Dear Perom, Thank you for sharing your thought. I totally agree with you that we need to understand Khmer history in order to better protect and build our country. What I mean by understanding Khmer history is not just merely read summaries, headlines, or condensed versions of our history. To do so will not give us a full depth of understanding of what really happened during the course of our history. We need to read, do research, analyze, and rethink of what our history was really about. A mere reading of articles in newspapers will give us a distorted view of history and can be very dangerous. If we do not understand our history properly, then like George Santayana said, " Those who cannot learn from history are doomed to repeat it."
Thanks, Kenneth On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 10:42 PM, Perom Uch <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > Hi Kenneth, > I'm sorry. > > I did not have time this Morning. > Yes, I was playing with you. > I knew you always serious on any subject. > I would like to share with you this article. > ========================================= > > > *Seng Ngoc Thanh, the Viet Minh, and the Japanese: the culture of > dependency* > > > > "Cambodia's postwar relations with its immediate neighbors and with regard > to world alignments were fashioned almost entirely by Prince Norodom > Sihanouk, first as king and later as Prime-Minister and political boss. The > ephemeral Japanese-sponsored Free Khmer movement led by Seng Ngoc Thanh, > which was set up at the end of World War II, was ousted without serious > difficulty by returning French General Leclerc in October 1945. Son Ngoc > Thanh escaped to anti-French Thailand for one time, but eventually led a > portion of his Free Khmer following into a more vigorous anti-imperialist > collaboration sponsored by Viet Minh agents. The original French political > concession to King Sihanouk's seemingly plaint regime, made in January 1946, > pledged self-government for Cambodia within the French Union, but it left > the colonial authorities in control of all economic activities and all > important governmental operations. The King, in 1953, blackmailed the French > into granting substantial additional concessions by simply going temporary > exile in Thailand . Cambodia 's independence was fully acknowledged by the > Geneva settlement of 1954, following the French military debacle at > Dienbienphu, King Norodom Sihanouk emerged as a national hero. " > > > > John F. Cady; *Thailand, Burma, Laos, & Cambodia;* (Prentice-Hall, Inc. > Englewood, N. J. 1966), p.17 > > ======================================== > > Cambodians are intelligent as anybody else. But what differentiate > Cambodians form others is that culture of dependency, which starts form the > Angkor time. At that time, those kings were so selfish and autocratic that > they had treated all Khmer commoners, as their slaves. That is why the word > 'I" in Cambodian is "Knhom", and it means "servant" or "slave." > > So, unless we change we are going to feel inferior to other people, and > that is deadly. How can we change? First by knowing our history as well > as we can. In order to know history, we can read books. But that takes a lot > of time. Also we can't the books 100%... So, we have to think..share the > discussion with each others.. I f we don't know history, we cannot > distinguish who's doing good things who is doing bad things. We should look > at the action of the current & past leaders of Cambodia based on their > actions....There are the good, the bad and the ugly in any society...We can > look back to "Ang Mey/ Troeung Minh Yang" period....How Ang Duong and Oknha > Son Kuy liberated Cambodia..Thhere were only less than 1 million Cambodians > during that period..There was the sacrifice of the common people under the > leaders like Ang Duong and Oknha Son Kuy. > > > > And yet , we should not worship anyone, king or commoner as god. > > There are still some good Cambodian left like yourself. But, there must be > more. Only by changing our mentality from total submission to the > authoritarian people, to a more open society and more human and capable > leadership, can we regain our dignity and freedom. It won't be easy, but , > it is not impossible. > > Best regards. Keep in touch. > > > > > On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 1:02 PM, Kenneth So <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > >> Dear Perom, >> >> I assume you are kidding, aren't you? >> >> Thanks, >> >> Kenneth >> >> >> > > > -- Kenneth So Aryasatya (Sanskrit) Chattari Ariyasachchani (Pali) Chatuk Arey Sachak (Khmer) The Four Noble Truths (English) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Cambodia Discussion (CAMDISC) - www.cambodia.org" group. This is an unmoderated forum. Please refrain from using foul language. Thank you for your understanding. Peace among us and in Cambodia. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/camdisc Learn more - http://www.cambodia.org -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
