Food for Thought

The People Have Spoken
After having a relatively free reign over the past five years ruling Cambodia with almost impunity to abuse the poor, the destitude, and the otherwise placid masses, the Cambodian People Party (CPP) and its ruling elits have been given a resound rebuke on July 28, when the the Cambodian people cast their ballots to elect a new government for the 5th mandate.  Given the fact that the CPP controls almost virtually all media and mechanism for the election in Cambodia, it is quite clear that the CPP has lost the battle even though it won the war. To put it in simple term, the CPP has indeed lost touch with its constituents.
Based on the outcome of this recent election, it appears that the Cambodian people have finally learn to use their votes to make politicians behave and act like public servants rather than bosses. Now, that the people have spoken, will the policians listen? Only time will tell. But we can be certain that, from now on, Cambodian political landscape will not be the same. The people have made their voices heard. Any politician or political party dares ignore them will definitely risk being ignored in the next election.

WAR AND GENOCIDE

Deliverance

After recovering from the initial shock of learning that my mother had been arrested by the Thai taskforce soldiers and sent to a camp located hundreds of miles away from where I lived, I wrote a long letter to my brother, Heang, in the U.S. telling him the situation we were in and asking him for advice on what to do next. I was at my wit’s end. A family of three people living separately in three different refugee camps located hundreds of miles from one another in a foreign country, which did not allow refugees to travel from one camp to another, was truly a messy situation for anyone to deal with. The stresses must have driven Heang nuts upon learning of the messy situation we were in. But no matter what difficult situation I presented to him, Heang had never blamed me or anyone else for causing him all the headaches in trying to rescue us from the quagmire. In his letters responding to my endless requests for helps throughout those four tumultuous years living in the various refugee camps, Heang never once blamed me for making irrational decision. His patience seemed to be limitless. Beside sending letter to Heang, I also sent a letter to Buntha in Khao I Dang camp telling him to stay put for the time being while waiting for Heang’s suggestion on what we should do to get out of the difficult situation we were facing.

While waiting for Heang’s response and suggestion on what to do regarding our family separation, I returned to work at the technical school for handicapped people as usual. In the meantime, I learned that the results of our high school exit exam were posted on the campus of Phnom Dangrek High School. I was not quite confident about my performance on the test. Thus, just in case I failed the exam, which would be more bad news for my stressful life to deal with, I tried to keep myself away from learning the result of my test as long as possible. I knew, sooner or later, one of my friends, who had also taken the test, would come to tell me what the result of my test was. In an attempt to give my state of mind a few more hours of solace, I took a group of my students to a clearing behind the technical school and let them sketch-draw natural scenery of the refugee camp. After they finished their sketches, my students and I returned to the classroom to finalize the drawings. Just as I arrived in front of the classroom, a friend of mine came to see me with a wan smile on his face. He delivered a piece of good news to me that I had passed the test, but he didn’t. It was an extraordinary moment for both of us, a depressed young man receiving exciting news from his defeated friend. I thanked my friend for pedaling his bicycle for about two miles to deliver the good news to me and offered him words of encouragement. I went inside the classroom and shared the good news of passing the exam with my students. Afterward, I told them to take the rest of the day off while going to examine my name on the test result’s bulletin board personally to make sure that it was really my name that was among those who passed the test.

Just as I was about to go to see my test result, Koy’s aunt, Samnam who was teaching the sixth grade classes at Phnom Dangrek High School, arrived to tell me the news of my success in passing the exam in order to lift my spirits up, for she thought that I had been receiving so much bad and depressing news lately. At that point, I was 100 percent sure that I had passed the test. But to feel the excitement personally, I decided to go to see the bulletin board where the names of all the test takers were posted and experience the thrill amongst those of my peers. It was a rather somber place at the bulletin board where the test results were posted because, needless to say, those who did not pass the test had a rather tough time accepting the outcomes. Out of the 21 people who took the test in the classroom with me, only 11, roughly 50% made it. My name, as a successful candidate, was sandwiched between three other names crossed out by red ink to indicate failures. After seeing what the test results looked like, I quietly left the area without showing any feeling of excitement or sadness.

I spent the entire month of January 1988 communicating with my brothers, Heang and Buntha, and my mother via letters. It was a rather lengthy process for me to piece together information about each of our individual life situations so that we could make as informed decision as possible to put our lives back together. Buntha told me that my mother was sent to Ta Tum camp along with Om Ok and his extended family who had been arrested by the Thai soldiers at about the same time she was arrested. Upon learning of this news, I felt a bit of relief as my mother would at least have some in-laws to depend on while being separated from us. As for Heang, his advice to me was to find a way to get us back together in one place, either in Site 2 or Ta Tum camp, and stay away from Khao I Dang. With this tentative instruction from Heang, I wrote another letter to Buntha asking him if he could find any means to get back to Site 2 since the distance between Site 2 and Khao I Dang wasn’t that far. Once we both reunited, we would figure out whether to go join our mom in Ta Tum camp or finding ways to get her back to Site 2. Buntha told me that he knew a teenage boy who could speak Thai and use his Thai language skill to travel between Khao I Dang and Site 2 with ease by riding on commuter buses. So I told Buntha to contact the boy and implore if that boy could act as a guide and help bring him to Site 2. Though the risk of Buntha getting arrested by Thai police was a possibility, I felt that it was safer for him to disguise as a Thai traveling on commuter buses because, based on what I learned, Thai police rarely stop buses to search for illegal travelers.

By February, my friend, Koy, his mother, Sunphan, and his aunt, Samnam, whose relatives lived in the state of Maryland, had been allowed to resettle in the U.S.A. As a result, I found myself living alone at this point. But, it was not for long. By mid March, Buntha had successfully sneaked back into Site 2. He brought along the boy who had helped him traveling by buses back to Site 2. I was so happy to see Buntha and profusely thanked the boy who had helped reunite us. After getting some food for both of them to eat, I asked them how they managed to travel about 50 miles in distance across Thailand. It sounded less complicated than one might have thought. Because Thais and Cambodians looked alike physically, Buntha and his traveling companion disguised themselves as Thai citizens. They sneaked out of Khao I Dang camp and walked to a bus station in the area. Afterward, they bought bus tickets and climbed on board just like any other Thai travelers. Once they reached a village near Site 2 camp, they got off the bus and walked the rest of the way.

After reuniting with Buntha, I wrote a letter to Heang asking him what we should do next regarding our mother, whether I should find ways to bring her to Site 2 or Buntha and I go there to reunite with her. Heang told me that we should not attempt to either bring Mom to Site 2 or go to Ta Tum camp as the risks for either one of us traveling between these two faraway camps were too great. His advice was that we should stay put and wait for him to work with the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok to see if it could bring us for interviews separately when our applications for resettlement in the United States were being considered. In the meantime, I contacted the office of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Site 2 to ask if it was possible for the Red Cross to help bring my mother to Site 2 because she was living alone in Ta Tum camp. One of the Red Cross staffs told me that ICRC provided only tracing for missing family members. It could not and would not help separated family members reunite.

To keep our lives busy, Buntha and I returned to attend Phnom Dangrek High School. Though, technically, Phnom Dangrek High School did not have classes beyond the eighth grade, a couple of classrooms were converted into a junior college of some sorts to offer courses to those students who had received high school diplomas and wished to continue their studies. Taking advantage of the offer and to keep myself educated, I joined the junior college student corps at Phnom Dangrek High School for several months during the 1988 school year. While going back to school, I asked my Spanish supervisor, Brother Kike, at the technical school for handicapped people to let me continue teaching drawing to the orphan children part time. Brother Kike agreed to my request, and I spent most of my spare times in between classes teaching perspective drawing to the orphan children.

(To be continued)

The Cambodian Royal Chronicle

99) King Norodom Sihanouk

(2nd reign 1993--2004, Capital: Phnom Penh)
After the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) helped establish a democratically elected government in Cambodia in 1993, the legislative body of the new government drafted a new constitution and, in it, declared that the removal of Prince Sihanouk and the abolition of the kingdom of Cambodia in 1970 were illegal. Thus, Cambodia, once again, became a kingdom in 1993. In that same year, Prince Sihanouk was re-crowned king, 38 years after his abdication in 1955.

Aged and in poor health, King Sihanouk played little role in politics. Since the new constitution was stipulated, the king held no governmental power except for signing decrees approving the formation of a new government or the appointment of government ministers. In a sense, the king was basically a rubber stamp. He could only reign but not rule.

Since the election and restoration of the monarchy in 1993, Cambodia remained a divided country. On one hand, the Khmer Rouge, who refused to participate in the election and eventually was outlawed by the new government, was still a serious threat to the much-needed security and stability in Cambodia. On the other hand, the new democratic government, which UNTAC created, was full of factional fighting. As soon as UNTAC turned over the power to the new government, the two ruling parties led by Prince Norodom Ranariddh, King Sihanouk’s son, and Hun Sen, former premier of the previous PRK’s regime, began to jockey for dominance. Taking advantage of the fracturing situation, the Khmer Rouge began to play a wild card political game by making itself available to form alliance with either one of the ruling parties. Soon, tension within the government began to mount as both sides of the ruling parties started accusing each other of courting or planning to form alliance with the outlawed Khmer Rouge.

The conflict over the Khmer Rouge issue eventually got out of hand in July 5, 1997 when co-prime minister, Hun Sen, staged a coup d’etat to seize power. Fighting broke out on the outskirt of Phnom Penh between troops loyal to Hun Sen and those loyal to Prince Ranariddh who had just been deposed by his partner. Many people, including civilians, were killed in the violence. Prince Ranariddh and a number of his associates were able to go into exile abroad and, immediately, went on a campaign asking the international community to put pressure on Hun Sen for illegally using violent forces to take control over a democratically elected government. In response, the international community cut off or reduced economic aids to Cambodia and suspended its membership in the UN’s General Assembly.

In the aftermath of the coup, a band of soldiers led by a general named Nhek Bun Chhay began to organize a resistant movement against Hun Sen. Though small and militarily insignificant, the movement gained popularity and caught the attention of the international community, after successfully withstanding the attack from the well-armed Hun Sen’s forces. This movement eventually became a democratic thorn in the new Hun Sen’s government’s side. With the help of the international community, especially Japan and Australia, and the unpopularity of Hun Sen’s undemocratic seizure of power, a peace settlement was reached in 1998 as Cambodia prepared for a national election for a new government. Under the terms of the settlement, Hun Sen was to give pardons to all the politicians, including Prince Ranariddh, whom he accused of “breaking the laws” and allow all of them to freely participate in the national election.

Once again, the 1998’s election ushered in yet another conflict in the Cambodian struggle to adopt democracy. After the ballots were counted, Hun Sen and his party emerged as a winner but short of a two-third majority to be able to form a government as stipulated by the constitution. Thus, Hun Sen must seek to form coalition with other parties to gain the necessary votes in order to establish a new government. However, the other parties, especially the second place winner led by Prince Ranariddh, refused to join him. They instead accused Hun Sen of using unfair tactics in the election and demanded for ballots recounting. In a series of accusation, riot between supporters of Hun Sen and his opposition parties broke out in Phnom Penh. The chaos lingered for several days before polices, under order from Hun Sen, put an end to it.

To break the impasses, reconcile, and restore order to the kingdom, the quarreling parties agreed to have King Sihanouk mediated their differences. After a series of meetings and compromises, a new coalition government between the election’s first and second place winners with Hun Sen as prime minister, was formed. Thus, King Sihanouk had saved the day while the saga of the Cambodian royal chronicle was continuing to unfold.

