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Khmer Politics Alternatives Circle

~ Thinking outside the box about Cambodia

Khmer Politics Alternatives Circle

Category Archives: Culture

Chickens Under State of Emergency

15 Tuesday Dec 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, Justice, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Do you still love chicken for your meal?
If so, watch out for the price increase in the market as one of poultry farm owner was arrested because the weak strongman, who seems to be in total delusion, associated himself with chickens that are being domestically raised.

Your students and you should be wondering what would Juvenal, Horace, Persius or Seneca the Younger think if they lived to read these 2 articles:

1) VOD, 14 December 2020
Covid-19 ‘Chicken’ Commentary Lands Phnom Penh Man in Prison
https://vodenglish.news/covid-19-chicken-commentary-lands-phnom-penh-man-in-prison/, and

2) VOA, 14 December 2020
Agribusiness Owner Jailed After Poultry Commentary on Hun Sen’s Speech
https://www.voacambodia.com/a/agribusiness-owner-jailed-after-poultry-commentary-on-hun-sen-speech-/5698670.html

Such behavior by the weak strongman is a sign common to all dictators who fear the specter of the end of their reign. Donning the plumage of the chicken, the weak strongman fears the fox that is lurching behind the wall of the coop.

Like Yuval Noah Harari said: “The domesticated chicken is probably the most widespread bird in the annals of planet Earth. If you measure success in terms of numbers, chickens, cows and pigs are the most successful animals ever”, it’s very easy to conclude that chicken, imaginary or real, will ultimately end up in the pot of “sngaur moan” or in the fox jaws.

Could his crystal eyeball see himself, soon, in one of those two places?

Delusion is human sickness, ex-KR or otherwise.

How the Future of the Ruins of Angkor Wat is Ruined

21 Saturday Nov 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, History, Issue

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My dear Kacvey,

First the weak strongman has crowned himself as the Chéy Chétha of the 21st century by vassalizing himself and the country to the foreigner that supported him since 7 January 1979 by progressively sliding Cambodia into a New Kampuchea Krom.

As this has not been enough for him to destroy Cambodia, he not only re-vassalizes the country to a second foreigner but also destroys the culture and heritage that ancient Cambodia has left since its creation.

This letter is not only to document the flow of events that will help your students to understand how the ex-KR continues the legacy of his mentor Pol Pot in destroying Cambodia horizontally and vertically but also to push your students to think and to act on how to stop this evil deeds against Khmer people, country and culture. It is clear as daylight in mid-July that the weak strongman doesn’t care what will happen to Cambodia as far as his present time and life is concerned, as he has shown no interests at all for Cambodia but instead he serves foreign interests that generously enrich him, his tribesmen and his sycophantic scums with power and money. To paraphrase Ken Frydman in his New York Daily News column: “Rudy’s bitter end: A former friend and staffer tracks the mayor’s sad decline”, it all comes down to the bottom line: “But, he’s said, he doesn’t care about his legacy because, “I’ll be dead.””

Your students might ask:
– Have Egyptians allowed a hotel to be built 500 meters from the Pyramids?
– Chinese, from the Great Wall?
– Indians, from the Taj Mahal?
– U.S. citizens, from the Grand Canyon or Bryce Canyon, or inside the Navajo National Park, or in Utah’s Red Rock Country?
– Australians, from Uluru or on the Whitehaven Beach?
– Peruvians, from the Inca citadel of Machu Pichu?
– Guatemalans, from the Pyramids of Tikal?
– Mexicans, from the Pyramids of Chichén Itzá or La Iglesia of Coba?
– French, inside Parc du Chateau de Versailles?
– U.K. citizens, from Stonehenge?

