We are officially in a new group of countries, the group of countries under a new letter, C. It brings much excitement to the group. 

After a desolate stop on an island where no one lives nor has ever lived permanently and fresh from the horrors of the Burundi wars, we proceed to another beautiful country with another genocide. Cambodia: country of the fascinating Angkor Wat, the mighty Khmer Empire, silk weaving, and one of the most brutal genocides that wiped out 1-3 million people (approximately 25% of the population) under the eyes of the world. 

Enter Cambodia. 

But first, as always. Food.

Cambodia in Cabramatta

I am lucky to have a dear friend in Sydney L* who is of Cambodian origin, so we can delegate the task of Cambodian food to her. She consults her network and comes up with a suggestion of three different Cambodian restaurants in Cabramatta, Western Sydney. 

Cabramatta in southwest Sydney is a suburb that since the 1980s has had a significant Vietnamese and other Southeast Asian origin population, including Cambodians. It is known for the rich food scene, numerous small restaurants, and many markets. The area has been through some social challenges in the past, but nowadays it is home to a vibrant cultural scene with a strong community feel and interesting food. L (17) thinks that the best place to get sugar cane juice is Cabramatta. 

So on a bright winter’s afternoon our party heads to Cabramatta. We find our way to one of the three suggested Cambodian restaurants, Battambang. Battambang gets its name from the country’s third largest city in Cambodia’s northwest. Battambang (the restaurant) is the highest rated of the recommended restaurants. Promising to serve authentic Cambodian food, it sounds like a good choice for our party. Moderately furnished, there are condiments on every table which include different chillies, pickles and vinegar.

When we arrive in the restaurant, the waitress tells us that the Fish Lemongrass Soup, known in Cambodia as Samlor Machu Trey, is the most traditional dish on the menu. Unfortunately no one in our party wants to taste it but we can see it well welcomed at other tables. It is usually served hot with rice. The ingredients are most commonly fish, lemongrass, kaffir lime leaves, ginger, tomatoes, tamarind paste, fish sauce, vegetables, herbs and chillies. There are several variations of the soup. Samlor machu is a Khmer language concept that generally refers to sour soups. Samlor Machu is not as well-known as other Southeast Asian soups, especially Pho and Laksa. Samlor Machu refers to a category of soups so the one offered by this restaurant is just one type and there are several others, such as Samlor Machu Youn (with chicken) or Samlor Machy Shrae. 

One of the dishes our party has is the Battambang Crispy Chicken with Garlic Fried Rice. We hear that this is a very popular dish in Cambodia. Our dish is not only served with garlic rice but also a soup with chicken. Technically speaking it is not a traditional dish in Cambodia but represents a blend of Cambodian touch with global influences. It is a dish of Thai and Vietnamese influence adapted well in Cambodia where fried and grilled meats are popular. According to our sources, it is a typical middle-class dish. Our party agrees that while it is tasty, it is not a thrilling dish. 

Another dish is Stir Fried Soft Noodle with Gravy, Num Banh Chok. It is a traditional rice noodle dish with stir-fried noodles and a fish-based gravy. As Cambodia has a vibrant street food culture, we learn that this dish is commonly served by street vendors. There are several variations depending on the available ingredients but it would typically have green vegetables and meat – as it is the case for our party. Again, this dish is similar to the cuisine of neighbouring countries where variations can be found. It is an affordable dish in Cambodia which adds to its popularity. Our party thought that the dish served was a bit bland but edible enough to fill the tummy.

Another variation is the Stir Fried Soft Noodle with prawns. Again, an ‘ok’ dish according to our party but not memorable or super tasty.  

Another dish ordered was Crispy Pork Intestine with Garlic Fried Rice, known as Kuy Teav Sach Ko in Cambodia. The way to prepare the intestines is that they are seasoned and fried until crispy, often served with sauce or rice. Our dish came with tomato and cucumber, and the same soup as the crispy chicken. In Cambodia, using pork intestines is a standard resourceful cooking practice. All parts of the animal are used in order to not waste resources. Those in our party that taste this find it quite delicious – crispy and savoury. Another of our party’s dishes is Crispy chicken with Fried Rice which is very similar to this dish but with chicken. 

