Minutes of Meeting from October 4, 2003
Place: IRCO Center Lecture by: Professor
Naranhkiri Tith; WCC Members & Supporters: Theoul Thuch, Mabbeskal Man, Sichantha Ouk, Saron Khut,
Veronica Ngi, Senghoung Man, Chhivlynne Kaing, Phala Eath, Kai Sor, Jeff
McCormick, and families of WCC members. The seminar took place on October 4, 2003 in Portland, Oregon
at 9:00 a.m. There were
approximately 70 participants; a few were students from Washington and
California. The purpose of this seminar is to look at the chronological
events of the Cambodian history and how they attribute to the current political,
social, and psychological problems. History encompasses both the positive and
negative aspects of events, key personalities that shape history, and the
consequences of their decisions. To
diagnosis problems of today’s Cambodian society, we need to study patterns of
development to trace underlying causes. The study of history is also subject to interpretation.
Thus, it is also important to note the credentials of the presenter. There is another reason to learn history.
A firm foundation of one’s development as individuals is true knowledge
of one’s past, which can empower one to seek creative and viable solutions to
help a dying Cambodian society. These reasons led Dr. Naranhkiri Tith to champion the
intellectual development of Cambodians, in particular the youths, so they can
find ways to manage the almost insurmountable problems afflicting Cambodia
today. Foreigner historians write
many accounts of Cambodian history, but there is no recognizable analysis done
by a Cambodian. A vast 35-page list
of about 2000 books exists and Dr. Tith is still devoted to the process of
uncovering and understanding the truth about Cambodian history. For the serious historian, it is a task that entails a
lifetime commitment. To begin history allows us a look into the development of a
people and nation. For Cambodia, no
tangible and meaningful change has occurred.
For instance, the traumatization by the Khmer Rouge is just one form of
traumatization since Angkor time. While
Cambodia is credited for one of the most brilliant civilizations in the world
during Angkor period, that greatness was flawed. In fact, Cambodians are still dealing with the negative
remanence left by Angkor times. Cambodian history can be divided into different periods: the
pre-Angkor period (1st century 80-802), the Angkor period (802)-1431), the
dark-age period of Cambodia (1431-1779), the French colonialist period
(1779-1953), and the contemporary period (1953-present). Religions: Two dominant religions played very influential roles in the
Cambodian history, Hinduism from India and Buddhism. Buddhism was introduced to Cambodia by Sri Lanka through
Thailand. It was a new branch of
Buddhism called Theravada, which is the predominant religion that exists in
Cambodia today. Pre-Angkor era (1st century 80-802) Cambodia originated as a small country called Funan.
Funan is the Chinese pronunciation of the Cambodian word called Phnom,
meaning mountain. Founan was
divided into Chenla of the land and Chenla of the sea.
Economic activity was based on trade with Rome, Greece, Japan, China, but
the trade later shifted to Indonesia. Angkor period (802)-1431) This is the period that Cambodia reached its highest peak and
since has continuously spiraled downward to present day Cambodia.
Two khmer kings, Jayavarman II and Jayavarman VII led in the rise and
fall of the empire. The former gave
birth to the empire and the latter started the disintegration of the empire. Jayavarman II was a prince whose family originated from
Angkor Borey (today’s Kampong Cham). He
came to Cambodia from Java. In 802,
he implemented a number of institutional changes that leaves their imprint
today. He brought the system of
God-King to the country, meaning he viewed himself as god.
As befitting of a god, he was to reside in a beautiful temple when he
died which led to the inception of the first temple resurrected at mount Kulen.
Under his reign Cambodia developed into an empire. The name Kambujadesa (Kambuja
+ desa = country) was given to Cambodia by Jayavarman II.
In 1220 Cambodia was the strongest and the biggest country in SE Asia.
Jayavarman VII appeared
to have converted from Hinduism to Buddhism, influenced by his father.
The father married two sisters with Buddhist background.
Royal feuds were a regular occurrence and so were the threats of
potential coups in the palace. One third of the Khmer kings came to power that
way. This implication of the palace coups was tremendous to the
nation because it divided up the society and it took long time to restore. The monarchy culture allowed no intellectual thought process;
it bred subservient mentality toward the kings. That is the most damaging aspect
of the monarchy in Cambodia and still continues until today.
