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.
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