Opinion, Khmer Times, 10 May 2023 (Link)
Before Sunset—Preliminary Performance
On 5 May 2023,
Cambodia organized the opening ceremony of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games also known as SEA Games at the Morodok Techo
National Stadium that was filled with 60,000 strong crowd. The event was
exceptionally memorable because it was the first time that Cambodia offered to
host this regional game since its first convening in 1959 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Before the main
event, there was a preliminary performance during which various types of
Cambodian popular artists entertained the waiting crowd.
Stars from
famous music productions showed off their hit songs.
The marching
band from the Music Training Center 125 of the Royal Gendarmerie of Cambodia
ignited the audience’s interest on musical parade like we used to see in
conventional major sport event. Watching their good performance and enjoyment
from the crowd, it was inevitable to think that they are being under-rated as
not many people know about this wonderful marching band.
Higher
attention was being paid to famous rapper Vanda. He is the owner of the
100-million YouTube viewed song “Time to Rise”, and it was so obvious that the
cheering youthful crowd shouted in frenzy in support of their idol.
One awkward
moment was the entering of Peakmi’s comedy team into the center of the stage.
Everyone was puzzling why comedy should be part of such an official event until
they got to know the story after it was unfolded later.
The team played
a story about Cambodians and foreigners who came to enjoy the 32nd SEA Games and they all admired the development of Cambodia and
wonderfulness of the event. Then came a man dressed in Yeaksa, or ill-will
actors in Khmer Lkhon theater. The Yeaksa complained that there were too many
high-rise buildings that were blocking his flying space.
This Yeaksa was
representing “neak teus” or “mistake-spotters” who complains about every little
mistake they can spot. At the end, Yeaksa removed his facial mask, and he
finally can appreciate the great achievements and development of Cambodia as
well as the great efforts made by many people in the arrangement of this major
event.
Yeaksa finally
became like other human-being that has compassion and empathy.
The Moon
Rises—The Official Opening Ceremony
By lunar
calendar, 5 May 2023 was one day after the full moon. The moon rose up
gradually above the roof of the stadium. It was like a natural witness of this
important event and was shining to keep the venue bright from the beginning
until the end.
The
“unexpected”, “unique” and “spectacular” performance under the theme “Khmer
Journey” has left many observers the impression that it was on a par with the
level of Olympic standard show.
The show started
with the play about the myth of “Nokor Kok Thlok”, a story behind the creation
of Cambodia by outsider Prince Preah Thong and endogenous Neang Neak (Naga
princess) who ruled the oceanic Naga world. They were the early ancestors of
Cambodia, ruling over Kok Thlok island that later became Cambodia. Having women
ruler was not uncommon in Cambodian tradition, and the story of Preah Thong and
Neang Neak can still be seen in Khmer traditional wedding ceremony, in which
male must follow female’s lead, and the groom needs to live at the bride’s
house after marriage.
The myth
re-creation was mesmerizing and stirred people’s imagination as Neang Neak flew
high above the celestial oceanic scenery.
The core of the
“Khmer Journey” performance was the show about Angkor era.
The story told
the greatness of Angkor kings, and the refined beauty of Khmer culture and
civilization at the peak of Khmer Empire.
From the
extraordinary temples of Angkor Wat, Bayon, Ta Prohm, Koh Ker, to the
intangible heritages such as the Apsara dance, Lkhon Khol (Khmer masked
theatre), Lkhon Sbek Thom (Khmer grand shadow theatre) and Kun Lbokator martial
arts.
These
invaluable heritages are not only the sources of great pride for Khmer people
but also the pride of the world and universal heritage for humanity.
The climax of
the opening ceremony was the exceptionally creative cauldron lighting.
Sorn Seavmey,
taekwondo gold medalist at 2014 Asian Games, carried the prestigious torch and
flew high above the ground, and then the “Akki Chey” or “victorious flame” was
absorbed by mythical Naga King on the digital background who forwarded the
flame to light up the cauldron, followed by a spectacular fireworks show.
The great
spectacle was a serious and diligent artistic work that blended Khmer cultural
identity into the international standard performance with modern touch of
music, lighting and choreography.
We shall not
forget to appreciate the incredible performers, the back stage crews and all
the volunteers who have been working tirelessly to make the opening of the 32nd SEA Games a truly unforgettable experience for all participants, and
a great historical moment for Cambodia, the region and the world.
64 Years of
Waiting
At one scene,
we could see 64 children of various ethnic groups carry a big Cambodian flag
into the central stage.
64 children
symbolized the 64 years that Cambodia had to wait in hosting the event since
the first SEA Games in 1959.
The background
music for this particular scene was the patriotic “Pongsavdar Khmer” or “Khmer
great lineage” that was jointly sung by the 60,000 strong audiences at the
Morodok Techo National Stadium.
The flag, the
music and the whole-stadium singing gave participants goosebumps.
The long period
of wait was due to the tragic history of war destruction that Cambodia went
through. After the wars, there were times that Cambodia was offered to host SEA
Games but Cambodian leaders declined as we wanted to focus the scarce resources
on developing the post-conflict nation.
Now the wait is
over.
Now that
Cambodia has the capacity and resources to host, we hosted it all for free, for
the first time in SEA Games’ history; from meals, accommodation and transport
to media rights, and even the viewing tickets.
Many people
questioned the benefits of making it all free; a high price tag for a country
like Cambodia. In fact, Cambodia can make economic benefit from this major
sport event.
But Cambodia
still wants to win the hearts of all participants. Cambodia wants to let the
world know better about Cambodia, “small country with a big heart”.
As much as we
want the world to know about Cambodia, the whole event was also about letting
Cambodians know better about Cambodia too.
We want to show
the great achievements and development that can be made when we have unity and
solidarity of all Khmer people, including Cambodian people overseas who never
forget their blood linkage, root and nation.
The great event
aims to instill the self-confidence of “Khmer tver ban” or “Khmer can do”
spirit with every Cambodian people.
Indeed, winning
many gold medals is the main purpose of the games, but through convening the 32nd SEA Games itself, Cambodia has already won the biggest gold medal of
all; that is the gold medal in its own history-making. This is something that
cannot be valued in monetary terms.
The convening
of SEA Games is not only about international recognition.
It is also
about self-recognition and regaining our self-esteem as Khmer.
It is about the self-confidence as Khmer nation.
Cambodia awakening.
No comments:
Post a Comment