It is worth noticing that since the election of 1998, Cambodia has been slowly but progressively moving forward. The Khmer Rouge, who was a menace to Cambodian society, started to disintegrate and, finally, ceased to exist in early 1999. For the first time after 3 decades of warfare, Cambodia begins to experience peace and tranquility. At this point, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has admitted Cambodia to become its member and, hence, opened the door for Cambodian greater economic development opportunities. As for the monarchy as an institution, there seems to be little sign of diminishing. Most Cambodians remain loyal to their king, and it appears that this 2000-year-old little kingdom will continue to exist into the next millennia.

100) King Norodom Sihamoni
(2004--…… Capital: Phnom Penh)
King Norodom Sihamoni ascended the throne on October 29, 2004, after his father, King Norodom Sihanouk, citing poor health, abdicated on October 7, 2004. The announcement of King Sihanouk’s abdication took the nation by surprise, for the Cambodian constitution, stipulated after the election of 1993, did not have provision for crowning new king before the decease of the preceding king. Thus, an amendment was rushed through the National Assembly and the Senate in order to make it legitimate for the new king to ascend the throne.

After having all the necessary legal provisions in place for the new king to ascend the throne, the nine-member Crown Council unanimously selected Prince Sihamoni to replace his father as king. Thus, the ascendancy of King Norodom Sihamoni to the Cambodian throne was one of the most peaceful and smoothest coronations in Cambodian history.

It is perhaps worth pointing out that King Norodom Sihamoni was a descendant of both Cambodian and European ancestors. His maternal grandfather was French of Italian origin. Prior to his ascendancy to the throne, King Sihamoni spent most of his life living abroad. He went to study in Czechoslovakia (now the Czech Republic and Slovakia) and North Korea to pursue a career in ballet dancing. Later on during the 1990’s, he was appointed Cambodian ambassador to UNESCO, a position in which he held until the time he was selected to become king of Cambodia. Hence, many Cambodians, especially, those who live in the countryside know little of him. His sudden appearance on the throne was, to put it mildly, a surprise to many of them.
(The End)

ចំណីខួរក្បាល (ប្រចាំសប្តាហ៍)

ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ឬ គ្រោះចង្រៃ ?
នៅក្នុងទ្រឹស្តីព្រះពុទ្ធសាសនា មានពាក្យបាលីមួយឃ្លាចែងថា៖
រូបំ អនិច្ចំ អនត្តា ដែលមានន័យថា រូប ឬ ជីវិតនៃអ្វីៗគ្រប់យ៉ាង
រមែងប្រែប្រួល និងមិនអាចស្ថិតនៅជាអមតៈបានឡើយ ។ ការ
ប្រែប្រួលនេះ គឺមិនចំពោះតែសត្វលោកដែលមានវិញ្ញាណនោះទេ
សូម្បីតែគណបក្សនយោបាយ ដែលគ្រាន់តែជារចនាសម្ព័ន្ធនោះ
ក៏ត្រូវតែទទួលរងនូវឥទ្ធិពលនៃអរិយសច្ចៈទ្រឹស្តីនេះដែរ ។ ពោល
គឺគ្មានអ្វីអាចឋិតថេរជាអមតៈបានឡើយ ។ ដោយហេតុថា វេលា
នេះជាពេលដែលគណបក្សនយោបាយមួយចំនួននៅក្នុងប្រទេស
កម្ពុជាកំពុងតែធ្វើយុទ្ធនាការឃោសនាស្វែងរកការគាំទ្រពីសំណាក់
មហាជនដើម្បីពង្រីក ឬក៏ពង្រឹងអំណាចរបស់ខ្លួន យើងសូមលើក
យកគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា ដែលជាបក្សកំពុងគ្រប់គ្រងអំណាច
នៅក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា ជាច្រើទសវត្សរ៍មកហើយនោះ មកវិភាគ ថា
តើអំណាចនៃគណបក្សនេះ អាចនឹងមានការប្រែប្រួលដែរឬទេ ។

គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា គឺជាបក្សនយោបាយមួយ ដែលបានករ
កើតឡើងនៅថ្ងៃទី ២ ខែ ធ្នូ ឆ្នាំ ១៩៧៨ និងទទួលបានជ័យជម្នះ
គ្រប់គ្រងលើប្រទេសកម្ពុជានៅថ្ងៃទី ៧ ខែ មករា ឆ្នាំ ១៩៧៩ ។
សមាជិកស្នូលជាច្រើនរូបនៃគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា គឺជាជន
កុម្មុយនិស្ត ដែលត្រូវបានហ្វឹកហាត់ដោយបក្សកុម្មុយនិស្ត វៀត
ណាម ។ ឯការរៀបចំរចនាសម្ព័ន្ធនិងគ្រប់គ្រងប្រទេសរបស់គណ
បក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា ក៏ត្រូវបានជ្រោមជ្រែងដោយប្រទេស វៀត
ណាមផងដែរ ។ យើងមិនដឹងថា តើនៅមានជំនាញការវៀតណាម
ប៉ុន្មាននាក់ ជួយជ្រោមជ្រែងគណបក្សប្រជាជននៅពេលបច្ចុប្បន្ន
នេះទេ ។ ប៉ុន្តែ ទោះបីមានឬគ្មាន វាជារឿងធម្មតា ព្រោះសម័យ
នេះ គេអាចជួលមនុស្សមកជួយធ្វើការងារបានដោយសេរី មិនថា
មនុស្សនោះ ជាជនជាតិវៀតណាម ឬអាមេរិកាំង ។ រដ្ឋធម្មនុញ្ញ
ខ្មែរ មិនបានហាមប្រាមប្រការនេះទេ ។ អ្វីដែលយើងចង់លើក
យកមកវិភាគនៅទីនេះ គឺថា តើគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា ដែល
កំពុងតែក្តោបក្តាប់អំណាចនៅក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា អាចរក្សាអំណាច
របស់ខ្លួន បានយូរអង្វែងដល់ណា ។

ផ្អែកលើមេរៀនប្រវត្តិសាស្ត្រ កម្លាំងចលករ ឬចលនាដែលតែងតែ
នាំមកនូវការផ្លាស់ប្តូររបបនយោបាយ ឬរដ្ឋាភិបាល នៅក្នុងពិភព
លោកយើងនេះ គឺយុវជននិងរាស្ត្រសាមញ្ញ ដែលយើងសូមហៅ
ឲ្យខ្លីថា មហាជន ។ នៅក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជាបច្ចុប្បន្ន គេសង្កេត
ឃើញថា ចលនាមហាជនទាមទាឲ្យមានការផ្លាស់ប្តូររបបគ្រប់
គ្រង ក៏ដូចជាថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំប្រទេសនៅក្នុងការបោះឆ្នោតជ្រើសរើស
សមាជិករដ្ឋសភានិងប្រមុខរដ្ឋាភិបាលអាណតិ្តនេះ ហាក់ដូចជា
មានភាពពុះកញ្ជ្រោលគួរឲ្យកត់សម្គាល់ ។​តើកត្តាអ្វីខ្លះ ដែលធ្វើ
ឲ្យមហាជនខ្មែរជាច្រើនមានការនឿយណាយនឹងគណបក្សប្រជា
ជន ? បើនិយាយអំពីកត្តាដែលធ្វើឲ្យមហាជនជាច្រើន មានការ
នឿយណាយនឹងគណបក្សប្រជាជននោះ គឺមានរាប់មិនអស់ទេ ។
ប៉ុន្តែ យើងសូមលើកយកកត្តាសំខាន់ៗចំនួនបីមកបង្ហាញនៅ
ក្នុងអត្ថបទនេះ ៖

១) អនុវត្តគោលការប្រជាធិបតេយ្យមិនបានពេញលេញ ឬ
ក៏មិនត្រឹមត្រូវ
យើងដឹងហើយថា ដើម្បីធ្វើកិច្ចការអ្វីមួយបានជោគជ័យ គេចាំបាច់
ត្រូវតែរៀននូវរបៀបធ្វើកិច្ចការនោះឲ្យបានចេះ ចាំ និងយល់ជាក់
លាក់ ។ ប៉ុន្តែ នៅពេលដែលប្រទេសកម្ពុជាជ្រើសរើសយកលទ្ធិ
ប្រជាធិបតេយ្យសេរីពហុបក្សមកអនុវត្ត គណៈបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា
ដែលធ្លាប់តែអនុវត្តលទ្ធិកុម្មុយនិស្តក្នុងការដឹកនាំរដ្ឋនោះ មិនបាន
គិតគូរៀនសូត្រស្វែងយល់អំពីគោលការនៃលទ្ធិប្រជាធិបតេយ្យឲ្យ
បានមធ្យ័តទេ ។ អ្នកណាក៏ដឹងដែរថា កាលគណបក្សប្រជាជន
កម្ពុជា ដឹកនាំរដ្ឋតាមលទ្ធិកុម្មុយនិស្ត គេតែងតែបញ្ជូនសមាជិកបក្ស
ឲ្យទៅរៀន ឬក៏ហ្វឹកហាត់ទ្រឹស្តីកុម្មុយនិស្តយ៉ាងល្អិតល្អន់សិន មុន
នឹងប្រគល់តួនាទីអ្វីមួយឲ្យសមាជិកទាំងនោះធ្វើ ។ ប៉ុន្តែ អ្វីដែលជា
កត្តាគួរឲ្យចាប់អារម្មណ៍នាពេលបច្ចុប្បន្ននេះ គឺថា គណបក្សប្រជា
ជនមិនបានអើពើក្នុងការហ្វឹកហាត់សមាជិករបស់ខ្លួនអំពីគោលការ
សំខាន់ៗនៃលទ្ធិប្រជាធិបតេយ្យទេ ។ ជាលទ្ធផល ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំនៅ
ក្នុងជួរគណបក្សប្រជាជនស្ទើរតែទាំងអស់ខ្វះការយល់ដឹងអំពីការ
គ្រប់គ្រងតាមរបៀបប្រជាធិបតេយ្យ ។

២) មិនរៀនមេរៀនថ្មី ភ្លេចមេរៀនចាស់
ការធ្វើបដិវត្តន៍ដើម្បីផ្លាស់ប្តូររបបគ្រប់គ្រងរដ្ឋ មិនថានៅក្នុងបរិបទ
កុម្មុយនិស្ត ឬប្រជាធិបតេយ្យទេ គឺមានប្រភពចេញមកពីមហាជន ។
ចំណុចនេះ អតីតជនកុម្មុនិស្តដែលកំពុងកាន់តួនាទីធំៗនៅក្នុងជូរ
គណបក្សប្រជាជនសព្វថ្ងៃ គួរតែយល់ច្បាស់ណាស់ ព្រោះវាជា
មេរៀនចាស់ដែលពួកគេធ្លាប់បានរៀន ។ ក៏ប៉ុន្តែ មេរៀនចាស់នេះ
ហាក់ដូចជាត្រូវបានគេបំភ្លេចចោលយូណាស់មកហើយ ។ បើយើង
សង្កេតមើលបញ្ហានៅក្នុងសង្គមខ្មែរសព្វថ្ងៃ អ្វីដែលជាកត្តាធ្វើឲ្យ
មហាជនមិនសប្បាយចិត្តនឹងអភិបាលកិច្ចរបស់ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំរដ្ឋ
ដែលគ្រប់គ្រងដោយគណៈបក្សប្រជាជននោះ គឺការខ្វះដំណោះ
ស្រាយច្បាស់លាស់ត្រឹមត្រូវ នូវរាល់ទុក្ខកង្វល់របស់មហាជន មាន
ជាអាទ៍៖ ទំនាស់ដីធ្លី កង្វះការងារដែលញ៉ាំងឲ្យពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរបង្ខំចិត្ត
ធ្វើចំណាកស្រុកទៅរកការងារធ្វើនៅប្រទេសដទៃ និងកម្មករកាត់
ដេរត្រូវបាននិយោជកឲ្យប្រាក់ខែទាប ជាដើម ។ល។ ការមិនអើពើ
ឬក៏ដោះស្រាយឲ្យតែរួចពីដៃ នូវបញ្ហានានាដែលមហាជនចាត់ទុក
ថា ជាបញ្ហាអាយុជីវិតរបស់ពួកគាត់នោះ គឺមិនខុសអ្វីពីបង្ខំពួកគាត់
ឲ្យធ្វើបដិវត្តដើម្បីផ្លាស់ប្តូរថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំនោះទេ ។ សូមកុំភ្លេចថា
សម្រាប់ប្រទេសដែលប្រើយន្តការប្រជាធិបតេយ្យដើម្បីផ្លាស់ប្តូរ
ឬរៀបចំរដ្ឋាភិបាល សន្លឹកឆ្នោតគឺជាអាវុធដ៏មានប្រសិទ្ធភាពបំ
ផុត សម្រាប់ផ្តួលរំលំឬប្តូរថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំណាមួយ ។

