Sen?

Anonymous said...

it's ok to have critics, however, sometimes criticism leads to nowhere and have other intention. however, if critics are to help solve problems or give advise to solve problem or whatever, then it can be good. please know the difference. just because god have given people mouths, doesn't it they have to talk nonsense, blah, blah... only with their bad mouth and nothing good came out of it. please be smart. thank you.

Anonymous said...

Dear KY,
I agree with the comment made by this vietnamese. I also like to congratulate him for daring to express his true vision from his heart. Unlike most vietnamese would tell us the herois of Hun Sen instead. I have posted many times with regard of a strongman witha weak state where a single has dominated all National Institutions and the whole national adiministrations structure is so weak. THe present structure of Cambodian administration is no different to Pol Pot where people cannot find their personal security if they express their opposition to the leader. We must learn our reality that even the opposition party cannot operate their duty proprely and sometime the leader need to exil himself. We need strong country with strong Institution but very weak leaders. Areak Prey

Anonymous said...

We need no leader shit!!!! Just do you fucking job and be under ONE law to all!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

Ah Khmer-Yuon (KY) is blind. Virtually all Asia is build by one leader, no more, no less.

Don't listen to Ah Potato digger who live in a fairyland.

Anonymous said...

2:21 AM It wasn't his true vision or heart. He skipped the brutalities committed by the VN on the Khmer race when they invaded Cambodia, do you and the world know how many Khmer died in the hand of the VN army? He chose to point out only Pol Pot madness and brutalities because the whole world knew well about this. Most of those killed when the KR attacked VN were the Khmer Krom people. Vietnam allowed/condoned Pol Pot KR to kill those Khmer Krom/Vietnamese in the cross border so they can win the media war with the International Community and use it as a legal basis and pretext to topple the KR regime. That was the fact. Vietnam was/is more than capable of preventing it, but it didn't.

KNM

Anonymous said...

Dear KNM,
We must separate people in politic and ordinary citizen. There are a lot of good citizen regardless they are khmers, or Vietnam or Thais or Chinese or any Nationality. Each person has their own integrity and their pride to judge the reality. Therefore we cannot judge everyone is bad because of his politician is bad to Cambodia. we have worship Buddha for the past 10 centuries by knowing that the Buddha was not of Khmer citizen. Why? Because we recognised of his moral and his high integrity. THe same for the Haong who is a vietam but he didn't denied about the aim of Ho Chi minh policy to regain Cambodia as a member of the indochina at all. His comments is to teach us how we should learn;
1-A weak State and a strongman.
2-Vietnamese Government policy.
Areak Prey

Anonymous said...

If you voted for CPP (Cambodian People's Party):

Also known as:

Communist People's Party
Khmer Rouge People's Party
Khmer Krorhorm People's Party


You're support the killing of 1.7 million innocent Khmer peoples.

You're support the killing of innocent men, women and children in Cambodia on March 30, 1997.

You're support murder of Piseth Pilika.

You're support assassination of journalists in Cambodia.

You're support political assassination and killing.

You're support attemted assassination and murder of leader of the free trade union in Cambodia.

You're support corruption in Cambodia.

You're support Hun Sen Regime burn poor people's house down to the ground and leave them homeless.


These are the Trade Mark of Hun Sen Regime.


Hun Sen, Chea Sim and Heng Samrin are Khmer Rouge commanders.
When is the ECCC going to bring these three criminals to U.N. Khmer Rouge Trail?

Khmer Rouge Regime is a genocide organization.

Hun Sen Regime is a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen Bodyguards is a terrorist organization.
Hun Sen Death Squad is a terrorist organization.
Cambodian People's Party is a terrorist organization.

I have declare the current Cambodian government which is lead by the Cambodian People's Party as a terrorist organization.

Whoever associate with the current Cambodian government are associate with a terrorist organization.

Anonymous said...

Hun Sen's government (Cambodian People's Party) invented human right abuses, intimidation, death threats, assassination, murder, killing, eviction, land grabbing, injustice, and corruptions in Cambodia.

These are some of Hun Sen Regime's Trade Mark.

Under Hun Sen Regime, no criminals that has been committed murder and all other crimes within Hun Sen's government ever been brought to Hun Sen Regime's court.

Anonymous said...

Excellent! that is what potato diggers deserved.

Thank to PM Hun Sen!

Anonymous said...

Great writing KY...your writing is professionally accepting...Vietnam's scholars need the feedback from Cambodian scholar!

Anonymous said...

KY just repeated what has been happening and what has been said by people all around nothing news.
I don't appreciate anyone not Ho Chi Minh not Hun Sen, but I appreciate that more and more people are judicious including KY.

And that is a good sign. We could share and learn from each other through the internet and it is very educational if we really are knowledge seekers instead of becoming a pussified group of self important.

I don't feel bad what Ho Chi Minh did, because he or any body would do the same, I would, seeing a weak nation like Cambodia has mostly ignorant and stubborn people. I appreaciate us as the people can see and learn from our past so that we can do better in the realm of new ideas.

Ho Chi Minh carried from his spiritual father Phan Boi Chau, and among us people, some one will rise and would do the same.

I am very optimistic and I believe Ho Chi Minh like other bad or good leaders in the world before him were molested by the mob, take an example like Lenin or Saddam Hussein. To other victims Ho Chi Minh is an absolutely Evil. That is why I don't appreciate him. But I will learn how to beat the odd and I know I can.

I belive a man can not outrun his destiny. And what goes up must come down.

I am not today nor will I ever be pleased with Vietnamese invasion in my homeland, because I am a Khmer, first, last and always.

Anonymous said...

My post is 1:25 PM. I'm the same person who posted in Vannak Thom Blog.


Your Compatriot.