Filed under: Khmer Folktales
Khmer Folk Tale
The Magic Millstone
Translated from Khmer by Chhim Chan Bora
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nce upon the time, there were two brothers. The elder brother was rich and the younger brother was very poor. The younger brother earned his living as a wood-cutter.
One day, the woodcutter went into a deep forest to cut wood. After getting enough wood, the man felt exhausted and climbed up a shrine built to the forest spirit to sleep.
The forest spirit took very pity on that woodcutter because he saw him come to sleep in the shrine everyday. On the other hand, the woodcutter was honest, gentle and respectful. He always swept clean the area around the shrine everyday. (more…)
Filed under: Khmer Rouge Tribunal
Opinion
KR Tribunal Could Deter Other Killers
by Moeun Chhean Nariddh
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any people may find it dumbfounded to read about the brutal beheading of a farmer in Kampot province and the tragic murder of an accused sorcerer and his two sons in the neighboring Kompong Speu province.
But other people and I are not surprised to see this kind of killing continues in Cambodia. Many criminals have now become fearless as they see other chief criminals, particularly the Khmer Rouge murderers, still walking freely with impunity. (more…)
Filed under: Funny Stuff
Everybody’s doing the Karaoke thing!
Moeun Chhean Nariddh
THE Karaoke craze has swept through Phnom Penh since spring. Many youths, whose minds have been soaked by video games in the last few years, are now flooding into Karaoke shops and paying a few hundred riels to sing their favorite songs.
Enterprising drinks-shop owners, after purchasing a video recorder, Karaoke tapes, a microphone and speakers, have cashed in on the latest fad and are running a thriving in-house business. (more…)
Filed under: Culture
Pottery skills from Stone Age are dying out
Moeun Chhean Nariddh delves into ancient traditions in Kompong Chhnang.
The people of the province are famous nationwide for being the producers of Khmer pottery. But the traditional lifestyle and art-forms, which have been handed down from generation to generation for thousands of years, are threatened with extinction, according to experts.
Professor Chuch Phoeurn, Dean of the Faculty of Archeology at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh, said from excavatory findings that Khmer pottery making began in the Polished Stone Age at least as far back as 3,500 BC. (more…)
Filed under: International Issues
Opinion
Whose Side Is Cambodia On In Burma?
by Moeun Chhean Nariddh
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s Burma’s ruling junta is moving to clamp down on the growing protests led by the country’s Buddhist monks, the world is worried that there may be more bloodshed.
However, the Cambodian government has yet to announce its position – whether it is standing behind the Burmese military government or the pro-democracy demonstrators. (more…)
Filed under: Travel Stories
My Life In A Strange Land
By Moeun, Sokhavuddh (Vina), Minnesota
Vina posed for a photograph with her brother, Uy Daravuth, on the bank of the Mekong River near Phnom Penh in the early 1990s (File photo)
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ctober 23, 1996, I arrived in the United States and I came through Los Angeles. I did not know anyone in this country, and had never been here before. My only concern was leaving my country to find safety. When I fled Cambodia, I left behind my children, my mother, my brothers and all of my extended family. Besides these things, I left also my friends, my property, my culture and language and my entire history.
I boarded an airplane with only a small suitcase and the clothes on my back. At every moment I was terrified that the authorities would stop me and return me to Cambodia where I would face imprisonment.
On the airplane I encountered a few Cambodians who had families in the United States. I came to know two of them. One of them was elderly and had a daughter with a house in Los Angeles. I spent much of the trip from Cambodia assisting her on the airplane. The other acquaintance had family in Minnesota. (more…)
Filed under: International Issues
Comment
Cambodians Should Show Support for Suu Kyi
by Moeun Chhean Nariddh
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s leaders around the world joined hands to demand the release of Burmese pro-democracy leader Ang San Suu Kyi during her 60th birthday, Cambodian leaders seemed quiet and did nothing to help the Nobel Peace Prize laureate.
As a democratic country, Cambodia should do anything it can to show its support for Ang San Suu Kyi and her efforts to restore democracy in Burma. (more…)
Filed under: International Issues
Comment
Cambodia Should Be Careful About Relations With Burma
by Moeun Chhean Nariddh
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nce upon a time, there lived a king in a kingdom. The king, as he is told in a Buddhist tale, had a very handsome horse that he loved so much. The king thought that he should get his horse trained with all the skills that it should deserve. So, he asked one of his palace officials to hire a trainer to train his horse.
Upon completion of the training, the trainer left for his home and gave the horse to the official to show to the king. (more…)
Filed under: Khmer Rouge Issue
The search, and some successes, in finding missing kin
By Moeun Chhean Nariddh
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WENTY years since the Khmer Rouge seized power, launching a vicious social revolution which forcibly split apart most Cambodian families, thousands of Khmers are still “missing”.
Each year, the lucky ones finally find out that their loved ones are alive and – with the help of international agencies – are able to contact them.
The Khmer Rouge years, followed by the Vietnamese occupation which sent nearly 300,000 people flocking to border refugee camps, led to vast numbers of Cambodians losing contact with family members. (more…)
Filed under: Khmer Folktales
Khmer Folk Tale
The Four-Footed Doctor
Translated from Khmer by Chhim Chan Bora
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nce upon a time there was a family of a millionaire with five children who were all sons and the fifth of whom was born crippled. He had only arms and torso, but no legs.
The parents felt very embarrassed at having such a crippled son who they thought did not suit their honor and ordered a maid to put the baby boy in a cooking pot and floated it in the river. (more…)