The system of God-king meant that each king had to build at least a
temple so that at the time of death he or she will have a temple to reside.
Some kings built more than one temple because they needed temples
dedicated to their parents, brothers, sisters, wives…etc, and all those temple
resurrections came at the expense of the Cambodian people, the work of
people’s sweat and blood. It would take up to 30 years to construct one temple
depending on the size, and each temple would require up to 5000 villages for
maintenance as well as lavish entertainment.
So, due to the fact that those kings also fought wars, sometime against
their enemies sometime against their own brothers and sisters, the Cambodian
people were constantly drafted to either fight in the army, or to do the public
work or to build the temple with no question asked.
A royal edict is an order that could not be questioned (note the
similarity during the Khmer Rouge period, too, where commands were issued and
obeyed). The difference between Javavarman VII and previous kings was
the tremendously intense labor he imposed on the people which fractured the
empire. Besides engaging in
battles, he built a great number of temples such as Ta Prum, Angkor Thom, Bayon,
Banteay Chhmar, Banteay Kdey, just to name the big ones. A total number of 798 temples were build during his reign. He
also built roads, rest homes along roads, and 102 hospitals.
Each site constructed (such as hospital or rest homes) was stone
inscribed, “ the people’s suffering is my suffering”.
The inscription was to indicate his compassion for the people.
But, due to the exhaustive wars, temples and public work he
simultaneously carried out, Cambodia was greatly weakened on all levels -
physical, moral, economic and social. The consequence of that exhaustion of the
country was that the Soko Thai and the Champa kingdoms started to declare their
independence and broke themselves away from Cambodia. Meanwhile, Di Viet came in from China. Cambodia never found happiness since. Dark-Age Cambodia or period of wondering kings (1431-1779) This period is the continuation of the decline since Angkor
time. There were many infightings
and instability. The kings in their
need to defend the throne vacillated between Siam (Thai) and Vietnam, seeking
assistance. The worst one was Chetha II who married a Vietnamese princess,
offered by Vietnam, for the exchange of Prey Nokor. French Colonialist
Period (1779-1953) Toward the end of 1840, Cambodia became a vassal of both her
neighboring countries, Thailand and Vietnam, as a result of internal battles for
the throne. However, Cambodia remained more or less as an identity, but not much
else. There was not much freedom
during that time. King Ang Doung
found out that the French would be interested in Indochina, so he sent Cambodian
missionaries to France to ask the French king, Napoleon III, for protection
against both Vietnam and Siam. It
was not until the Norodom era in 1860 that French responded to king Norodom’s
plea for intervention. In 1863, the French became protectorate of Cambodia.
The French allowed Cambodia to maintain her identity, but they designed
and implemented policies - foreign, economic etc.
As a result, Cambodia was no longer under the tutelage of Vietnam and
Thai but under the tutelage of the French; nevertheless, dominated by another
foreign power. Colonialism is an
enslaving concept thus it should be noted that the French’s treatment of
Cambodians was anything but liberating. To gain even more power in Cambodia, the
French in 1883 sent a battle ship from Saigon to Phnom Penh to force king
Norodom to sign a treaty which granted even more privileges to the French, in
particular exploitation of the resources of Cambodia. From that moment on, Cambodia became nothing more than a
shipping base for the French; whereas, they saw real potential in the Vietnamese
and began more substantial development in Cambodia’s neighboring country.
All the infrastructures, economic or institutional, were established
either in Hanoi or in Saigon. The
best university was in Hanoi. All
the Cambodian students had to go to Hanoi to finish their university degree.
Phnom Penh did not even have a complete high school program.
However, the French treated the king well.
The French understood the king’s power over the Cambodian people and
thus used him to control the country. They
even built a new palace in Phnom Penh for the king, a duplicate from the Thai
palace. The king led a happy life paid by the French.
On the contrary, the mass of the Cambodian people continued to work on
public projects through forced labor. So, the people were mistreated by the
French and by the royal families. Then came WWII in 1945.
The Japanese came in and ousted the French and took over Indochina.
To reward Cambodia for helping them fight the war, through the unilateral
independence declaration, the Japanese granted Cambodia independence.
