Sopheap Chak (Photo: SopheapFocus.com)
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
Guam Pacific Daily News
May 19, 2010
As humans, most of us are masters at repeating our past mistakes and being frustrated at the unhappy outcomes. Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Pasted next to my computer is a quote from "212 degrees -- The Extra Degree" that reads: "To get what we've never had, we must do what we've never done." But it's hard to break old habits.
In my May 12 column, I wrote about a Cambodian graduate student in Japan, Sopheap Chak, who posted "Reflection on Cambodian Women Value and Model" on her website on March 7. She stated: "In Cambodia, a male-dominated society, females are more expected to conform to norm and tradition which placed women inferior to their male counterparts." She writes of the tension between "old tradition" that teaches that females should stay home, and her parents' teaching "that brought me to today's higher education."
Chak cites a Khmer saying, also cited by Cambodian lawmaker Mu Sochua, who was targeted by the current government for prosecution for promoting "feminist policies." The saying goes: "A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth." Gold can be picked up from the mud and be cleaned until it shines; whereas the white cloth will never regain its purity no matter how long it is washed.
Chak said: "There are various traditional codes of conduct for women as described in proverbs, folktales and novels, especially in 'Chbab Srey' ('Women's Code of Conduct'), on how women should behave." She examined an excerpt from "Chbab Srey" and she posted its English translation by Cambodia's Partnership Against Domestic Violence.
Chak also posted Tharum Bun's "Musings from Cambodia: Cambodian Woman in the Information Age," which contains a history of codes of conduct for men and women, introduced during King Ang Duong's reign in 1848-1860, that are "still being taught by family and school in this 21st Century."
Although "old practices" still continue, "globalization and modernization have brought much change to Cambodian perception," Chak says.
Global Voice Online's "Cambodia: Riding the Wave of Change" states: "In a country where men tend to have more privileges in family and society, a new wave of change is about to begin." GVO presents Chak as "another urban woman with initiatives and ambitions."
Chak writes in her biography, "All my life I've been dedicated to social causes."
"We all can make change," Chak said in an interview published in GVO. Her biography reads, "I truly believe that with the right mindset, and the right people, Cambodia will see change. ... It's only a matter of time before justice comes along."
All this brings me back to my article, "Understanding Khmer Folktales," published in the Winter 1995 issue of Taipei's Asian-Pacific Culture Quarterly of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians' Union. In it, I presented two opposing currents in Cambodia's post-Angkor literature: The elitist conservative literature of the royal court of Lovek and Oudong; and the revolutionary popular literature of the average citizen.
The elitist literature, in the form of poems, advice and codes of behavior, preaches respect for customs, traditions, the establishment and authority.
"Chbab Kram," or "Codes of Civility," teach Khmer children to be docile, respectful, accepting of authority, to know how to bend and to serve to the end of one's life; "Chbab Srey," or "Codes of Conduct for Women" extols the man and teaches the women to endure, no matter how wrong her husband may be; "Chbab Koeng Kantrai" teaches that the king is the final and supreme judge.
Though the elitist literature defines the model Khmer of Theravada Buddhism as docile, quiet, complacent, patient, accepting, accommodating, passive, a believer in "karma" and reincarnation, the Khmer classic "Krung Suphmitr" (1789) reveals the Brahman era's powerful influence on Khmer thought in the form of a hero with supernatural strength capable of resisting obstacles before him.
Thus, a dichotomy of the Khmer person emerges: An accepting, accommodating and harmony-seeking Khmer Buddhist caught in a warrior tradition of Brahmanism.
Opposing this elitist perspective is the revolutionary literature in the form of folktales and legends. These broke away from the golden past and undermined the Angkor traditions, focusing on common men and women as central characters. The Khmer folktales -- "A Chey" and "Thnenh Chey," "A Lev," "Sophea Tunsay" -- spare no one, from powerful aristocrats to the divine king and Buddhist monks. They remain popular. They illustrate a common man's reaction against a society that was deeply traditional and unequal.
Today, as Khmer politicians compete to guide Cambodia's future, they call upon elements of the Khmer national character that suit their purposes.
When Pol Pot came to power in 1975, he called openly on the "Khmer warrior heritage" to motivate and energize the Khmer citizenry. Thinking that a nation which once had achieved the glory of Angkor could again return to that glory, he declared: "If the Khmers could build Angkor during the period of slavery, they can do anything."
What is the true Khmer spirit? Does it lie in the Codes of Conduct or in the bawdy and irreverent folktales, or in both?
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.
