Category Archives: Stories

Mère et Fils

26 Thursday Apr 2018

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Mon cher Kacvey,

Voici un bouquin que vous pourriez fortement recommender à vos étudiants comme lecture informelle pendant les grandes vacances (titre du livre envoyé en courriel privé pour éviter d’être taxé de publicité indirecte!)

Pour ne pas trop divulguer, dites à vos élèves que:
– c’est un livre écrit par un cambodgien sur sa vie depuis son jeune âge jusqu’à l’âge de 27 ans à Prey Lovéa (province de Takéo) et Phnom Penh;
– sa ténacité et son endurance à s’accrocher à ses études malgré la pauvreté et les malheurs familiaux qui surgissent continuellement les uns après les autres;
– l’amour et le suport support familiaux dispensés à tout moment important par sa mère et sa grande tante sous les larmes constantes de la mauvaise fortune;
– la lutte contre la méchanceté de l’inconnu de demain perpétrée soit par les évènements hors de leur portée ou soit intentionellement par des gens sans vergogne;
– comme une étoile, son amour platonique qui scintille sous les nuages des fois noires ou ravageuses, et
– malgré tout ça, un dénouement qui récompense joyeusement.

Kacvey, vos étudiants devraient prendre connaissance de la vie de ce “caractère” khmer et litéraire. S’ils ignoraient les quelques fautes d’édition et d’impression, ils pourront tirer de très bonnes leçons de la vie de ce protagoniste exemplaire.

Bonne lecture!

Kirivong

08 Sunday Apr 2018

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Mon cher Kacvey,

En flanant l’imaginaire sur la route vers Kirivong en passant par Kôh Thom et Angkor Boréi, une question surgit: “L’aveugle qui lit un audiobook se concentre-t-il mieux pour comprendre l’histoire racontée que la lecture aveugle, par un voyant, qui n’enrichit rien mais défertilise tout au contraire?”

Faites nous savoir votre réflection si un jour vour preniez le même chemin.

 

“A Plausible Case” – 莫须有冤狱

23 Monday Oct 2017

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My dear Kacvey,

Let take a short break from the dirty and insane politics in the City Tonlé Buon Mouk and look back into the Chinese history during the Song Dynasty (宋代- 960-1279 A.D.)

In the Southern Song (北宋) there was a patriot and a general by the name of Yue Fei (岳飞). Yue Fei was known not only for his military prowess and successes, but also for his high ethical standards. To encourage him, his mother asked him to take off his shirt. She then tattooed four Chinese characters on his back: 尽忠报国 (jing zhong bao guo) “serve the country with the utmost loyalty.” Now able to fulfill both his mother’s wish and his duty to the country, Yue Fei promptly went off to battle. Yue Fei was undefeated in battle and was a national symbol of hope during difficult times.

In 1127, several years before Yue Fei became a general, the Jurchens (Jin 金) invaded northern China, forcing the Song dynasty out of its capital Kaifeng and taking Emperor Huizong 宋徽宗, and Emperor Qinzong 宋钦宗, and hundreds of palace officials prisoners including a minister named Qin Hui 秦桧 and his wife Lady Wang 王氏. This marked the end of the Northern Song dynasty 北宋, and the beginning of the Southern Song dynasty under Emperor Gaozong 宋高宗.

While being prisoner in the Jin court, Qin Hui groveled before Emperor Taizong 金太宗 and succeeded in impressing him with his ability to serve. He got himself appointed to a position in the Jin military staff. Meanwhile, the the Jin Dynasty witnessed with alarm the steady growth of anti-Jin forces in the Southern Song Dynasty and the pro-Song insurgency in the north. Staunchly hawkish generals such as Yue Fei and Han Shizhong posed a particular challenge. It was then decided that Qin Hui would be sent back to the south as a mole in the Song government. In 1130 A.D. Qin Hui and his wife were slipped back into Southern Song territory.

In 1138, Gaozong promoted Qin Hui to be Chief Minister. Then Gaozong and Qin Hui made up their mind to reconcile with the Jin Dynasty and put him in charge of deliberations with the Jin. Yue Fei, Han Shizhong 韩世忠, and a large number of officials at court criticized the peace overtures. Aided by his control of the Censorate, Qin Hui purged his enemies and continued negotiations. In 1141 the Jin and Song agreed to a treaty that designated the Yellow River as border between the two states and recognized Gaozong as a “subject” of the Jin. But because there remained opposition to the treaty in both the courts of the Jin and Song, the treaty never came into effect.

Meanwhile, Qin Hui set to work to engineer Yue Fei’s downfall. Qin Hui wrote a memorial which denounced Yue Fei for his arrogance. He invented out of white cloth the story that yue Fei refused to send his army to relieve defenders of Huaxi when they were under Jin attack.