It was an opportune time for Sihanouk to declared independence for
Cambodia. Toward the end of 1945,
the American dropped two nuclear bombs in Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
The Allies won the war. The
Japanese and the German surrendered. The
French returned to Cambodia. The Vietminh organized a resistance movement in Cambodia.
The Vietminh was the predecessor of the communist Vietcong.
The Vietminh claimed they came to Cambodia to help Cambodians liberate
themselves from French colonialism. However,
in truth the Vietminh installed a leadership base to create a communist party in
Cambodia under the name of Indochina communist party.
Communism was under the control of the Vietnamese; there were not many
Cambodian communist at that time. Meanwhile,
there was also a nationalist movement run by Seung Ngock Thanh, Prach Chhoun,
etc. The French fought war in Vietnam and lost in Tien Bien Phu in
1953. A Geneva conference convened
to discuss settlement issues between France and Vietnam. As soon as he realized
the French was going to lose at the Geneva Conference, it was another opportune
time for Sihanouk to act. So, in
1952, he started what was called “independence march” to force the French to
return full independence to Cambodia. On
November 7, 1953, the French had no choice but to grant full
sovereignty back to Cambodia, and Sihanouk never had to fight for Cambodia’s
independence. The timing was just right. Contemporary Period (1953-today) The election of 1955 established by the Geneva conference
treaty also dealt with territorial conflicts of SE Asian countries.
Vietnam and Loa were divided into two factions, North and South, with the
exception of Cambodia, which was to remain neutral. The treaty also forced all
the countries in the region to hold fair and open election under the supervision
of 3 countries. Sihanouk developed a game plan to circumvent the rules,
established by the Geneva conference, to ensure his continued reign of power
over Cambodia. Since the Cambodian
constitution only allowed the king to reign but not rule, he immediately
abdicated his throne to his father and he created a socialist party called
Sangkum ReasNiyum. There were also
a democratic party that was not pro-Sihanouk, and a few others. However, under
his tight control, he overwhelmingly won the election, and he appointed himself
the Chief of State. The Sangkum Reas Niyum was some kind of mild dictatorship
system where Sihanouk enjoyed all the power he once had under the monarchy
system. He became increasingly more authoritarian and was strongly influenced by
communist China. In fact, he was so pro-China that in 1963 he disposed of the
American Embassy. Thus, Cambodia no longer remained neutral. Clearly violating the neutral stance created problems.
Cambodia depended heavily on foreign aid, and America was the major donor in
military as well as economic assistance, so once Sihanouk kicked the Americans
there was not much else to rely on. This left a lot of people unhappy. Sihanouk,
following the communist system, nationalized the banking system and
international commerce. Cambodia became a kind of command economy.
In 1969, the Ho Chi Minh trail was secretly built in
Cambodia. The American knew about
it, and asked to bomb Cambodia. Sihanouk
allowed the American to bomb inside Cambodia without telling to the Cambodian
people about it. Many lives were
lost from the bombing because he did not tell the people about his agreement
with the Americans. The people in
the country were more and more unhappy with Sihanouk. Finally, Lon Nol and Siri Mattak decided to overthrow
Sihanouk and bring back the Americans, thereupon declaring Cambodia a new
republic. However, it was too late.
The US was already withdrawing from the Vietnam war.
The new republic of Cambodia under the weak leadership of Lon Nol, Cheng
Heng and Siri Mattak became immediately corrupt.
By this time, the Americans had already left.
Cambodia in 1975 was left in the hands of the communist Khmer Rouges, who
had Sihanouk behind them. The vast
training camp was open and the reign of terror began. That summarized the essence of the
presentation by Dr. Naranhkiri Tith.
Mr. Saron Khut also addressed
parents at the seminar on the Youth’s Basketball program.
The program is dedicated to developing the discipline and confidence of
Cambodian and Laotian youths. To
encourage the development of children, parents need to take active participation
in the program. Parents’
commitment is needed to support the program by transporting their children to
games. The seminar ended at approximately
4:00 pm. WCC thanks all members and
supporters for the sacrifices made in hosting the seminar.
A special thanks is extended to Mr. Sokhom Tauch for the use of IRCO’s
facility to host the seminar and the generous contribution of
$500.00 to WCC Youth Basketball Program. Veronica C. Ngi Mabbeskal Man WCCPD Genera Secretary WCCPD President |
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