PACIFIC DAILY NEWSJune 15, 2011
Cambodia needs to change, adapt
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
I know some Cambodian democrats are provoked that I continually emphasize that
Cambodian democrats are on their own to face Premier Hun Sen's autocracy; that
there's no international guardian of rights, freedom and the rule of law coming
to their rescue and the sooner democrats accept that a nation-state's national
interests generally trump its concern with human rights violations, the better.
But I keep on writing -- I am grateful to the Pacific Daily News for providing
its pages as an outlet. Together, I believe we are making a difference. The
great Chinese teacher, Confucius, said, "It is better to light one small candle
than to curse the darkness."
A sine qua non condition for the Cambodian democratic opposition to
move
forward in its fight for rights, freedom and the rule of law is for the diverse
opposition groups to stop tearing each other apart. This internal dissension
is precisely what Hun Sen and his ruling Cambodian People's Party would like to
see continue.
It weakens and diminishes the opposition in the eyes of Cambodian citizens in
general, and it presents those in the international community with an excuse to
continue dealing with the autocrats in power.
I know that frustrated Cambodians who want to see things happen have less
appetite for careful thought before action. A Khmer saying advises, "Koet heuy
soem kou," ("First think, then draw"); American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson
wrote: "The ancestor of every action is a thought."
Gene Sharp of the Albert Einstein Institution -- whose "lifelong commitment to
the defense of freedom and democracy" and whose book "From
Dictatorship to
Democracy: A Conceptual Framework for Liberation" has been used in many
countries to fight dictatorship -- said: "Unfortunately, often most people in
democratic opposition groups do not understand the need for strategic planning
or are not accustomed or trained to think strategically. This is a difficult
task."
Sharp advises "action based on careful calculation of the 'next steps' required
to topple the dictatorship," and that, "Creativity and bright ideas are very
important, (and) need to be utilized in order to advance the strategic
situation of the democratic forces."
While Cambodians in general know the "first think, then draw" concept, in
practice many Cambodians draw first and think later. It was courageous and
heroic for opposition leader Sam Rainsy to pull the border markers at the
Cambodia-Vietnam border, but it certainly didn't look good to hop on a plane
for Paris for
safety and then appeal to foreign lawmakers to help bring him
back to Phnom Penh.
It is understandable that Cambodians want to see things happen. Some are
awaiting the mystical Preah Bat Thoarmmoek to emerge to save Cambodia. Others
wish for a Cambodian Aung San Suu Kyi or a Cambodian Nelson Mandela and
describe near-perfect human qualities needed among imperfect humans.
Sharp, who mentioned "examples of nonviolent action being used effectively
without strong centralized leadership in the resistance" (in Serbia, against
Milosevic), cautioned, "Exclusive dependence on a charismatic leader can even
be detrimental to success, while wide diffusion of the skills to wage
noncooperation and defiance can produce more reliable power."
Precisely.
I wrote to several former activists of the Khmer People's National Liberation
Front who fought against Vietnamese military occupation of Cambodia
that
though I regret I don't see any Cambodian Suu Kyi or Mandela, I learned from
specialists that leaders are not born, that leaders are made and they are made
of regular people.
And, as I wrote last week, "If each Khmer does something, things will happen."
Do what? Let Mother Theresa answer the question: "Just do what's in front of
you." She advised: "There should be less talk. What do you do then? Take a
broom and clean someone's house. That says enough."
In an earlier column, I mentioned receiving an email from a friend in Phnom
Penh who urged continued "fighting" on two main fronts: Education and economy.
Last week, a reader wrote: "Feed the people (economically) and teach them to be
smarter (educationally)," and everything else (the social, the political, and
the environmental) will follow suit. I agree.
Those who scavenge the city dumps for food or are forced to leave
their lands
so the property can be "developed" would have plenty to say; children who learn
to bribe their teachers through childhood and adulthood will carry the culture
of bribery through life.
I have suggested that,as an impetus to change, Cambodians must experience
changes in their attitudes and values as catalysts to further, more pervasive
societal change. I am not advocating that Khmers stop being Khmer. I cherish
the English philosopher Edmund Burke's "tradition" as a link between the dead,
the living and those yet to be born. Yet Burke recognized the inevitability of
change as he propounded the philosophy that change be slow, natural and
gradual.
In today's world of fierce competitiveness, Cambodians must adapt to the
contemporary demand for creativity and innovation. This means a major change in
traditional behavior which supports stratified classes, status, rank and role
relationships
that breed a master-servant, leader-followers, superior-inferior
system.
Such a cultural adaptation may provide the resilience and flexibility that
would allow Khmer traditions to withstand the integration of Vietnamese
citizens that seems inevitable in the current political climate.
As her neighbors embrace the dynamism of this new century, Cambodia must adapt
or she may be left far behind.
A. Gaffar Peang-Meth, Ph.D., is retired from the University of Guam. Write him
at pean...@yahoo.com.