៣) ការអប់រំនិងចំណេះដឹង
ការអប់រំនិងចំណេះដឹងគឺជាទ្វេគ្រោះដ៏ធំបំផុតសម្រាប់ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំ
រដ្ឋ ព្រោះថា គេអាចអប់រំមនុស្សឲ្យដើរតាមគោលនយោបាយ ឬ
មនោគមវិជ្ជាណាមួយ ក៏ប៉ុន្តែ គេមិនអាចបង្ខាំងមនុស្សមិនឲ្យត្រិះ
រិះពិចារណាអំពីបញ្ហាអយុត្តិធម៌នានា នៅក្នុងសង្គមបានឡើយ ។
ចំណុចនេះ យើងសូមលើកយកករណីសិស្សនិស្សិត ដែលនាំគ្នា
ទៅគាំទ្រគណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិមកពិចារណា ថាតើហេតុអ្វីបាន
ជាពួកគេធ្វើដូច្នេះ ។
នៅក្នុងប្រទេសកម្ពុជា សាលារៀនស្ទើរតែទាំងអស់សុទ្ធតែមាន
ឈ្មោះសម្តេចតេជោនាយករដ្ឋមន្ត្រី ហ៊ុន សែន និងឈ្មោះថ្នាក់
ដឹកនាំកំពូលៗនៃគណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា សរសេរនៅលើ
ជញ្ជាំងឬក៏ខ្លោងទ្វារ ។ មានន័យថា សាលារៀនទាំងនោះ គឺជា
សមិទ្ធផល ឬជាអំណោយរបស់អ្នកគាំទ្រគណបក្សប្រជាជន
កម្ពុជា ។ សម្រាប់សិស្សានុសិស្សខ្មែរ ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំ ឬក៏គណបក្ស
ប្រជាជនកម្ពុជាគឺប្រៀបដូចជាឪពុកម្តាយទីពីរអញ្ចឹង ព្រោះថាពួក
គេឃើញឈ្មោះថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំទាំងនោះស្ថិតនៅលើខ្លោងទ្វារនិង
ជញ្ជាំងអាគារសិក្សារបស់ពួកគេស្ទើរតែរាល់ថ្ងៃ ។ កត្តាដែលក្រុម
សិស្សានុសិស្សទាំងនោះ ទៅគាំទ្រគណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ គឺមិន
ខុសអ្វីអំពីកូនដែលមិនដើរតាមការអប់រំរបស់ឧឪពុកម្តាយឡើយ ។
តើហេតុអ្វីបានជាសិស្សានុសិស្សទាំងនោះនាំគ្នាទៅគាំទ្រគណបក្ស
សង្គ្រោះជាតិទៅវិញ ? ចម្លើយប្រហែលជាមានច្រើនណាស់ ប៉ុន្តែ
យើងអាចសន្និដ្ឋានបានថា ចំណុចដែលសំខាន់បំផុតនោះ គឺបញ្ហា
អយុត្តិធម៌នៅក្នុងសង្គមតែម្តង ។

សរុបសេចក្តីមក គ្រោះចង្រៃដែលនឹងចូលមកយាយីអំណាចនៃ
គណបក្សប្រជាជនកម្ពុជា នៅក្នុងការបោះឆ្នោតជ្រើសរើសតំណាង
រាស្ត្រនិងប្រមុខរដ្ឋាភិបាលសម្រាប់អាណតិ្តទី ៥នេះ គឺប្រហែលជា
មិនអាចចៀសផុតទេ ។  ផ្អែកលើសន្ទុះនៃការគាំទ្ររបស់មហាជន
មកលើគណបក្សសង្គ្រោះជាតិ យើងអាចសន្និដ្ឋានបានថា អំណាច
នៃគណបក្សប្រជាជន ប្រាកដជាត្រូវថមថយនៅក្នុងអាណតិ្តទី ៥
នេះ ។ ចំណែកឯកត្តាដែលថា តើអំណាចនៃគណៈបក្សប្រជាជន
កម្ពុជានឹងត្រូវធ្លាក់ចុះដល់កម្រិតណា នោះគឺអាស្រ័យទាំងស្រុងទៅ
លើការវិនិច្ឆ័យរបស់ពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ ដែលជាអ្នកសម្រេចនៅក្នុងការបោះ
ឆ្នោតជ្រើសរើសថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំនាអាណតិ្តទី ៥នេះ ៕

WAR AND GENOCIDE

Prisoners of the Humanitarian (Cont.)
It was early September when I went to see my former literature teacher, Mr. Phon Bun Yann, who had become an assistant principal of Phnom Dangrek High School. I told Mr. Phon of my study at Khao I Dang camp and the couple of grade levels I had skipped while enrolling there. Because there were only a few months left on the 1987 school year, Mr. Phon suggested that I should attend the seventh grade instead of the eighth grade, which I had been attending while I was living in Khao I Dang camp. His rationale was that the eighth graders would be taking the exit exam for high school diploma by the end of the year and I might not be ready to take that big exam because my education had been interrupted, and that I had just gone through a very stressful situation in life. Mr. Phon’s advice was logically sound; hence, I went to attend the seventh grade for the remainder of the 1987’s school year. However, soon after I set foot in the seventh grade class at Phnom Dangrek High School, rumors started circulating among my former classmates who were in sixth grade at that point that I must be bribing school officials to be able to attend the seventh grade, which was one level ahead of them. By the end of my first week at Phnom Dangrek High School, Mr. Phon summoned me to his office and suggested that I should withdraw my enrollment and wait until the next school year to re-enroll for whatever grade level I wanted, as long as I passed the placement test. To make things less complicated, I followed Mr. Phon’s suggestion and said goodbye to education for the time being.


After unforeseen circumstances kicked me out of formal education, I returned to seek informal education again. This time, it was at an orphanage center in Ampil camp, where a talented young man named Chea Chamroeun taught high school level mathematics to a group of orphan youths, many of whom were my former classmates. Chamroeun himself was an orphan living in the center. So after introducing myself to him, I came to attend his mathematics class every evening. Before long, Chamroeun and I became close friends and we found that we had many things in common, philosophically.

Beside Chamroeun, my friend, Koy, with whom I lived, also helped me get a job as an assistant to a French volunteer arts teacher, named Veronique de Crope, who was teaching perspective drawing to handicapped and orphan children at the Ampil’s Technical School for Handicapped People, which was located across the street from the orphanage center. Thus, with a job and an informal study in place, I found myself some sense of normalcy in life again. Each day, I went to work at the technical school with Koy, who was also working there as a designer and silk screener. After work, I would go to study mathematics with Chamroeun at the orphanage center every evening.

Toward the end of 1987, education’s officials from the various camps within Site 2 organized an exit exam for those students who had finished the eighth grade. In a rather lucky break for me it was announced that those who worked in various institutions in Site 2 were eligible to take the exam, along with the students, to obtain a high school diploma. Using my work at the technical school as qualification, I went to see officials at Phnom Dangrek High School and registered my name to take the exam as a non-student candidate. Upon learning that I was also going to take the exit exam for high school diploma, Chamroeun was very excited. He himself was an eighth grade student and would be one of the participants taking that exam. So he created a special class to prepare some of us as well as himself for some of the subjects that might be asked in the test. For about one month prior to taking the test, we spent many hours studying math, physics, and chemistry.

The day of reckoning came in late December 1987. With only sporadic education and a fragile self-confidence, I went to take the test for a high school diploma. As a non-student candidate, I was not allowed to sit among the students while taking the test. Thus, separate classrooms were designated for non-student candidates to take their test. There were 21 people in my class. We were seated about four feet apart to prevent us from looking at each other’s answers. Once again, it took us two days to complete the test. By the end of the second day, I was mentally exhausted as many of the questions asked in the test were beyond my grasp. By the time the exam was over, I was ready to lie down in my hammock at home to take a well deserved rest. But life wasn’t meant to be easy for me, I guess. When I arrived home in late afternoon, Koy handed me a letter from my brother, Buntha, which the mailman had dropped off for me a couple of hours earlier. I opened the letter immediately to see if there was any good news my brother sent for me. Alas! My hope for good news was dashed as fast as I finished reading the sentence: “Mom has been arrested by the Thai taskforces, and she is now being sent to Ta Tum camp.” My heart sank. I sat down in a bamboo chair in disbelief trying to make sense out of the stressful situations I had encountered throughout these years. Koy’s mother, Sunphan, came and sat next to me trying to comfort me with words of encouragement. She told me how lucky I was to receive this bad news right after finishing the test. If this letter were to arrive one day earlier, it would spell the end of my examination efforts. She was right. The bad news did not ruin my chance to obtain a high school diploma.

(To be continued)

The Cambodian Royal Chronicle

97) Heng Samrin/Hun Sen

(1979--1991, Capital: Phnom Penh)
Heng Samrin and Hun Sen were Pol Pot’s army officers who were stationed in the eastern region of Cambodia near the Vietnamese border. During Pol Pot’s purging campaign on his communist cadre’s ranks and files, they both escaped to Vietnam and began to organize a resistant movement against his rule. With the support of the Vietnamese armed forces, they successfully toppled Pol Pot from power in 1979 and became leaders of Cambodia which they renamed the People’s Republic of Kampuchea (PRK).

During the early years of their rule, Heng Samrin and Hun Sen faced tremendous challenges and difficulties. Politically, Cambodia was occupied and indirectly ruled by Vietnam. Socially and economically, they had to rebuild Cambodia from scratches, for Pol Pot had virtually destroyed everything. In addition, the international community, except for a few communist sympathizing countries, not only refused to help and support them but also accused them of being puppets of the Vietnamese invaders. On top of that, they were confronting with a civil war against Pol Pot’s forces and two other insurgent armies led by Prince Norodom Sihanouk and former prime minister Son Sann who were launching guerrilla warfare from the Thai-Cambodian border, ostensibly to expel the Vietnamese occupying forces from Cambodia.

As Heng Samrin and Hun Sen struggled to rebuild Cambodia and rehabilitate its battered population which suffered from years of abuses by Pol Pot and his collaborators, the three insurgent armies, led by Pol Pot, Prince Sihanouk, Son Sann, and backed by China, the United States, and Thailand, began a guerrilla-war campaign against both the PRK’s and Vietnamese occupying forces. The fighting dragged on for almost a decade before all sides, weary of the bloodshed, agreed in 1988 to negotiate for a peace settlement. The negotiation went on and off for three years. Finally, in 1991, the four antagonistic forces reached an agreement to stop using bullets and settle their contest over Cambodia through ballot boxes.