Yue Fei knew that Qin Hui was out to get him, so he volunteered to resign from his post of deputy Military Affairs Commissioner. Emperor Gaozong readily approved his resignation.

The matter did not stop there. One of the top generals, Zhang Jun 张俊 , once Yue Fei’s superior, became jealous of Yue Fei for his feats on the battlefield. Aware of Zhang Jun’s resentment of Yue Fei’s successes, Qin Hui in collusion with Zhang Jun incited subalterns Wang Gui 王贵 and Wang Jun 王俊 in the Yue Army to falsely accuse another subaltern Zhang Xian 张宪 of intending to take control of Xiangyang 襄阳 in order to mount a mutiny to help Yue Fei wrest back his control over the army. They also falsely accused Yue Fei’s son, Yue Yun 岳云, of writing to Zhang Xian to make secret plans for mutiny.

Based on the false testimony of the traitors Wang Gui and Wang Jun, Qin Hui arrested Zhang Xian and put him in the jail of the Court of Judicial Review, where he was tortured. However, Zhang Xian adamantly refused to confess to the fabricated crime. Soon after, Qin Hui requested Emperor Gaozong to order the arrest of Yue Fei and Yue Yun and put them on trial before the Court of Judicial Review.

When Qin Hui’s people arrived to arrest him, Yue Fei said with a smile: “上有天，下有地，会证明我是无罪的。 Heaven and Earth be my witness! I will be vindicated and cleared.”

When Yue Fei and Yue Yun were taken to the Court of Judicial Review, they found a blooded, almost unrecognizable Zhang Xian covered with bruises and injuries sustained during his torture. The sight filled Yue fei with sadness and anger.

The trial judge was Moqi Xie, a Qin Hui political ally. He placed the false testimony of Wang Gui and Wang Jun before Yue Fei and asked in a stern voice: “Hasn’t the government been good to you? Why are you planning a mutiny?”

Yue Fei replied: “上有天， 下有地， 会证明我是无罪的。I have done nothing against the government. You are in charge of law and justice. You must not use trumped-up charges to frame officials loyal to the government and country.”

Other officials present also echoed Moqi Xie, insisting that Yue Fei had seditious intentions. Yue Fei understood the futility of arguing with these partisans of Qin Hui’s clique. He said with a deep sigh: “我今天落在奸贼的手里，虽然有一片忠心，也没法申诉了。I’ve fallen into the hands of a bunch of traitorous thugs. There is no point in trying to prove to you my loyalty and patriotism.”

Qin Hui had assigned Vice Censor-in-Chief He Zhu 何铸 to try Yue Fei. When he began questioning Yue Fei, Yue Fei pulled up his shirt without uttering a word and showed He Zhu his bare back. What greeted He Zhu’s eyes were the four deeply tattooed characters: “尽忠报国 – Serve the country with the utmost loyalty.” He Zhu was so shaken that he could not go on with the inquiry. He remanded Yue Fei to his cell. After reviewing some more material related to the case, he could find no evidence to support the allegation of Yue Fei’s seditious intent. He truthfully reported his conclusion to Qin Hui.

Sensing He Zhu’s sympathy for Yue Fei, Qin Hui took him off the case and instructed Moqi Xie to continue fabricating charges against Yue Fei. Moqi Xie insisted that Yue Fei had written to Zhang Xian to make plans for a mutiny. Unable to provide any material evidence, they alleged Zhang Xian had destroyed the letters.

Moqi Xie put the three defendants through more torture, but Yue Fei would not give them the satisfaction of a confession. One day, when Moqi Xie tried to force Yue Fei to compose a confession, Yue Fei wrote down these eight characters: “天日眧眧，天日眧眧 – Heaven be my witness, heaven be my witness.”

After dragging on for two months, the trial still had not produced any conclusion. Everyone in government knew Yue Fei had been framed. However, some who had the courage to petition the Emperor to clear Yue Fei’s name themselves became victims of Qin Hui’s reprisals.

The venerated Han Shizhong went to see Qin Hui, and demanded evidence of Yue Fei’s alleged plans for a mutiny. Qin Hui said in an arrogant and cavalier manner: “岳飞和张宪的信， 虽然没有证据， 但是这件事莫须有。 Although there is no evidence of Yue Fei’s writing to Zhang Xian, one can make a plausible case.”

Han Shizhong said angrily: ” ‘莫须有’ 三个字，怎能叫天下人心服！How can your plausible case convince the country? Han Shizhong’s repeated effort proved fruitless and he resigned as Military Affairs Commissioner.

