Thank you so much, Lok Kru. //Perom
On Wed, Jun 2, 2010 at 4:36 AM, Gaffar Peang-Meth <[email protected]>wrote: > > Dear Lok Perom: Just an attempt to provoke thought. Regards, Gaffar > > > On Tue, Jun 1, 2010 at 7:52 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 >> > > -- 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