The agreement, known as the Paris Agreement (named after the city in which it was signed), called for a complete withdrawal of the Vietnamese armed forces from Cambodia, the disarmament and cantonment of the four factional armies, removal of all foreign patronage from the contending Cambodian factions, and the establishment of a United Nations-supervised interim government called the Supreme National Council (SNC) headed by Prince Sihanouk and composed of 12 representatives, 6 from the incumbent government and 2 from each of the three opposition factions. The agreement also called for a UN-supervised general election which was to be held in 1993 under the auspices and control of the United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC).

98) The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC)
(1991--1993, Capital: Phnom Penh)
The United Nations Transitional Authority in Cambodia (UNTAC) was created as a result of the international conference on Cambodia which was convened in Paris in October 1991. Under the terms of the agreements reached at the conference in Paris, UNTAC’s mandate was to disarm the three antagonistic factions of the Cambodian armed forces, repatriate back to Cambodia the 300,000 or so Cambodian refugees from Thailand, and organize a general election in 1993 in order to establish a legitimate, internationally-recognized government in Cambodia. In other words, the international community, through UNTAC, planned to establish a democratically elected government in Cambodia--a far-reaching endeavor indeed given the fact that Cambodia had never known real democratic government for close to 2000 years.

As soon as it set foot in Cambodia, UNTAC began to work diligently to accomplish its goals. However, the operation hit obstacles right from the start because all of the antagonistic parties, especially the Khmer Rouge, jockeying for political advantages, refused to cooperate or obey the terms of the agreements. Sporadic violence broke out almost all over the country. Political killing was rampant. And Cambodia, once again, became a pariah state.

Determined to see its mission accomplished, UNTAC went ahead with its plan. It safely repatriated all the Cambodian refugees from Thailand to Cambodia, suspended the disarmament and troops cantonment process, and began to organize a national election. UNTAC’s policy seemed to be clear and simple: Whoever wanted to participate in the election to form a new government was welcome to do so. And those who did not want to participate may stay out of it.

As predicted, the Khmer Rouge boycotted the election and began a violent campaign against it. But despite the Khmer Rouge’s objection, UNTAC was able to successfully organize an election in 1993 as scheduled with the participation from all parties except for the Khmer Rouge. Unfortunately, as a new government was about to form, the incumbent government which did not win the majority of the votes refused to relinquish power and threatened a civil war if it were not allowed to retain and share the new government’s portfolios.

Facing with a dire dilemma, UNTAC subsequently brokered a compromise deal in which a unique power-sharing coalition government was established. Under the compromise, a co-minister post was established where each government ministry was headed by two ministers, one from the election’s majority winner and the other from the incumbent government. The prime minister’s post was headed by first and second premiers with the same arrangement as the ministry level.

Thus, after 3 years of nerve wracking operation, UNTAC had finally founded a two-headed democracy monster which could be found no where else in the world. The democratic government which UNTAC helped created in Cambodia, though interestingly unique, appeared to be utterly fragile and prone to collapse, for no antagonists whose interests were to outwit, destroy or deny the other’s existence could possibly work together peacefully.

For the record, UNTAC’s mission in Cambodia costed some 2 billion U.S. dollars. It was the largest and most expensive operation the United Nations had ever undertaken. Also, Cambodia was the first country to be used as a test case for the UN’s peace making and reconciliation endeavor.
(To be continued)

WAR AND GENOCIDE

Prisoners of the Humanitarian (Cont.) Khao I Dang camp’s prison was a rather unassuming structure built like a long house of indigenous American Indians. The whole structure looked more like a cage than a prison. There were four cells, two of which were used to incarcerate illegal refugees while the other two smaller ones were used to keep Thai soldiers who committed infractions. There were no walls between the partitions or around the building structure for that matter, except for barbed wire juxtaposed with bamboo poles to keep male and female inmates from commingling with one another. All the females and children under the ages of ten years old were put in one large cell while the male prisoners were put in another. At the time when I was incarcerated, there were about 50 male inmates in a cell designed to hold about 40 people. Thus, sleeping spaces were very tight. For the rest of the night when I was arrested, I sat in a corner and cried quietly, feeling sorry for myself and the misfortune I was in. Next morning, which was a Sunday, the day that inmates were allowed to have a few minutes to meet with their relatives, Saiy came to visit me and brought me a blanket. He discretely told me to feel the edge of the blanket and gave me a coded message to take precaution. Just before we parted, I asked Saiy to bring me a hammock when he came to visit me next week. Because the prison was very crowded, that hammock would give me the flexibility to sleep anywhere in my cell as long as I could find a spot to tie it. Just before I examined the edge of my blanket, a fellow inmate told me that the Thai soldier who acted as prison chief was very mean and cruel. He forbade inmates to send any letters outside. We were also not allowed to tell relatives to bring us any money. Anyone who was caught with such contraband would be punished severely. After learning of the prison’s rules and the consequences, I decided to wait until night time to inspect the edge of my blanket. Feeling it with my hands, I found several pieces of papers rolled like cigarettes imbedded in one hem of the blanket. Without untying the thread, I pushed one of the roll-around papers near the corner edge of the blanket out and found that it was a 100 baht bill of Thai currency. It appeared that my mother had altered one edge of the blanket and sewed it back loosely with the rolled 100 baht bills in it, so that I would have some money to buy food if or when I was sent out of Khao I Dang. After taking all the money out of the blanket’s edge, I faced yet another dilemma on how to hide the money in case all the inmates were searched. The only available place I had was a tiny pocket located within a larger pocket of my only pair of jean pants. So to keep my money from being discovered by the prison guard, I folded the 100 baht bills several times until they fit into that tiny pocket and hid them there. All the inmates in Khao I Dang camp prison, except for women and children, were abused daily by the lone Thai soldier who oversaw that prison. He ordered the other Thai soldiers who were being imprisoned there to conduct the daily abuses on his behalf. Each day we, refugee prisoners, were allowed to get out of our cells only once during the afternoon when the abuses in the form of push-up, grasshopper’s hopping, and many other military drills were being conducted upon us. We were sometimes made to do push-ups to the point of utter exhaustion, when many inmates fell flat on their stomachs. After the soldiers abused us to their heart’s content, the prison warden ordered us to gather at a bathing area and sprayed us with water from a hose as a means for us to take a bath. Beside the regimental abuses, there were also individual abuses of inmates. Occasionally, an inmate got beaten up for not having his pair of shoes put together properly. I remembered seeing an inmate being ordered to sing a song by the Thai soldiers almost daily; and sometimes, that poor inmate had to sing for them several times in a day. Each time he sang the song, the Thai soldiers would find flaws in his singing and ordered him to hit his head with his own knuckles five or ten times for each mistake. They sometimes ordered him to knock his head even more if the sounds of his knuckles smacking on his head were not convincing enough. It was so sickening. But what made these abuses even more disgusting was that it happened in a refugee camp under the care of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an agency tasked with a duty to protect basic human rights for refugees. I spent a total of 21 days in Khao I Dang camp’s prison. After more inmates were being sent there, the prison became overcrowded. Thus, to make room for new comers, all the illegal refugees were sent back to the border camp. We didn’t know to which camp we would be sent; but all of us prayed that the Thai authority would not send us to camps controlled by the Khmer Rouge, where their reign of terror continued unabated. When the appointed time arrived, two transport trucks came to park in front of the prison. The Thai taskforce’s soldiers, who were charged with transporting us, came to the prison’s door with a list of names. They called us one by one to come out and get on board the trucks. After all the inmates were taken on board the trucks, the drivers took off quickly, and I was once again being transported to an unknown destination. There were some armed guards who stood at the back of each truck to prevent inmates from jumping off and escaping. We spent about three hours sitting quietly in those fast-moving trucks before they came to a stop in a refugee camp located in northeastern Thailand. Upon disembarking, we learned that the camp was called Ta Tum which was controlled by a rebel faction loyal to Prince Norodom Sihanouk. Though it wasn’t Site 2 camp, a place where most of us would want to go, everyone breathed a sigh of relief as we learned that we were not at a Khmer Rouge’s camp. Prior to being sent back to the border camp, I had made friends with a few fellow inmates who, like me, were arrested for living in Khao I Dang illegally. Hence, after our arrival at Ta Tum camp, we banded together and tried to figure out ways to return to Site 2 camp where we used to live. One of my friends, Ly Kim Sour, found an old acquaintance who worked in the intelligence services for the rebel group, who was in charge of Ta Tum camp. With the help of Kim Sour’s friend, we learned that we could be traveling back to Site 2 camp with military officials for a fee. The cost was about 50 dollars per person. None of us had that much money at hand; therefore, Kim Sour asked his friend to assure the people who were in charge of transporting us back to Site 2 to wait until we arrived in Site 2 where he would get the money to them right away. With mutual trust among these pseudo-human traffickers, Kim Sour’s request was accepted and within just one week upon our arrival at Ta Tum camp, we were on our way back to Site 2. We traveled with a mix of Thai and Cambodian rebel officials who were on a mission to Site 2 camp for meetings or whatever business they were conducting. It appeared that these officials were not engaging in human trafficking in its purest sense but rather illicitly doing us favors for mutual benefits to all—we were able to travel illegally from one place to another safely while those officials would get some money to spend, maybe for a nice dinner in Bangkok or Aranyaprathet. Upon arriving in Site 2 camp, I went to stay with a friend of mine named Koy, who was living with his mother, Sunphan, and an aunt, Samnam. Koy’s mother lent me the $50 I needed to pay for my trip from Ta Tum camp and helped me settle down to put my life back together. My first order of businesses was to send letters to both, my brothers Heang and Buntha, informing them of my whereabouts. Before long, Buntha sent me a letter, along with a human trafficker to meet me. In his letter, Buntha told me that the person who came to see me could bring me back to Khao I Dang camp to reunite with him and Mom. The memory of abuses in Khao I Dang camp’s prison was still fresh in my mine. Thus, I told the young man Buntha sent to fetch me back to Khao I Dang that I needed some time to think about going back to reunite with my brother. I wrote a short note and gave it to him to bring back to Buntha. In the meantime, I discussed my life’s situation among my close friends, and they all advised that I should stay put for the time being, waiting for suggestions from my brother, Heang, regarding what to do next to solve our separation dilemma. Several weeks later, I received a letter from Heang telling me to stay put for the time being. After learning of my ordeal in Khao I Dang camp’s prison, Heang was reluctant to have me risk another imprisonment. Hence, with a somewhat settled matter related with our family separation, I decided to return to school and seek re-enrollment. (To be continued)