One day after work, Qin Hui was drinking with his wife Wang by a window. Wang noticed him fiddling with an orange, absent-mindedly gouging the peel with his fingernail. Wang, who was even more ruthless than Qin Hui, understood that Qin Hui was still of two minds about whether to kill Yue Fei immediately. Wang said with a sinister snort: “你这老头儿，好没有决断，要知道缚虎容易放虎难啊！You indecisive coot! It’s easier to tie a tiger down than to set it free.”

Wang’s warning helped make up Qin Hui’s mind. He immediately wrote a note which was secretly delivered to the prison. In a night in January 1142 A.D. the patriotic national hero Yue Fei was murdered. He was only 39. Yue Yun and Zhang Xian suffered the same fate that night.

After Yue Fei’s murder, a prison warden in Lin’an 临安 (today’s Hangzhou 杭州) named Kui Shun 隗顺 secretly buried his remains. Yue Fei’s name was cleared only after the death of Emperor Gaozong, and his remains were moved to Qixia Peak 栖霞岭 for proper burial. A Yue Fei temple was added later east of his tomb. A statue of Yue Fei clad in battle gear now sits in the great hall of the Yue Temple 岳庙. Above the statue hangs an awe-inspiring board inscribed with four characters in Yue Fei’s handwriting: “还我河山 – Give back my country.” Opposite the tomb are four cast-iron kneeling figures with their hands tied behind their backs. They are the despised and hated Qin Hui, his wife Wang, Moqi Xie and Zhang Jun that for centuries ordinary Chinese have visited specifically to spit on. This arrangement is designed to reflect popular admiration for a national hero and revulsion for selfish and corrupted officials and traitors.

Euripides’s Cyclops

13 Wednesday Sep 2017

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My dear Kacvey,

To divert your mind a little bit from the political misery completely fabricated by the autocracy to murder for the nth time Cambodia’s democracy, freedom and human rights since the beginning of September, here is the story from the play “Cyclops” as written by Euripides.

Cyclops was gigantic, one-eyed monster (a single eye in the middle of his forehead) and considered cannibalistic in that he included humans in his diet, led a lawless life, possessing neither social manners nor fear for the gods. Cyclops was also the subject of stories by both Homer (Book Nine of “Odyssey”) and Virgil (Book Three of “The Aeneid”); in both stories, cyclops was named Polyphemus.

In Euripides’s Cyclops, Mount Aetna in the island of Sicily was the setting of the play. At the time the play was written and performed, Sicily was considered home to a sophisticated Hellenistic culture, but it also was seen as a place that contained Greek and non-Greek. In this play it was portrayed as a barbaric place that was hostile to both man’s laws and religion.

Here is the story line extracted from Wikipedia:
“It begins with an opening monologue by Silenus, who tells the tale of how he and his satyrs, who are his off-spring and followers, have been victimized by the giant cyclops (named Polyphemus in the Odyssey). The satyrs are now enslaved to work for the cyclops and shepherd his flock. The satyrs are prevented from their usual life as playful and lusty faun-like spirits of the woods, who sport and play while protected by Bacchus or Dionysus. Odysseus, who has lost his way on the voyage home from the Trojan War, arrives with his hungry sailors. They meet Silenus and offer to trade wine for food. Being a servant of Dionysus, Silenus cannot resist obtaining the wine despite the fact that the food is not his to trade. The Cyclops soon arrives and Silenus is quick to accuse Odysseus of stealing the food, swearing to many gods and the Satyrs’ lives (who are standing right beside him) that he is telling the truth. His son, a younger and more modern Satyr, tries to tell the truth to the Cyclops in an attempt to help Odysseus.

“Odysseus has a lively debate with the cyclops; he argues against his brutality, and in favor of morality, laws, justice, and hospitality. The cyclops debates in support of personal advantage and pleasure. The cyclops considers the idea of social justice a fraud created by the weak as protection against the mighty. The cyclops claims that the only thing worthy of worship is wealth. After this argument, the Cyclops brings Odysseus and his crew inside his cave and eats some of them. Odysseus manages to sneak out and is stunned by what he has witnessed. He hatches a scheme to get the Cyclops drunk and burn out his eye with a giant poker after the giant has passed out from inebriation.

“The Cyclops and Silenus drink together, with Silenus attempting to hog the wineskin for himself. When the Cyclops is drunk, he says he is seeing gods and begins to call Silenus Ganymede (the beautiful prince Zeus made his immortal cup bearer). The Cyclops then steals Silenus away into his cave, with the implication that he is about do something sexual to him. Odysseus decides to execute the next phase of his plan. The Satyrs initially offer to help, but later become afraid and offer a variety of absurd excuses when the time for action actually comes. The annoyed Odysseus gets his crew to help instead, and they burn out the Cyclops’ eye.

