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Published: September 17th 2013
Susan and Cham Bunthet
My colleague Susan and my most extraordinary Ph.D. student, Cham BunthetIt’s been fairly quiet since my last post. I went home for just over a week and did some work with a client and saw Janet, Jeff and Dwain. It was good to be in Houston for even a short period of time but I was also ready to get back. Clearly, I’ve made the switch and both places feel equally like home. Each now own a different place in my heart for different reasons. It was a bit strange to know that this would be my last trip back to Houston before repatriating at the end of April, 2014.
Last week I went down to Sihanoukville, a coastal port city, for a youth conference with one of my Ph.D. students. He’s a really bright and talented guy who is the Dean of the Undergraduate School of Business and Economics. We’ve spent some time together but this was truly special. He opened up a lot and shared many of the stories of his life. I treasure those glimpses when people really allow you to see their soul. I think it take a lot more time to build the kind of trust here that allows people to do that.
PHIL 110--Logic and Critical Thinking
My undergraduates from last semester. I think I almost cried the last day of class when I walked into the room and they burst into applause. Ratha (not to be confused with my assistant who is also named Ratha), was nine years old when the Khmer Rouge came to power. He is now 48 with two teenage children. He and his family were forced from their home down near Sihanoukville to a labor camp up in the northeast part of the country. He told me all of the things they did to survive. He was very cleaver as a young boy. He would watch how other people set traps for animals and fish including snakes, spiders, lizards, or basically anything. He'd sneak around at night and steal from the traps to find food for himself and his family. He’d watch the guards at night until he knew they were asleep and then he’d go out to the fields and break open watermelon or anything else he could find growing. He knew that if they ever caught him, they would kill him. So far, there is nothing too extraordinary about his story. It sounds a lot like the many survivor stories that I’ve heard/read since coming here.
Another layer of stories starts to emerge. Ratha was in charge of tending cattle. He started out in
Wat Botum Pagoda
One of the old French colonial buildings that houses monks at Wat Botum. the fields planting rice, like everyone else, and after the first day he said he knew he could not survive if he had to do this. He said he looked up to the sky and prayed that he would never have to do this again and that he would have good luck. The next morning someone told him that he’d been in charge of the cattle. He said he became much attuned to the cattle and their feelings. He would know when one wasn’t feeling well and he’d know the personality of each one. He became the “cow whisperer”. He would know how to make them behave so they wouldn’t be beaten by others. One of his cows became ill and died. He said they all came together to bury the cow to keep it from infecting other cows or humans. He described it has having mad cow disease although at that time, I’m not even sure such a thing existed. He said that night several of the men were so hungry they went and dug up the dead cow and started carving pieces of meat out of the cow. He said some of the men took back large amounts
Dirty Tricks
Nail thrown in the street by ruling party (presumably) to discourage demonstrators--it didn't work. of meat to feed their families. Ratha’s father only ate a small amount of the meat because he wanted to make sure it didn’t make him sick before he fed it to his family. The next morning all of the other men were dead and Ratha’s father was on fire with fever.
The story gets better from here. Ratha’s mother was obviously worried that her husband was going to die. She consulted a local medicine woman who told her to have her husband eat an entire gecko. All I could think about was the little guy from Geico insurance with an Australian accent saying, “I may not be able to cure a fever but I can save you 10 percent on your auto insurance.” As it turned out, within 24 hours Ratha’s father was well and survives to this day. Ratha’s medical advice didn’t end there. He told me if you ever wake up with your eyes matted together, presumably from some kind of eye infection like pink-eye, then just urinate into your hands and splash it into your eyes. Apparently urine is also good at removing heat from the body or cold or something. I got kind of
Serpentine Wire
It gave the city a very eerie feeling to see major streets block with razor wire. lost at this point. I just wasn’t feeling the whole concept of drinking urine. However, this did serve to explain one of Ratha’s many careers. Before getting a degree from Australia in economics, he had earned a degree in pharmacy. He still wonders if eating a gecko might be powerful medicine. Who am I to say? I think whatever caused one to survive the Khmer Rouge must have been right.
