លោកប៉ារបស់ខ្ញុំ

April 17, 1975 and Definition of Living

Pictures taken at the pagoda Pudtamonkol

Remembering the Tragedy of Killing Fields

April 17, 1975 is a day of remembrance of the suffering of all Cambodian people who lost their families, relatives, friends and compatriots during the Pol Pot’s brutal regime. Monks conduct Bangsokol and survivors pay tribute to them at pagoda Pudtamonkol. With the severity of the crimes – the crimes of all crimes – many victims will never forget and will never forgive the Khmer Rouge murderers. Cambodia shouldn’t “bury the past” and those perpetrators should be held accountable for their crimes. 

Forty-eight years later, as I look back, I realize that time does not wait for anyone. I often ask myself what is my definition of living (a meaningful life)? Is living my day-to-day experience fit my definition of living? With the education, knowledge, and training I have, I can't close my eye and pretend I am blind; I can't close my mouth and pretend I am dumb; I can’t close my ear and pretend I am deaf against so much injustice, cruelty, and insatiable greed of political leaders. 

Let me share what really trouble me: “My mother along with two brothers and two sisters are dead while many of the Khmer Rouge cadres who ordered and engaged in stabbing children, killing and beating people to death, starving them, and denying them medical help, are living freely under the pseudonym of peace and reconciliation”. Is Karma erroneous? How could this callousness, brutality, cruelty, inhumanity and injustice occur? What happened to the rule of law? What happened to the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) known as the Khmer Rouge Tribunal? Afterspending US$337 million, 16 years and mired in claims of political interference, only three Khmer Rouge leaders had been sentenced. To date, only Khieu Samphan, 92, Chief of State, is serving life sentence brings to account for all the suffering the Khmer Rouge caused, while convicted Khmer Rouge’s No. 2 leader and chief ideologist Nuon Chea died in 2019 at the age of 93, and convicted Prison chief Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, died in 2020 at age 77 while serving a life sentence.

I realize there simply is no adequate answer. These questions call for a response. My definition of living is to find justice and uncover the truth for the death of my mother, two brothers, and two sisters (even if I have to do this alone). Without justice and truth, there can be no real reconciliation and genuine peace.

In the Struggle for Preserving Cultural Identity - Words Matter

Pictures Taken at City of Long Beach on March 7, 2023 and March 21, 2023

Sixth District Councilwoman of Long Beach Suely Saro has made, what I feel, is a callous calculated political decision. She with her supporters wish to change “Chol Chanam Thmei” (Khmer New Year) to “Sangkranta” in the name of inclusion at the cost of Cambodian exclusion – to align with the celebration of Thai and Laotian communities. To set the record straight, “Chol Chnam Thmei” has been the traditional and popular description of the Khmer New Year for many generations while “Sangkranta” is the first day of the Khmer New Year. Keeping the original words “Chol Chnam Thmei” allows us to maintain Cambodian tradition and preserve our unique and authentic culture. Her unilateral decision to adopt the word “Sangkranta”, while well-meaning, does not address the majority of the community voices and the elders’ concerns about loss of cultural identity, has major ramifications for our Khmer community in Long Beach. Besides dividing the community and affecting the younger generation, this change anguish the elders deeply and confuse many.

After living though unimaginable atrocities of the Killing Fields, many Cambodians are still haunted by the deep mental and emotional damage of war. We are also traumatized by sensing that our culture is being blended into a melting pot of inclusiveness and losing its unique identity. This cultural vulnerability has been part of our identity and survival. Dr. David Kinzie Professor of Psychiatry, clinician, and researcher at Oregon Health and Science University, found that “the treatment of severely traumatized Cambodian refugees is a difficult task. Through an understanding of the patient's culture and the posttraumatic stress disorder, the author recommends several treatment approaches. These include: supportive long-term therapy, case management, reinforcing traditional values, socialization group therapy, and specific medication. Through a sensitive, flexible approach, the Western practitioner can greatly reduce the suffering of these patients” (David Kinzie, J. Therapeutic approaches to traumatized Cambodian refugees. J Trauma Stress 2, 75–91 (1989). 