The most appreciated part of our Cambodian lunch, at least according to our members in the 11-18 age group, are the drinks. Our party enjoys hot milk tea, fresh orange juice with condensed milk and ice, ice coffee with condensed milk and red lemon tea. For the older generation, these options are a bit too sweet, so we indulge in the warm jasmine tea offered with the food. 

And finally, as Cambodian cuisine does not cater particularly well for vegetarians, I choose to have a Cambodian Pad Thai. While not as traditional as in Thailand, it is still a very popular dish in Cambodia with some distinctive local twists. While the Cambodian Pad Thai is stir-fried the same way as its Thai counterpart, it has a slightly different flavour. It is less sweet and more savoury which is said to cater to the Cambodian palate. My palate is not sharp enough to detect a difference between the Cambodian and Thai pad thai, and the dish is passable and definitely edible but not memorable.

The dark shadow of a genocide 

The Hindu-Buddhist Khmer Empire (802 – 1431) was one of the most powerful in South East Asia. With amazing architecture and probably the world’s first health care system (including 105 hospitals), it was also a society where women enjoyed certain rights and freedoms (although they were married young). King Suryavarman built the mighty Angkor Wat and Jayavarman VII the impressive Buddhist temple Bayon. The Khmer Empire slowly disintegrated during the centuries that followed and the majestic temples were swallowed up by the jungle. In 1863, Cambodia became part of French Indochina as a French protectorate. Japan invaded in WW2 and in 1953 the country became independent.

But its troubles were far from over and something terrible was to come. The King at the time of independence was the relatively popular  Norodom Sihanouk who opposed the US bombing of Cambodia during the Vietnam War. He was ousted in a coup and a US-backed ruler Lon Nol opened the opportunity for the US to bomb rural Cambodia (as part of its war in Vietnam), which has been referred to as the largest bombing campaign in history. The relentless bombing of rural villages (causing approximately 150,000 deaths) encouraged rural peasants to join the communist Khmer Rouge  during the Cambodian Civil War (1968-1975). When the Khmer Rouge won the war they established a state of terror under the leadership of one of the most ruthless dictators in history, Pol Pot. Pol Pot, a European educated Marxist, wanted to create an agrarian society without any Western influences or religions. The result was a genocide of approximately 25% of all Cambodians (70-80% of all working age men) through forced labour, starvation, torture, organised killings and executions. Around two million people perished during the four years – first any educated people from doctors to artists, and then the killing continued, basically ‘just because’. 

The young Virtual Nomads are shocked to hear that. It is not taught at school.  

Vietnam invaded Cambodia in 1975 and stayed for over ten years, until 1992. Pol Pot hid in the jungle and was the UN-recognised leader, even if the world knew what had happened during his regime. The Khmer Rouge came to an end sometime in the late 1990s, and the UN withdrew its mission to govern Cambodia (1992-1993) in 1993. In 1997, Hun Sen led a coup and became one of the longest ‘serving’ heads of states in power (as Prime Minister from 1985) until 2003. His regime was accused of human rights violations, persecution of political opponents and doing very little to limit the rampant sex trafficking that affects many rural women and children. The current Prime Minister is Hun Manet, Hun Sen’s son. This was quite easy as his father banned opposition parties in 2018, making Cambodia a one-party state. 

Putting women last 

Cambodia is a country that has traditionally had very clear and restricted gender roles. Part of this tradition is the Chbab Srey morale law for women, which has generated debate in recent years. It is an unwritten law, a tradition that is passed from mothers to daughters. The word ‘chbab’ refers to ‘code’ and ‘srey’ means ‘female’. The code dictates how women should behave and conduct themselves, especially towards their husbands and male family members. Obedience, modesty, submission, humility and honour (virginity) are the virtues of feminine conduct that enforce traditional roles where women are seen inferior to men and their responsibility is essentially towards the family. For example, an old Cambodian tradition is that male members of the family are served the meal first. 

