#khemer

[crimemore]

Cambodian-Canadian Actress Ellen Wong Plays Child of Refugee in Film - CRIME & MORE WORLD

Ellen Wong is a Cambodian-Canadian actress well known in Hollywood. But as VOA’s Chetra Chap reports, her latest role hits very close to home

Ellen Wong is a Cambodian-Canadian actress well known in Hollywood. But as VOA’s Chetra Chap reports, her latest role hits very close to home

[johnatanmoran]

La monumental capacidad de construcción jemer #angkor #cambidia #camboya #jemer #khemer (en Angkor Wat Temple) https://www.instagram.com/p/B0QTGL2oRpN/?igshid=3u3f5zjb9i7g

[bitacorait]

🇮🇹 I misteriosi volti sorridenti del Tempio di Bayon sono qualcosa di straordinario. - - - - 🇬🇧 The mysterious smiling faces of Bayon Temple is something extraordinary. #angkorwat #angkor #wat #khemer #cambodia #bayon #temple #city #buddha #king #statue #site #ancient #thom #southeastasia #visit #bitacorablog #me #instagood #traveler #vlog #trip #tbt #mustvisit #destinationearth #worldunescoheritage #aroundtheworld #globelletravels #instatravel (presso Bayon Temple ប្រាសាទបាយ័ន) https://www.instagram.com/p/BngqgR-F6iw/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1a1te9hxbqq6j

[bites-kms]

Silence is the most powerful scream

“How come I didn’t know about this sooner?” “Why no one told me about this atrocity?” “Why dont they teach this at school?” “What was the world doing while this shit was happening?” 

Those were the questions I remember asking to myself, without finding any appropriate nor satisfying answer. I sat down on one of the first right rows of the tour bus which was taking us to the Phnom Phen New Market. I was almost in an incredulous mode, wondering and thinking, feeling and crying, shivering and with goose bumps, looking and asking non sense questions to my friend Gabriel, who was sitting as perplex as me on the opposite seat.

We just left the S-21 memorial, ex torture chamber and ex-ex-school. It was such a moving experience. I had to spend 6 years processing - 3 of them living in Asia, meeting and caring for people who I now call family and a 2.5 hrs movie for me to understand how deep it touched me. Only now I can write something about it.

The S-21, also known as Tuol Sleng, was the Khmer Rouge's main prison and torture center. It’s unbelievable that a place that once was used as a happy, gathering and learning den for kids became such thing. I think this is the key element that makes the whole experience even more perverse. Everything is as it was: the desk that once taught stories, grammar and math, where now chained to the floor and used as torture devices where to sit people while questioning them, punishing them and killing them softly. 

The Communist Party of Kampuchea (CPK), also known as the Khmer Rouge (Red Khmer) ruled Cambodia from April 17, 1975, until January 1979. In 1976, the Khmer Rouge established the state of Democratic Kampuchea.

In the four years that the Khmer Rouge ruled Cambodia, it was responsible for one of the worst mass killings of the 20th Century. The brutal regime claimed the lives of up to two million people, more than a quarter of the total population. 

Under the Marxist leader Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge tried to take Cambodia back to the Middle Ages, forcing millions of people from the cities to work on communal farms in the countryside.

But this dramatic attempt at social engineering had a terrible cost. Entire families died from execution, starvation, disease and overwork. My Vietnamese friends witnessed part of the horror and their stories still echo in my mind, giving me the chills every time I remember them. 

Just by wearing reading glasses you would get killed. According to them, you “looked” as an intellectual, and the revolution couldnt afford any mistakes. Pol Pot used to say “better to kill an innocent by mistake than spare an enemy by mistake”. And so they did. Blank range shoot to your forehead by wearing glasses in the middle of the street, just in case. If you were an artist, forget it. If you were a teacher, you needed to lie about your profession. If you were a dancer or a performer, your life may be spared but your limbs would be cut off. If you were a monk, you were consider a “parasite” to society and you were either slaved into force labor or killed in an instant without hesitation. 

Another terrifying aspect of this atrocity was that most of the affected people were kids: boys and girls who were left without family, who turned into their brother and sisters for support, who were considered as wet mud to shape the perfect army of soldiers and revolution devotees, children who never before were exposed to guns nor violence, but that now were building bombs, explosives and other kind of deadly machines and artillery. 

The Killing Fields is how the deadly extermination camp near Choeung Ek village is called. Today, it is the site of a Buddhist memorial to the victims, and Tuol Sleng has a museum commemorating the genocide. The memorial park at Choeung Ek has been built around the mass graves of many thousands of victims, most of whom were executed after interrogation at the S-21 Prison in Phnom Penh. The majority of those buried at Choeung Ek were Khmer Rouge victims during the purges within the regime. Many dozens of mass graves are visible above ground, many which have not been excavated yet. Commonly, bones and clothing surface after heavy rainfalls due to the large number of bodies still buried in shallow mass graves. It is not uncommon to run across the bones or teeth of the victims scattered on the surface as one tours the memorial park. If these are found, visitors are asked to notify a memorial park officer or guide.

It was hardcore. Indeed. I was perplex. I remember a daunting silence while some chipping birds interrupted, as a wake up call to your trance. Once again, I  didnt realize how deep and how much it impacted me until I realized I needed to write about what happened in Cambodia in a meaningful way. 

