A Change of Guard

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Friday 8 January 2010

What the people say about 7th January Day

Picture of the celebration of 7th January Day in Phnom Penh on 7th January 2010.
By Khmerization

7th January is a controversial date in Cambodia. It is the day when Vietnam sent it troops to topple the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The ruling Cambodian People's Party and its proponents celebrated it as a liberation day, while opposition parties and critics consider it an invasion day. Below is what people think of the 7th January Day, as reported by Radio Free Asia.

Prime Minister Hun Sen: "The people whom Pol Pot forced to (dig cannal and) carry soil, have also become the opponents of the 7th January Day. So, if we talk in another way, they are not human beings, but animals. Even the animals know who their parents are. So, if we talk in general, these contemptible people are cheaper than the animals."

He continued: "But 7th January Day did not consider anyone as its enemy. 7th January belongs to all Khmer people. 7th January belongs to the whole of the Cambodian nation and will not consider anyone as its enemy. But don't oppose 7th January Day! God cannot save you and you will descend into the 18th Hell! And now there is the 92nd Hell."

Some people are too afraid to express their opinions: "I am too scared to talk about it because I worry I will get into trouble", said one Phnom Penh resident.

Chief of Batheay commune in Kampong Cham province, said: "What has saved our people's life, we must always remember it in our hearts."

Sothoun, from France, said: "Please analyse! In Cambodia today, (government officials) are driving Landcruisers and hide million of dollars in foreign countries. They got these plenty of money not because of 7th January 1979, but because of the Paris Peace Accords when the peace talks took place and when the communist bloc collapsed that led to the end of war in Cambodia. That's why now the people have money and everything. So, I just want to express my opinion that, it is time we stop holding grudges against one another."

Mr. Kan Virak, president of the People's Power Party, said: "I believe that the people who did not vote for the Cambodian People's Party, other than the 4.6 million people, believe that 7th January is a day of the Vietnamese invasion. It is a day that have brought corruption, it is a day that brings gross injustices in the court system and 7th January has made Vietnam looks like the owner and master of Cambodia."

A resident from Kampot: "Although 7th January is a liberation day, but after the liberation, the country was led in a way different from the people's points of view, opposite to what the people want. Like what we see today, he said he will lead the people out of hunger, but in reality, the rich and powerful people robbed lands from the poor people and put them in jail. The people are innocent, but when they came out to protest (against land-grabbing), they are arrested and put in jail."

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