The legacy of the Khmer Rouge: The refugees (below) and the evacuation of Phnom Penh (R)
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Wow! Khmer Rouge anthems sell better than pop music? It's a hair-raising news that brings back gruesome memories of this hellish period. I do not believe that people bought the KR anthems because they support the music and the themes in it but they want to know what is in the mind of this murderous leadership. I for one will buy those music not because I support them but because I want to keep them in my collections and also to try to understand the mind of those murderous people. The meanings and the aggressive tones of the songs alone would shake people to the core with fears.
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Phnom Penh - Amongst the modern bootleg pop albums of the Cambodian capital's music markets, an unlikely competitor is increasingly appearing; as a trial of former leaders looms, Khmer Rouge revolutionary dirges are making a popular musical comeback. "They are not our best sellers, but they are very steady," says Vy, the proprietor of one of the city's many copy CD shops ringing Psar Thmei market. "I myself can't listen to them. I hear them for one minute and I am scared for three years."
But demand is strong enough for her to sell the grim compact discs of the regime's propaganda for 25 percent more than bootlegs of pop idols such as Korean pop superstar Rain and US diva Madonna.
The Angkar, as the Khmer Rouge called itself, played the songs at the mass dining halls as thin gruel was served to millions of citizens put to hard labour in the fields. There is no mention of love in the music, which often follows an aggressive theme.
With catchy titles such as "We do as the Angkar tells us, and thus have bumper crops" and "Every day we must rise up and attack", the songs reflect the 1975 to 1979 regime's cold ultra-Maoist bent which drove one of the worst massacres of the last century.
Khieu Bunna, 42, said he bought the songs despite classing himself as a victim of the regime, under which up to 2 million died.
"We do not buy this music because we support that regime. We buy it because we want to try to understand what made these people do what they did. What were they thinking?" he said.
Despite a flurry of information surrounding the 56-million-dollar joint UN-Cambodia tribunal, expected to begin hearings early next year, the schools largely ignores the period.
Up until now, most mass circulation newspapers have published Khmer Rouge-related stories reluctantly, saying it negatively affects circulation, meaning many Cambodians feel they have few sources to study the darkest period in their modern history.
Phnom Penh - Amongst the modern bootleg pop albums of the Cambodian capital's music markets, an unlikely competitor is increasingly appearing; as a trial of former leaders looms, Khmer Rouge revolutionary dirges are making a popular musical comeback. "They are not our best sellers, but they are very steady," says Vy, the proprietor of one of the city's many copy CD shops ringing Psar Thmei market. "I myself can't listen to them. I hear them for one minute and I am scared for three years."
But demand is strong enough for her to sell the grim compact discs of the regime's propaganda for 25 percent more than bootlegs of pop idols such as Korean pop superstar Rain and US diva Madonna.
The Angkar, as the Khmer Rouge called itself, played the songs at the mass dining halls as thin gruel was served to millions of citizens put to hard labour in the fields. There is no mention of love in the music, which often follows an aggressive theme.
With catchy titles such as "We do as the Angkar tells us, and thus have bumper crops" and "Every day we must rise up and attack", the songs reflect the 1975 to 1979 regime's cold ultra-Maoist bent which drove one of the worst massacres of the last century.
Khieu Bunna, 42, said he bought the songs despite classing himself as a victim of the regime, under which up to 2 million died.
"We do not buy this music because we support that regime. We buy it because we want to try to understand what made these people do what they did. What were they thinking?" he said.
Despite a flurry of information surrounding the 56-million-dollar joint UN-Cambodia tribunal, expected to begin hearings early next year, the schools largely ignores the period.
Up until now, most mass circulation newspapers have published Khmer Rouge-related stories reluctantly, saying it negatively affects circulation, meaning many Cambodians feel they have few sources to study the darkest period in their modern history.
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