I like that too, Cheuk Khmao, but Neak Kam-pooch-tea hate us the Khmer. He may likes Xmer much more than us. And Koogaran insult us all the time, too..
KSU On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 6:52 PM, Perom Uch <[email protected]>wrote: > Dear Lauk Kru Gaffar: > > I would like to thank you for sharing such an important expression about > our > Khmer folk tales. Although the society has set a certain standard for us > all to > follow, however most important keys to a healthy living is to keeping > conversation > simple and stay positive. Here are some of my healthy habits that I had > shared with my > friends and families. > > Praying for someone > Forgiving everyone > Rejoicing in the midst of the storm > Uplifting a friend > Encouraging a sister, a brother > Respecting everyone > Repenting daily > Volunteering to help someone > Loving yourself and others > > Thank you with my warmest regards, > > //Perom > > > On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 1:23 PM, PuppyXpress <[email protected]> wrote: > >> >> >> ---------- Forwarded message ---------- >> From: Gaffar Peang-Meth <[email protected]> >> Date: Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 11:11 AM >> Subject: Folk tales fostered Khmer revolt >> To: >> >> >> >> *PACIFIC DAILY NEWS >> * June 2, 2010 >> >> *Folk tales fostered Khmer revolt >> * >> By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth >> >> My columns on culturally embedded behaviors common among the Khmers have >> led some readers to react spontaneously to comments they see as an attack. >> >> But a considered analysis is distinct from an attack, which many have >> appreciated. A Western reader thinks I have dealt with an aspect relevant to >> the situation in which Cambodia finds herself. And so I will expand a bit on >> the same topic today. >> >> Once a regionally powerful empire, the Khmer Empire of Angkor collapsed in >> 1434, its royal capital sacked in 1431 by neighboring Ayudhya to the West. >> Khmer kings moved the capital between Chaktomuk (the "Four Faces" in Phnom >> Penh) and Longvek, aka Lovek, and Oudong until 1866, when King Norodom moved >> his royal court back to Chaktomuk. >> >> When the French colonialists arrived in 1882, Khmer elitist conservatives >> already produced poems, advice and codes of behavior, teaching respect for >> customs, traditions, the establishment and authority. >> >> Years of teaching thus molded ways of thought and a culture that rewards >> unconditional respect, obedience, loyalty and embedded acceptance of >> leader-follower, superior-inferior, patron-client relationships. >> >> Unlike the French revolutionaries, who turned radical and brought down the >> French traditions and institutions, the Khmer revolt took the form of >> amusing folk tales -- revolutionary, as they belittle wealthy aristocrats, >> palace officials, the king, the Buddhist monks; and popular, as they appeal >> to the sentiments and touch the hearts of the people, then and now. >> >> In the folk stories, two insolent boys, A Chey and A Lev, from poor >> families, ride roughshod over the old world, represented by elitist codes of >> behavior called "Chbab Kram," or "Codes of Civility"; "Chbab Srey," or >> "Codes of Conduct for Women"; and "Chbab Koeng Kantrai," that makes the king >> the final and supreme judge. The boys are abetted by "Sophea Tunsay," the >> "Wise Rabbit," wicked, cunning, deceptive, witty and tricky, who acts as >> judge. >> >> A Chey's antics were more sophisticated than A Lev's. A Lev and Sophea >> Tunsay had no scruples about how to attain an end, using wiles and street >> smarts. Here are some excerpts from the tales. >> >> >> To gain revenge against a wealthy aristocrat, the Sethi, whom A Chey >> thought had duped him to choose a flat-bottomed, large basket over a deep, >> smaller basket containing more pulverized rice grains, A Chey begged his >> mother to borrow money from the Sethi and offer him as the Sethi's servant. >> Armed with Buddhist-instilled demeanor -- respectful, acquiescent and >> responsive -- A Chey shamed the Sethi at every turn and nearly bankrupted >> him, materially and mentally. >> >> To the instruction to talk softly, A Chey moved his lips, making >> incomprehensible sounds when he alerting the Sethi his house caught fire; he >> made a fortune betting with palace officials that he could order the king to >> do what he wanted: He begged the king to turn his head just a little and the >> king did. A Chey bet that the king's order forbidding him from entering the >> palace would be reversed: He insulted the Head Buddhist Monk entering the >> palace and the Monk, furious, petitioned the king, who ordered A Chey be >> brought into the palace for questioning. >> >> The unethical A Lev found customs and traditions of no value and sought >> all means to justify the ends. He wanted a wife, so he kidnapped one. He >> told her a marriage proposal takes long, may or may not be accepted, which >> is a waste of time. Elope now, have a traditional wedding later! >> >> In love with an aristocrat's daughter, he concocted an elaborate scheme >> through lies and deception until the aristocrat gave his daughter as A Lev's >> wife. >> >> A Lev desecrated Buddhism. He corrupted a monk by instilling sexual desire >> into the monk and told a neighbor he can find him a woman for a fee. A Lev >> then arranged for the monk and the neighbor, each with their heads covered >> with a cloth, to meet on a dark night, then blackmailed the monk for money. >> >> The rabbit? He played dead in the path of an old woman carrying a basket >> of bananas on her head. Thinking it was her luck to have a rabbit for >> dinner, she picked him up and tossed him into the basket. The rabbit ate his >> fill and jumped off. >> >> A judge rabbit? A crocodile crawled on a path from a dried-up lake, >> looking for a new place with water. He begged an old man driving an ox-cart >> to transport him. Afraid of falling off, he asked the man to tie him to the >> cart. Reaching a lake with water, the crocodile, who hadn't eaten for days, >> demanded the man's ox as the price for tying him too tightly, causing him >> pain. Frightened, the old man proposed to find a judge, for he had done no >> harm to the crocodile. >> >> Bananas in hand, the old man went crying, looking for a judge. A rabbit >> saw the bananas, a conversation ensued and the rabbit agreed to act as >> judge. >> >> Back at the ox-cart, where the crocodile was waiting, the rabbit asked the >> man and the crocodile to re-enact the scene. After the old man tied the >> crocodile to the cart and the crocodile could no longer move, judge rabbit >> told the man to hack up the ungrateful crocodile for food. >> >> Today's Khmer customs view a rabbit as deceptive, tricky and >> untrustworthy, and a crocodile as ungrateful. >> >> So, the Khmer elitist literature teaches codes of behavior, respect, >> obedience and loyalty; the popular folk tales tell the opposite. A dichotomy >> of personalities emerges: Respectful, obedient, loyal as society requires, >> while A Chey, A Lev and Sophea Tunsay hunker down and wait to surface. >> >> *A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam, >> where he taught political science for 13 years. Write him at ** >> [email protected]* <[email protected]> >> >> >> http://www.guampdn.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/201006020300/OPINION02/6020327 >> >> >> >> -- >> 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 > > > > > -- > Perom Uch > http://perom.businesscard2.com/ > http://www.linkedin.com/in/peromuch > http://www.khmernavy.com/ > http://www.watkhmersanjose.org/ > http://www.thinkmassmedia.com/PUINT01.html > http://ibuddhi.blogspot.com/2007_12_01_archive.html > > -- > 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 > -- 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