The manifestation of the historical trauma, the recurring nightmares and the exacerbation of losing our cultural identitycontinue to haunt us, even decades after the dissolution of the Khmer Rouge regime.  After studying specific stressful factors associated with Cambodian refugees and their vulnerability to pathology from a sociological constructivist framework, Cambodian medical sociologist Dr. Leakhena Nou found the Khmer stress process to be a complex phenomenon influenced by various social, cultural, environmental, historical, and political factors that subject the Cambodian people to pathology and adjustment difficulties. This complicated context influences respondents' perceptions of several important stressors (negative life events and daily hassles) that are related to the effects of the Khmer Rouge and resettlement difficulties, including such examples as lack of trust among Cambodians, destruction of Khmer culture and identity, the existence of social injustice and corruption in Cambodian society, feeling socially outcast and without a sense of belonging in the United States, and lacking education and the basic resources for survival (Nou, L. (2006) A qualitative examination of the psychosocial adjustment of Khmer refugees in three Massachusetts communities. Occasional papers, Institute for Asian American Studies. Boston: University of Massachusetts). 

 

Forty-four years after the Cambodian mass atrocity, while the people of Cambodia experienced unthinkable trauma, the rest of the world did little to help. It seemed to me like nobody knew and nobody care about Cambodia. Now while the City Council of Long Beach voted unanimously (7-0) in favor of recognition of “Long Beach Sangkranta 2023”, the Vice Mayor and other six City Council Officials were unaware of the harmful feelings of many Cambodia elders. In a public forum at the City of Long Beach on March 7, 2023 and March 21, 2023 more than forty elders made our voices heard – loud and clear – that the deconstruction of the Cambodian National identity since ancient times and resettlement in the U.S. in the mid 1970s has no place in our community. 

 

One centenarian Cambodian lady reminded the Mayor and other the City Council Officials of Long Beach openly and succinctly about the gravity of her deep trauma: “I rather die than losing my culture”. It is clear that this change has struck a chord – Words Matter. Cultural Identity Matter Most to the Cambodian Elders. 

 

Reflecting on the Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum

Reflecting on The Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum

 

As a survivor of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, community member of Long Beach, educator and parent, I have a civic obligation to my son and the K-12 students to give a first-hand account of the issues facing the Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum (administrated by the Orange County Department of Education (OCDE) under Assembly Bill AB 167) based on my participation and observation at the engagement sessions and zoom meeting with OCDE.

Engagement Sessions and Meeting with OCDE

On October 18, 2022 and November 15, 2022, I attended the two engagement sessions of the Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum at Mark Twain Library. I also attended the two engagement sessions held on January 17, 2023 at Whittier Elementary school by Long Beach School District. All the engagement sessions were run by OCDE with the aim to listen and gather all perspectives and voices of community members, educators, and survivors of the Cambodian genocide. During the first two sessions at Mark Twain Library, there were about ten to fifteen Cambodian attendees which include Khmer Parent Association (KPA)’ president as a host and members, elders, parents, community members, and students. To my knowledge, no pre-registration and limited announcement were made to the public. I noticed some attendees were invited by the KPA who support the curriculum without thinking deeply about the ramification of the content and the inclusiveness of the larger Cambodian public with different backgrounds. The presenter didn't explain the Assembly Bill AB 167 in detail with regards to who was behind the bill and what was the intention to adopt this laser focus study on “the Cambodian Genocide” while the Vietnamese community adopt “The Vietnamese American Refugee Experience and the Hmong “Hmong History and Cultural Study”. Her main interest was moving the agenda forward without fully addressing the community voices, questions, and concerns. She was not receptive to my and others’ perspectives about limiting the curriculum on the genocide by stating “she was only a messenger and the Cambodian Genocide model curriculum is better than nothing”. 

At Whittier Elementary school, I received the announcement of the Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum engagement session from my son's school (Barton Elementary). There were thirty to forty Cambodian attendees (presenter at Mark Twain Library, KPA members, students, parents, elders, community leaders) who voiced their concerns about the label of the Cambodian Genocide model curriculum neglecting the Cambodian American refugees who have enhanced the social, academic, economic, and cultural scenes of California and across the U.S.. The presenter paid more attention to the audience’ anguishes. He encouraged the audience to share their perspectives, ask questions, speak up and air their discontents. I shared with him that OCDE doesn’t need to re-invent the wheel when we have tons of research on this topic. I took the liberty to show him and the audience about so many studies of the Cambodian Genocide that have been published.  The presenter from Mark Twain Library took a picture of the book “Cambodian Genocide” edited by Paul Bartrop that I brought with me to share with her team. The presenter at Whittier Elementary School said he will take note and pass our concerns to OCDE. 

