FYI... just would like to share my recent article to the editors of Cambodiadaily and Phnom Penh post.
Regards, DL ---------- Forwarded message ---------- From: Davan Long <[email protected]> Date: Fri, Oct 9, 2015 at 12:33 PM Subject: Is 'Yuon' a Racist Word? To: [email protected], [email protected] Cc: Dear Editors, With all due respect to Mr. *Julian Abrams*’s, I am writing in response to his rebuttal ( https://www.cambodiadaily.com/opinion/sam-rainsys-racism-defense-is-repetitive-and-disingenuous-95818/) to Mr. Sam Rainsy’s article on September 28 titled “Claims That ‘Yuon’ Is a Racist Term Should Be Put to Rest”. It has become almost a favorable pastime for our “well-meaning” Westerners to arbitrarily denounce the usage of the word ‘Yuon’ with complete disregard of local values, tradition and ways-of-life. While Khmer natives of different walks of life at home and abroad have repeatedly come forward to offer genuine explanations on the existence, meaning and usage of word “Yuon” from the historical, linguistic and social perspectives, their sincere efforts have so far been falling on deaf ears. On the other hand, one has yet to hear a sensible argument from our “well-meaning” visitors to justify their claims that “Yuon” is a pejorative term. It appears there is nothing to backup such claims except the claims themselves. Many Khmers increasingly perceive the assertion that “Yuon” is a racist term was never about fighting or eradicating racism. Rather, it was about perpetuating a classic colonialist behavior by some uninformed visiting Westerners who intentionally or unintentionally continue to behave as if they have the right to randomly decide what is appropriate and what is not for the host country. Interestingly, suppose one were to ask the following chickens-come-home-to-roost question: What if a group of individuals from the middle-East visit a Western country and assert that women should be banned from wearing revealing bikini in public beaches or pools because in their belief such outfit degrades women in general, insult their religion and offend their spouses and daughters? What would be the reaction of our “well-meaning” Westerners? Any attempt to suppress the word ‘Yuon’ will only backfire and reinforce Mr. Rainsy’s view that the claims are pointless and should be put to rest once for all. Warm regards, Davan Long -- -- 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. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
