01-15-2004, 05:02 AM | #1 |
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Fall of the Khmer Rouge
This month marks the 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1979. Looking to China's Mao Tse Tung for inspiration, the Khmer Rouge (Communist group) attempted to create an purified agarian society in Cambodia. It is imperative to note that the vast majority of Khmer Rouge members were ordinary, uneducated peasants, whos ignorance or jealousy drove them to commit horrendous atrocities.
During the 4 years that they had been in control of the country,
I was reminded of this by a friend. My family (Not any of my generation, mind you) went through an unimaginably distressing and terrible period of their lives during those years. Last edited by Linaewen : 01-15-2004 at 05:05 AM. |
01-15-2004, 05:10 AM | #2 |
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Also, a few days ago, my mother had to interpret for a former Khmer Rouge soldier. I don't know how I would have reacted, had I been in her shoes. She got quite worked up about it afterwards, but didn't do anything to her. It is ironic that she wouldn't be able to lay a finger on a woman who certainly committed terrible crimes, because mother has 'no right to in Australia'. Yet 25 years back, mum didn't have any rights either, and the Khmer Rouge was able to make her and everyone else's life pure hell.
Last edited by Linaewen : 01-15-2004 at 05:11 AM. |
01-15-2004, 05:33 AM | #3 |
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I suppose in way she felt the same as say, a Jewish interprator who was asked to interpret for a Nazi soldier.
What do you mean she couldn't do anything because she doesn't have the right to in Australia? What do you think she wanted to do? |
01-15-2004, 05:38 AM | #4 |
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You know, like beat the crap out of the lady. That's hardly anything compared to the terrible things the Khmer Rouge did to others, but you can't just beat up people because of that here. For one thing, she wouldn't have been able to prove it, though she was quite certain.
I don't think Mum wanted to do that, though. Apart from telling us about what happened those years, she tries to block out the rest of the stuff- like what's going on in Cambodia re. the trials of the Khmer Rouge etc. |
01-15-2004, 05:54 AM | #5 |
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Hmm, I don't think you can beat up people for that ANYWHERE in the world. But I understand what she must have felt. Kudos to her for not giving in to that emotion.
The Khmer Rouge Trials to me almost seem like our so-called TRC (Truth & Reconciliation Committee), will they really have the same impact as the Nuremburg Trials? I'm not quite sure. |
01-15-2004, 06:18 AM | #6 | |
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01-15-2004, 06:22 AM | #7 | |
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Re: Fall of the Khmer Rouge
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Though I'm not saying that our way of living and our society is the best one or the right one, that society is absolutely not the best. Not for humankind in general and not for the individual.
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01-15-2004, 06:28 AM | #8 | |
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The legacy of the Khmer Rouge remains though. There are still thousands of landmines littering Cambodian fields and mountainsides. Even after the Khmer Rouge were overthrown, when my mother's family were trying to get into a Thai concentration camp over the border, they had to walk through areas riddled with landmines. Bits and pieces of people's flesh flying through the air constantly, dead bodies everywhere. It is fantastic that I didn't have to endure that, but it means I don't understand entirely what they went through, as much as I try. |
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01-15-2004, 06:33 AM | #9 | |
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I can't relate to the sacrifices my ancestors went through to come here - and none of them had to go through what your mother's family had to do.
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01-15-2004, 06:34 AM | #10 | |
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Re: Re: Fall of the Khmer Rouge
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I compare what the Khmer Rouge did to the Jewish Holocaust, in the way that everyone was transported and became slaves, as well as the atrocities committed. The Khmer Rouge wanted to kill many people, but didn't want to spend more money on bullets than they could help, so they bashed on the head with tools like hammers instead. The purpose of both was also to create a perfect society, except the Khmer Rouge was trying to eliminate a 'race' that was 'higher' above them. (Most people in the cities were/are Cambodian/Chinese like me, whereas peasants are mainly natives). |
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01-15-2004, 06:57 AM | #11 |
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I read about the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Khmer Rouge in the paper a week ago. Almost 2 million people were killed in only 4 years. Many more people would surely have been murdered had not the Vietnamese invaded.
I'm sorry for what your family had to go through, Lin. Did they emmigrate to Australia because of the Khmer Rouge?
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01-15-2004, 07:04 AM | #12 |
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Yeah, Pol Pot is probably a close third behind Hitler and Stalin in the 20th Century's League of Complete Bastards. He completely ruined the country as well as massacring about a million people. Two cheers to the Vietnamese for stepping in.
How do you forgive people who committed such crimes? I can't imagine being able to. What is going on with the KR Trials? |
01-15-2004, 07:05 AM | #13 |
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Haven't heard much about it here (though I've only read one newspaper today).
I have however heard a lot about it in the past. There was a program about it not long ago, if I remember correctly...really awful.
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01-15-2004, 07:07 AM | #14 | |
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On both sides my family went to Thai concentration camps first and then were sponsored here. I don't think anyone escaped when they were still in power, because there was no hope. So, by the time many people left the country, the Khmer Rouge had already been overthrown, but they did not want to remain in the country of such awful memories, especially with the possible return of the régime. |
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01-15-2004, 07:12 AM | #15 | ||
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What's going on with the trials? Last thing I heard, not much. Here's an article I read a while ago, let's see what else I found for someone before: Quote:
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01-15-2004, 07:14 AM | #16 | ||
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I don't think there is any need for me to come out and make any public comment on my thoughts here about the UN.
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01-15-2004, 07:18 AM | #17 | |
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01-15-2004, 07:23 AM | #18 | ||
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So we had not one but two Prime Ministers. Almost as ridiculous as former Prince Sihanouk, (Lon Nol's predecessor) who was Prime Minister, President and Monarch all rolled into one. Quote:
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01-15-2004, 09:48 AM | #19 | |
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OTOH, it's hard to see what options there were - no-one in the world was willing to send in troops to fight Hun Sen; as for sanctions, the people of Cambodia had suffered enough, and as Burma, North Korea and Iraq show, sanctions are a pretty weak weapon if the government doesn't give a damn about the general population and retains control of the security forces. Whatever you say about Sihanouk (pere), he did manage to keep Cambodia out of direct involvement in the Vietnam War ( "Ho Chi Minh Trail? Never heard of it.")
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01-15-2004, 04:45 PM | #20 |
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Tragic. My sympathies.
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