This letter is dynamic as it will be updated as news develops:

1. Inside Asian Gaming, 16 November 2020
NagaCorp to build US$350 million non-gaming resort near Cambodia’s Angkor Wat

2. VOD, 17 November 2020
NagaCorp Plans ‘Angkor Lake of Wonder’ Theme Park Resort in Siem Reap

3. Phnom Penh Post, 17 November 2020
NagaCorp set to build $350M non-gaming IR resort in Siem Reap

4. VOD, 20 November 2020
Hun Sen’s Land Intervention Cleared Path for Naga’s Angkor Resort

5. RFA, 21 November 2020
អាជ្ញាធរ​ជាតិ​អប្សរា​ថា គម្រោង​វិនិយោគ​របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​ណាហ្គាខប មិន​ប៉ះពាល់​ដី​ឧទ្យាន​ជាតិ​អង្គរ

6. RFA, 22 November 2020
ទស្សនៈ​ពលរដ្ឋ​ចំពោះ​គម្រោង​វិនិយោគ​របស់​ក្រុមហ៊ុន​ណាហ្គាខប នៅ​ជិត​តំបន់​អង្គរ

7. RFA, 23 November 2020
Planned Theme Park Poses Risks to Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, Culture: Residents, NGOs

8. ASEAN Today, 27 November 2020
Cambodia’s Angkor Wat to see new theme park and resort by casino firm NagaCorp

9. Courrier international, 30 novembre 2020
Sacrilège.Attention à la création d’un parc de loisirs à proximité d’Angkor Wat

Culture, once destroyed, can never be rebuilt.

Prisonnier de l’Ancien Khmer Rouge

31 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, Event, Governance, History, Human Rights, Institution, Issue, Justice, Politics, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

You certainly recall this French book by Sihanouk: “Prisonnier des Khmers rouges” (ISBN:978-2010121845) published in 1986.

Hope your students remember and make connection between:
1) Sihanouk’s birthday and Halloween: 31 October, and
2) the following two reporting by Radio Free Asia and Sihanouk’s book title:
– ឧត្ដមទីប្រឹក្សាផ្ទាល់នៃព្រះមហាក្សត្រ ថ្លែងថា ព្រះរាជាបច្ចុប្បន្ន ដូចជាប់ឃុំក្នុងវាំង ព្រោះស្ថាប័នរដ្ឋាភិបាល
https://www.rfa.org/khmer/news/politics/a-king-advisor-blames-the-government-for-weakening-the-monarchy-10212020041531.html
– រដ្ឋាភិបាលមិនបានគាំទ្រព្រះមហាក្សត្របំពេញព្រះរាជ តួនាទីពេញលេញតាមរដ្ឋធម្មនុញ្ញ
https://www.rfa.org/khmer/news/politics/watchdogs-criticize-Hunsen-govt-for-abusing-King-roles-and-responsibilities-10302020050748.html

There currently are so many innocent people who get arrested and jailed by the police and justice that are in the autocratic hands of the weak strongman. They are arrested and jailed for the peaceful and non-violent exercise of their freedom of political expression. Isn’t then there a commonality between the suzerain and the people: suzerain and subjects being prisoners of the same and one regime?

If the quote attributed to Jayavarman VII: “The suffering of my people is my suffering” is true, shouldn’t the suzerain and the people join hands to free themselves from the prison? How and what would and could the suzerain do to elevate the above quote to be: “The suffering of the suzerain is the people’s suffering”?

Or would Desiderius Erasmus have foreseen the fate of Cambodia when he said: “In the kingdom of the blind, the one-eyed man is king”?

Kacvey, can this passage from Exodus 3:7 “And the Lord said, “I have surely seen the affliction of My people who are in Egypt, and have heard their cry by reason of their taskmasters, for I know their sorrows” help your students to ponder on this miserable matter in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk?

