A Change of Guard

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Wednesday 22 October 2014

Notes from Cambodia - The lost kingdom

BY 


The seatbelt sign flashes on as I look out my window excitedly—we just flew over the South China Sea and should be very close to our final destination, Cambodia. I gaze out my window waiting for something to tell me I’m there, but I see nothing except darkness. I glance back at the live map; I should be flying right over Cambodia—where are the lights, the cars, anything? Pitch black. I did my research before leaving—I’m going to be in Siem Reap, the second most popular province for tourists in Cambodia and also the place where I’ll be landing. Why is such a popular tourist town so dark? Coming from New York City, I’m used to being greeted by thousands of lights, but so far Cambodia remains hidden from sight.
Over the next weeks, Cambodia slowly opened up to me. It’s a country with a complex past which led to an even more complicated present. Before arriving, all my knowledge of Cambodia came from little tidbits I learned about the Khmer Rouge and the Vietnam War in high school history class. I realized, however, Cambodia is much more than the Khmer Rouge and its history goes beyond the war. Cambodia is very open about its past with the Khmer Rouge and resulting genocide, a horror that is on par with those in Hitler’s Germany and Stalin’s Russia yet generally unknown. The horror of civil war and genocide did not end until the late 1990s. Today, the country is still in a state of recovery and starting on its path to development.

Since the Khmer Rouge, the international community has played a significant role in Cambodia’s development. Powerful countries such as the United States, France, England, and Japan have sent billions of dollars in foreign aid and also played a major role in catalyzing the second round of civil war in the early 1990s. Today, foreign presence is apparent everywhere: NGOs frequently establish eco-tourism plans and different resource management schemes in rural and urban communities to provide the guidance and support Cambodians do not receive from a largely corrupt government. There is even a section in the capital Phnom Penh called “NGO City.” The local communities have greatly benefitted from the presence and assistance of these NGOs, and their aid is needed. However, the Cambodian people and government are increasingly becoming reliant on NGOs to create relevant policies to alleviate for environmental, social, and economic issues. Cambodia is #43 on the list of the world’s poorest countries based on GDP. Here, most people are paid $20-$30 a month, and a fish that costs $0.75 is considered expensive. In a country still filled with corruption, the NGOs have made huge progress, but it comes at the expense of the locals’ sense of self-sufficiency.
Cambodia, however, is much more than just the statistics. The Khmer people are friendly, generous, hospitable, courteous, and most of all resilient. During my three weeks here, I have had the privilege of interviewing a few different rural and urban Khmer families, and after each interview the families were flattered that someone wanted to hear their stories and learn about their culture. Cambodia has an incredibly rich history which, as a Westerner, I was never taught. From the 9th until the 15th century, Cambodia was home to the Angkorian Empire which controlled most of Southeast Asia, and Angkor is still a significant cultural and religious epicenter for Buddhists. They are very proud of their heritage and work to continue their centuries-old traditional practices, which were unknown by the Western world until the late 19th century. In Cambodia today, there seems to be this balance between tradition and modernization—the people and government work to develop the country while still preserving the traditional ideas and customs.
Cambodia has been concealed from the rest of the world for a very long time and now the world is beginning to embrace the Khmer people and culture. Cambodia is a nation rebuilding after a war that destroyed nearly everything, and though their past brings pain, it also imparts strength. It is difficult to predict in which direction this country will go in the future. At this point, anything is possible and it’s incredible to hear and see the transformations that happen here every day. Every Cambodian has a story to tell and it is time we hear it.

1 comment:

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