School of Vice:
The social isolation described of this border pagoda, with monks occasionally going hungry due to infrequent visits paid them by lay people, is just one of the worrying or "disturbing" developments and symptoms noted by the late social researcher and critic - Kem Ley - on his recent and last visit to another region on the border in Takeo province. Ley observed what appeared to be government border posts or police stations were mostly in a ramshackle state, in sharp contrast to their structural counterparts immediately yards across the border; illegal cross-border activities, including commercial fishing involving Vietnamese nationals were commonplace, and reputedly, going on under the noses and complicit gazes of local Cambodian officials.
The local towns and settlements on the Cambodian side of the border also - just like this pagoda - have the overwhelming feel, appearance and characteristics of Vietnamese rather than Khmer/Cambodian flavour about them. While Hun Sen maybe 'right' in his thinking that populating civilians in disputed areas might expose them to unjustifiable risks and potential harms, the least his administration can do would be to come to the aid of pockets of existing settlements such as these.
Doing so will cost the state in finance and resources in the short term, but the longer term repercussions and benefits will be both immeasurable and critical to the development of the regions concerned, and to the security of the nation as a whole. A wat/pagoda is not only a place for staging regular religious and cultural events, but it is the most quintessential, historical symbol and outpost of Khmer people and their presence in time and history.
Certainly, the kind of selective economic policies and priorities needed to 'develop' and support such isolated communities will be less costly - in every sense of the word 'cost' - than attempting to force resolutions of potential armed conflicts through military means and violence.
Happy Pchum Ben!
<<<>>>
The local towns and settlements on the Cambodian side of the border also - just like this pagoda - have the overwhelming feel, appearance and characteristics of Vietnamese rather than Khmer/Cambodian flavour about them. While Hun Sen maybe 'right' in his thinking that populating civilians in disputed areas might expose them to unjustifiable risks and potential harms, the least his administration can do would be to come to the aid of pockets of existing settlements such as these.
Doing so will cost the state in finance and resources in the short term, but the longer term repercussions and benefits will be both immeasurable and critical to the development of the regions concerned, and to the security of the nation as a whole. A wat/pagoda is not only a place for staging regular religious and cultural events, but it is the most quintessential, historical symbol and outpost of Khmer people and their presence in time and history.
Certainly, the kind of selective economic policies and priorities needed to 'develop' and support such isolated communities will be less costly - in every sense of the word 'cost' - than attempting to force resolutions of potential armed conflicts through military means and violence.
Happy Pchum Ben!
<<<>>>
1 comment:
Dear Sisters & Brothers,
I never agreed with Dictator & Traitor Hun Sen before, until
I heard him said, in reference to the CNRP
" To kill a snake, you hit its head !!! "
Analogically, when the Khmer people want and need change,
Hun Sen's regime change that is, we must hit the Regime's head, Hanoi.
The Khmer people do not have nor can afford thirty more years to waste.
After the threshold of July 2018, one way or the other, very costly
may it be, the CNRP shall form its government.
As soon as this is done, multitude of avenues and solutions will be
made available.
One of the goals, the ultimate yet elusive one is for Cambodia to be
as strong or even stronger than the traditional enemy Vietnam.
YES, it can be done !!!
Our ancestors did not have the " tools " we now have.
A Khmer Patriot
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