Four books from Cambodia: children of the genocide 

The first book for Cambodia is one I read in 2016 but, as it is a deeply moving book about astonishing resilience, I want to mention it here. Never Fall Down is written by Patricia McCormick and is the life story of Arn Chorn-Pond. For the book, Patricia interviewed Arn but also met his family members and other survivors from the time. The book describes how Arn survived the killing of his artist family, the starvation and forced labour camps, watching the killings while playing the flute, becoming a child soldier, escaping to Thailand by himself and finding a new life in the US that was far from easy. After difficult times, he became a human rights activist who won many awards and travelled the world with celebrities including Bruce Springsteen and Sting. He is the founder of the Children of War organisation and several other organisations. He has won many awards but his true calling is revitalising the arts and culture of Cambodia. He returned to Cambodia to do this. 

I have had the privilege to meet Arn a few times and he is an impressive, compassionate human. His story is deeply moving and inspiring, and I highly recommend this book. 

My next book is probably one of the most famous books regarding the Cambodian genocide, First they killed my father: A daughter of Cambodia by Loung Ung (2000). Made even more famous by the movie directed by Angeline Jolie (which I watched after reading the book), it is another story of the Cambodian genocide from a child’s perspective. It is a highly celebrated book as it was one of the first to bring attention to the terror practiced by the Khmer Rouge. It is a personal story and, from what I have understood from some critics (including Cambodian scholars), it should not be taken as a historical account but rather as a personal story of one family and the atrocities they went through. I decide to read it from this perspective – as a story rather than an accurate autobiography. 

Loung was five at the time so relying on memory alone would be insufficient. She does acknowledge that she has received assistance from her surviving family members, especially her brother. However, it would not be fair to underestimate the impact of trauma of this magnitude on a child. She was the sixth child of a high-ranking government official who fled the capital in 1975 when the Khmer Rouge took over the country. Her childhood is then transformed from a privileged life into one of starvation, terror, forced labour, famine and constant surveillance, with a complete lack of personal freedom. It is a highly impactful book and whether or not its details are completely accurate, it still gives a full picture of the period and a personal crossroads. For aforementioned reasons, it does not hit me as strongly as Arn’s book but that does not detract from it. There are a few insignificant details that bothered me. One is the title that refers to her father, which diminishes recognition of the family member who was the first to perish. The relates to the father himself who is described as superhuman more than a man with human qualities. 

Another famous book about living under the Khmer Rouge regime is In the Shadow of the Banyan Tree (2013) by Vaddey Ratner. Even though Vaddey is a survivor of the genocide, she was five at the time and does not rely on the accuracy of her memories. Therefore, she decided to write it as fiction but the book is based on her own experience as a descendant of a royal family line in Cambodia. The tone of the book is more poetic than Luong’s. It is skilfully written and includes similar events to the other books and movies I’ve encountered at this VN stop. While it is beautifully narrated, the rhythm of the book is slightly uneven. The beginning has a slow, poetic rhythm and a lot of time is dedicated to storytelling ‒ conversations between a daughter and a father and descriptions of spirituality and tradition. The latter part of the book feels rushed with time going faster almost as if the narrator was tired of telling the story and wanted it to end. While it is an accomplished and beautifully written book, it is the least compelling of the three for me. 

I was considering reading another childhood memoir of life under the Khmer Rouge ‒ When Broken Glass Floats: Growing Up Under the Khmer Rouge (Chanrithy Him, 2000) ‒ but I also want to read something about life right after the regime ended. What happened to the survivors, how was life rebuilt from zero? During the stop in Burundi, I found a book that described life after the war, so I try to find one about the period after the Khmer Rouge regime. I end up choosing another memoir by Luong (First they killed my father) ‒ Lucky Child: a Daughter of Cambodia reunites with the sister she left behind ‒ about her and her sister’s life after 1980. It is a story of two completely different lives and alternates between the two sisters telling their story. While Luong’s story of her new life in the U.S. is undoubtedly interesting, I find her sister Chou’s story more compelling. Chous is the sister who was left behind, the sister who did not have the same opportunities, the sister who never complains and is grateful for what she has. She is the sister who lives through poverty and Khmer Rouge raids, who experienced an arranged marriage and was separated from her siblings. Hers is the story that shines through in this book, conveying what it was like to be left behind and stay in Cambodia after some of her siblings left. 

The Cambodian Film Festival

Cambodia does not have an extensive movie industry but after talking to knowledgeable people, I find out that there are quite a few movies and documentaries to watch. As with many other countries, it is incredibly hard to choose what to watch so I/we end up watching eight films; five on the Khmer Rouge era and three with more contemporary settings. 