=====
P.S.
1. A glimpse at the Sultan of Malaysia (pour mémoire)
Bloomberg: Malaysia’s Once-Peripheral King Emerges as Major Political Force

2. South China Morning Post, 29 November 2020
Why Cambodia’s royals need close China ties that are separate from Hun Sen’s government

3. SEA GLOBE, 5 January 2021
‘Be a leader’: Sochua calls on king to intervene to ensure her return

4. Asia Times, 11 January 2021
Does Cambodia have a ‘puppet king’?

5. RFA, 12 January 2021
Cambodian Court Charges Acting Opposition Chief Sam Rainsy Under Lèse-majesté Law

When Qu Yuan Met The Old Fisherman

24 Saturday Oct 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, History, Social, Stories

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My dear Kacvey,

Here is a very ancient Chinese tale that Chinese of every generation, educated or otherwise, since that time knows by heart. You may wish to share it with your students as a lesson of righteousness, integrity and rectitude. It is out of this tale that were borne the origins of both, the sticky rice dumplings 粽子 (glutinous rice stuffed with different fillings and wrapped in bamboo leaves) and the Duanwu Festival 端午节 (Double Fifth Festival), also known as the “Dragon Boat Festival” celebrated on every 5 May.

In the “Songs of the South 楚辭”, the tale was titled “The Old Fisherman 渔父” and goes as follows:
“After Qu Yuan was banished, he wandered, sometimes along the river’s banks, sometimes along the marsh’s edge, singing as he went. His expression was dejected and his features emaciated.

“An old fisherman caught sight of him. “Are not you the Lord of the Three Wards?” said the fisherman. “What has brought you to this pass?”

“Because all the world is muddy and I alone am clear,” said Qu Yuan, “and because all men are drunk and I alone am sober, I have been sent into exile.”

“The Wise Man is not chained to material circumstances,” said the old fisherman, “but can move as the world moves. If all the world is muddy, why not help them to stir up the mud and beat up the waves? And if all men are drunk, why not sup their dregs and swill their lees? Why get yourself exiled because of your deep thoughts and your fine aspirations?”

“Qu Yuan replied, “I have heard it said: “He who has just washed his hair should brush his hat; and he who has just bathed should shake his clothes.” How can I submit my spotless purity to the dirt of others? I would rather cast myself into the waters of the river and be buried in the bowels of fishes, than hide my shining light in the dark and dust of the world.”

“The old fisherman, with a faint smile, struck his paddle in the water and made off. And as he went he sang:
“When the Cang Lang’s waters are clear,
I can wash my hat-strings in them;
When the Cang Lang’s waters are muddy,
I can wash my feet in them.
”

“With that he was gone, and did not speak again.”

Here is the Chinese text:

屈原既放,游于江潭,行吟泽畔。颜色憔悴,形容枯槁。
渔父见而问之,曰:“子非三闾大夫欤?何故至于斯”
屈原曰:“举世皆浊我独清,众人皆醉我独醒,是以见放”
渔父曰:”圣人不凝滞于物,而能与世推移。世人皆浊,何不淈其泥而扬其波?众人皆醉,何不哺其糟而歠其醨?何故深思高举,自令放为”
屈原曰:“吾闻之:新沐者必弹冠,新浴者必振衣。安能以身之察察,受物之汶汶者乎?宁赴湘流,葬身于江鱼之腹中。安能以皓皓之白,而蒙世俗之尘埃乎”
渔父莞尔而笑,鼓枻而去。乃歌曰:“沧浪之水清兮,可以濯吾缨。沧浪之水浊兮,可以濯吾足”
遂去,不复与言.

Old Roguery – 老猾俏皮

05 Wednesday Aug 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Book, Culture, International, Social, Stories

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My dear Kacvey,

You may wish to share this view with your students by of course respecting social distancing during the Wuhan virus pandemic, officially known as Covid-19.