“He had told the Cyclops earlier that his name was ‘Noman’ or ‘Nobody’ (Greek outis or mētis), so when the Cyclops yells out who was responsible for blinding him, it sounds like he is saying “No man blinded me”. In addition to this pun, there is a less easily translated joke based on the fact that the form of “no man” (mētis) is identical to the word for cleverness or art. The Satyrs have some fun with him over it. Odysseus makes the mistake, however, of blurting out his true name as a result of his big ego. Although he successfully makes his escape, the rest of the troubles Odysseus faces on his voyage home are related to this act, as he then faces the wrath of Poseidon, the father of the Cyclops.”

Kacvey, by the way and once again, many thanks for your endless input in our twitter account!

David and Goliath

27 Thursday Jul 2017

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My dear Kacvey,

This letter is intended for your students who wish to know the original story of David and Goliath. This is how the Romano-Jewish scholar and historian Flavius Josephus (37-circa 100) narrated in Book VI (ix) of his “Jewish Antiquities”, and translated by H. St. J. Thackeray and Ralph Marcus.

The story goes:

(ix. 1) Not long afterwords the Philistines again assembled and mustered a great force, and marched against the Israelites; occupying the ground between Sochus and Azekus they established their camp there. Saul, on his side, let out his army against them, and, having pitched his camp on a certain mountain, forced the Philistines to abandon their first camp and to take up a similar position on another mountain over against that which he had occupied himself. The two camps were separated by a valley between the hills on which they lay. And now there came down from the camp of the Philistines one by name Goliath, of the city of Gitta, a man of gigantic stature. For he measured four cubits and a span , and was clad in armour proportioned to his frame. He wore a breastplate weighing 5000 shekels, with a helmet and greaves of bronze such as were meet to protect the limbs of a man of such prodigious size. His spear was not light enough to be borne in the right hand, but he carried it elevated on his shoulders; he had also a spear weighing 600 shekels, and many followed him, carrying his armour. Standing, then, between the opposing forces, this Goliath gave a mighty shout and said to Saul and the Hebrews, “I hereby deliver you from battle and its perils. For what need is there for your troop to join arms and to suffer heavy losses? Give me one of your men to fight with me, and the issue of the war shall be decided by the single victor, and to the people of the victor the other side shall be slaves. It is far better, I think, and more prudent to attain your end by the hazard of one man’s life rather than all.” Having so spoken he retired to his own camp. On the morrow he came again and delivered the same speech, and so, for forty days, he did not cease to challenge his enemies in these same terms, to the utter dismay both of Saul and his army. And though they remained drawn up as for battle, they never came to close quarters.

(2) Now, on the outbreak of the war between the Hebrews and the Philistines, Saul had sent David away to his father Jesse, being content with the latter’s three sons whom he had sent to share the dangers of the campaign. David then returned at first to his flocks and cattle-pastures, but before long visited the camp of the Hebrews, being sent by his fathers to carry provisions to his brothers and to learn how they fared. Now when Goliath came again, challenging and taunting the Hebrews with not having among them a man brave enough to venture down to fight with him, David was talking with his brothers about the matters wherewith his father had charged him, and hearing the Philistine reviling and abusing their army, he became indignant and said to his brothers that he was ready to meet this adversary in single combat. Thereat the eldest of his brothers, Eliab, rebuked him, telling him that he was bolder than became his years and ignorant of what was fitting, and bade him be off to the flock and to his father. Out of respect for his father David withdrew, but gave out to some of the soldiers that he wished to fight with the challenger. As they straightway reported the lad’s resolve to Saul, the king sent for him; and David, when asked by him what he wished, said, “Let not thy spirit be downcast nor fearful, O King, for I will bring down the presumption of the foe by joining battle with him and throwing this mighty giant down before me. Thus would he be made a laughing-stock, and thine army have the more glory, should he be slain, not by a grown man fit for war and entrusted with the command of battles, but by one to all appearance and in truth no older than a boy.”

(3) Saul admired the lad’s daring and courage, but could not place full confidence in him by reason of his years, because of which, he said, he was too feeble to fight with a skilled warrior. “These promises,” replied David, “I make in the assurance that God is with me; for I have already had proof of His aid. Once when a lion attacked my flocks and carried off a lamb, I pursued and caught him and snatched the lamb from the beast’s jaws, and, when he sprang up upon me, lifted him by the tail and killed him by dashing him upon the ground. And I did the very same thing in battle with the bear. Let this enemy then be reckoned even as one of those wild beasts, so long has he insulted our army and blasphemed our God, who will deliver him into my hands.”