But Cambodia should not be defined by atrocities nor sad events; on the contrary, these issues fostered one of the most grateful, cheerful and beautiful people in SEA. This actually drives me quite angry, specially with Cambodia, but unfortunately is an common western issue: people associate South East Asian countries with poverty, prostitution or communism, instead of focusing on the good side of them: their people, their rich history, their safety, their delicious food and their breathtaking views. So hey you, Western Tourist! Stop being a tourist and start becoming a traveler! You are missing so MUCH you wont believe. Forget your Instagram account and start interacting with these wonderful people - dont read the lonely planet, read novels, watch movies, talk to locals. Travel with your mind and heart as much as you can travel with your feet. 

Due to the recent war, there are many orphanages in Phnom Penh and all around the country, and some of the people who were traveling with me had very strong feelings regarding this: they didnt want to interact whatsoever with these institutions, since they believed they were forcing kids into child-labor. Of course I had a different perspective on the matter: teaching skills such as cooking, sewing, crafts  is something worth learning, it is not very different from another technical skill they can learn at school. The money which they gain by selling those items (not at the street, but on the orphanage itself) went either to them (if they were considered old enough) creating a feeling of pride and ownership or to the institution as a whole to use for food and infrastructure for the place. I didn't buy anything (coz there’s still a portion of me that doubts about the actually destination of the money) but I was and I am still convinced that my presence there made a change: even if its was for only those 20 mins we shared, those kids were happier and laughing because of us, they were practicing English, they felt important, they loved the pictures, they hang the polaroids on their walls, they were truly and sincerely full of joy. And that, is already worthy.

Not only the kids and their happiness is something worth mentioning and remembering but also the majestic shape and feeling of Angkor Wat. At the beginning, this was the only thing I knew about Cambodia, but then it transformed into the temple which opened the door to so much more Cambodia to see and admire behind its walls. 

It is the the biggest and best kept hindi temple in the world. It is considered as the biggest religious structured ever built and one of the most important archeological treasures of the world. I am happy the the Google Cultural Center and Phibious (an agency I am proud to had called home) got together to make this amazing event happened and took Angkor to the World with Google Street View. 

It was built by the Khmer King Suryavarman II in the early 12th century in Yaśodharapura (Khmer: យសោធរបុរៈ, present-day Angkor), the capital of the Khmer Empire, as his state temple and eventual mausoleum. Breaking from the Shaiva tradition of previous kings, Angkor Wat was instead dedicated to Vishnu. As the best-preserved temple at the site, it is the only one to have remained a significant religious centre since its foundation. The temple is at the top of the high classical style of Khmer architecture. It has become a symbol of Cambodia, appearing on its national flag, and it is the country's prime attraction for visitors.

Today, Im happy to claim that Cambodia - along with the rest of South East Asia- stole a piece of my heart and this is just a little tribute I am making to this great Country, who is only as great as its people and faith. 

[angelinajolieph-blog]

- Rithy Path, producer of FTKMF made a response to VF's disturbing description of the "game" played as part of the casting process for Angelina 's FTKMF. #angelinajolieph #angelinajolie #firsttheykilledmyfather #khemer #cambodia

[angelinajolieph-blog]

According to Jolie, however, this is a misleading distortion. In her statement, she explains that the “game” was actually an improvisation exercise based on a scene in the film — itself based on a real-life experience of Loung Ung, the subject of First They Killed My Father — and that no real money was ever taken from children. “I am upset that a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film, has been written about as if it was a real scenario,” Jolie said. “The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting. I would be outraged myself if this had happened.” She also added that doctors, parents, guardians, and nongovernmental organization partners were present for auditions and the entire making of the film. "Every measure was taken to ensure the safety, comfort and well-being of the children on the film starting from the auditions through production to the present. Parents, guardians, partner NGOs whose job it is to care for children, and medical doctors were always on hand everyday, to ensure everyone had all they needed. And above all to make sure that no one was in any way hurt by participating in the recreation of such a painful part of their country’s history. I am upset that a pretend exercise in an improvisation, from an actual scene in the film, has been written about as if it was a real scenario. The suggestion that real money was taken from a child during an audition is false and upsetting. I would be outraged myself if this had happened. The point of this film is to bring attention to the horrors children face in war, and to help fight to protect them.” #angelinajolieph #angelinajolie #joliequotes #firsttheykilledmyfather #khemer #cambodia #vanityfair

[angelinajolieph-blog]

- Rithy Path, producer of FTKMF made a response to VF's disturbing description of the "game" played as part of the casting process for Angelina 's FTKMF. #angelinajolieph #angelinajolie #firsttheykilledmyfather #khemer #cambodia

[nffa11-blog]

Filter xde 😂😂😂 ⚫️ ⚫️ Location : Koh Rong West ⚫️ ⚫️ Dive Operator : Scuba Nation Dive Cambodia ⚫️ ⚫️ #khemer #rnf #nffa #nafa #nffasolotraveller #cambodia #phnompenh #girlsthatscuba #nffaadventure360 #nffaaddiction #kohrong #nffatravelinsanely #nffatravelouge #travel #private #privatepool #backpacking #bagtarik #gopro #life #pool #desarannluxuryvilla #villa #solotraveller #goprohero