On February 9, 2023, I participated in zoom meeting with three scholars and OCDE’s coordinators to respond to “our concerns about the framing and title of the Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum”. To my surprise and to keep the record straight and transparent, Dr. Marika Manos the leading coordinator charged with executing OCDE model curriculum has been pre-warned about the psychological impact to reduce the curriculum of Cambodia’s rich history and mixed legacy to a tragic period of three years, eight months, and twenty days (1975-1979). Medical Sociologist/Professor Leakhena Nou from California State University, Long Beach, wrote: “In my e-mail to Dr. Manos dated June 9, 2022, I noted that this labeling could inadvertently reinforce hegemonic colonized mechanisms and frameworks and exacerbate harmful residual effects of the genocide. As a professor/faculty advisor who works with young Cambodian American students daily, I know they have no desire to identify with this tragic part of their culture’s history. Furthermore, labeling the curriculum as such limits the possibility of a more comprehensive Cambodian historical narrative beyond the legacy of the Khmer Rouge. Labeling theory emphasizes that groups with power have control over and what or who is considered a certain way. Forever shackling Cambodians with the "genocide" label is equivalent to reducing all people of Jewish descent with the “holocaust” label.” Yet OCDE has decided to move ahead with the execution of the objectives ignoring the forewarning and the psychological impact of the Cambodian Genocide model curriculum. I am disturbed with OCDE on how we are devalued despite our sincere effort and desire to protect and preserve our mixed legacy and history of the Cambodian people. It is regrettable that OCDE has used the engagement sessions at Mark Twain Library and Whittier Elementary school as a tool to rubber stamp the project disregarding our voices and genuine concerns.

Issues with the Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum and Psychological Impact

To begin with, the use of term “genocide” in Cambodia is controversial and subjected to debate. Genocide usually has been carried against a foreign race but the new masters of Cambodia killed their own people. According to Judge Jean-Marc Lavergne (Justice and Reconciliation in Cambodia) and  Former Khmer Rouge Tribunal’s Chief of the Public Affairs Section Helen Jarvis (Cambodian Genocide, The Essential Reference Guide) many of the crimes committed by the Khmer Rouge may not easily be termed genocide in its strict legal sense (UN convention 1948 definition) and singling out the Khmer Rouge regime (Democratic of Kampuchea) ignores the deaths and mass crimes that occurred before (the U.S. secret bombing in Cambodia 1969-1973 authorized by Nixon and Kissinger, credible estimate sets civilian fatalities at more 300,000) and after (the Liberation/Occupation of Vietnam in Cambodia, 1979-1989, had a heavy toll on both sides). Genocide refers here to the crimes of the Khmer Rouge. “The Cambodian Genocide” is used in a ‘all-purpose’sense, in full awareness of the controversies surrounding its legal and temporal constraints. While it is easy to blame the Khmer Rouge for these atrocities of at least 1.7 million deaths (source: Documentation Center of Cambodia), researchers often find it hard to provide exact figures of the number killed due to the bombing of Cambodia by American forces from 1969 - 1973 and the Vietnamese occupation/liberation from 1979-1989. I am curious as why the number of Cambodians who died before and after the Khmer Rouge took power has been less researched?  The important point I am trying to make here is: Cambodia has suffered unimaginable horrors and those horrors should be part of a curriculum but not the defining history of the people and culture. There needs to be a broader approach than just teaching the “Cambodian Genocide” which focus solely on victims and perpetrators duality.

It is important that Cambodian Genocide model curriculum be clearly understood by the community and the young generation. The whole truth about the Cambodian bloodbath sociology should be known. The suffering, killing, and trauma must be explained and completely understood to avoid such horrors to never happen again - "Never Again" (The phrase originated from a 1927 poem by Yitzhak Lamdan which stated "Never again shall Masada fall!"). Therefore it cannot be taught only during the Khmer Rouge regime (1975-1979) but before 1975 (U.S. bombing in Cambodia) and after 1979 (the Vietnamese liberation/occupation of Cambodia) to give K-12 students the complete and accurate history of the Cambodian Genocide. For example, Some prominent scholars (William Shawcross, author of the book “Sideshow”, Samantha Power, American journalist, diplomat and government official, author of the book “A Problem From Hell”)suggest that the B-52 U.S. bombing polarized and radicalized Cambodian society, contributing to the harsh policies implemented when the Khmer Rouge took power. 