It is about a particular character trait, among many others, written by Lin Yutang 林语堂 in his book “My Country and My People – 吾国与吾民”

In Chapter 2(4), Lin Yutang identified “old roguery – 老猾俏皮” as that particular character trait. Here are some extracts of what he wrote:

“… An old rogue is a man who has seen a lot of life, and who is materialistic, nonchalant, and skeptical of progress. At its best, this old roguery gives us mellowness and good temper, which in old men make many girls prefer them for husbands. For if life is worth anything, it is that it teaches a lesson of kindliness. The Chinese people have arrived at this point of view, not by having found any religious sanction for it, but from a profound observation and a knowledge of the vicissitudes of life. Typical of this extremely shrewd philosophy is the following famous dialogue of two poet-monks of the Tang Dynasty: “Once Hanshan asked Shihteh: “If one slanders me, sneers at me, despises me, injures me, hates me, and deceives me, what should I do?” Shihteh replied: “Only bear with him, yield to him, let him, avoid him, endure him, respect him, and ignore him. And after a few years, you just look at him.”
寒山曾问拾得:”世间谤我,欺我,辱我,笑我,轻我,贱我,厌我,骗我, 如何处治乎?拾得云: “只是忍他,让他,由他,避他,耐他,不要理他,再待几年,你且看他。”

Lin Yutang continued:

“… At its worst, this old roguery, which is the highest product of Chinese intelligence, works against idealism and action. It shatters all desire for reform., laughs at the futility of of human effort. and renders the Chinese people incapable of idealism and action. It has a strange way of reducing all human activities to the level of the alimentary canal and other simple biological needs. Mencius 孟子 was a great rogue when he declared the chief desires of mankind to be food and women, or alimentation and reproduction. The late President Li Yunhong 黎云洪 was also a great rogue when he pronounced the healthily accepted dictum of Chinese political philosophy and formula for solving all Chinese party differences by saying “When there is rice, let everybody share it – 有饭大家吃.” President Li was a grim realist without knowing it , and he spoke wiser than he knew when he was thus giving an economic interpretation of current Chinese history…”

Li Yutang went on:
“… This nonchalant and materialistic attitude is based on the very shrewd view of life to which only old people and old nations can attain. It would be futile for young men under thirty to understand it , as it is futile for young nations of the West to try to appreciate it. Perhaps it was no mere accident that “Laozi, 老子” the very name of the author of Dao De Jing 道德经, the Bible of Taoism, means “the old boy.”

“… Taoism, in theory and practice … is a philosophy which counteracts the positivism of Confucius, and serves as a safety-valve for the imperfections of a Confucian society. For the Confucian outlook on life is positive, while the Taoistic outlook is negative, and out of the alchemy of these two strange elements emerges the immortal thing we called the Chinese character.

” Hence all Chinese are Confucianists when successful, and Taoists when they are failures. The Confucianist in us builds and strives, while the Taoist in us watches and smiles. Therefore when a Chinese scholar is in office he moralizes, and when he is out of office he versifies, and usually it is good Taoist poetry. That explains why almost all Chinese scholars write poetry, and why in almost all collected works of Chinese writers, poetry occupies the better and greater half.

“… The Chinese are by nature greater Taoists than they are by culture Confucianists. As a people, we are great enough to draw up an imperial code, based on the conception of essential justice, but we are also great enough to distrust lawyers and law courts. Ninety-five per cent of legal troubles are settled out of court. We are great enough to make elaborate rules on ceremony, but we are also great enough to treat them as part of the great joke of life, which explains the great feasting and merry-making at Chinese funerals. We are great enough to denounce vice, but we are also great enough not to be surprised or disturbed by it. We are great enough to start successive waves of revolutions, but we are also great enough to compromise and to go back to the previous patterns of government. We are great enough to elaborate a perfect system of official impeachment and civil service and traffic regulations and library reading-rooms rules, but we are also great enough to break to break all systems, to ignore them, circumvent them, play with them, and become superior to them. We do not teach our young in the colleges a course of political political science, showing how a government is supposed to be run, but we teach them by daily example how our municipal, provincial and central governments are actually run. We have no use of impracticable idealism, as we have no patience for doctrinaire theology. We do not teach our young to become like the sons of God, but we teach them to behave like sane, normal human beings. That is why I believe that the Chinese are essentially humanists and Christianity must fail in China, or it must be altered beyond recognition before it can be accepted. The only part of Christian teachings which will be truly accepted by the Chinese people is Christ’s injunction to be “harmless as doves – 慈和如鸽” but “wise as serpents – 极敏如蛇.” For these two virtues, dove-like gentleness and serpent-like wisdom, are attributes of the old rogue.

