September 29, 2010
By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS (Guam)
As I contemplated the topic for my column this week, the one I am about to write did not occur to me. But the quantity of e-mail from Khmer readers and some important questions in the Khmer blog, KI-Media, obliges this column.
I didn't think that my personal story would open a torrent of mail about readers' own life experiences, but that is what happened. There are painful stories about life under Pol Pot. And a story about a schoolboy made to stand still at a school flag pole with a stone on his shoulder for an entire class period in the 1950s because he "played with girls" reminds me that the authoritarian mentality has its roots in small actions.
I am sorry some Cambodian readers feel the need to write their comments anonymously. Stand up for what you think and say. Pol Pot is dead, and change will bring down a dictator like Hun Sen. Even so, some of the questions in the week's mail deserve answers.
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