Prof. Keng Vannsak (Photo: Khing Hok Dy) |
By Chanda Chhay
Essay on Cambodia
Originally posted at: http://www.cambodianchildren.blogspot.com/
Another aspect which accentuates the tragedy of Cambodian history is
political oppression and the unwillingness of both the rulers and the
ruled to confront this negative reality to break away from the cycles of
violence which were to become the parts and portions of Cambodian
society. Regarding this painful aspect of Cambodian society, Professor
Keng Vannsak, a one time Cambodian politician, reportedly told an
acquaintance the following words: “The Khmers have been slaves for centuries. In the face of authority, they bow down. Those who use violence know that—they know how the people react.”
It is worth noticing that Keng Vannsak might have made this comment at the end of his political career as Secretary of the “Cambodian” Democratic Party which was founded in the 1940s and, for the first time in Cambodian history, able to empower the Cambodian people to believe in themselves in deciding their political destiny rather than leaving it to ruler to decide for them. Unfortunately, the success of democratic reform in Cambodia was short-lived. Thanks, in part, to the devious manipulation of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who was more interested in preserving the absolute authority of the monarch than individual liberty of the people, the spirit of people power has been effectively crushed with the uses of political intimidation, persecution, and, in some cases, violence.
It is worth noticing that Keng Vannsak might have made this comment at the end of his political career as Secretary of the “Cambodian” Democratic Party which was founded in the 1940s and, for the first time in Cambodian history, able to empower the Cambodian people to believe in themselves in deciding their political destiny rather than leaving it to ruler to decide for them. Unfortunately, the success of democratic reform in Cambodia was short-lived. Thanks, in part, to the devious manipulation of Prince Norodom Sihanouk, who was more interested in preserving the absolute authority of the monarch than individual liberty of the people, the spirit of people power has been effectively crushed with the uses of political intimidation, persecution, and, in some cases, violence.
Though it is obvious that Professor Keng Vannsak uttered those words out
of frustration, the implication of his statement reaches far beyond one
man’s anguish. It reveals a critical self-examination—a sentiment which
needs to be seriously looked at if one were to find out why Cambodian
society takes the shape and form as it is today.
As a Cambodian, Keng Vannsak’s words represent both the voice of a
disillusioned man as well as the voices of the many disenfranchised
members of a society, who are unable or not articulated enough to utter
such critical words the way he does. Analytically, Keng Vannsak’s words
strike at the very core of Cambodian society. If we looked back to the
earlier part of Cambodian history, one of the known factors about
Cambodians as a race or an ethnic group is that they were warriors. In
the strictest sense, warriors possess two characteristic traits:
violence and submission.
By nature, all warriors must possess the ability to commit violence in
order to overcome their enemies’ strength and make a conquest. On the
other hand, warriors must also be submissive to those who have the
authority over them—be it the Governor, the Prime Minister, or the King.
As a people, the Cambodians have been molded, conditioned, and coerced
to accept these roles for hundreds of years by their rulers.
Consequently, when ordered by their leader(s) to commit violence, the
warrior Cambodians tend to mindlessly comply without hesitation.
Reversely, when facing with the threat of violence or punishment from
their leader(s), these same warriors tend to readily lose the courage to
challenge it. It is certainly difficult, if not impossible, for people
who have been subjected to such conditioning for a very long, long time
to undo or modify their behaviors. For those of us who are familiar with
the concept of self-fulfilling prophecy, the psychological effect on a
person or persons who have been conditioned to believe in or accept a
certain social role could be profound. In practicing democracy, it is
imperative that people know at least a few basic things such as
renunciation of violent oppression, respect for human dignity, tolerance
of critically differing opinions, and, perhaps most important of all,
that people have the rights to question or challenge the conducts of
their leader(s). As far as Cambodia is concerned, this is perhaps one of
the greatest hurdles to overcome, if it were to find and establish a
more just society. In this case, one could only hope that it won’t take
another 2000 years for the Cambodians to undo those adverse aspects of
their social lives which are clearly incompatible with the principles of
democracy.
The main purpose of writing this essay is to search for some possible answers to a question: Why does it seem so difficult for the Cambodians to recover from the trauma of their empire’s collapse?
In the end, I seem to have generated more questions than answers. One
of the difficulties in finding satisfactory answers to the question is
the lack of systemic long-term observational research into human
behaviors after experiencing a disruption or devastation to their
society. Throughout the course of literary reviews for writing this
essay, I sometimes wish that there are continuous, imperatively,
observational data over the last 100 years or so detailing on how the
Cambodians cope with and rebuild their societal fabrics after
experiencing social upheavals. Given the fact that understanding human
behaviors and their responses to the disruptions of their society is
perhaps one of the crucial factors for people to rebuild their shattered
lives, it is certainly worthwhile for future academics to take serious
looks at long-term (100-year) observational research on how humans
respond to and rebuild their shattered society. A comparative
observational study could also be helpful in providing deeper
understanding in this field. At presence, three countries could be
considered as candidates for such study: Cambodia, Afghanistan, and
Rwanda. Despite their different cultures, all three countries suffered
similar destructions. Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge regime in the late
1970s, Afghanistan under the Taliban rule in late 1990s, and Rwanda
under the conflict of ethnic cleansing in the 1990s have seen one of the
worst tragedies in human history.
No comments:
Post a Comment