“In one word, we recognize the necessity of human effort but we also admit the futility of it. This general attitude of mind has a tendency to develop passive defense tactics. “Great things can be reduced into small things, and small things can be reduced to nothing – 大事化小事,小事化无事.” On this general principle, all Chinese disputes are patched up, all Chinese schemes are readjusted, and all reform programs are discounted until there are peace and rice for everybody. “One bid is not as as good as one pass – 多一事不如省一事,” so runs another of our proverbs, which means the same thing as “Let well enough alone – 勿生事,” and “Let sleeping dogs lie – 莫惹睡狗.”

In Chapter 3(3), “Lack of Science 缺乏科学精神,” Lin YuTang wrote:
“Sufficient discussion of the characteristics of Chinese thinking has been made to enable us to appreciate the cause of their failure to develop natural science. The Greeks laid the foundation of natural science because the Greek mind was essentially an analytical mind, a fact which is proved by the striking modernity of Aristotle. The Egyptians developed geometry and astronomy, sciences which required an analytical mind; and the Hindus developed a grammar of their own. The Chinese, with all their native intelligence, never developed a science of grammar, and their mathematics and astronomical knowledge have largely been imported. For the Chinese mind delights only in moral platitude, and their abstract terms like “benevolence, 仁” “kindliness,义” “propriety, 礼” and “loyalty 忠” are so general that in such discussions they are naturally lost in vague generalities…

“It is easy to see why the Chinese mind cannot develop a scientific method, for the scientific method, besides being analytical, always involves an amount of stupid drudgery, while the Chinese believe in flashes of common sense and insight. And inductive reasoning, carried over to human relationships (in which the Chinese are primarily interested) often results in a form of stupidity not so rare in American universities …”

This letter will be updated when and if other info are revealed in the book.

The Creation of Flowers?

22 Wednesday Jul 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Book, Culture, History, Stories

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My dear Kacvey,

Your students and you have certainly read about mythological tales how God created animals, but all of you have never heard or read about how God created flowers. Yes, FLOWERS, that beautiful and colorful thing that adorn planet earth!

Well, in Chapter: “Weimar in Early Spring” from his literary masterpiece: “An Empty Room”, Mu Xin let his imagination go way beyond the beyond.

Mu Xin wrote: “I imagine a mythology of flowers, flowers created during a grand competition among the gods. One god invented the lily, another god the tulip. Here appeared peonies and there water lilies …”

Kacvey, your students and you will not be disappointed with Mu Xin’s imagination when you reach the end of “Weimar in Early Spring” chapter!

“On the Uniformity of All Things”

28 Sunday Jun 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Book, Culture, History, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

Let us retreat for a moment to a quiet corner and reflect on what Zhuangzi 庄子 had said in his “On the Uniformity of All Things 齐物论”

This is how the story goes:

“Long, long ago, King Yao 尧 asked his minister Shun 舜, “I’d like to attack the three tribes of Zong 宗, Kuai 脍 and Xu’ao 胥敖. But whenever I come to court, I feel ill at ease about them. What do you think about it?”
Shun answered: Three states lie in the remote regions over grown with weeds and bushes. Why should you feel ill at ease about them? Once upon a time, when ten suns shone in the sky, everything under Heaven was bathed in the sunshine. And how your virtue out-shined those suns!”