The Cambodian Royal Chronicle

95) General Lon Nol (1970--1975, Capital: Phnom Penh) General Lon Nol was Prince Sihanouk’s minister of defense. After successfully removing Prince Sihanouk from power in a coup d’etat in 1970, Lon Nol set about to establish a republic on the skeleton of a roughly 2000-year old Cambodian kingdom. He renamed the country Khmer Republic and proclaimed himself as head of state. Lon Nol’s first political move was to order the North Vietnamese communist troops, who had quietly been using Cambodian northeastern territory along their border as a staging area for guerrilla warfare against the U.S.-back government of South Vietnam, to leave Cambodia’s soil within a few days. His order fell into a deaf ear, for it was neither possible, nor realistic for the battle-hardened North Vietnamese troops to obey a government which had hardly any standing army to challenge them. Responding to the North Vietnamese disregard of his order, Lon Nol then embarked on a military campaign known as Chenla I and Chenla II to drive them out. Sadly, Lon Nol’s military campaign against the North Vietnamese troops was a failure, and many of his badly-trained, poorly-equipped amateur soldiers were killed in the expedition. In the mean time, the North Vietnamese troops began to militarily train, supply, and assist the Prince Sihanouk-supported Cambodian communists known as Khmer Rouge to wage a full-scale civil war against Lon Nol. For five years, the civil war between the North Vietnamese/Sihanouk-supported Khmer Rouge led by a man named Pol Pot (a.k.a. Saloth Sar) and Lon Nol’s government spread throughout the country. As the war raged on, living condition in Cambodia began to deteriorate and worsen every day. Hundreds of thousands of people were uprooted from their homes, and they were forced to live as refugees or displaced persons on the margin of society. On the battle fronts, the fighting grew even more savage as both sides resorted to killing each other indiscriminately. With regard to government, the Lon Nol’s regime appeared to be both incapable and corrupt. The leadership was utterly weak and incompetent. Many politicians cared more about amassing wealth for themselves than tending to the suffering of the population or preserving the nation as a whole. As a result, more and more alienated people began to rally to or join the Khmer Rouge in their revolution to overthrow the decadent and corrupted Lon Nol’s government. After five years of fighting a losing battle, Lon Nol fled Cambodia in early March of 1975. He went into exile in the United States of America. One month later on 17 of April, the communist Khmer Rouge led by Pol Pot took over Phnom Penh and effectively put an end to Lon Nol’s rule and his republic. 96) Pol Pot [a.k.a. Saloth Sar] (1975--1979, Capital: Phnom Penh) Pol Pot was Secretary General of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), better known as the Khmer Rouge. He was born in Prek Sbov village, Kompong Thom province--the son of a middle class farmer. During his early childhood, Pol Pot was brought up, educated, and partly raised in Phnom Penh by one of his older brothers named Lot Suong who was a staff protocol (clerk) in the royal palace. He also had a sister and a cousin who were consorts of Prince Sihanouk’s grandfather, King Sisowath Monivong. It was believed that, through the helps of some influential government officials and his siblings and cousin who had links to the royal palace, Pol Pot was able to obtain a government scholarship in 1949 to go to study in France where he met fellow Cambodian communists such as Khieu Samphan, Ieng Sary, and Son Sen and begin to form a communist movement. Pol Pot was an obscure politician who lived his life in secrecy. Little was known about his personal background and political activities. Presumably, he joined the left-wing, communist-oriented political movement in the late 1940’s when Cambodian resentment against the French colonial rule was at its peak. During the mid 1950’s and early 60’s, Pol Pot worked as a schoolteacher in Phnom Penh and secretly participated in an underground communist movement to bring reform to Cambodia and/or overthrow the corrupt and decadent government led by Prince Sihanouk. In 1962, Pol Pot was appointed Secretary General of the Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), and one year later in 1963, fearful of Prince Sihanouk’s prosecution of leftist-communist-oriented politicians, he went into hiding in the jungle in northeastern part of Cambodia where he organized and launched a successful communist revolution. Upon taking over the power in Cambodia in 1975, Pol Pot and his fellow communists embarked on a swift and radical change in an attempt to transform Cambodia into a utopian society according to their communist vision. They changed the country’s name from the Khmer Republic to Democratic Kampuchea and immediately ordered people to evacuate the cities and urban centers. Within the first few days of their rule, Pol Pot and his associates instituted the abolition of private properties, money, market, religion, and all other societal practices which they considered contradictory to the communist doctrine. In a fervent revolutionary zeal, Pol Pot had completely transformed Cambodia into a primitive agrarian society. The whole country was turned into a gigantic agricultural production camp in which people from all walks of life were forced to work without adequate foods and medicines or any regard of their health and abilities to perform the tasks. As a result, hundreds of thousands of people were starved or worked to death, and the whole endeavor became a terrible disaster. In an attempt to find scapegoats for his failure, Pol Pot unleashed a punitive purge among the ranks and files of both his communist associates and those suspected of engaging in counter-revolutionary activities. The purge lasted for a few years, and hundreds of thousands of people were imprisoned, tortured, and executed ruthlessly. As the purge was intensified, many of Pol Pot’s army officers, fearful for their lives, escaped to neighboring Vietnam and began to organize a resistance to his rule. In 1979, with the help from the Vietnamese army, they invaded Cambodia and, eventually, overthrew Pol Pot from power. In a tumultuous retreat, Pol Pot and his associates along with thousands of loyal supporters were able to escape to Thailand and, with the support of the Chinese communist government, began to reorganize their forces to wage another insurgency against the rebels who had just toppled them from power. For the record, Pol Pot’s ruthless rule had led to the loss of about 1.7 million lives. Roughly, one out of every four Cambodians died as a result of his utopian communist policy. And Cambodia was left in ruin, economically and socially. Most of the surviving population was badly malnourished and left in a horrible condition. Almost every infrastructure throughout the country was destroyed or neglected. By the end of Pol Pot’s rule, Cambodia was brought down to its knees and in need of everything imaginable in order to survive the nightmare and ordeal it had been through. (To be continued)

WAR AND GENOCIDE

Prisoner of the Humanitarian (Cont.)
During our stay in Khao I Dang camp, Om Ok and his extended family found a couple of empty houses, whose occupants had been accepted to resettle in a third country, and settled there, while my mother, Buntha, and I went to lodge with a friend named Saiy. After talking with our friends and neighbors, we quickly learned that as new comers to Khao I Dang camp, we were considered illegal residents and would frequently be rounded up by the Thai security taskforces. All illegal residents who had been rounded up would eventually be sent back to the border camps. UNHCR could not protect us and would not grant us legal statuses. What a dilemma! We went from one refugee limbo to another.


Our friends suggested that, for the time being, we should live separately, which was easy for us to find a place to hide within the house, or rather hut. Saiy, who had offered us shelter, had a hiding place for one person in his hut. He came to occupy that hut after its original owners left for a third country and discovered that hiding place by accident while he was cleaning the kitchen area. It was a large, empty water jar placed underground below the stove. Saiy pulled a piece of metal sheet, which was placed under the stove and over the mouth of the water jar to the side and showed us where the hiding place was. Saiy told us that it was common for houses in Khao I Dang camp to have hiding places as it was the only way for illegal residents to remain there and escape arrest when the Thai security guards conducted their round-up raids.

With this grim information of what life in Khao I Dang camp would be like, Buntha and I went to seek shelter with our other friends and left our mother staying with Saiy, for his house already had a place for her to hide should a raid occur. Buntha went to stay with a mutual friend, named Eang, while I was lodging with another, named Kol. All people who lived in Khao I Dang camp were required to wear name badges whenever they went about their business. Those name badges were given to them when they became legal residents. However, people didn’t always remember to wear their name badges; therefore, many of them went about the camp without wearing their name badges. Taking that lax attitude to our advantage, Buntha and I surreptitiously went to see our mother every weekend. It was the only time that we could be together while living in Khao I Dang camp.

One day, Kol brought me an old name badge belonging to someone who had left for a third country. He told me that I could use that name badge to escape one arrest, for if I were stopped by the Thai security guards to check for my legal status I could present the fake name badge to them. And if they still suspected that I was living in the camp illegally, the Thai guards would only keep the name badge and let me go home to get family documents to claim it back from their headquarters. There were no pictures on name badges; only different colors -- green and pink, to indicate when the name badges were issued. Everyone who had left for a third country was supposed to surrender his or her name badge along with other family documents to the camp’s authority. But the name badge, which Kol had obtained and given to me somehow got lost in the bureaucratic process. After possessing that fake name badge, I decided to go back to attend the secondary school in Khao I Dang camp.

It was late January 1987 when I walked into the campus of Khao I Dang secondary school, which was formally named Angkor Wat Secondary School, to register my name for enrollment. To my surprise, the school officials did not inquire whether I was a legal or illegal resident. They just added my name to the enrollment list. I told the registrar that I would like to enroll in the eighth grade, which was two grade levels above what I had learned in Site 2. Once again, I was told to take a placement test before I could officially attend the eighth grade. Thus, with some knowledge obtained through my informal training by sitting in and watching the upper classmates doing their homework in Site 2, I humbly accepted the challenge of taking a placement test. To my yet another surprise, the teacher who came to administer my placement test was a former teacher from Site 2 camp. I used to see him teach the seventh graders when I was attending the fifth grade in Site 2. After I greeted him, he acknowledged that he used to see me in Site 2. He handed me the test and left the room to let me work on it. I started with the math section solving a series of two variable equations before moving on to more challenging problems. About 15 minutes later, the teacher returned to check on my progress. He looked over my shoulder and, after seeing that I was struggling to figure out how to solve geometric problems dealing with triangles, took the test from my hand and showed me how to solve them. Afterward, he told me to go attend the eighth grade, and that was the end of my testing ordeal.

I attended the eighth grade at Angkor Wat Secondary School for six months before misfortune took me away from schooling again. During my stint at that school, I once again sought help from classmates who were willing to give me a hand. I met a number of good friends there who would help me with both academic studies and looking out for my safety. Whenever they heard rumors that Thai security guards might come to conduct searches for illegal persons in the school compound, my friends would tell me to go home and skip classes for that day. Though most of the time the rumors of round-up raids had never materialized, many of my friends admonished me to take precautions because they witnessed the searches had taken place before.

Living in a place illegally with the knowledge that one could be arrested any time put a lot of stress on my mental well being. I tried my best to instill normalcy within my life. At school, I interacted with my classmates as if I was a legal resident and tried to hide my anxiety as much as I could. Throughout the six-months period I spent in Khao I Dang camp, the school had been a place where I sought solace. I tried to persuade Buntha to attend school as well, but he was too fearful to walk about the camp because the school was located rather far away from where he lived. Hence, to comfort each other mentally, Buntha and I took one risk each week to gather at our mom’s house and had meals there as a family. We would spend the entire day with our mom talking among ourselves. Sometimes, we just sat quietly in the house to keep company with one another until evening when we went back to our separate shelters.

One Saturday evening during our weekly reunion in July, 1987, my mother asked that we all spent the night together at her house as she had never seen or heard of any Thai security round-up raid in that area since the day she came to live there. After weighing the risks, Buntha and I decided to spend the night at our mom’s house. It was a fateful decision. At about midnight, we heard the sound of a pickup truck coming to a stop in front of the house. Saiy, our host, peeked through a small hole on the door and found that there were Thai security guards jumping off the pickup truck. Instantly, he knew that a round-up raid was about to take place. Saiy tried frantically to get us into the hiding place. But there was a problem with space as the hiding place was built for only one person to hide, and there were three of us. So a quick decision was made that my mother and Buntha would squeeze into the hiding place while I stayed outside to face the inevitable arrest. After having my mother and Buntha hidden inside the empty water jar underneath the stove, Saiy told me to crawl under a bed and stay there in case the Thai security taskforces overlooked that area. I crawled under our bed and stayed there nervously waiting for the search to occur. About five minutes later, I heard a knock on the door. Saiy opened the door and three armed Thai soldiers along with two Cambodian interpreters entered the house. They asked Saiy if there were any illegal residents staying with him. In a rather vain attempt to hide me, Saiy said no. But his lie was exposed when one of the soldiers shined his flashlight on me. Another soldier pointed his M-16 rifle at me and using it to motion me to crawl out from under the bed. One of the soldiers pointed his finger at Saiy’s face in an angry gesture for telling him a lie. But, the soldiers didn’t give him a hard time despite their anger. They only took me to the pickup truck where several other illegal residents were sitting inside under the watchful eye of an armed guard. The soldiers motioned for me to climb onto the truck’s bed and sit among other arrestees while turning around to look for more victims. After making several more arrests of illegal residents, the Thai security taskforces called it a night and brought us to their headquarters to be processed for incarceration.

Among the people who were arrested along with me that night, there were a few women and children. We were taken to the Thai taskforce’s headquarters, which was located across the street from the prison near the main entrance to the camp. After having us register our names, we were ordered to walk across the street toward the prison. Several armed soldiers with their guns held at a ready-to-shoot position escorted us there to ensure that no one escaped. I should point out, at this point, that most refugees knew how indiscriminate the Thai soldiers were regarding our lives. We could be shot and killed for even the most trivial infraction. To the Thai soldiers who guarded us, a refugee’s life was as disposable as a piece of trash.

