August 2017
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Cambodia Khmer Culture


Mike never forgot the time when an invitation from Dr Sok Chenda was delivered to his home in Phnom Penh inviting him to stay with her in Samrong during Pchum Ben. During the festival that year, he visited the pagoda, which was near Chenda's house, almost every evening. Usually, by the time he arrived there, the monks had already said their prayers for the ancestors, but he was always in time to observe the people, mostly adults, distribute balls of rice in small banana leaf plates around the building.

On the fourteenth evening of the festival, Mike noticed that the pagoda, with its gold Buddhas and colourful gods, looked more beautiful than usual. Chenda explained that the people had helped the monks to clean and decorate it for the special prayers and ceremonies that would last all night. Mike stayed for a short time, but then went home to sleep. When he woke up early on the final day of the festival, he was surprised to see that nobody had yet returned from the pagoda. Eventually Chenda arrived home and had a short rest. Then, at lunchtime, she returned to the pagoda with special food for the monks to dedicate to the ancestors.

After the dedication, in the early evening, more gifts were offered to the ancestors in people's homes. Then, early the next morning, Chenda took Mike down to the river. By the time they reached it, most of the people from the village had already put their gifts into small boats made from banana trunks. As they pushed them out, Mike heard them say, "Please go back safely". Mike reflected how gentle these people's religion seemed and how lucky they were to have such strong faith in it.





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When Mr Kim Neak discovered that Raksmey, his son, had disappeared, he asked his neighbours if they had seen him, but nobody had. The lady next door, Mrs Ouch Bopha, asked Neak if his son had ever disappeared before.

Neak replied that he had. "Of course, I've told him many times not to go far by himself, but he's an explorer. Last year I gave him a book about explorers for his fourteenth birthday. Perhaps it was an error, because soon after he disappeared for almost a whole day. When he returned, he told us he'd discovered an ancient temple hidden among trees just outside the town. I tried every means to explain to him that there could be landmines in a place like that and he shouldn't go there again, but you can't impose a rule like that on a young boy." "Well, he shouldn't just ignore you." Bopha replied. "Especially as that temple is dangerous." When Neak looked surprised, Bopha asked him if he had never heard that before, but he hadn't.


While they were talking, they saw Raksmey walking down the road towards them. He looked tired and his trousers were bloody. "What have you done to your leg ?" Neak almost shouted. "It's all right, Dad," Raksmey answered. "I fell into some animal trap. It’s just a minor injury. It looks worse than it is. "Let me wash your leg," said Bopha. "Your mother would be shocked if she could see you like that." "You're right," said Neak. "Thank you very much."












When Bopha washed Raksmey's leg, the bleeding from the small wound below his right knee had already stopped. "There," she said, when she'd finished. "Nothing to worry about." "Well it's not me you should be worried about," Raksmey said. "It's Thea."

Chea Thea was the brother of one of Raksmey's friends. He knew about the temple Raksmey had found and that morning he had told Raksmey to take him there. Raksmey didn't want to go, but he was afraid of Thea, so he agreed. They went on Thea's motorbike, but the path to the temple was so narrow that Thea had to leave his bike hidden in the forest.

The temple's huge stone blocks lay among the trees. "Look," said Thea, pointing to a Hindu god. "If I could sell that, would you like to share the money with me ?" Raksmey, who didn't want to steal from a temple, didn't reply. Thea climbed over a quantity of stone blocks that led up to the statue. Suddenly there was a horrible noise, which made Raksmey jump out of his skin. On the ground around him lay pieces of metal mixed with bone.


Thea, who was trapped beneath a stone block, called for help, but the rock was too heavy for Raksmey to move. "If I could find the keys of my bike, would you get some help ?" Thea asked. "Of course," Raksmey replied, but unfortunately Thea couldn't find his keys and


Raksmey had to walk back to the town.

When Chea Thea woke up in the hospital in Champa, he discovered that he had become another mine victim. "You're lucky you didn't lose your leg," Neak told his son. "I know," Raksmey replied. "I'll be more careful in the future. I promise."




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Cambodian lifts

 

Last month, Sopha introduced her neighbor to her sister, Dr Chenda. It was an emergency. Her neighbor, Sinourn, was feeling very sick. Sopha told Dr Chenda that Sinourn was in pain, because she had been badly beaten by her husband. "When he gets home from work, he argues with her," Sopha explained. "He asks her for money to buy rice wine and if she refuses, he hits her. If he'd beaten her any more, I don't know what would have happened, but, fortunately, he was arrested just in time and put in the local jail."

For Dr Chenda this was a sad but familiar story. She knew lots of husbands and fathers who, although they sometimes helped with the housework and looked after the children, still claimed that a mother's place was in the home and that a wife's duty was to obey her husband. It was because of such ideas that women like Sinourn were kept like prisoners in their own homes. In fact Sinourn had only managed to escape from her 'prison' when her husband had been taken away by the police.

If Dr Chenda hadn't known about and become interested in human rights and, more particularly, women's rights, perhaps she too would have shared these traditional ideas. Instead, however, she supported human rights and had become actively involved in the rights of people who had a weak position in society : the poor, children, minority groups and, of course, women. Especially those who, like Sinourn, were victims of violence. And, as a doctor, she sometimes found herself in a good position to help some of them.

After about a week, the police invited Sinourn to go to the police station to make a formal complaint against her husband. Sinourn, however, who was still feeling dizzy and weak, didn't know whether she wanted to or not. As well as herself, she had her children to think of. If her husband was kept in jail, what would happen to them ? They needed the money that he earned, even if he did quarrel and spend too much money on rice wine.
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Cambodia




Under a hot sun, a car from The South East Asia Hotel collected Simone Fox from Pochentong International Airport. At the hotel, a large gentleman with a grey beard was waiting for her. Professor Martin Green introduced himself before taking Simone to the market, where he had lost the rare liquid. "This is where it happened," Martin explained. "I bought a ring at this shop, but when I went to put it in my bag, it had disappeared." "What ? The ring ?" asked Simone. "No, the bag," explained Martin.


"I saw a woman take it," the shopkeeper said. "I told my husband, but he said she was probably his wife, so I didn't do anything." "These witnesses saw a woman take your bag, Martin. Do you remember any woman standing near you at the time ?" asked Simone. "No, but there are probably a lot of shoplifters around here," Martin replied. "I came with my friend, Dr Linda Croft. By the time I'd bought the ring, however, she'd already left. She said it was hot and had a headache." "Who's Dr Linda Croft ?" asked Simone. "One of the scientists attending the conference," Martin answered. "I shall have to investigate her, when we get back," said Simone. "Oh, you couldn't possibly suspect her," continued Martin. "She's such a nice, helpful woman. She even helped me yesterday with the lock on my door." "What happened ?" asked Simone. "Well, I couldn't lock my door, because the lock had been damaged. Linda kindly offered to mend it for me, but I didn't like to waste her time and changed rooms instead."

Back at the hotel, Simone checked the lock on Martin's old room and then his friend, Dr Linda Croft, on her computer. As she thought, Linda Croft was not a scientist at all. She was a well-known spy. "She will have left her room by the time I reach it," Simone thought as she picked up the phone. Linda Croft was waiting for the next flight to Bangkok at Pochentong International Airport. Her baggage had been checked through to London. Simone relaxed in her room. "The police will have prepared their trap at Heathrow Airport by the time she arrives," she reflected. "What a relief. Now I can relax and read the newspaper."


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