A Glimpse of Khmer
A Glimpse of Khmer
Written by Vanna Phasokar
You must have heard of the Khmer Rouge at least once in your life time.
But, have you ever wondered what exactly did your ancestors faced during those times? Have they been telling you horrifying stories and perhaps some parts must have sounded like an exaggeration?
Or maybe your parents or grandparents never told you about this period, and left you in the dark? But, what bad would it do to know about your own history?
A Cambodian should at least understand their own history, don’t you agree?
Well, the Khmer Rouge was indeed a nightmare. How could Cambodians kill other Cambodians? Yes, it was not believable at all, but it did happen because of the power struggle in that period of time. The struggle begins when our country was not on a balanced political stance and then the government lost the trust of the people. Soon bombs were dropped, evoking fear in people throughout the nation.
The Khmer Rouge ruled the land with hatred for those who are fortunate enough to get educations. They lied to the people and when those people were vulnerable, they earned the people’s trust. Soon the people knew that they were trapped in the power of the Khmer Rouge soldiers, forcing to be thankful and fateful to Angkar. Families were separated, people with education, such as doctors, writers, singers, politicians, engineers, and especially teachers were killed with bullets.
The surviving educated people were those that hid their identities. Soon, food was taken away because the Khmer Rouge forced the people to work with traditional methods. Everything you own would all belong to Angkar. Imagine having a mango tree in front of your yard that was once yours and free for you to eat, it was now Angkar’s and you are no longer allowed to eat.
You work, obey, stay silent, stay loyal, you survive.
You run, protest, dis-obey, want freedom, you die.
What is even worse was that, the people who have a lot of talents as well as capabilities to make our country better than it currently is, ended up being killed in the most horrible ways. Those methods of killing should have at least been told to you once by your families or teachers; yes, they are all true. You could say that this is a real ‘living a dead life’.
Imagine how traumatic this would have been for your ancestors, would you go back in time and experience these events in the place of you ancestors?
Challenge yourself: I bet you will lose this challenge. The school have plenty of books about this period, why not read through them and see for yourselves if any of these are false? Let’s see if your or your friends will finish a book first.
Image 2: Taken by Vanna Phasokar
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