(To be Continued)

The Cambodian Royal Chronicle

92) King Norodom Sihanouk

(1st reign 1941--1955, Capital: Phnom Penh)
King Norodom Sihanouk was the son of Prince Norodom Suramarit and Princess Sisowath Kossamak. Both of his parents were third cousins. Thus, King Sihanouk was the great, great grandchild of King Ang Duong, the man who put Cambodia under the French protection and averted a possible Siam-Vietnamese elimination of the Khmer Kingdom.

After the death of King Sisowath Monivong, King Sihanouk’s grandfather, the royal council agreed to ascend King Sihanouk to the throne in 1941. At the time, Cambodia was still a French colony. However, the breakout of World War II in 1939 had traumatically changed the course of world history. The Germans had overtaken France, and, by 1945, the Japanese had also taken over the French colonies in Indochinese Peninsula. After the takeover, Japan had given independence to all the former French colony-countries. But the independence was short-lived. After the defeats of Germany and Japan, the main World War II’s antagonists, the French had returned to re-establish its colonies over Indochinese Peninsula. However, the taste of a short-lived independence had eventually made the colonized people increasingly resentful of the French rule. Thus, in 1949, the French was obliged to sign an agreement giving its former colonies quasi-independence by making them form a Federation of French Indochina with a common currency.

In 1953, King Norodom Sihanouk embarked on a royal crusade on the international arena in order to demand complete independence from France. After returning to Cambodia, he introduced a plan, appropriately called the Sihanouk Plan, by organizing non-violent mass struggle, similar to that of Mohandas Gandhi’s movement in India, against France’s rule. The crusade and the plan eventually pressured the French to grant complete independence to Cambodia in 1954.

King Sihanouk was a charismatic and populist leader. He was also a Machiavellian1 ruler who could be both benevolent and ruthless. To his supporters, he was Father of the Cambodian Independence, warrior, and champion of many causes. However, to his critics, King Sihanouk was nothing but a mercurial ruler, feisty leader, and a dictator who was ruthless to both his friends and foes who dared to voice their opinions against his.

Despite his political absolutism, King Sihanouk had made a number of noticeable accomplishments. During his reign, he had created a national welfare and relief systems to help alleviate the plight of poor people and those who suffered from natural disaster. He had also donated his personal finance to help build a number of schools such as Sihanouk High School in Kompong Cham, Suryavarman II Middle School in Siem Reap, and the Buddhist College in Phnom Penh. In addition to the building of national infrastructure, King Sihanouk had also encouraged the government to give scholarship to Cambodian students to study abroad. All in all, King Sihanouk had done an admirable job during his first reign. Perhaps most admirable of all was the introduction of a constitution giving limited democracy to the people of Cambodia who, for the first time in ages, had been exposed to the novelty of voting.

In 1955, after 13 years of ruling, King Sihanouk abdicated in favor of his father as he (Sihanouk) was preparing to lead a political party called the Sangkum Reastr Niyum in a national election.

93) King Norodom Suramarit
(1955--1960, Capital: Phnom Penh)
King Norodom Suramarit was the father of King Norodom Sihanouk. He succeeded the throne in 1955 after the abdication of his son. During his reign, Cambodia had enjoyed a relatively peaceful and tranquil existence.

After almost 100 years under French rule, the Khmer Kingdom was once again free from outside influence. However, the introduction of democracy and voting had nevertheless stirred tremendous political passion throughout the country. The students and former students who had been studying abroad and exposed to the concept of liberal democracy began to question and challenge the existing ruler, namely the monarch. Thus, throughout King Suramarit’s reign, Cambodia was mired in political struggle between the needs for greater freedom for the people and the monarch’s retaining of absolute power. King Norodom Suramarit died in 1960.

94) Prince Norodom Sihanouk/Queen Sisowath Kossamak
(Ruling as Chief of State, 1960--1970, Capital: Phnom Penh)
After King Suramarit’s death, Cambodia had fallen into what could be called a constitutional crisis. The problem derived largely from Prince Sihanouk’s unwillingness to name a successor to the throne, for he feared that it would jeopardize his consolidation of power in Cambodia.

Since the inception of a constitution in 1947, the center of governmental power in Cambodia began to move from the hands of the monarch to the National Assembly. The king would only reign but no longer rule. It was this shift that led to King Sihanouk’s abdication in 1955 in favor of his father, King Suramarit, so that he could free himself from the constraint of monarchy and be able to contest in the national elections which was, needless to say, farces that served his interests.

Now that the king was dead, the need to ascend a new king to the throne was paramount because it would make no sense for a kingdom without a king. As a requirement, once the king died, the Royal Council which was composed of a senior member of the royal family, the prime minister, the presidents of the two houses of the National Assembly, and the heads of the two Buddhist orders was to convene and name a successor. But the process was put to a halt when Prince Sihanouk, who was prime minister at the time, opposed to naming a successor. Thus, a special Bill was rushed through the National Assembly to create a Regency Council which was to represent the throne but to have no executive power.

After the creation of the Regency Council, Prince Sihanouk then resigned as prime minister and initiated a referendum to seek popular support for his idea of not naming a successor to the throne. In his campaign, he argued that the royal institution was full of corruption and decadence, which needed to be reformed. His proposal for reform was to have a popularly elected ruler who would be neither king, nor prime minister, nor president, but a leader who represented the general will of the people and the kingdom. With this proposed reform set in motion, a nationwide referendum was held and Prince Sihanouk was elected to become Cambodian ruler as chief of state. As chief of state, Sihanouk would neither be king, nor prime minister, nor president, but the combination of them all. He was to represent the throne as well as the government and everything else in between. In order to legitimize this new position, the National Assembly hastily added amendments to the constitution recognizing as chief of state a person who was “incontestably and expressly designated by the vote of the nation”. With this successful reform, Prince Sihanouk had accomplished what amounted to a constitutional coup d’etat. In a sense, he had established an absolute ruler behind the veil of democracy and without having to become a king. After accepting his new role as chief of state, Prince Sihanouk asked the ever-compliant National Assembly to recognize his mother, Queen Kossamak, as symbolic representative of the throne.

As chief of state, Prince Sihanouk’s rule was marred with political crises and violence. Domestically, political factionalism had created tremendous fracture within the government. Both right-wing conservative and left-wing communist inspired politicians were increasingly alienated toward his one-man policy and rule. Internationally, the pro-American governments of then South Vietnam and Thailand had also been increasingly critical of Sihanouk’s neutral policy, which appeared to be biased toward the communist camp. As a result, tensions and hostilities began to emerge and threaten Cambodia’s stability. In response to these crises, Prince Sihanouk embarked on a violent and ruthless campaign against anyone who opposed his rule or linked to the Thai-South Vietnamese-support Khmer Serei’s (Free Khmer) movement led by a man named Son Ngoc Thanh. As the tension grew, a rebellion broke out in 1967 at Samlaut village located at the northwestern corner of the kingdom in Battambang province. The rebellion was successfully quelled by Prince Sihanouk and his army, and a number of people who were suspected or believed to be rebels were mercilessly killed.

After the Samlaut Rebellion, Prince Sihanouk began to intensify his violent campaign against his opponents. Anyone who was suspected of rebellious activities or openly questioned and challenged his policy or rule was brutally persecuted or killed. This heavy-handed totalitarian policy eventually led to further deterioration within the government. Many left-wing communist-oriented politicians began to secretly go underground and form clandestine resistance to overthrow his government while a number of right-wing conservative politicians were planning to remove him from power in a coup d’etat. Thus, Prince Sihanouk’s fate as the chief of state was sealed when, in early 1970, his cousin, Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak, colluded with his defense minister, General Lon Nol, to overthrow him in a mildly violent coup d’etat. Prince Sihanouk was on a routine trip to France for medical check up when the coup d’etat against him broke out. He was condemned to death by the coup’s instigators and, eventually, went into exile in China where he became a figurehead leader of the communist-oriented revolutionary movement led by a man named Pol Pot (a.k.a. Saloth Sar) who was waging war against the newly formed Lon Nol’s government.
(To be continued)

WAR AND GENOCIDE

Prisoners of the Humanitarian

After my mother’s arrival in Site 2, I sent a letter to Heang informing him of our reunion. Heang was so happy to learn of our being together in a refugee camp. He said that he would try his best to sponsor us to live with him in the United States, which gave us some sense of hope, even though such hope for us was quite remote knowing what his life’s situation was. But it was nevertheless reassuring for us to know that we, at least, had some support while living in an isolated place fenced around with barbed wire. My other brother, Sokha, who at that point resided in the state of Ohio, had also provided us with some financial support.

Despite having been supplied with food and water, life in Site 2 was a bit depressing. One could not escape the feeling of being confined like a prisoner whenever one walked to the edge of camp and saw the barbed wire and the guard posts of Thai soldiers who kept watch over the camp’s residents day and night. However, the Thai authority which oversaw the camps seemed to sense that many camp’s residents had relatives living abroad and that they had money to spend. Therefore, to exploit the wealth that existed within Site 2, a sort of informal farmer’s market was set up on a strip of land within the premises of the camp where local Thai farmers and merchants could bring in produce, scrap meats, canned foods, dried goods, and clothes to sell to the refugees. The market was open only until noon time each day; and it was through this informal trade that we, refugees, could imagine what the outside world might look like.

For the rest of 1986, life for me was a bit less depressing after having been reunited with my mother and younger brother. Despite being confined within the premises of a refugee camp, we were able to establish some sense of normalcy living as a family unit. During this relative peace and comfort, I was able to devote much of my energy to educating myself as rigorously as possible. My plan was to skip one grade level every couple of years so that I could compensate for lost time. Everyday, I spent most of my spare time studying mathematics and other subjects with my friends who were one or two grade levels ahead of me. I would go to sit and listen to them while they were doing their homework and, if possible, ask them some questions. Though the subjects were sometimes beyond my grasp, I felt that I learned something in the process. This somewhat informal self-training eventually became the backbone of my educational background.

Toward the end of 1986, another life-changing event had befallen me. This time, it was another quest to reach yet another point of our journey. Om Ok’s son-in-law, Chantha, who had been working with the rebel’s intelligence services, learned that in order to be eligible to immigrate to another country we must be classified and recognized as refugees by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR). Those of us who lived in camps along the Thai-Cambodian border were not refugees; we were classified as displaced people. There was only one camp called Khao I Dang (KID) which was run by UNHCR. People could be recognized as refugees when they arrived and lived there for some time.

With this information, Chantha began to talk about the possibility of going to Khao I Dang to seek refugee status so that we would stand a better chance of immigrating to the United States. He said that it was pointless for us to leave everything behind and travel across so many perils to reach a place but stop short just as we were about to reach the end point. Khao I Dang was not that far and reaching it was not that dangerous compared to what we had faced leaving Cambodia for the border camp. Thus, with that powerful argument, Chantha had made a compelling case. Om Ok and Om Ky soon agreed with their son-in-law’s idea of moving to Khao I Dang camp. They began to make preparation and look for means to get there.

As soon as she learned that her only relatives in Site 2 were about to move to another camp, my mother began to worry about our fate. She, too, left Cambodia for the opportunity to go live with her sons in the United States of America, not to languish in a refugee or displaced people camp. Hence, my mother insisted that we, too, move to Khao I Dang. I was reluctant to go to Khao I Dang as it meant that my education would once again be interrupted and put on hold. After all of those painful and difficult efforts to gain a foothold in bringing myself back into schooling, the idea of letting it slip out of my life and future was too much for me to take. I initially refused to go along with my mother’s insistence to move to Khao I Dang camp. But, after seeing how sad and anxious she was, I relented.

