Khmer
Characteristics
(Due to length, part of the
article was published on the Khmer Times, 11 January 2019)
“Khmer Characteristics” is a
book written by Bunchan Mol, an anti-royalist, anti-French colonist, republican
politician and member of Khmer Issarak. Published in 1973, the book described
internal power struggle in Cambodian politics and bad behaviors of some
politicians and public servants in the period from 1940s to 1970s. Earlier
formed as a resistant guerilla force for the people, some members of Khmer Issarak
increased their power to the level of fiefdom and had tendency to pursue
barbaric bloody power struggle, which he described as “Khmer Characteristics.”
Although the book met the
writer’s purposes, it is rather misleading in the way he entitled the book in a
generalized manner as “Khmer Characteristics” because he only described about a
handful of Cambodian politicians and public servants.
The context of the book was
in the period from 1940s to 1970s, when Cambodia had never known sustained
peace. Colonialism, guerrilla wars, internal fight for power was all that Cambodian
knew of and the society never had the chance to educate its mass over the
period of five centuries of endless chaos.
While he raised all the bad
aspects, he did not suggest what should be the Khmer characteristics, which I
intend to discuss here.
A reflective comparison came
to my mind referring to how Japanese citizens can adhere to high morality by
standing behind the long queue for food supply without looting and price hike
after the devastative tsunami in 2011. Nobel laureate Amartya Sen always attributes
the great development of Japanese society to the achievement of basic education
in which Japan got all their people fully literate in 40 years after the Meiji
restoration in 1868.
In those times, Cambodia had
just fallen under the French colonization and educating the mass had never been
the purpose of colonization.
Now that Cambodia is
enjoying sustained peace, at least for the last twenty years, the majority of
Cambodian people have had the chance to embrace education. Cambodia
Socio-Economic Survey 2015 report shows that the adult literacy rate has
increased up to 80.5 percent. State budget for education reached US$850 million
last year, a record quarter of the overall government budget. State also aims
to equip every district with a high school, every commune a junior high school
and every village a primary school.
While the access to primary
education level was 93.5 percent for 2016-2017 school year, only 55.7 percent
and 25.1 percent have enrolled in lower and upper secondary level. The figures
also show that 20.7 percent have no education, 36 percent have some education
and only 22 percent with primary level completion. Only 16.7 percent have
completed secondary education level.
Even Cambodia is still at
its early stage of institutional building, with this figure, Cambodia has
reasons to hope that “Khmer Characteristics” will never be the same like the
war-time period and those described in the book.
So then, what should be
called “Khmer Characteristics” the qualities that Cambodians should aspire to?
What are the qualities that all Khmer can draw common line of identities and
kinship? What are the Khmer qualities that future generations should proudly
learn to shape themselves?
Indeed, there are several qualities
of “Khmer Characteristics” that Cambodia can aspire to when one observes the Angkor
period, the period when Khmer empire reached the height of civilization. Here I
would like to raise four qualities that I think can identify the high value of
Khmer characteristics. Those are mercy, tolerance and kindness; respect for
ancestors and seniors; diligence, teamwork and unity; and strong fighting
spirit.
I call these qualities as the
qualities of “Khmer-Angkor builders” and “Khmer-Angkor warriors.”
Mercy, tolerance
and kindness
Mercy, tolerance and kindness
was one of the Brahma-Viharas or four sublime states of mind which are Loving-kindness (metta); Compassion (karuna); Sympathetic Joy (mudita); Equanimity (upekkha) in Pali. Among many explanations, the four-faces of Bayond temple
were said to symbolize these four qualities of leadership of Khmer revered kings.
Examples
are still abound today.
Even after
nearly a century of French colonization and heavy bombing from the US, it is
hard to say that Cambodian people hold any grudge against the French and the American.
The ways
that Khmer people can live side by side putting aside all the past of atrocity
and internal fight with the Khmer Rouge guerilla forces represented the high
level of tolerance of Khmer people. Such peaceful co-existence was key essence
to the current peace and is often unthinkable for any society with long history
of communal violence in the world.
Respect for
ancestors and seniors
A Western friend wept when
he joined our family in paying respect to grandparents’ graves. He said that
Khmer people still respect their parents even if they passed away which is not
the case for him when he has to live all by himself without his children’s
care.
Strong family bond and
respect for seniors, parents and ancestors is still strongly rooted in Khmer
culture and tradition despite the current economic advancement and social
modernization.
Without this quality,
knowledge, tradition and art mastership cannot not be passed down through
generations. Accumulation of expertise cannot be realized either. Before the
beginning of most Khmer cultural shows, there always involves a small ceremony
to pay respect to ancestors.
Perfectionism and refinement
of Banteay Srey temple, the beautiful Khmer Royal Ballet and other UNESCO heritages
of Khmer origin are not something that can be formulated within a generation.
This quality involves how
Khmer people protect and respect the past achievements while further pursue continued
national construction and endless perfection.
From accumulation of all the
big stones piece by piece into correct architectural structure to carving of
bas-relief stroke by stroke in Angkor Wat and other temples; these were not
done without the bond of mastership and continuation of ancestors’ aspiration
and planning. Some temples were even built by several kings.
Diligence,
teamwork and unity
This is interconnected with
the previous quality. The continuation of expertise is linked with how diligent
and strong teamwork that Khmer people can achieve.
One stroke of carving mistake
can ruin the already accumulated stones. The deep carving of Banteay Srey
bas-relief is nothing but perfection with intense diligence. A temple that was
built over the course of 20 to 30 years means that teamwork and unity is an
absolute requirement to sustain the long construction of each masterpiece as
well as consistency of architectural styles and structures.
Fighting spirit
It often involves a negative
connotation when one discusses about Khmer’s fighting spirit. Instead of being
the quality, people often say this genetic trait is the root cause of endless
Khmer internal fight.
This is incorrect because
“Angkor Warrior” was formulated on how Khmer people resisted against foreign
invasions and not the fight among Khmer people. Bas relief at Bayon temple
showed how strong and heroic Khmer warriors fought against foreign forces.
Later heroes such as the
legend of Oknha Khleang Moeang also symbolizes the fighting spirit of Khmer
people. Instead of accepting to surrender, this legendary army
commander killed himself to gather the army of ghosts to support Khmer soldiers
to fight against foreign invaders. This was the strong fighting spirit in
ancient times, which is somewhat similar to Japan’s Samurai spirit that opts
for honorable death instead of defeat.
The
fighting spirit to protect sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity remains
the same even today.
In the
modern time, fighting is not about wars but about competition in knowledge
advancement and economic modernization. The Khmer fighting spirit should be further
modified in how Cambodian should drive ourselves to compete in the region and
the world in all competitive indexes of positive development.
This is my humble attempt to
draw discussion on the role models of Khmer Characteristics for future
generations. Once we heard about many bad behaviors that we should avoid, it is
equally important that we discuss on what good behaviors that we should pursue
and this article is solely for the latter purpose.
Let Cambodian people
re-ignite the spirit of “Khmer-Angkor builders” and “Khmer-Angkor warriors” for
a future of sustained peace and prosperity for all Khmer peoples.
Sim Vireak
Phnom Penh