Is this called UNITY?
On Mar 24, 11:45 am, PuppyXpress <[email protected]> wrote: > ---------- Forwarded message ---------- > From: Gaffar Peang-Meth <[email protected]> > Date: Wed, Mar 24, 2010 at 4:34 AM > Subject: In Cambodia, unity is strength > To: > > [image: UPI's Asia Online] > In Cambodia, unity is strength > By Gaffar Peang-Meth > Guest Commentary > Published: March 24, 2010 > > Washington, DC, United States, — No stone has been left unturned by writers > in Cambodia and abroad in exposing the Hun Sen regime’s violations of human > rights and lack of good governance. Endless appeals for change have been > made by reputable national and international nongovernmental organizations. > > But this is merely water off a duck’s back to the regime. It’s futile. > Besides, the duck may even enjoy the water. > > A former comrade-in-arms, now in the ranks of Premier Hun Sen’s armed forces > – neutralized, sidelined and mistrusted, like others who chose to remain in > the country and join Sen to earn enough money to live – tells me of the > ruling Cambodian elite’s philosophy: “Write all you want until the cows come > home. Nothing will change until we are ready. Besides, we can sue you!” > > But Sen and his elite continue to fatten themselves with amassed wealth as > they ride above the law, while the poor scavenge city dumps for food and are > evicted from their land so it can be developed for others’ profit. The > country’s natural resources are looted for personal gain, and many in the > international community continue business as usual with Sen because it’s > profitable. > > It is an evident truth that the 1991 Paris Peace Accords, intended to > establish democracy in the country, were never implemented. > > Many have been sued by the government; the main opposition leader, Sam > Rainsy, faces jail should he return to Phnom Penh from Paris. Earlier, > royalist opposition leader Prince Norodom Ranariddh, son of King Sihanouk, > half-brother of current King Sihamoni, swore off politics to be allowed to > return from self-imposed exile in Malaysia. Ranariddh is quiet; as all the > royals are quiet. The king continues to be Sen’s rubber stamp – even signing > a royal decree nominating a neighboring country’s fugitive leader as advisor > to the government. > > Not that Cambodians and non-Cambodians don’t see and don’t know these > things. They do, but most don’t think these things affect them directly and > personally. Worse, many brush off what is unpleasant as they scapegoat > others, assign blame and absolve themselves from culpability. > > “There's none so blind as those who will not see,” a saying goes. > > Another former comrade-in-arms who has read my columns over the years and is > now also with the Sen regime, asked me, “You still want to transform ducks > into peacocks?” The Greek philosopher Plato said long ago: “Wise men speak > because they have something to say; fools because they have to say > something.” > > Plato’s “fools” are dangerous because they are ignorant. Martin Luther King > observed, “Nothing in the world is more dangerous than a sincere ignorance > and conscientious stupidity.” > > Last week, I emailed an acquaintance two quotes, one from prominent > psychiatrist Thomas Szasz, “The system isn't stupid, but the people in it > are”; and another from Russian writer, Leo Tolstoy, “Everyone thinks of > changing the world, but no one thinks of changing himself.” Who and what > people are, I wrote, determine their actions. Thus, we must begin change > with ourselves. > > Back to Hun Sen’s Cambodia. Although Sen and his ruling Cambodian People’s > Party do have support inside and outside the country, Cambodian Action > Committee for Justice and Equity president Serey Ratha Sourn’s pertinent > question deserves consideration. “If Hun Sen and the ruling party have no > fear of Cambodians at the grassroots level rising up at the right time in a > People Power against them, why did he and the CPP rush a new criminal code > limiting the number of demonstrators and block the rights of expression?” > > Sourn doesn’t believe that an election in contemporary Cambodia would have > any meaning. With power concentrated in the same hands that suppress > dissent, trample laws and instill fear, Sen is certain to win and the > election is only a tool to legitimize his oppression. > > A grassroots activist, Sourn sees “People Power” as possible, and as the > only route to bring change. He and his supporters are working to implement a > strategy of “One Mission, One Message and One Multitude” – Sourn’s three > M’s. So they devote their time to setting up networks of people, monks and > youth. > > While a Western reader wrote that “most people” in Cambodia “have > accommodated to the prevailing political situation” and are moving on “to > make ends meet rather than worry about how change could be brought about,” > some Cambodians in the country have told me the people need to read my > articles, but in the Khmer language – confirming Sourn’s and others’ > contention that as Cambodians understand, they will rise up. > > Talk of creating a government-in-exile has dissipated. Such an action would > be futile. It would be easy to create and announce it. World governments > might sympathize with Cambodians’ plight, but realpolitik dictates that they > balance between the devil they know and the devil they don’t know. > > Some history does seem to repeat. As it was in the 1970s and 1980s with the > Cambodian Non-Communist Resistance and the associated coalition government, > in the final analysis, foreigners called the shots. > > Cambodians, like others in the world, are generally impatient with slow > results in an era of push-buttons and of instant gratification. Many want > change in Cambodia – and wish a government-in-exile or armed resistance > would produce the change. > > It is those impatient Cambodians who scoff at retired Johns Hopkins > professor Rananhkiri Tith’s call for a “systematic overhaul” of Cambodian > society as a way to slow down and perhaps “save” Cambodia from > disintegration. Tith’s scheme would take a long time to be successful. > > Lasting change has a chance as a population becomes more educated. But it > could take 20 years before education bears fruit. > > Sadly, while the Sen regime consolidates its power, his critics are in > disarray. Cambodians have learned since their youth, “l’union fait la > force,” or unity is strength. And many have learned U.S. founding father > Benjamin Franklin’s words, “We must all hang together, or assuredly we shall > all hang separately,” as he called on American rebels either to band > together or find themselves hung individually at the British gallows. Thus, > E Pluribus Unum – out of many, one: the 13 colonies banded together as the > United States of America. > > Thus 233 years later, in July 2009, the 44th U.S. president, Barack Obama, > told Ghana’s Parliament, “We must start with a simple premise that Africa’s > future is up to Africans,” and, “With strong institutions and a strong will, > I know that Africans can live their dreams.” > > Cambodians should hear Obama’s words. > > -- > > (Dr. Gaffar Peang-Meth is retired from the University of Guam, where he > taught political science for 13 years. He currently lives in the United > States. He can be contacted at [email protected]. ©Copyright Gaffar > Peang-Meth.)- Hide quoted text - > > - Show quoted text - -- 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 To unsubscribe from this group, send email to camdisc+unsubscribegooglegroups.com or reply to this email with the words "REMOVE ME" as the subject.
