Op-Ed by MP
Politics is generally regarded as an amoral and unforgiving terrain, traditionally the vocation of choice for men thirsty for the trappings of worldly fame – failing that, notoriety - beside being playthings of powerful aristocrats and their offspring, in particular, when they found out to their dismay, the taxing rigour of military life. Yet there are a few exceptions that opt to go into politics out of a sense of civic duty; an obligation imposed upon them by a combination of events and circumstances unforeseen rather than an inherited choice. Among this latter category, we have Mohandas K. Ghandi (later bestowed the title of ‘Mahatma’ – Great Soul – by the Indian people. Mahatma is the father of modern India, but his moral influence extends well beyond that great country. I once came across his statue in a public space in the middle of Phnom Penh. Hopefully, it has not been dislodged to make way for another development scheme, for in truth and practise, he was a friend to all mankind whose love of justice, practised simplicity and life-long struggle against political and social oppression, which in India, as in Khmer society today, also encompasses the inequities of the caste system which Cambodia inherited through imported Indian religious systems, particularly, in the form of Brahmanism.
Economically and socially, the caste system proves to be a most stubborn and irrational force, enslaving millions in its grip, of whom the vast majority are the rural poor as well as women and minors. In Khmer society, this is an on-going affliction, a silent agony endured daily by virtue of not merely being poor per se, but more specifically of being excluded socially from legal, political protection mechanisms.
The plight of human trafficking is probably not new, but the sheer scale and number of vulnerable young women (some are known to be very young, not yet old enough to discern whether the first man walking into her room is there to play with her or to rape her violently) who have been forced to service the sex ‘industry’ have been an alarming feature of post-war Cambodia.
This is a complex, global issue that requires urgent input from all parties and not just lip-service at press conferences. Ms Mu Sochua and many other Khmer women who have been at the forefront of the campaign to better the lot of Khmer women are much better qualified than this humble observer, and certainly, given the nature and magnitude of the malaise just mentioned, these exceptional women, whether they happen to be in politics or humanitarian bodies, deserve far better tribute through recognition and influence than what they have been given so far, not least owing to the public character of their labour, which in Cambodia is saturated with risks; to the fact that in Cambodia today women outnumber men, and last but not least, to the personal sacrifice that they have to make in juggling professional roles with family responsibilities; for being public figures aside, they also have to live their ‘normal’ lives as wife, daughter, mother to their respective folk.
Despite the existence of many powerful women in business and commerce in Khmer society today, the majority of their sisters remain powerless. This is largely not a defect of Khmer society in general –certainly not of Khmer women – but instead, it is a tragic outgrowth or vestige of a male-led universe with unreformed feudalism at the base of its pyramid.
Finally, it should not matter from where a ‘leader’ of men and women emerges. Just as a single lighted candle vanishes the darkness in a space many times its size, so a person with humanity and the love of justice in his/her heart shall be a godsend to all.
Let me leave a quote written by King Jayavarman vii’s wife as an epithet to this greatest of Khmer rulers:
“It is not private afflictions, but public sorrows, that make grief of Kings”.
Politics is generally regarded as an amoral and unforgiving terrain, traditionally the vocation of choice for men thirsty for the trappings of worldly fame – failing that, notoriety - beside being playthings of powerful aristocrats and their offspring, in particular, when they found out to their dismay, the taxing rigour of military life. Yet there are a few exceptions that opt to go into politics out of a sense of civic duty; an obligation imposed upon them by a combination of events and circumstances unforeseen rather than an inherited choice. Among this latter category, we have Mohandas K. Ghandi (later bestowed the title of ‘Mahatma’ – Great Soul – by the Indian people. Mahatma is the father of modern India, but his moral influence extends well beyond that great country. I once came across his statue in a public space in the middle of Phnom Penh. Hopefully, it has not been dislodged to make way for another development scheme, for in truth and practise, he was a friend to all mankind whose love of justice, practised simplicity and life-long struggle against political and social oppression, which in India, as in Khmer society today, also encompasses the inequities of the caste system which Cambodia inherited through imported Indian religious systems, particularly, in the form of Brahmanism.
Economically and socially, the caste system proves to be a most stubborn and irrational force, enslaving millions in its grip, of whom the vast majority are the rural poor as well as women and minors. In Khmer society, this is an on-going affliction, a silent agony endured daily by virtue of not merely being poor per se, but more specifically of being excluded socially from legal, political protection mechanisms.
The plight of human trafficking is probably not new, but the sheer scale and number of vulnerable young women (some are known to be very young, not yet old enough to discern whether the first man walking into her room is there to play with her or to rape her violently) who have been forced to service the sex ‘industry’ have been an alarming feature of post-war Cambodia.
This is a complex, global issue that requires urgent input from all parties and not just lip-service at press conferences. Ms Mu Sochua and many other Khmer women who have been at the forefront of the campaign to better the lot of Khmer women are much better qualified than this humble observer, and certainly, given the nature and magnitude of the malaise just mentioned, these exceptional women, whether they happen to be in politics or humanitarian bodies, deserve far better tribute through recognition and influence than what they have been given so far, not least owing to the public character of their labour, which in Cambodia is saturated with risks; to the fact that in Cambodia today women outnumber men, and last but not least, to the personal sacrifice that they have to make in juggling professional roles with family responsibilities; for being public figures aside, they also have to live their ‘normal’ lives as wife, daughter, mother to their respective folk.
Despite the existence of many powerful women in business and commerce in Khmer society today, the majority of their sisters remain powerless. This is largely not a defect of Khmer society in general –certainly not of Khmer women – but instead, it is a tragic outgrowth or vestige of a male-led universe with unreformed feudalism at the base of its pyramid.
Finally, it should not matter from where a ‘leader’ of men and women emerges. Just as a single lighted candle vanishes the darkness in a space many times its size, so a person with humanity and the love of justice in his/her heart shall be a godsend to all.
Let me leave a quote written by King Jayavarman vii’s wife as an epithet to this greatest of Khmer rulers:
“It is not private afflictions, but public sorrows, that make grief of Kings”.
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