(4) So then Saul, praying that the lad’s zeal and hardihood might be rewarded by God with a like success, said, “Go forth to battle.” And he clad him in his own breastplate, girt his sword about him, fitted a helmet upon his head and so sent him out. But David was weighed down by this armour, for he had not been trained nor taught to wear armour, and said, ” Let this fine apparel be for thee, O King, for thou indeed art able to wear it, but suffer me, as thy servant, to fight just as I will.” Accordingly he laid down the armour and, taking up his staff, he put five stones from the brook into his shepherd’s wallet, and with a sling in his right hand advanced against Goliath. The enemy, seeing him approaching in this manner, showed his scorn, and derided him for coming to fight, not with such weapons as men are accustomed to use against other men, but with those wherewith we drive away and keep off dogs. Or did he perhaps take him for a dog, and not a man? “No,” replied David, “not even for a dog, but something still worse.” This roused Goliath’s anger, and he called down curses upon him in his god’s name and threatened to give his flesh to the beasts of earth and the birds of heaven to rend asunder. But David answered him, “Thou comest against me with sword, spear and breastplate, but I, in coming against thee, have God for my armour, who will destroy both thee and all your host by our hands, For I will this day cut off thine head and fling thy carcase to the dogs, thy fellows, and all men shall learn that Hebrews have the Deity for their protection, and that He in His care for us is our armour and strength, and that all other armament and force are unavailing where God is not.” And now the Philistine, impeded by the wight of his armour from running more swiftly, came on toward David at a slow pace, contemptuous and confident of slaying without any trouble an adversary at once unarmed and of an age so youthful.

(5) But the youth advanced to the encounter, accompanied by an ally invisible to the foe, and this was God. Drawing from his wallet one of the stones from the brook which he put therein, and fitting it to his sling, he shot it at Goliath, catching him in the forehead, and the missile penetrated to the brain, so that Goliath was instantly stunned and fell upon his face. Then, running forward, David stood over his prostrate foe and with the other’s broadsword, having no sword of his own, he cut off his head. Goliath’s fall caused the defeat and rout the Philistines; for, seeing their best warrior laid low and fearing a complete disaster, they resolved to remain no longer, but sought to save themselves from danger by ignominious and disorderly flight. But Saul and the whole Hebrew army, with shouts of battle, sprang upon them and with great carnage pursued them to the borders of Gitta and to the gates of Ascalon. Of the Philistines 30,000 were slain and twice as many wounded. Saul then returning to their camp destroyed the palisade and set fire to it; while David carried the head of Goliath to his own tent and dedicated his sword to God.

Malcolm Gladwell, a Canadian author, once, said: “That term, ‘David and Goliath,’ has entered our language as a metaphor for improbable victories by some weak party over someone far stronger.”

Two pals: Nal and Ngog

14 Friday Jul 2017

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My dear Kacvey,

Imaginatively, in a luxurious antechamber of a hospital in the Lion City, two old pals would meet and chat, discreetly and secretively:

Ngog: Hey old pal, you look terrible!
Nal: My health is playing dirty trick on me.
Ngog: What’s going on then?
Nal: What do you expect: chain-smoking, don’t know what is sport, blood pressure, diabetes, constant pressure on one eye. The whole enchilada of not getting younger anymore.
Ngog: But you play golf, though!
Nal: Golf! If it’s that good, why am I here? In fact, just to impress Westerners that I belong to their league. On the course, I just swing the club, putt and walk from cart to ball, and ball to cart; don’t even need to find or pick up balls.
Ngog: So, then, what did Doc say?
Nal: He locks me up for multiple tests and diagnoses for the hell I don’t know how long it will take.
Ngog: Oh boy, you’re in for a long haul!
Nal: Guess so, if that what it takes.
Ngog: But you can’t get the kitchen unattended while the stove is on?
Nal: I have guys on the watch and my iPad handy to give orders.
Ngog: How much do you trust those guys and how much do you expect your FB orders to be executed while you’re on a hospital bed a thousand kilometers away?
Nal: Look, I took the power through chaos, I might lose it through chaos. Karma. Ying and Yang.
Ngog: You sound contemplative and philosophical.
Nal: You see those tubes, needles, wires all around my body, and I’m tugged in a white blanket, it scares the hell out of anybody.
Ngog: You become uncertain and also seem afraid of something.
Nal: Not the same guts and physical strength from younger years anymore.
Ngog: How about your 3M? Is there anyone trustworthy to carry the torch?
Nal: What 3M?
Ngog: Your 3 male progenies.
Nal: Not promising. I want them to carry on my legacy and prepare them for that. But they don’t prepare themselves. Ah, modern kids, born and raised with silver spoons!
Ngog: So, they are out of contention, if I guess it right.
Nal: Sort of. Without me, they will be eaten alive by “White” and “Duck Shooting.”
Ngog: But have you really prepared at least one of them?
Nal: Yes I did, M1, but he screwed himself up with his trip to the US. M2 and M3 are way below par for such high objectives and stakes.
Ngog: Meanwhile, who’s in charge of the kitchen?
Nal: “White” and “Duck Shooting.” Hope that they are not “Lon Nol” re-incarnated.
Ngog: If “Lon Nol” re-appeared, you’re always welcome to Noï. What would your bodyguards be doing then?
Nal: Bodyguards defend me if I’m in the kitchen. When I’m not there anymore, they will sell themselves to the highest bidder or new master. Bodyguards are like mercenaries driven by big money.
Ngog: What about policemen and soldiers? Will they listen to your voice or order from your hospital bed?
Nal: Doubt it. They are government policemen and soldiers; they are not “comrades.” They never fight a single enemy or war. Like in 1974, they will unconditionally welcome any new leader.
Ngog: That’s your “domestic” paradigm. If so, “my comrades” of 1979 who did not return home but stay in your kitchen could be useful to you, couldn’t they?
Nal: They have all been “unmasked” and again, it’s all about whether or not I’m healthy and standing.
Ngog: How about your million fans and supporters from Facebook?
Nal: You’re mixing up social media and reality, because FB doesn’t vote. FB is shadow and hollow; I play it because not only it’s a fad, but also I can see what they feel or write about me.
Ngog: But you’re on it every single day!
Nal: True, but look at the crowd at Freedom Park after July 2013 and the funerals cortege from Wat Chass in Chruoy Chanvar to Takeo on 24 July 2016; I will never be able to mobilize such a massive crowd and sympathizers, no matter what I say or do. It’s FB versus reality, my pal.
Ngog: And you also mean the 3 millions that walked away from you on 4 June 2017, right?
Nal: Absolutely. These are incredible numbers that won’t stop of getting bigger and bigger in the future.
Ngog: Bottom line now is: your health and the 2018 elections, is it not?
Nal: As of now, my health cannot handle the elections. I give it one to two more months to recoup, but Doc might see it differently. I’ve slowed down quite a bit since Davos, but it ain’t getting any better.
Ngog: Without you at the forefront energetically and with gusto, 2018 elections wouldn’t be in the pocket …
Nal: Unless I play dirty like in 2013 again…
Ngog: Provided you could still be walking!
Nal: Are you wishing me something?
Ngog: Just following through on your line of thinking. Can’t still gather how come for 32 years you can’t have a person or a team to take over when your mandate and time are up.
Nal: I’ve always been stuck with the notion of political superiority and immortality. I beat them all the times and never think that time is the enemy of immortality. Man, time is beating me hard, clinically and medically.
Ngog: Never expect to see you in such a fatalistic and depressed state of mind and matter.
Nal: Wish me luck like you did on 9 January 1979.
Ngog: Wish you a quick recovery.
Nal: Recovery, probably; but unlike car or airplane engine that can be overhauled or replaced, human engine is what it is, from birth to dirt.
Ngog: Thanks for the chat. I will share your thoughts with Noï.
Nal: Tell Noï that he had made my 32 years in the kitchen the best time of my life. cảm ơn. Tạm biệt.

=====

Update:
– On 27 March 2018, Asia Times writes: Hun Sen willing to risk losing his oldest ally

“Banana Republic”

11 Sunday Jun 2017

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My dear Kacvey,

This is in response to your students’query about the phrase “banana republic.”

Although google could generously address the question, the full paragraph below would provide a glimpse of the context where O.Henry coined it in Chapter 9: The Admiral of “Cabbages and Kings” [Book 5 of “The Complete Works of O.Henry”]

The paragraph goes as follows: “In the constitution of this small, maritime banana republic was a forgotten section that provided for the maintenance of a navy. This provision – with many other wiser ones – had lain inert since the establishment of the republic. Anchuria had no navy and had no use for one.  It was characteristic of Don Sabas – a man at once merry, learned, whimsical and audacious – that he should have disturbed the dust of this musty and sleeping statute to increase the humor of the world by so much as a smile from his indulgent colleagues.”