The Killing Fields (1984) by Roland Joffé is a British production and was an instant global hit when released. It is still on several ‘best films’ lists. It is still probably the most famous movie made about Cambodia under the Khmer Rouge. I have seen it years ago but I return to watch it again. The movie is based on the real-life experience of an American and a Cambodian journalist, Sydney Schanberg and Dith Pran. They stay behind when the Khmer Rouge takes over with one of them being able to leave the country while the other is condemned to a labour camp. The movie won numerous awards around the world and opened the world’s eyes to the genocide of around 25% of the Cambodian population. The term ‘killing fields’ originates from Dith Pran. After four years of terror he was reunited with his family and with Sydney. He worked as a photojournalist for the New York Times until his death in 2008.  

The Cambodian lead chosen for the movie Haing S. Ngor was a non-professional actor who himself had lived through four years of terror at work camps. His astonishing, honest portrayal in the movie rightfully brought him many awards, including an Oscar for best supporting actor. Haing, an obstetrician by training, was unable to help his pregnant wife when they were in a Khmer Rouge labour camp in order not to expose them both. This wife then died in childbirth. Haing would find several ways to honour his wife through his work, despite being unable to return to his profession in the US. He was murdered in 1996 in what the authorities say was a botched robbery, but there are some who suggest the murder was politically charged. 

S21: The Khmer Rouge Killing Machine (2003) is a documentary by a Cambodian documentary director Rithy Panh whose whole family perished during the four years of the Khmer Rouge regime. It is an extraordinary documentary about human cruelty. It is almost mandatory viewing but with a warning that it is good to take breaks in between. There is no word to describe how chilling and devastating it is. It is focused on Tuol Sleng, a high school that was converted into an extermination prison, S21. Over 20,000 people were imprisoned there and only seven survived. This documentary brings together two of the survivors with their former captors who re-enact some of the duties that they had while working there, sometimes very bluntly describing the atrocities they committed. It is not a documentary about reconciliation, forgiveness or even remorse. 

The guards knew that everyone who enter the gate was condemned to die but was kept alive for torture and mindless interrogation. One guard remembers a young woman he interrogated for days (and had feelings for, which was prohibited). When she did not confess anything for four or five days, he asked his superiors for some help. When he finally got her to speak, he gave her three targets (to say whom she worked for): the CIA, KGB and the Vietnamese Enemy. The woman chose the CIA. 

The guards re-enact the events with astonishing stoicism. Most of them joined the Khmer Rouge as teenagers after the US bombings. They see themselves as victims of an indoctrination machine. Atrocities are stated as facts, without emotion except in rare cases. For example when someone says he is embarrassed for killing children or raping their mothers. It is an effective documentary without voiceover narration or history lessons. There aer no morality tales. The stories from both sides speak the truth. It is powerful, devastating, chilling, desolating, and heartbreaking. The documentary is available on Youtube. [August 2024]

Even if Virtual Nomad is not about individual travel experiences, I feel it is important to mention that the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum is one of the most impactful and harrowing places I (and JK) have ever visited. There are no words to describe the experience.

“They had been instructed not to touch the enemy. I was the enemy. I was thirteen.”

Another of Rithy Panh’s documentaries, the Missing Picture (2003) won a top award in Cannes (in the Un Certain Regard category) and was nominated for several awards (including the Oscar for Best Foreign Film). It is a personal story of Rithy Panh and his experience of loss. The documentary is astonishing, deep and moving storytelling that combines real documentary footage from the Khmer Rouge era with clay figurines that bring the story to life in an outstandingly effective way. The clay figurines are used to recreate an intimate and personal approach to the story, and come to life to reflect the famine, suffering, mass atrocities, loss and unbearable human suffering. The clay figurines stand in for the ‘missing picture’ – the absence and destruction of film footage and evidence from the Khmer Rouge regime and brutal rule. It is also a story of a stolen childhood and overwhelming evidence of loss. Rithy’s voiceover is devastating in its emotional depth. It conveys the loss of humanity and the loss of loved ones. It is an incredibly powerful film that is equally or more compelling than his other documentary. 

