The Annual Discussion
Jan 7th, 2008 by Jinja
Welcome to another ‘Victory Against the Genocidal Regime’ day. (Formerly the ‘Day of Hate’.)
January 7 is marked on local calendars as a day of celebration for the liberation of (much) of Cambodia from ‘Pol Pot’. I have respect for soldiers of any nationality who lost their lives fighting the Khmer Rouge.
There is another issue however, and that is of the Vietnamese military’s continued presence in Cambodia for roughly a decade. Was it a war of occupation? Was it exploitative? Many Cambodians say yes, particularly overseas Khmers. Others disagree.
This is hotly debated via newspapers, internet message boards, email lists and weblogs. I don’t propose any answer or final point of view.
I do think however that to accurately depict history, we need more Khmer historians. It would be great to see more documentation, particularly personal memoirs, from soldiers and civilians of all sides. History books about Cambodia are largely written in French and English, by foreign scholars.
If we intend to analyze events carefully and clearly, we are going to need to continue building schools and universities that produce scholars that think independently, and are willing to speak their minds – even if what they say is controversial.