O.Henry continued his story telling to Chapter 15: Masters of Arts where how he described the new ruler of the bananarepublic of Anchuria. The narrative goes as follows: “President Losada – many called him Dictator – was a man whose genius would have made him conspicuous even among Anglo-Saxons, had not that genius been intermixed with other traits that were petty and subversive. He had some of the lofty patriotism of Washington (the man he most admired), the force of Napoleon, and much of the wisdom the sages. These characteristics might have justified him in the assumption of the title of “The Illustrious Liberator,” had they not been accompanied by a stupendous and amazing vanity that kept him in the less worthy ranks of dictators.

 Yet he did his country great service. With a mighty grasp he shook it nearly free from the shackles of ignorance and sloth and the vermin that fed upon it, and all but made it a power in the council of nations. He established schools and hospitals, built roads, bridges, railroads and palaces, and bestowed generous subsidies upon the arts and sciences. He was the absolute despot and the idol of his people. The wealth of the country poured into his hands. Other presidents had been rapacious without reason. Losada amassed enormous wealth, but his people had their share of the benefits.

The joint in his armor was his insatiate passion for monuments and tokens commemorating his glory. In every town he caused to be erected statues of himself bearing legends in praise of his greatness. In the walls of every public edifice, tablets were fixed reciting his splendor and the gratitude of his subjects. His statuettes and portraits were scattered throughout the land in every house and hut. One of the sycophants in his court painted him as St. John, with a halo and a train of attendants in full uniform. Losada saw nothing incongruous in this picture, and had it hung in a church in the capital. He ordered from a French sculptor a marble group including himself with Napoleon, Alexander the Great, and one or two others whom he deemed worthy of the honor.

He ransacked Europe for decorations, employing policy, money and intrigue to cajole the orders he coveted from kings and rulers. On state occasions his breast was covered from shoulder to shoulder with crosses, stars, golden roses, medals and ribbons. It was said that the man who could contrive for him a new decoration, or invent some new method of extolling his greatness, might plunge a hand deep into the treasury.”

In Chapter 17: Rouge et Noir,O.Henry told the story about the relationship between Losada and the people of Anchuria: “It has been indicated that disaffection followed the elevation of Losada to the presidency. The feeling continued to grow. Throughout the entire republic there seemed to be a spirit of silent, sullen discontent. Even the old Liberal party to which Goodwin, Zavalla and other patriots had lent their aid was disappointed. Losada had failed to become a popular idol. Fresh taxes, fresh import duties and, more than all, his tolerance of the outrageous oppression of citizens by the military had rendered him the most obnoxious president since the despicable Alforan. The majority of his own cabinet were out of sympathy with him. The army, which he had courted by giving it license to tyrannize, had been his main, and thus far adequate support.
…
This was the sate of affairs in Anchuria when the winter season opened at Coralio at the end of the second year of Losada’s administration. So, when the government and society made its annual exodus to the seashore it was evident that the presidential advent would not be celebrated by limited rejoicing. The tenth of November was the day set for the entrance into Coralio of the gay company from the capital…
…
Although the rainy season was over, the day seemed to hark back to reeking June. A fine drizzle of rain fell all during the forenoon. The procession entered Coralio amid a strange silence…President Losada was an elderly man… His carriage headed the procession, surrounded and guarded by Captain Cruz and his famous troop of one hundred light horse “El Ciento Huilando.”
…
The president’s sharp, beady eyes glanced about him for the expected demonstration of welcome; but he faced a stolid, indifferent array of citizens. Sightseers the Anchurains are by birth and habit, and they turned out to their last able-bodied unit to witness the scene; but they maintained an accusive silence. They crowded the streets to the very wheel ruts; they covered the red tile roofs to the eaves, but there was never a “viva” from them. No wreaths of palm and lemon branches or gorgeous strings of paper roses hung from the windows and balconies as was the custom. The was an apathy, a dull, dissenting disapprobation, that was the more ominous because it puzzled. No one feared an outburst, a revolt of the discontents, for they had no leader. The president and those loyal to him, had never been whispered a name among them capable of crystallizing the dissatisfaction into opposition. No, there could be no danger. The people always procured a new idol before they destroyed an old one.”

Kacvey, so many resemblances with what’s going on in the City of Tonlé Buon Mouk!

*****

Nota bene: O.Henry is the pen name of William Sydney Porter (1862-1910). “Cabbages and Kings” was written in 1904.

Deux Rapaces

19 Sunday Mar 2017

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Mon cher Kacvey,

Un condor et un vautour, tous deux perchant sur la cîme d’un grand arbre à la lisière d’une forêt à moitié défrichée par des bûcherons perfides, discutent le sujet de la tuerie d’un vieux daim commise quelque temps plus tôt par une meute de soixante-trois loups affamés.

Comme par hasard, la conversation a été entendue par un corbeau qui se cachait dans le feuillage du parrage.