Nie Que 啮缺 asked Wang Ni 王倪, “Do you know, Sir, whether all things make judgments in the same way?”
Wang answered, “How can I know?”
Nie asked again, “Do you know, Sir, what you do not know?”
Wang answered, “How can I know?”
Nie said, “Then, is it that nothing can be known about anything?”
Wang said, “How can I know? Still, let me try to explain. How do you know that what I say I know is not what I do not know? How do you know that what I say I do not know is not what I know? Now I’d like to ask you a few questions. If a man sleeping in the damp is liable to get a back ache or half-paralysis, will the same thing happen to an eel? If a man sitting in a tree is liable to tremble with fear, will the same thing happen to an ape? Of the man, the eel and the ape who knows their proper place to live in? Men eat meat; deer feed on grass; centipedes are fond of snake; owls like rats. Of the man, the deer, the centipede and the owl, who knows the right taste? An ape mates with a gibbon; a buck seeks after a doe; an eel plays with a fish. At the sight of Maoqiang 毛嬙 and Xishi 西施, beauties admired by men, the fish will dive into the deep water, the birds will soar high in the sky, and the deer will take to their heels. Of the man, the fish, the bird and the deer, who knows the real beauty? As I see it, the principles of righteousness and humaneness, the standards of right and wrong, all these things are so complicated that I can hardly tell which is which.
Nie Que said, “If you cannot tell benefit from harm, can’t the perfect man tell benefit from harm?”
Wang Ni said, “The perfect man is divine. Even though the great swamp were set on fire, he would not feel the heat; even though the rivers were frozen, he would not feel the cold; even though the thunder hit the mountain and the whirlwind shook the sea, he would not feel the shock. Such a man can ride the clouds and mists, mount the sun and the moon, and travel beyond the four seas. How can a man unaffected by life bother about benefit and harm?”

Ququezi 瞿鹊子 asked Changwuzi, “I have heard from Confucius that the sage is not involved in worldly affairs. He does not try to seek after benefits or avoid harms; he does not take delight in seeking after or blindly clinging to Dao 道. He says something by saying nothing; he does not say anything by saying something. By so doing he can travel beyond the dust of the world. Confucius 孔子 thought that these words were ambiguous, but I think this is how the wondrous Dao works. What do you about it?”
Changwuzi 长梧子 said, “Even the Yellow Emperor 皇帝 would have been puzzled by those words; how could Confucius understand them? And you, too, are jumping to conclusions – you see an egg and expect the cock to crow before it is hatched; you see a crossbow pellet and expect to roast the owl before it is shot down. I’ll give you some random remarks for you to listen at random.
“Why don’t you lean against the sun and the moon and embrace the universe? In this way, you will merge yourself in everything in the world so that you can ignore the confusion of distinction and treat the inferiors as supporters. The rank and file hustle and bustle while the sage seems to be stupid and ignorant , blending ten thousand years into one uniformity. He looks upon everything in the same way and accept them all.
“How do I know that love of life is not a delusion? How do I know that one who fears death is not like a waif who does not want to go back home? Lady Li 丽姬 was the daughter of a border guard of Ai 艾. When she was first taken captive and brought to the state of Jin 晋, she wept till her robe was drenched with tears. But when she was brought to the palace, slept with the prince on his comfortable bed, and ate delicious meal on his table, she began to regret her tears. How do I know that the dead do not regret that they ever long for life?
“A man may dream of a great feast but weep at daybreak; a man may dream of weeping but go hunting at daybreak. When he dreams he does not know that he is dreaming. In his dream, he may even try to interpret the dream; but when he awakes, he knows that he has been dreaming. Only after he is totally awakened does he realize that all was a grand dream. All the while, the fool thinks that he himself is awake, seemingly aware of everything; who is the lord, who is the shepherd, how stupid! Confucius and you are both dreaming, and I too am dreaming when I say that you are dreaming. These words to be a paradox, but after ten thousand generations there might appear a sage who knows how to explain them – it will seem as if we met within the day.
“Suppose that you and I argue over something . If you win and I lose, are you indeed right, and am I indeed wrong? If I win and you lose, am I indeed right and are you indeed wrong? Is one of us right and the other wrong? Are both of us right or both of us wrong? If neither you nor I can know, other people will be even more in the dark. Whom shall I ask to decide for us? Shall I ask someone who agrees with you to decide? If he already agrees with you, how can he decide it? Shall I ask some one who agrees with me to decide? If he already agrees with, how can he decide it? Shall I ask someone who disagrees with both of us to decide? If he already disagrees with both of us, how can he decide it? Shall I ask some who agrees with both of us to decide? If he already agrees with both of us , how can he decide it? If neither you nor I can know, who else shall we wait for?
“The different voices in an argument are in opposition to each other. To smooth out the opposition is to conform to the natural division of things as it is till the very end. What if meant by conforming to the natural division of things? My answer would be that “right” may be not “right” and “so” may be not “so”. If “right’ is really right, then “right ” is so different from “not right” that there is no need for argument; if “so” is really so, then “so” is so different from “not so” that there is again no need for argument. Forget about the time, forget about the distinctions, and you will be able to travel in the realm of the infinite. Therefore the sage lives in the realm of the infinite.”