Guam Pacific Daily News
May 19, 2010
As humans, most of us are masters at repeating our past mistakes and being frustrated at the unhappy outcomes. Albert Einstein said, "Insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result."
Pasted next to my computer is a quote from "212 degrees -- The Extra Degree" that reads: "To get what we've never had, we must do what we've never done." But it's hard to break old habits.
In my May 12 column, I wrote about a Cambodian graduate student in Japan, Sopheap Chak, who posted "Reflection on Cambodian Women Value and Model" on her website on March 7. She stated: "In Cambodia, a male-dominated society, females are more expected to conform to norm and tradition which placed women inferior to their male counterparts." She writes of the tension between "old tradition" that teaches that females should stay home, and her parents' teaching "that brought me to today's higher education."
Chak cites a Khmer saying, also cited by Cambodian lawmaker Mu Sochua, who was targeted by the current government for prosecution for promoting "feminist policies." The saying goes: "A man is gold; a woman is a white piece of cloth." Gold can be picked up from the mud and be cleaned until it shines; whereas the white cloth will never regain its purity no matter how long it is washed.
Chak said: "There are various traditional codes of conduct for women as described in proverbs, folktales and novels, especially in 'Chbab Srey' ('Women's Code of Conduct'), on how women should behave." She examined an excerpt from "Chbab Srey" and she posted its English translation by Cambodia's Partnership Against Domestic Violence.
Chak also posted Tharum Bun's "Musings from Cambodia: Cambodian Woman in the Information Age," which contains a history of codes of conduct for men and women, introduced during King Ang Duong's reign in 1848-1860, that are "still being taught by family and school in this 21st Century."
Although "old practices" still continue, "globalization and modernization have brought much change to Cambodian perception," Chak says.
Global Voice Online's "Cambodia: Riding the Wave of Change" states: "In a country where men tend to have more privileges in family and society, a new wave of change is about to begin." GVO presents Chak as "another urban woman with initiatives and ambitions."
Chak writes in her biography, "All my life I've been dedicated to social causes."
"We all can make change," Chak said in an interview published in GVO. Her biography reads, "I truly believe that with the right mindset, and the right people, Cambodia will see change. ... It's only a matter of time before justice comes along."
All this brings me back to my article, "Understanding Khmer Folktales," published in the Winter 1995 issue of Taipei's Asian-Pacific Culture Quarterly of the Asian-Pacific Parliamentarians' Union. In it, I presented two opposing currents in Cambodia's post-Angkor literature: The elitist conservative literature of the royal court of Lovek and Oudong; and the revolutionary popular literature of the average citizen.
The elitist literature, in the form of poems, advice and codes of behavior, preaches respect for customs, traditions, the establishment and authority.
"Chbab Kram," or "Codes of Civility," teach Khmer children to be docile, respectful, accepting of authority, to know how to bend and to serve to the end of one's life; "Chbab Srey," or "Codes of Conduct for Women" extols the man and teaches the women to endure, no matter how wrong her husband may be; "Chbab Koeng Kantrai" teaches that the king is the final and supreme judge.
Though the elitist literature defines the model Khmer of Theravada Buddhism as docile, quiet, complacent, patient, accepting, accommodating, passive, a believer in "karma" and reincarnation, the Khmer classic "Krung Suphmitr" (1789) reveals the Brahman era's powerful influence on Khmer thought in the form of a hero with supernatural strength capable of resisting obstacles before him.
Thus, a dichotomy of the Khmer person emerges: An accepting, accommodating and harmony-seeking Khmer Buddhist caught in a warrior tradition of Brahmanism.
Opposing this elitist perspective is the revolutionary literature in the form of folktales and legends. These broke away from the golden past and undermined the Angkor traditions, focusing on common men and women as central characters. The Khmer folktales -- "A Chey" and "Thnenh Chey," "A Lev," "Sophea Tunsay" -- spare no one, from powerful aristocrats to the divine king and Buddhist monks. They remain popular. They illustrate a common man's reaction against a society that was deeply traditional and unequal.
Today, as Khmer politicians compete to guide Cambodia's future, they call upon elements of the Khmer national character that suit their purposes.
When Pol Pot came to power in 1975, he called openly on the "Khmer warrior heritage" to motivate and energize the Khmer citizenry. Thinking that a nation which once had achieved the glory of Angkor could again return to that glory, he declared: "If the Khmers could build Angkor during the period of slavery, they can do anything."
What is the true Khmer spirit? Does it lie in the Codes of Conduct or in the bawdy and irreverent folktales, or in both?
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at peangmeth@yahoo.com.
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