Khao I Dang was located some 50 miles or so from Site 2. It was not within walking distance. But distance was not a problem for the human traffickers who would take us there. As long as we were willing to risk our lives and had the money to pay for our transport, the traffickers would take us anywhere we wanted to go in Thailand. It appeared that these human traffickers seemed to thrive wherever desperate people lived. In Site 2, it didn’t take long for Chantha to locate a small group of human traffickers who would take us to Khao I Dang for a fee. One morning in late December, 1986, we surreptitiously left our huts and went to a departure point where our traffickers arranged for their Thai counterparts to come pick us up and transport us to Khao I Dang. Vuthda, my good friend, and his family did not go with us as they were reluctant to take the risk of being trafficked in a foreign country.

The group of human traffickers with whom we entrusted our lives, were composed of three Cambodian refugees and several Thai nationals. Their operation was a classic case of caged birds and wild birds cooperating to exploit a common interest. Together, they created elaborate steps to bring us to Khao I Dang undetected, or maybe they already bribed the various officials for passages. Whatever they did, I was quite amazed to see that these human traffickers were very brazen in going about transporting us to Khao I Dang.

We slipped out of Site 2 at about five o’clock in the evening at a secluded area. There was a small gap in the barbed wire fence, made by either the human traffickers or smugglers for people to slip in and out of the camp. Two of the Cambodian guides led us through the forests while the third stayed behind inside the camp to give some sort of signals to their colleagues that it was safe to slip back into the camp. We walked on a rather well trodden path for about half a mile before coming to a stop under a thicket. Judging from the well-worn path, it appeared that we were not the only group of people who used that trail. There must be countless other people who went through that secret trail before us. From our hiding place, we could hear the sounds of automobiles traveling back and forth rather clearly. Hence, the road must be nearby. One of our guides went ahead to scout in the direction from which we heard the sounds of automobiles. About 15 minutes later, he returned and motioned for us to move forward. We walked for a couple hundred yards more and emerged at a small clearance on the edge of the forest where a pickup truck was waiting for us. The two Thai nationals who were driving the truck motioned for us to climb on board the truck’s bed quickly before we could be spotted by Thai border police. With fear and anxiety, we scrambled onto the truck’s bed in less than five minutes. Once we all packed into the pickup truck, the driver took off quickly. One of our Cambodian guides who spoke Thai came along with us while the other returned to the camp.

We traveled through several Thai villages disguised as farmers returning from their fields. To avoid suspicion from onlookers, all the children were seated in the middle of the truck’s bed while adults were sitting around them. At one point, our truck made a detour onto a dirt path where a man riding on a motorcycle was waiting to lead the way. A couple of miles later, we emerged back onto the paved road and continued on toward Khao I Dang camp. Our Cambodian guide told us that the detour was necessary to avoid a Thai police checkpoint. At about 7:30 p.m., we arrived at an isolated safe house located on a field adjacent to Khao I Dang camp. We spent the night in that house and remained there until four p.m. the next day, before preparation was made to get us into Khao I Dang. Through the house’s windows, we could see the light brown huts of Khao I Dang camp with our naked eyes. Located not far from our safe house was a small villa belonging to an affluent family who had a connection with the Thai monarch. During our stay in the safe house, we were invited to visit that villa, which some of us did. The owners gave us a tour of the house and we were quite impressed. Apparently, like Odom in Cambodia, the Thai human traffickers also had powerful people behind them. I presumed that the wealthy residents who had a connection with the Thai monarch must receive some payments from the traffickers for providing a protective umbrella for them.

At about 4:30 p.m. we made our way into Khao I Dang camp. After bribing a Thai taskforce who guarded a secluded area behind Khao I Dang camp’s hospital, our guides got a go-ahead signal to drop us off near a small bridge built over a dry creek. We walked along that dry creek and after passing under that small bridge for about a hundred yards, we reached the smuggling entry point where a wide gap in the barbed wire fence was made to enable people to walk in and out of the camp without hindrance. At this point, only our Cambodian guide remained with us to take us to another safe house in Khao I Dang camp, which belonged to a middle-aged couple known informally as the four aces family. The four aces were referred to their four beautiful daughters, one of whom was married to a Thai taskforce official in charge of guarding Khao I Dang camp. I had a glimpse of that Thai official and a couple of the beautiful daughters before being surreptitiously moved to hide in small group in different houses in the camp. At that point, I began to realize that life in Khao I Dang camp wasn’t what we had expected—a refugee camp with humanitarian protection.

(To be continued)

The Cambodian Royal Chronicle

4) The Phnom Penh Period


89) King Norodom
(1860--1904, Capital: Oudong & Phnom Penh)
King Norodom was the oldest son of King Ang Duong. He succeeded the throne in 1860 after the death of his father. He also inherited the support or indirect rule from France which was establishing colonies over the Indochinese Peninsula.
In the first year of his reign, King Norodom faced a familiar royal crisis. His brother, prince Siwatha was envious of his leadership and enlisted two people named Snong So and Mano Keo to instigate a rebellion against the King. However, the rebels were defeated by the royal army and Mano Keo was captured and executed. As for Snong So, he escaped to Cochinchina’s territory (now Southern Vietnam). Prince Siwatha had also escaped. After this incident, King Norodom moved the Capital from Oudong to Phnom Penh which was to remain until today.
In 1865, two other people named Achar Sva and Po Kambo instigated another rebellion1. But, once again, the royal army had defeated , captured, and executed the two instigators. After these two rebellions, Cambodia had experienced a period of tranquility. During his reign, King Norodom had built a temple called Preah Keo Morakot on the southern flank of the Royal Palace’s compound in Phnom Penh. He died in 1904.

90) King Sisowath
(1904--1927, Capital: Phnom Penh)
King Sisowath was the younger brother of King Norodom. After King Norodom’s death, the royal council, the two leaders of the Mahayana and Theravada Buddhist sects, and the French Resident Superieur agreed to ascend King Sisowath to the throne.
Soon after his succession, Siam, under pressure from the French, had returned the provinces of Stung Treng, Tonle Pov, and Mlu Prey to Cambodia. Later on in 1907, Siam had also signed a treaty with the French and returned the provinces of Battambang, Serey Sauphorn, and Siem Reap, in which the City of Angkor was located, to Cambodia. Thus, Cambodia regained some of its lost territories including its ancient city of Angkor at this point. During World War I (1914-18), King Sisowath sent the Khmer army volunteers to help France fight with Germany.
Throughout his reign, Cambodia had enjoyed a peaceful existence. King Sisowath had ordered the building of many institutions. Among these were the famed Lycee Sisowath, the Royal Library, the Pali School of Higher Learning, the School of Fine Arts, and the Royal School of Administration, etc. He also undertook the road building projects throughout the country.

91) King Sisowath Monivong
(1927--1941, Capital: Phnom Penh)
King Sisowath Monivong was the oldest son of King Sisowath. He succeeded the throne in 1927. During his reign, Cambodia had, in effect, become a French colony. The French gave little freedom to ordinary Khmer people, and the French exploitation of local economy was enormous. As a result, the Khmers were just as miserable under the French protection as they were under the protection/oppression of their two neighboring nemeses, Siam and Vietnam.
Using local labors, the French established one of the world’s largest rubber plantations in Me Muth, Kompong Cham. The plantation had an area of 6,000 hectares and contained some 550,000 rubber trees.
Though King Sisowath Monivong was, in effect, a French tutelage, his royal government had nevertheless made some progresses. In 1932, the government had completed the construction of a railroad running across several provinces and linking Phnom Penh to the Siamese (Thai) border. Also, a bridge was built across the Bassac River which gave the people who lived on the other side of the river easy access to the Capital. King Sisowath Monivong died in 1941.
(To be continued)

WAR AND GENOCIDE

The Jungle of Refugees (cont.)
In a society where a child’s success became a bragging right of the parents, my success of becoming one of the top three students on test scores gave teachers at Nong Chan Primary School some senses of pride. To reward my good performance, the assistant principal allowed me to attend English courses taught by Father John Kennedy Bingham to the school staff, hoping that upon my completion of secondary school education I would return to teach at Nong Chan Primary School. To those who might wonder who Father John Kennedy Bingham was, he, as the name suggested, was related to the famous Kennedy family of America.


I started the first year of my secondary school education some time in December of 1985. As one of the top students who received high score on the entrance exam, I was chosen to become the classroom’s major. Because UNBRO did not provide support for secondary school education, the Cambodian camp administrators had to divert some of the building materials, mostly bamboo and thatch, from other building projects to construct several rudimentary classrooms for us. As for educational materials such as textbooks, notebooks, pens, and pencils, we had to rely on charity organizations. COERR, Catholic Office for Emergency Relief and Refugees, was one such organization which provided us with much needed support.

As students, we did not have the luxury of possessing textbooks. Only teachers were given textbooks for teaching. Hence, we had to write down our lessons, either copying them from the blackboard after our teacher, or writing them down onto our notebooks as our teacher dictated them to us. As the classroom’s major, I was frequently given the tasks of writing our lessons on the blackboard for my classmates to copy them down while our teacher was preparing other lessons.

Soon after I started my first year at the secondary school, my younger brother, Buntha arrived in the camp. Without dilly-dally, I arranged to have him attended school immediately. Buntha had already reached the seventh grade when he left Cambodia. Our secondary school had one seventh grade class, two sixth grade classes, and six fifth grade classes. However, Buntha was a bit reluctant to attend the seventh grade as I was lagging behind him in the fifth grade. Thus, he decided to enroll in the fifth grade with me. I should point out that the secondary school curricula in the refugee camp was somewhat more advanced than those being carried out in Cambodia, for they were modeled after the free world countries such as Thailand, Singapore, and the U.S.; whereas in Cambodia, they were restricted by Communist ideology. For instance, students in Cambodia at that time could not study unsanctioned foreign languages such as English or French, while their counterparts in the refugee camp could study any subject. That was why Buntha decided to roll back his grade level to fill in the gap.

After having his name registered, Buntha was placed in the same class with me. Hence, I had another competitor who was my younger brother. As a class major, I was expected to maintain good standing academically, which meant that I should score higher than my peers on the various subjects we studied. It was tough, given the fact that I had not had a solid basic educational background. As a result, I found myself frequently being beaten by my little brother, academically.

By about mid 1986, my mother had finally made it to one of the rebel’s military camps, which located about 70 miles from where we were. Despite the isolation of Site 2, where all civilian refugee camps under the control of a rebel group called the Khmer People’s National Liberation Front (KPNLF) were relocated, people inside Cambodia, who had troubles with the Cambodian communist government, still trickled into those rebel military camps to escape persecution. The rebel forces periodically made arrangements to transport those civilian people to Site 2 in their military trucks, which brought soldiers every month or so to visit their families who lived in Site 2 camp complex.

Upon learning of my mother’s arrival in the rebel’s military camp, we immediately tried to find ways to get her to Site 2 as soon as possible. Om Ok’s son-in-law, Chantha, at that point, had joined the rebel’s intelligence services called KISA, Khmer Intelligence Services Agency, as a desk officer. Using his connections, Chantha asked the rebel officers at the frontline to help send my mother to Site 2 as soon as possible. However, before the officers could locate my mother, she had been robbed by some foot soldiers who guarded the camp. According to a witness, from whom we learned afterward, the rebel robbers took my mother aside and ordered her to take off her clothes to see if she hid any valuable in the private areas. It must have been a humiliating experience for my mother. But she said nothing to us about the incident.

In an attempt to right the wrong and punish the culprits, their officer summoned those who guarded the area where my mother was robbed to stand in line and had my mother pointed out the ones who robbed her. But, my mother was too smart to make enemies in the jungle where only jungle law prevailed. She told the officer that it was rather dark, and she couldn’t recognize the faces of the people who robbed her. To amend the misdeed of their soldiers, the officials in charge of the military camp put my Mom in a special car and brought her to Site 2 immediately.