“The penumbra asked the shadow, “A little while ago you were moving when the man walked, and now you are standing still when the man stops; a little while ago you were sitting when the man sat, and now you are standing up when the man rises. How is it that you lack independent actions?”
The shadow answered, “Don’t I have to depend on the man to be what I am? Doesn’t the man have to depend on something else in turn to be what he is? Do I have to depend on the snake’s scale, or the cicada’s wings? How can I know why I do this? How can I know why I don’t do that?”

“I, by the name of Zhuang Zhou 庄周, once dreamed that I was a butterfly, a butterfly fluttering happily here and there. I was so pleased that I forgot that I was Zhuang Zhou. When I suddenly woke up, I was astonished to find that I was as a matter of fact Zhuang Zhou. Did Zhuang Zhou dream of the butterfly or did the butterfly dream of Zhuang Zhou? Between Zhou and the butterfly there must be some distinctions. This is called “the transformation of things.”

Kacvey, do have a nice dream of colorful and beautiful butterflies!

According to “History Today”: The Angkor Empire’s National Health Service

14 Thursday May 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Book, Culture, History, Social, Stories

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My dear Kacvey,

On 14 May 2020, History Today published an article titled “The Angkor Empire’s National Health Service” under the signature of Joanna Wolfarth, a cultural historian, lecturer and writer.

The article mentioned two major quotes, both attributed to King Jayavarman VII, and translated from the historical inscriptions sculpted in various temples in the Bayon complex; they are so powerful in meaning that your students should reflect upon for their intellectual development and perspective:

1. “He suffered the illnesses of his subjects more than his own; because it is the pain of the public that is the pain of kings rather than their own pain.“

2. “Filled with a deep sympathy for the good of the world, the king swore this oath: ‘All beings who are plunged in the ocean of existence, may I draw out by virtue of this good work. And may the kings of Cambodia who come after me, attached to goodness … attain with their wives, dignitaries and friends the place of deliverance where there is no more illness.“

The power of history is so heavy that it breaks the bones and skull of the present.

The Year of the Rat

12 Sunday Apr 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Culture, Event, Social

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My dear Kacvey,

As we are saying good bye to the Year of the Pig, the Year of the Rat is knocking at the door. What would the Pig have had written in the handover parchment: achievements and still outstanding matters?

You can argue upfront why burdening the mythological and symbolic Pig with the troubles that MEN created? Well, if this is your thinking, why did people refer to angels and goddesses Pig on Chaul Chnam Kor, and now angels and goddesses Rat on Chaul Chnam Jhoot?

Well, whatever we argue, the truth is, after these 3 days, NOBODY will talk or think about angels and goddesses Rat anymore … until next April 2021 when the subject of angels and goddesses Cow will come up again.

