About Cambodia
A Brief Introduction
The kingdom of Cambodia, with a population of close to 15 million, is an exotic, mystical, enchanting land with an amazing history, the spectacular ancient ruins of the Angkor Empire, beautiful beaches, remote hill tribe villages and more.
For a small country, Cambodia has excellent name recognition around the world. Unfortunately, only a small part of this is due to the ancient empire of Angkor, where the once powerful Hindu and Buddhist Khmer Empire ruled over vast stretches of the Indochinese peninsula in Southeast Asia for about 500 years and who was responsible for leaving the world an amazing legacy of its genius and glory: the magnificent temples and monuments of Angkor. Neither has this been due to the Cambodia’s status as the Number one tourist destination in Southeast Asia during the relatively tranquil heydays of the late 1950s and the ‘60s, a time when French-style villas dotted the beautiful coastline and mountaintop casino retreats brought in the international jet-set crowd. It was also a time when Phnom Penh’s, the capital, colonial architecture wide tree-lined boulevards and idyllic setting at the confluence of three rivers (Mekong, Sap, Bassac) captivated many a visitor.
Instead of these picturesque images, the name Cambodia conjures up with images of “Killing Fields” and the murderous Khmer Rouge of the late 1970s. This was a terribly tragic period from which no Cambodian escaped without the loss of family and friends, if they were fortunate enough to live through it themselves. The country’s infrastructure, cultural heritage and identity were all but destroyed.
But the Cambodians are an amazingly strong and resilient people. While not forgetting the past, they took the little that they had and forged ahead, slowly but surely putting back together the pieces of their devastated society, culture and lives up till this day.
Today Cambodia appears to have finally settled into a mode of fairly peaceful coexistence. The Khmer Rouge has been eradicated as a threat to the government and the largely agrarian society. In place is now a government who everyday seek to better the welfare of the people through intense rebuilding of both the economy as well as the country’s infrastructure.
Climate and Geography
Cambodia which covers an area of approximately 181 000 sq. km has a mild tropical climate similar to that of Thailand. It has two main seasons where the rainy season which extends from May to October and usually rains only in the afternoon and the dry season from November to April.
The central areas of the country contain primarily rice paddies, and field s of corn and tobacco. The country is renowned for its many wild animals and is hone to four of the world’s deadliest snakes.
Lower Vietnam was at one time a part of Cambodia. During the French colonial period, the border was chanted by the French, who deemed that their interests were best served by making the change. Up till today historical rivalry still runs high as grudges are still being nursed over the Vietnamese’s assumption of traditional Cambodian land. The people living in this area are historically Cambodians are share the same language and customs as the Cambodian people, even though the Vietnamese have attempted to integrate them into Vietnamese culture and society. However their failure in doing so has resulted in them being deemed inferior. Ironically the Cambodian people themselves also see people inhabiting this region as being beneath them, assuming that they mirror their much hated enemy.
People
A citizen of Cambodia is usually identified as a “Cambodian” or “Khmer” which strictly refers to ethnic Khmers which accounts for 90% of the population. Most Cambodians are Buddhist but the country also has a substantial number of predominantly Muslim Cham as well as ethnic Chinese, Vietnamese and small animist hill tribes.
Official statistics indicating the number of ethnic Khmers incorporate multitudes of ethnic Vietnamese with legal statues who now see themselves as ethnic Khmers. The discrepancy in the actual figure of ethnic Khmers remains a sensitive political issue for the formerly Vietnamese-installed and Vietnamese backed government. Even though it was the Vietnamese who ended the brutal reign of Pol Pot, charted from centuries of fighting wars with Vietnam is so ingrained in Cambodians that there remains rampant anti-Vietnamese feeling in the country
Not only so ancient battles between the Khmers and Thais account for the ancient dislike and distrust between the two people. This was largely due to territorial disputes where resentment and anger, till today, is rooted in the belief that the Thais have claimed many ancient Khmer temple artifacts and natural resources for themselves.
Religion
Buddhism
Most Cambodians are Theravada Buddhists. This school of Buddhism was introduced into Cambodia between the 13th and 14h centuries in India. It follows the original doctrines of Buddha more closely and with less interpretation than other types of Buddhism.
The Khmer Rouge murdered many monks and almost all of their three thousand temples were damaged or destroyed. Thankfully, the end of the Khmer Rouge’s reign of terror saw the restoration and rebuilding of these temples which remains as a central rallying point for most Cambodians.
Other Religions
Muslims in Cambodia originally came from Vietnam in the 15th century. Most of the mosques in Cambodia are concentrated primarily in Phnom Penh where they have been rebuilt after the destruction caused by the Khmer Rouge. Cambodian Muslims belong largely to the ethnic Cham group of people where originated in the Champa Kingdom of South Central Vietnam and changed their religious beliefs from Hinduism to Buddhism and finally Islam.
Hinduism was the ancient religion of Cambodia, mostly before Buddhist times but many Hindu traditions and practices have kept a foothold in modern Cambodian culture and life.
Christianity was brought to Cambodia by the French. Today there is a Catholic minority in Cambodia, many of whom are Vietnamese.
Society and Customs
Cambodians traditionally greet each other with a wai or sompiah as in Thailand. This is a pressing of the palms together as in prayer and bowing the head slightly. Younger people or people of less status usually initiate the greeting and the lower the bow and the higher the hands are held, the more respect is shown. Hand shaking has also been largely accepted in Cambodia. Shoes are always removed before entering someone’s home and a small gift should be brought when visiting a friend.
When visiting a temple, men should wear long pants and women long skirts. Skirts with sleeves are more acceptable than tank tops. The removal of ones hat and shoes is necessary before entering the temple. When seated on a chair of squatting on the floor, do be careful not to point your feet at the Buddha or another person since it is considered extremely rude and offensive to directly point one’s feet at someone.
Similar to the Thais, the Cambodians are a quiet and gentle people and it is imperative to keep you voice low and to be calm. Do remember never to show anger or speak loudly to a Cambodian since that constitutes extremely impolite behaviors. Never pat anyone on the heart since that is considered the most sacred part of the body.
As a society in general, both the young and the old tend to share a similar liking for the more traditional and simpler lifestyle. That does not equate to the youth not being heavily influenced and exposed to Western culture, yet the general consensus remains that the Cambodians are exceedingly proud of their heritage.
Culture
Visit this:
Culture of Cambodia
(I did intend to similarly summarize the culture of Cambodia but unlike the others, I was unable to quantify culture. It’s too broad in all the sense of the word so if you’re interested, wikipedia however unreliable it may be does give a brief introduction and semblance of Cambodian culture. For now it’ll do!)
Cambodia under Pol Pot
Pol Pot, the despotic leader of the Khmer Rouge began his ruthless regime in 1975 where he was bent on creating an ideal country made up of obedient, hard working, illiterate peasantry. Anyone who posed a threat to the creation of such a society was immediately killed, this included intellectuals, capitalists, city dwellers, foreigners and anyone who did not fit the peasant ideal.
His reign of terror lasted four years and close to 2 million Cambodians lost their lives under him. Till today the remnants and scars of the past still haunts the country but by faith and sheer determination the Cambodians are once again rebuilding their nation collectively.
For more extensive reading of the Khmer Years of the Genocide per se. Please visit the following websites.
• http://www.edwebproject.org/sideshow/khmeryears/
• http://www.yale.edu/cgp/
Contributed by Charlena
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