Since my last blog things on the political front have just simmered. The opposition still claims they won the election and the ruling party has been in defense mode. It took the National Election Commission (controlled by the Cambodian People’s Party) 2 months to announce the winner. There were so many known cases of fraud and the CPP refused a recount with international observers. Last weekend they finally announced the provision of seats in the parliament which was exactly in line with the election results they announced the day after ballots were cast. No one believes this is possible. They have found entire containers of votes from opposition precincts that were never opened. The opposition National Rescue Party starting calling for demonstrations for peace. Last week there was a
Monky-Bro
Venerable But Bunthen, former PUC professor, now international celeb and religious leader of the resistance. very large assembly that went off without a hitch. In defiance of the election results the CNRP called another demonstration for yesterday. Tens of thousands came to convene at a downtown park. Through the week there had been a couple of incidents such as a reported bomb near the national assembly building and another near a bridge. Most people thought the CPP had probably planted it so they could blame the CNRP. Still everything remained peaceful.
Yesterday, I was just thinking how Cambodia might be a model for social change as compated with Middle-East social movements. I was proud that there had been no calls for violence. I teach on Sunday morning and my students were mostly late for class. They told me that streets were closed which happened a lot during elections. One of my students offered to take me down to the park to see the demonstration. I was shocked when I not only saw the streets blocked off but they were blocked with razor-wire and armed military standing behind barricades. This was different. Something was happening. At another blocked point someone had thrown nails into the street to cause flat tires. We turned around and circled
A Little Drama
Flashbulbs were popping all around him as he posses for this picture. back to get out of town. I stopped to take pictures at one of the barricades on a main street when I ran into the monk who had been fired at the university about two weeks before the election. He’s an international celebrity now. Whatever status he lost with his job he has more than made up as a monk organizer for the opposition. He thanked me for coming and stuck his head through the razor wire for a dramatic picture. In fact, there were monks all over the streets. This was most unusual considering they are known for being apolitical following the killing of monks in a previous election. He pointed at the razor wire and said, “Professor, look what they have done to our country. Not since 1991 have we seen such things.” I left the scene but remained optimistic that a peaceful solution could be found.
This morning the university was virtually a ghost town. Very few students showed up for school. Once I arrived Susan said something about a shooting. I said, what are you talking about? Apparently, last night after dark the police tried to force all of the people out of the park because they said they didn’t have permission to be there. The people refused to leave so the police opened water cannons on them and started pelting them with tear gas. This is so unnecessary and only throws gasoline on the fire. Across town, drivers were frustrated that streets were blocked and people couldn’t get back home. The government had basically closed national roads so people couldn’t come in from the provinces to protest. This meant people also couldn’t get back out of the city. After waiting for hours and growing restless, a group of people busted through the barricades to go home. Police opened fire on them shooting one man in the head and killing him and wounding several others. The police tried to take the body of the dead man, a 29 years old and father of 4, and I guess people became very violent. It’s entirely possible they would take him, burn his body and then deny anything ever happened. It’s so tragic and sad. Already the police are denying any use of guns while photos of police shooting at protesters are all over Facebook. Thank God for social media to bear witness to the truth.
Today, the opposition leaders and the prime minister met this morning. Both sides called for calm and non-violence and they announced a three part agreement on some contentious issues. I’m hoping this will be enough to restore calm. Everyone on campus is telling me what happened last night was not part of an escalation in violence. Most believe, as I do, this will be settled but the protesters are to stay out at demonstrations through tomorrow. Possibly, if the opposition doesn’t have its demands met they will demonstrate indefinitely. People who are desperate and have nothing to lose can become feisty. Yesterday, I saw 100s of young people wearing yellow headbands that say, “My vote, my life.” Justice has an insatiable thirst and is only quenched by doing the right thing. What country has had a nonviolent path toward justice and liberty? At the moment, I stand on my observation that Cambodia is doing about as well with this situation as anyone could.
I want to emphasize to my friends and family, especially those preparing to arrive in about three weeks with ALF that Cambodia is fine and I feel completely safe. Even with the events of last night, I would venture a guess that there were fewer people killed here in the last week than in Houston. I can promise you my curiosity won’t lead me to view any more demonstrations even though in the light of day it was fascinating and I’m glad I went. I've been fairly active on Facebook the past few days and I’ll keep posting there for those who are interested. At the moment, I’m hungry and it’s time to call it a day. What a life!
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Turmoil
Times of change can be difficult for a country and Cambodia has had more than its fair share of tragic events. Please take care and stay safe. Loved these stories. Thank you for sharing.