LES 6
COMMANDEMENTS		 COURRI@L    2004 THE 6
COMMANDMENTS


LEADER AND FOLLOWERS
SEPTEMBER 2nd, 2003

The danger for any society was and is to rely on only one leader. As they say : one pair of eyes see less than many of them, one sole mind analyzes less completely than a team of them. This danger was and is multiplied by two in our Khmer society because :
1) The King-God tradition keeps on producing modern dictators like 1955 Sihanouk, Lon Nol, Pol Pot, Hun Sen.
2) The followers (we) have the habit and custom of submission since within the family cell (respect towards elders ; daughters and even sons married under parents' will).
This danger can be seen "live" right now : CPP membersmouillent leurs pantalons devant Hun Sen. Ranariddh is still head of his party. Sam Rainsy sacked some colleagues and was criticized by others. 20 smaller parties unable to unite their force.
So Cambodians should emphasize topics like team work, party line and ethics, democracy within party, emancipation of citizens ... rather than leader, leadership, personality, charisma ...    [ N.P. ]
 

Kampuchea Krom National Liberation Front
SEPTEMBER 3rd, 2003


Left : Picture of Barang Thlak Mountain where the group
tented up. Right : 99 alleged KKNLF members, who were
arrested by Battambang authority, are sleeping at Phnom
Prek district office awaiting a government decision.
Koh Santepheap : 99 Alleged KKNLF Members arrested -  Battambang province’s authority Monday arrested 99 alleged members of Kampuchea Krom National Liberation Front (KKNLF), said Major San Hak, deputy chief of Battambang police. The 99 KKNLF members, led by Danh Thek, 53, were arrested when they were tenting up near Barang Thlak Mountain (an area where a French pilot jumped down from his plane during the colonial era) in Phnom Prek district, Battambang province. Danh Thek, who claimed himself the leader of the group, said he has received a support from Soeung Sarath who lives in the United States to set up the refugee camp. He said he received $200 monthly from his Khmer-American superior for three months started from June to August.

He said the aim of his group is to topple Vietnamese government who didn’t grant self-government for ethnic Khmer population of Vietnam. “My movement wants a peaceful transition of power to ethnic Khmers in southern Vietnam,” he said. “But we are prepared to fight if that failed.” There have been 100,000 members joining the movement throughout Cambodia, he said. “This is our first group to tent up here and they all come up with their families,” Danh Thek said. Former Funcinpec lawmaker Thach Sang, who formed KKNLF in July 2002, said he would use force if Kampuchea Krom is not handed out self-governance. “The front will become an armed force movement one day,” Thach Sang, who is now in the city of Lowell in the State of Massachusetts, said in last July. Home to a large population of ethnic Khmers, the territory referred to by many Cambodians as Kampuchea Krom engulfs much of the Mekong Delta region and has long been claimed as Cambodian territory.
 

POWER AND MONEY
SEPTEMBER 4th, 2003

N.P. :
One component of the Alliance, the Funcinpec, must understand that their seats have dropped from 42 to 26. They will have to fire 16 ministers and MPs including Norodom Ranariddh (everybody know why). The A of
D will stay healthy only if the Funcinpec stays healthy. Another thing observers have not understood : why any
honour hasn't been given to the Mother of the Alliance : Norodom Vacheahra ?

ChimS1 :
Innocence and decency are more important. Just like love, you can share these things with the people. As such, you can level with them, get their understanding and be understood in return. It is through these processes of the human exchange that we can go about to develop the information database, enrich human life, motivate the individuals, and bring progress and purpose to the communities.
Money can't buy love which is the foundation of freedom and happiness.
 

PRIDE OF CULTURE
SEPTEMBER 6th, 2003

Ou Kim Hort : I believe that culture evolves, and everything else is not standing still. People also create culture. Changes in culture shouldn't be looked abnormal or dangerous. Our culture surely, in the past, brought us pride and glory. But still the same culture helped contributing to the decline of Cambodia. Nothing remains good and fits well permanently. Our past glory does not guarantee our great future. Things have changed a lot through our long history. There was changes, normally gradually, during the glorious period as well as during the decline. We all do not live in the past. We live the present and shape the future. Old good car most likely does not sell today. Going with a new model, many of times, is a smart move. Cambodia bright future may lie with a new type of regime, while sticking with the proud past may guarantee a sure extinction. Time has changed and continues to change. Nothing is permanent. Staying still could well be left further and further behind. The democratic Republic is the world's trend while the Monarchy is an antique item. I, myself, don't see Cambodia having a good future in Monarchy. To me, the most important thing is the survival of Cambodian Nation. Regimes are just tools that can be normally changed when they no longer serve the purpose. Lot of tools have been thrown out because they outlast their usefulness. Our Cambodian monarchy may very well be.

N.P. : Bravo !
 

Is APSARA an arsonist ?
7 SEPTEMBRE 2003

Squatter eviction with a blaze : Siem Reap provincial authority —police officials, Apsara Authority, environment officials and the provincial court— evicted villagers who lived on areas near Angkor Wat temple from their thatched houses. The officials, who used fire to burn the villagers’ settlements on Sept 5, said the houses were illegal and constructed on protected areas for tourism in the Angkor areas. A police official who took part in the eviction said the provincial authority informed the squatters several times before the action was taken today [on Sept 5]. “We informed them several times before… We told them the settlements are illegal and they must leave,” the police official, who asked not to be named, said.           ( Koh Santepheap )


LES SIX
COMMANDEMENTS		 REFORMING
OUR BUDDHISM		 ROMAN
POLITIQUE		 DIEU vs
BOUDDHA		 GRAMMAR
Introduction		 COURRI@L 2004
(Previous)
PEN Nearovi, Montréal, Québec, Canada
(nearovi@sympatico.ca)