(To be continued)

ចំណីខួរក្បាល (ប្រចាំសប្តាហ៍)

"ព្រុសខុសដើមឈើ"
នៅក្នុងភាសាអង់គ្លេស មានពាក្យអត្ថប្បដិរូបមួយឃ្លាពោលថា៖
"Barking up the wrong tree." ពាក្យនេះមានន័យថា "រកខុសកន្លែង"
ឬក៏ ធ្វើកិច្ចការខុសគោលដៅ ។ ប៉ុន្តែ បើយើងបកប្រែពាក្យនេះ
តាមន័យត្រង់ យើងអាចប្រៀបធៀបពាក្យនេះទៅនឹងសត្វឆ្កែ
ប្រមាញ់ដែលព្រុសកោះរកសត្វមិនត្រូវចំដើមឈើដែលសត្វព្រៃ
កំពុងពួន ។ ឆ្កែប្រមាញ់គឺជាឆ្កែដែលគេចិញ្ចឹមសម្រាប់ស្វែងរក
និងដេញខាំសត្វព្រៃ ។ កាលខ្ញុំរស់នៅក្នុងតំបន់ចុងកាត់មាត់ញក
មួយនាសម័យខ្មែរក្រហមគ្រប់គ្រងប្រទេសកម្ពុជានៅអំឡុងចុង
ទសវត្សរ៍ឆ្នាំ ១៩៧០ ខ្ញុំធ្លាប់ឃើញក្មេងៗដែលជាកូនកម្មាភិបាល
ខ្មែរក្រហមនាំឆ្កែដើរម្រមាញ់សត្វព្រៃ ។ ជារឿយៗ ខ្ញុំសង្កេតឃើញ
ថា នៅពេលដែលហ្វូងឆ្កែប្រមាញ់ហិតប្រទះក្លិនសត្វសំពោចក្រអូប
ពួកវាហាក់ដូចជាវង្វេងវង្វាន់ ហើយនាំគ្នាទៅព្រុសសំដៅដើមឈើ
ឬគុម្ពោតព្រៃ ដែលមិនមែនជាទីដែលសត្វសំពោចកំពុងលាក់ខ្លួន
ទៅវិញ ។ ជាលទ្ធផល ទាំងឆ្កែទាំងម្ចាស់ គឺបានត្រឹមតែរុករកហត់
អត់អំពើ ។
ថ្មីៗនេះ រដ្ឋសភានៃព្រះរាជាណាចក្រ កម្ពុជា បានធ្វើច្បាប់មួយ
ដើម្បីផ្តន្ទាទោសដល់បុគ្គលណាដែលនិយាយថា គ្មានអំពើប្រល័យ
ពូជសាសន៍នៅក្នុងសម័យខ្មែរក្រហម ឬថាគុកទួលស្លែងជាគុក
សិប្បនិម្មិត ។ ក្នុងនាមយើងជាអតីតជនរងគ្រោះនៃរបបខ្មែរ
ក្រហម យើងសូមស្វាគមនិងគាំទ្រច្បាប់នេះយ៉ាងពេញទំហឹង ។
ប៉ុន្តែ អ្វីដែលគួរឲ្យសោកស្តាយ គឺថា ការធ្វើច្បាប់សម្រាប់ដាក់
ទណ្ឌកម្មអ្នកនិយាយមិនពិតអំពីរបបប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍ខ្មែរ
ក្រហមនោះ គឺមិនខុសអ្វីអំពីសត្វឆ្កែប្រមាញ់ ដែលព្រុសខុសដើម
ឈើឡើយ ។ និយាយឲ្យងាយគិត ទោសនិយាយមិនពិត គឺមាន
ស្ថានទម្ងន់មិនដូចទោសដែលបានប្រព្រឹត្តិនោះទេ ។ ដូច្នេះ រដ្ឋ
សភាកម្ពុជាគួរណាស់តែយកពេលវេលាដ៏មានតម្លៃរបស់ខ្លួន ទៅ
ធ្វើច្បាប់បញ្ជាក់វែកញែកឲ្យបានច្បាស់ នូវទម្ងន់ទោសឧក្រិដ្ឋ
សម្រាប់អ្នកដែលបានប្រព្រឹត្តិអំពើឧក្រិដ្ឋ មកលើពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរនៅក្នុង
សម័យខ្មែរក្រហមគ្រប់គ្រងរដ្ឋអំណាចនោះវិញ ទើបប្រសើរ ។
បច្ចុប្បន្ន តុលាការកូនកាត់មួយដែលមនុស្សទូទៅហៅកាត់ថា "តុលាការខ្មែរក្រហម" ត្រូវបានរាជរដ្ឋាភិបាលកម្ពុជាសហការជា
មួយនឹងអង្គការសហប្រជាជាតិបង្កើតឡើង ដើម្បីកាត់ទោសអតីត
មេដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រហម ។ មកទល់នឹងថ្ងៃនេះ ដំណើរការកាត់ទោស
អតីតមេដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រហម បាននិងកំពុងតែប្រឈមនឹងភាពចម្រូង
ចម្រាសយ៉ាងខ្លាំង រហូតដល់ចៅក្រមអន្តរជាតិមួយចំនួនលាឈប់
ពីដំណែង ដោយសារតែការខ្វែងគំនិតគ្នារវាងសហចៅក្រមជាតិ
ខ្មែរនិងអន្តរជាតិ ។ យោងតាមពត៌មានចេញមកពីតុលាការខ្មែរ
ក្រហម ចំណុចចម្រូងចម្រាសដែលនាំឲ្យមានការខ្វែងមតិគ្នារវាង
ចៅក្រមខ្មែរនិងចៅក្រមអន្តរជាតិនោះ គឺស្ថិតនៅត្រង់មាត្រាមួយ
នៃច្បាប់កាត់ទោសអតីតមេដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រហម ដែលតម្រូវឲ្យផ្តន្ទា
ទោសតែបុគ្គលណាដែលទទួលខុសត្រូវខ្ពស់បំផុត (Most Responsible
Persons) ។
សម្រាប់អ្នកដែលធ្លាប់បានសិក្សា​ ឬក៏ធ្លាប់រស់នៅក្នុងរបបខ្មែរក្រហម
បុគ្គលដែលទទួលខុសត្រូវខ្ពស់បំផុតនោះ គឺគ្មាននរណាដឹងឬអាច
សន្មត់បានទេ ។ យើងគ្រាន់តែដឹងថា អង្គការជាអ្នកទទួលខុសត្រូវ
ខ្ពស់បំផុត ក្នុងការកាប់សម្លាប់ពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរទូទាំងប្រទេសនាសម័យ
នោះ ។ ហើយនៅពីក្រោយអង្គការគឺថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រហម ដែល
គេហៅថា៖ គណមជ្ឈឹម គណភូមិភាគ គណតំបន់ គណស្រុក
គណឃុំ គណសហករណ៍ និង​ ពួកឈ្លបនិងយោធា ដែលទទួល
ខុសត្រូវផ្នែកសន្តិសុខជាតិ ។ នៅក្នុងចំណោមថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រ
ហមទាំងនេះ មានបុគ្គលមួយចំនួនធំបានប្រព្រឹត្តិឧក្រិដ្ឋកម្មយ៉ាង
ធ្ងន់ធ្ងរ ។ ដូច្នេះ បុគ្គលដែលធ្លាប់ធ្វើជាតំណាងអង្គការខ្មែរក្រហម
ទាំងនេះវិញទេ ដែលរដ្ឋសភាខ្មែរគួរតែធ្វើច្បាប់ដាក់ស្ថានទម្ងន់
ទោសឲ្យបានច្បាស់សាល់ និងឲ្យបានឆាប់ ដើម្បីជួយសម្រួល
ដល់តុលាការខ្មែរក្រហម ចាត់វិធានការទៅតាមនិតិវិធីរបស់ខ្លួន
ក្នុងការវិនិច្ឆ័យទោសឧក្រិដ្ឋជនទាំងនេះ ឲ្យបានសមរម្យ ។ ចំ
ណែកឯអ្នកដែលនិយាយមិនពិត ឬក៏បដិសេធថា គ្មានអំពើប្រ
ល័យពូជសាសន៍នៅក្នុងសម័យខ្មែរក្រហមនោះ វាមិនចាំបាច់អ្វី
នឹងតម្រូវឲ្យរដ្ឋសភាជាតិខ្មែរ ធ្វើច្បាប់ដើម្បីដាក់ទោសទណ្ឌនោះ
ទេ ព្រោះថា ពាក្យសម្តីដែលមិនពិត មិនអាចកែប្រែរឿងពិតបាន
ឡើយ ។ មូលហេតុដែលយើងហ៊ានអះអាងដូច្នេះ ព្រោះយើងធ្លាប់
បានឮលោក ខៀវ សំផន ដែលជាអតីតប្រមុខរដ្ឋខ្មែរក្រហមនោះ និយាយបដិសេធថាគ្មានអំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍នៅក្នុងសម័យ
ខ្មែរក្រហម អស់រយៈពេលជាង ៣០ឆ្នាំមកហើយ ។ ប៉ុន្តែ សម្តី
ប្រាសចាកការពិតរបស់គាត់ មិនបានធ្វើឲ្យប្រវិត្តិសាស្ត្រខ្មែរក្រហម
កែប្រែទេ ។ ផ្ទុយទៅវិញ វាបានធ្វើឲ្យសាធារណមតិនៅលើសកល
លោក រឹតតែមានជំនឿនិងឆន្ទៈ ក្នុងការសិក្សា និងរក្សាប្រវត្តិ
សាស្ត្រ នៃអំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍របស់ពួកខ្មែរក្រហម យ៉ាងមុត
មាំថែមទៀត ។ ការអូសក្បាលលោក ខៀវ សំផន មកកាត់ទោស
នៅក្នុងតុលាការខ្មែរក្រហម គឺជាតឹកតាងដ៏ប្រត្យក្សមួយ ។
ការធ្វើច្បាប់ផ្តន្ទាទោសអ្នកនិយាយប្រឌិត ជាជាងធ្វើច្បាប់បញ្ជាក់
លម្អិត ក្នុងការវិនិច្ឆ័យទោសឧក្រិដ្ឋដែលត្រូវបានប្រព្រឹត្តិដោយអតីត
ថ្នាក់ដឹកនាំខ្មែរក្រហមនោះ គឺមិនខុសអ្វីអំពីឆ្កែប្រមាញ់ ដែលទៅ
ព្រុសកោះខុសដើមឈើដែលសត្វសំពោចក្រអូប កំពុងតែលាក់
ខ្លួនពួនអាត្មានោះទេ ។ បើយើងធ្វើការប្រៀបធៀបវិភាគឲ្យបាន
ល្អិតល្អន់ យើងនឹងមើលឃើញថា អ្នកដែលនិយាយប្រាសចាកការ
ពិតអំពីអំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍នៅក្នុងរបបខ្មែរក្រហម គឺគ្រាន់តែ
ជាខ្លិនសត្វសំពោចក្រអូបតែប៉ុណ្ណោះ ។ វាគ្មានប្រយោជន៍អ្វីនឹងទៅ
រុករកចាប់សត្វសំពោចនៅក្នុងទីកន្លែងដែលយើងគ្រាន់តែធំខ្លិន
របស់វានោះទេ ។ បើបំណាច់នឹងចំណាយពេលវេលា ដើម្បីរុករក
ចាប់សត្វសំពោចក្រអូបនោះ យើងគួរតែទៅរុករក នៅក្នុងគុម្ពោត
ឈើណា ដែលវាកំពុងពួន ៕