Like Buddha said “There has to be evil so that good can prove its purity above it.” The citizens of Cambodia not only know this saying because of their Buddhist practices, but also because they have been taught this message through actions of their government.
What is the government like in Cambodia? Cambodia is a constitutional monarchy ruled under the constitution that was written in 1993. The king, Norodom Sihamoni, is head of the country and is elected by members of the royal family. The premier, Hun Sen, leads the government and is chosen by the head of the National Assembly, then appointed by the king. Although, this is not always how the government was in Cambodia. Between the years 1975 and 1979 Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge controlled Cambodia. Before Pol Pot, France had control over Cambodia, so the French government was the Cambodian government.
The Cambodian citizens were exposed to the evil that the Buddha talks about during the Khmer Rouge. In April of 1975 a Communist party took control of Cambodia. These Communists were very secretive and no one knew who their leaders were. While they were in power the Khmer Rouge showed very little respect for the citizens, tortured thousands of people, and killed close to a third of the Cambodian population. These monstrous people spent four years turning the whole country into a giant detention center.
The leaders of the Khmer Rouge needed a place to torture the citizens, and they found the perfect place. In the year 1976 Khmer Rouge’s forces turned a high school into a prison and an interrogation center, named S-21 Prison. Between 17,000 and 20,000 people were imprisoned, even though the buildings maximum capacity was only about 1,500 persons. When the prisoners arrived at the building they were photographed and forced to give detailed autobiographies. The prisoners were not allowed to keep any personal belongings. The people held captive were chained to metal bars and could not speak to each other. They slept on the floor without mats, mosquito nets, or blankets. The prisoners received four small spoonfuls of rice porridge and watery soup of leaves twice a day. Drinking water without asking the guards for permission resulted in serious beatings. The inmates were hosed down every four days. The torture system at the prison was designed to make prisoners confess to whatever crimes they were charged with by their captors. Prisoners were routinely beaten and tortured with electric shocks, searing hot metal instruments, and hangings. Some prisoners were cut with knives or suffocated with plastic bags. Other methods for generating confessions included pulling out fingernails while pouring alcohol on the wounds and holding prisoners’ heads under water. Out of the thousands of citizens imprisoned at the S-21 Prison there were only twelve known survivors. As you can see being captured and taken into the prison would be a terrifying and awful experience.
The dead bodies needed a place to go; this is how the killing fields came about. Two to three million people in Cambodia were killed by the Khmer Rouge and buried in the killing fields. The fields were giant pits dug in the ground, stuffed with hundreds of dead bodies, and covered with dirt. The first people who were killed were people with pale skin, smooth hands, or glasses because these are all indications that those people work indoors. If you were caught committing a crime you would be given one warning and then executed. The Khmer Rouge banned religion and split up families. If you were caught practicing religion in a way that the government didn’t approve, or were trying to get back to your family you would be killed. The killing fields were where people went to be executed. Pol Pot, the leader of the Khmer Rouge,didn’t want the civilization to rebel so he killed to gain power, he had power over others because they were afraid of him. Pol Pot also wanted a foolish civilization so that citizens would not question his decisions.
Cambodia’s economic growth has held up well. The unemployment rate is only 0.30%. Poverty in Cambodia has fallen sharply. Cambodia achieved their goal of halving poverty in 2009. The poverty rate was 18.6% in 2012, with almost 3 million poor people and over 8.1 million who are near-poor. About 90% of them live in the countryside. An average Cambodian makes about $1.25 a day.About 40% of children under five-years-old are malnourished and are short for their age. The number of deaths per 100,000 live births decreased from 472 in 2005 to 206 in 2010. The net primary school admission rate increased from 81% in 2001 to 94.3% in 2012. Cambodia still faces a number of development challenges, including effective management of land and natural resources, environmental sustainability, and good governance.
The main religion in Cambodia is Buddhism. 95% of the population is Buddhist. Buddhists believe in Nirvana. Nirvana is the term used to describe the goal of Buddhist paths. They believe that good karma in your current life will help you have a better after life. They believe when you reach Nirvana you are set free when you die, but if you don’t you keep being reborn. Buddhists also believe in living to give back to others. The three main symbols that represent Buddhism are the wheel, the lotus flower, and the Buddha. The wheel represents reincarnation, the lotus flower represents luck, and the Buddha is their God/leader. Buddhism was brought to Cambodia through Hindu merchants.
The Cambodian culture is very different from the culture in America. It is believed that the head is sacred because it is the highest part of your body. In the same way it is impolite to point with your feet, because they are the lowest part of your body. You are supposed to sit lower than elders, to show them that you understand they have more power that you. It is common to see people walking around barefoot in the streets. It is polite to remove your shoes and hat indoors. It is rude to expose too much skin or wear excessive amounts of perfume. People should not cross their legs, and men typically show little to no emotion. When you are receiving anything form another person you should grab it with both of your hands. It is respectful to bow in acknowledgement when you meet or greet others. When you are bowing to someone who is your age or younger your hands should be placed at your chest, when you are bowing to someone who is older than you your hands should be placed at your face, when you are bowing to the king or a monk your hands should be placed at your forehead.
My thoughts and feeling about Cambodia vary because this all seems like just a story that would start with long, long ago in a far away world. The history of Cambodia makes me feel lucky. Studying the Khmer Rouge, the S-21 prison, and the killing fields has opened my mind and made me respect the citizens of Cambodia more. The history made me more appreciative for what I have because the people tortured, losing family members, and dying were all much less fortunate than I am. Their daily struggles included starving, being beaten, watching others die, and being torn apart from their own families. Where as, I as a thirteen year old girl living in the Vail Valley bubble, of peace have many of the things they would kill for in arms reach. My daily hardships involve a bad test score, my outfit choice, and the worst slow internet. While my problems are (kind-of) real, put in perspective they are extremely small. I have realized that sometimes it is much easier to just study the world than to interpret it and write down my thoughts or feelings about it. I look forward to being in the country and getting a hands on view of the people, culture, and even history.