Condor: Alors, ça t’a plu que les loups ont tué le daim?
Vautour: Oui, je le visais depuis longtemps.
Condor: Mais pourquoi donc?
Vautour: Il est trop fier de ses cornes et de son allure; en plus, il se met à plusieurs avec d’autres animaux pour naguer et se liguer contre le grand loup.
Condor: Mais comment as-tu fait pour envoyer le message au grand loup?
Vautour: C’est facile. D’en haut, je peux suivre facilement le mouvement du daim. Avec leur flair, le grand loup et sa meute savent tout de suite que là où le vautour survole, il y a sûrement une proie facile à chasser.
Condor: Mais la forêt est quand même épaisse, et tu ne peux pas le voir à tout instant, non?
Vautour: Je l’ai suivi depuis un bon petit moment; vue d’en haut, la forêt ne couvre pas une superficie énorme et je sais que, d’un jour à l’autre, le daim devrait sortir de la forêt dense pour venir chercher sa nourriture dans la clairière, pour gambader un peu et aussi pour repérer la présence des daines.
Condor: Et puis?
Vautour: Puisque j’ai de la patience, je laisse jouer le temps. Et alors, ce jour-là, le daim est sorti de la forêt puisqu’il avait vu une daine à l’autre côté de la clairière. Je le lasissais avancer tranquillement jusqu’au milieu de la clairière; et puis je faisais un grand cri pour appeler les autres vautours à survoler et planer très haut au-dessus du lieu repéré. Les loups ayant senti notre présence dans le ciel se mettent tout de suite à encercler le daim qui s’est battu un peu mais qui ne pouvait rien faire contre soixante-trois loups. C’est ainsi que les loups ont tué le daim.
Condor: Alors, toi et les loups, vous êtes des complices naturels.
Vautour: Les loups tuent et dévorent la chair; moi, le vautour, je dévore les charognes du cadavre. Chacun tire le meilleur parti de l’affaire, et sans conflit ni querelle. Entre nous, on s’accommode. C’est ce que les êtres humains appellent la loi de la jungle.
Condor: Qui sera ta prochaine victime?
Vautour: Comme tout être animal, j’aurai faim demain ou après-demain. Maintenant, je vise d’autres espèces, comme les chevreuils, les cerfs ou les gnoux qui défient et bêchent contre les loups.
Condor: Alors, toi, tu règnes dans le ciel, et les loups dans le bois.
Vautour: Tant qu’il y a de la forêt en bas, je ne lâche pas, même jusqu’à 90 ans d’âge. Eh, t’es un gentil et sage condor, alors viens dévorer les charognes avec nous; il y en a assez pour tout le monde.
Condor: Non merci, t’es sympa, mais je dois m’envoler à Dadu pour te laisser le champs libre.
Vautour: Bon vol! Et merci de me laisser régner sur mon espace.

Timon

06 Monday Feb 2017

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My dear Kacvey,

According to Diogenes Laertius, Timon (c. 320-230 B.C.), a Greek philosopher of “The Sporadic” school of thoughts, was constantly of the habit of quoting, to those who would admit the evidence of the senses when confirmed by the judgment of the mind, the line: “Birds of a feather flock together.”

A footnote by the translator explained of two notorious thieves, Attagas the Thessalian and Numenius the Corinthian; or the birds partridge and woodcock may be meant, not any of Mr. Partridge and Mr. Woodcock.

Le 22 février 1930 de Georges Groslier

19 Thursday Jan 2017

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Mon cher Kacvey,

Prenons un moment de recul sur la vie politique cambodgienne et replongeons au contraire dans une partie de l’histoire du pays que vous voudriez bien partager avec vos étudiants.

Dire que c’est de l’histoire pure, ce serait provoquer la mauvaise humeur des historiens, mais le journal qu’écrivait Georges Groslier en ce 22 février 1930 touche à une certaine sensibilité secrète de l’histoire que les historiens se montraient baucoup de timidité à inclure dans leur page. Alors, sautons sur l’occasion pour offrir à vos étudiants du 21ème siècle quelque chose que même leurs arrière-grands-parents, s’ils n’étaient pas victimes meurtrières de Khmers Rouges – et Dieu soit loué – n’auraient pu raconter que superficiellement ou même rien du tout.

Par contre, ne manquez surtout pas de leur signaler que la vie d’antan de la société khmère n’est pas très bien connue ni comprise de la société contemporaine; alors c’est à chacun d’eux de se regarder dans le mirroir du passé et de se positioner dans le temps et dans l’espace vis-à-vis de ce que nous laissait Georges Groslier dans son ouvrage “Eaux et Lumières – Journal du Mékong cambodgien.”

Bonne lecture!

g-groslier-22_2_1930