Filed under: Film and Entertainment
The joys and sorrows of a life of laughs
‘Lotto’ is an expert at making Cambodians chuckle but – like most of his fans – his smile has been cracked by a life which has seen as much suffering as success. Moeun Chhean Nariddh talks to one of Cambodia’s few surviving veteran comedians.
Lotto stood in front of his wooden house near Phnom Penh before he died a few years later (Photo by Moeun Chhean Nariddh)
“Bread, bread,” shouts Lotto as he walks down a Phnom Penh street with a big sack of loaves, looking for hungry customers.
A well-dressed man beckons him from a beautiful villa, and Lotto bounds up his door, confident of making a sale. He’s wrong. The man tricks him out of a bread stick and chases him off his property.
“You took my bread and didn’t pay me – you, the rich!” exclaims an angry Lotto as he leaves. Not looking where he’s going, he trips over a shrub and falls down onto a fence. Pulling himself to his feet, he staggers off, with a faint, drawn-out cry of “bread, bread” coming from his lips. (more…)
Filed under: Khmer Folktales
THE WOLF AND SHRIMPS
Translated from Khmer by Chhim Chan Bora
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nce there lived a big wolf. When breeze started blowing, he roamed the areas to find ponds or lakes which had just dried up to catch fish for food.
When arriving at a pond which had completely dried up except a muddy hole full of a lot of fish, shrimps and crabs, the wolf was very glad and thought:” I’m very lucky today. It is an unusual luck.”
The shrimp was indeed clever. On hearing what the wolf had exclaimed, he pleaded with the wolf, saying: “We are all your food, brother wolf, but we are so muddy that we are not delicious for you to eat in such a state.” (more…)
Filed under: Travel Stories
The First Generation Immigrant from Cambodia
by Sokhavuddh Moeun (Vina), Saint Paul, Minnesota
Vina (center) with her newly found friends in Minnesota
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he past centuries, in Southeast Asia, Cambodia was known as the ‘ Khmer Empire’, which was ruled by the Kings. She was a beautiful country. According to Cambodian history, ‘Cambodia’ was compared to “A young beautiful lady”.
Because of the natural resources available, there was only a small percent of Cambodians that had left the country. Most of them migrated just because of business. Unfortunately in the late twentieth century, the Cambodian government had led Cambodia and its people to the lowest level, especially, in the Khmer Rouge regime. The evil government forced people to work hard without having enough food to eat. Almost two million people were killed or died of starvation at that time. From that time Cambodians started to migrate to the U.S. and other countries in order to survive themselves.
In my family, I was the first person who immigrated to the United States. On the 23rd of October 1996, I decided to leave my country and family for the U.S. for my own safety. It is hard to believe that I came here alone without knowing where to go or having a relative to depend on. I just knew that as long as I got to the U.S., I would survive. (more…)
Filed under: Culture
Cambodian Towns Rapidly Losing Their Khmer Identities
by Moeun Chhean Nariddh
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t was interesting to read about the Italians arguing whether there should be a Chinatown in Rome (“When in Rome, do as the Romans would do – not the Chinese”, Tuesday, March 12, Page 16).
Yes, it’s no strange sight to see a Chinatown in cities across the world. But, what the Romans worry about is exactly what the Khmers do.
Though you may not find a clearly defined Chinatown here, many towns here are, in many ways, already Chinatowns. Just look around the markets in Phnom Penh, Siem Reap, Battambang, Sihanoukville, Kompong Cham and in many provinces. (more…)