Be it as it may, how in good human conscience can we formulate or mutually wish each other a “Happy Chaul Chnam” when all of us are living in a state of stay-in-place, confinement, lock-down, WFH, ghost towns, closed frontiers, airports and harbors, closed schools, universities and libraries, closed shops and stores, empty stadiums and sports arena, closed museums, movie houses, theaters and TV studios etc…, as consequences of the pandemic of a virus that originated in Wuhan?

How can we even think about a “Joyful Chaul Chnam” when millions women and men are infected with that virus, epicenters sprouted in every continent, death overflow hospitals and morgues, relatives and friends can’t even attend funerals of their loved ones?

How can we possibly do the “Roam Vong” when millions are out of jobs, factories are closed, sellers sitting behind their merchandises without buyers, parents have to social-distance with their children, grand-parents with their grand-children etc …?

How can we gaily beat the traditional drum (tèass skôr) when pagodas, churches, temples and mosques are no longer places of worship where worshipers can pray without being afraid of contamination?

How can you and your students enjoy the game of “ang kougn” or “bôss chhoung,” when the weak strongman imposed the state of emergency with pretense to fight against the invisible Wuhan virus whereas its ex-KR autocratic regime is at the end of the rope? It has no plan not only on how to fight the virus but also on how to address the current social-economic crisis and the post-lockdown period. Its coffer is empty although it continues to promise financial relief to garment workers.

When the whole world fights the Wuhan virus with more doctors, nurses and medical equipment, strengthening of health and hygiene methods and facilities, doubling or even quadrupling budgets for medicine and pharmaceutical researches, formulating stimulus and relief economic plan to help the population, the weak strongman of Cambodia, fearing its own imminent collapse, doubles down on oppression and dictatorship to hide its inability to steer the ship out of the Wuhan virus storm aftermath. Bankruptcy is written on the wall, and history has repeated again and again that autocracy, no matter how long and strong it is  and given that no domestic force can topple it, will always end up in implosion or suicide.

On the day known as the 1st day of the Khmer New Year, we wish you and your students the happy coziness within the respective stay-in-place quarters, the continuing patience and courage to challenge the boredom, and the determination to stay safe and healthy and to look forward to the deconfinement when life will resume its normalcy. On va s’en sortir sans sortir!

“Body beyond the Body”

29 Sunday Mar 2020

Posted by KhmerPAC in Book, Culture, International, Social, Stories

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My dear Kacvey,

Here is a teeny piece of food for thought and online (ZOOM or otherwise!) discussions with your students in this period of lockdown, confinement, stay-at-home and social distancing due to the consequences of the Wuhan virus pandemic.

This is the tidbit: The way the Wuhan virus has spread pandemicly reminds of anecdotes buried in the “Journey to the West” (西游记), one of the four great classical novels of Chinese literature. One of the character in that novel, is Sun Wukong (孙悟空), also known as the Monkey King (Please do not confuse with Hanuman of the Ramayana!)

The novel told of how Monkey King wrecked havoc heaven palace or temple by using a supernatural method of self-reproduction called “Body beyond the Body” (身外身法) by plucking a hair or handful of hairs from its own body and throwing them into its mouth; it chewed them to tiny pieces then spat them into the air by shouting “Change!”. Suddenly those pieces of hair changed at once into either imitation monkey or multiple little monkeys encircling the enemy combatants on all sides or do whatever Monkey King ordered them to do.

You can argue that this is a weird, eerie or creepy way of seeing thing, but please bear in mind that this Wuhan virus or corona virus or Covid-19, or whatever you like to call it, is so new to our humanity and its knowledge, scientific or otherwise.

But the way the virus has been spreading pandemicly seems to look like [Repeat: seems to look like] the way Monkey King used its divine power to reproduce its imitation(s) … supernaturally, and as the tales go!

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