With due respect to Western scholars, I strongly believe they are not familiar with the Cambodian socio/cultural/linguistic/politics and the entrenched history. They lack understanding of the important local nuances and context. They view the history of Cambodia from the comfort of desktop research and/or limited fieldwork mostly to Phnom Penh rather than in the rural area where the majority of the victims live - one-side - neocolonial approach. It is essential to engage and encourage khmer scholarship to tell and write our own story rather than relying on outsiders.

Furthermore, I want to be as honest as I can be. Outsiders have limited idea how painful it was because they are not Khmer and they didn’t live under Pol Pot to grasp the full magnitude of the horror and unspeakable suffering. Victims like myself are still traumatized and are afraid of recurring dreams, and nightmares. The Khmer Rouge regime was our worst nightmare that become a living reality. The Pol Pot syndrome continues to haunt me and other survivors daily. Dr. David Kinzie of Oregon Health and Science University labeled Cambodians’ PTSD as “a wound that will never heal.”  I argue that emotions are perceived differently by Cambodians and outsiders by the meaning of the Cambodian Genocide model curriculum. In the process of translation both linguistically and conceptually, the meaning assigned to emotion and trauma are lost in the contest. For example, the Cambodian Genocide Model curriculum translated in Khmer is degrading “វគ្គជំនួបកម្មវិធីសិក្សាគំរូនៃអំពើប្រល័យពូជសាសន៍កម្ពុជា” – curriculum centered on tragedy, violence, anger, and hatred.  It portrays Cambodian race as brutal, ruthless, and barbarian. The Khmer nuance here cannot be understood by an outsider. The label “The Cambodian Genocide Model Curriculum” is not only harmful to my son and the young generation but also hurtful to the larger Cambodian public.

In conclusion, I write this reflection because I don’t want my son and the young generation study only about one painful side of history and ancestry. I don't wish to see the Killing Fields story continues to dominate the narrative of Cambodia’s past grandeur and historical mixed legacy. Moreover, Cambodia hasn't gotten to the heart of the genocide because the Extraordinary Chamber in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) has failed to deliver full accountability and real justice to the victims after 17 years, spending $337 million, political interference from former Khmer Rouge Commander with only 3 judgments. The rise and the fall of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in the context of wartime political turmoil (U.S.bombing, China full support to the Khmer Rouge and Vietnamese liberation/occupation) need to be fully exposed and how this violent regime instigated the Killing Fields. The pursuit of truth and justice for more than 1.7 million victims continues today despite the government and the international community want to bury it. As any survivors of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime, I don't want to be victims twice, once in the Khmer Rouge and now once again. Finally, I advocate to have a new stand-alone bill for “The Cambodian History of the People and Culture” similar to Laotian History and Cultural Studies AB 1393.

Citations:

Assembly Bill AB 167

https://ocde.us/EducationalServices/CurriculumInstructionandAcademicEnrichment/History/Pages/Model-Curriculum-Project.aspx. 

Senate Bill SB 895 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201720180SB895&fbclid=IwAR0UD5G3so1rs6c4wNZCM_IqP9thhNooAHmLn6Di2NyPhDRHmgDTWBw98Co

Assembly Bill AB 1393 https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=201920200AB1393

Keo, S. (2011) Out of the Dark: Into the Garden of Hope, Library of Congress.

 

Lavergne, Jean-Marc (2012). Justice And Reconciliation in Cambodia, book chapter of Cambodia: Progress and Challenges since 1991, ISEAS Publication.

Nou, L. (2015). Elusive retributive justice in post-Khmer Rouge Cambodia: Challenges of using ECCC Victim Information Forms to analyze survivors’ experiences. TORTURE Journal. 25(2), 61-84. Nou, L. (2013). Beyond silent suffering and trauma half a world away: Participation of Cambodian diaspora genocide survivors in the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Journal of Asia Pacific World, 4(1), 56–79.