nan | 楠木

Obviously six days aren’t enough to experience any country. In terms of sightseeing, we didn’t visit the south coast – which seems to be winning acclaim as a beach hotspot, or any of the sights related to Cambodia’s bloody and turbulent recent history.

That said, there are definitely some very deep impressions formed. The first would be how desperately poor the country was. Beggars living off the streets, and the in-your-face sex trade. There are dozens of “hostess bars” in Phnom Penh. Cambodia sex workers have the highest HIV rate in Southeast Asia, at a staggering 34% if I’m not mistaken, making this a huge socio-economic issue.

Secondly, the horrors of Khmer Rouge, the Vietnamese occupation, and other turmoils of the recent century are a clear point of national pain, which the Cambodian people are only beginning to recover. “Pol Pot”, “S-21″, “the killing fields”, “Year Zero” are some of the keywords that we’ve repeatedly encountered in the past week, and many tourist spots offer repeat showings of films on the subject as well as dozens of books. While there is definitely an element of playing to the tourists’ psyche, this constant exposure does highlight the local mentality. In a culture where Hinduism and Buddhism have played a prominent role, it is indeed astonishing that such atrocities occurred under the brief authoritarian role of the Khmer Rouge.

Perhaps what is of special relevance to us Chinese is how the Khmer Rouge was related to our regime, and whether there are any similarities in the two countries’ history. The common belief held seems to be that Pol Pot was heavily influenced by Mao’s Cultural Revolution, and at a first glance the radical policies he adopted shares a spiritual resemblance to the crazy 10 years our nation endured. This again demonstrates how dangerous autocratic regimes are – which is especially important for us to remember now in this moment of prosperity. We must never forget the need to continue to push for true democracy – whatever the form it may adopt in China.

A third point is regarding NGOs. There seems to be an abundance of NGOs in Cambodia, with genuine and profound impact on society. This is encouraging and there should be a few worthwhile lessons for us.