The documentary Enemies of the people (2009) by Thet Sambath and Rob Lemkin is an exceptional, outstanding and chilling portrayal of Khmer Rouge killers. Thet is a Cambodian journalist who lost his parents and his whole family during the Khmer Rouge era. He spent ten years together with a former top Khmer Rouge official and lower ranking people (ordered to kill) in order to understand why so many people needed to be killed. He managed to get access to the ‘Number 2 Brother’ – the ideologist and Pol Pot’s closest man, Nuon Chea, before his arrest, and spent ten years interviewing him. He also spent time with several peasants who killed hundreds if not thousands of people in Southwestern Cambodia. The result is honest and raw, exceptional journalism. The journalist is an absent father who spends his savings and time travelling to meet these people to finally find peace. The interviews with the Khmer Rouge officials are few but astonishing. One of them says that for what he has done, he will never be reborn as a human again in another life. 

First they killed my father (2017) by Angelina Jolie (yes, the famous one) is a dramatisation of Loung Ung’s book that I have read for this stop. It is not a stellar cinematographic achievement but it is good enough. Rhythmically uneven, with sometimes an overuse of long symbolic shots, it is saved by the latter part of the movie and the cinematographic presence of its young star. It was, of course, easy for me to follow as I had read the book and the movie is fairly faithful to it. It would have benefitted from a tighter pace and stronger editing. It has stunning cinematography and beautiful landscapes. In places, it presents a bit more like poetry than bering a truly effective movie. After all the other documentaries from Cambodia, it does not convey the same raw injustice and feels a bit more like a bad dream. I would not call it a bad movie, it is beautifully shot and works in some parts really well – but I would not call it an excellent movie either. 

For more contemporary themes, the documentary Cambodia: Virginity Trade (2010) by Matthew Watson is difficult viewing. It looks into the importance of (female) virginity in Cambodian culture and the human trafficking around it. The documentary contains interviews of young girls, politicians and NGOs, but also men who buy ‘the virginity’ of underage girls. The buyers include westerners but the largest market is Cambodian men who believe that having sex with a virgin girl will bring them good health, luck and keep them safe from AIDS. “Many people say I look young. I think I stay young because I have sex with young virgins,” says one buyer. Poverty and archaic cultural norms drive girls to prostitution, and they are not safe even from their own mothers who sell their daughters’ virginity to highest bidder. After that, the future looks bleak for the girls (as they are no longer desirable for the marriage market) and many end up in sex work. The documentary states that 32% of the sex workers in Phnom Penh are raped daily.  

It is an effective documentary. Some of the criticism it has received is the exploitative approach to the girls themselves and the sensationalist nature. There is always a concern about the privacy of the interviewed people, especially if they are victims of human trafficking. There are several other documentaries on the subject including Cambodia’s Daughters (2017), The Cambodian Room (2016, produced by the Global Fund for Women) and Cambodia’s Hidden Sex trade (2012). In 2007, Rithy Panh made a documentary Paper Cannot Wrap Up Embers about prostitution in Cambodia. None of these other documentaries specifically deal with the virginity trade which is a prevalent aspect of Cambodian culture. An old Khmer proverb “men are like gold but woman are like cloth” refers to the cultural norm which implies that gold stays strong and shiny even if tarnished and bent but if a cloth gets ‘dirty’, it will never be clean. The virginity trade exposes especially young rural girls, as young as 12 or 13, to exploitation. Cambodia has laws against human trafficking but enforcement is weak and police corruption rampant – not to mention the harm caused by the female moral conduct law, Chbab Srey. 

The last reel (2014) by Sotho Kulikar. Sotho is a seasoned producer and has worked on several foreign films filmed in Cambodia. The Last Reel is her first movie as a director. The movie is about memory, forgiveness and the magic of cinema. A rebellious young woman finds her way into an abandoned cinema and discovers a movie filmed before the Khmer Rouge destroyed the Cambodian film industry. She finds connections to her own life and to the secrets of people around her. She wants to break free from narrow gender roles. This is seen through several references such as the Khmer proverb of men being like gold and women like cloth and the Chbab Srey that a mother gives to her rebelling daughter. 

The movie itself is surprisingly interesting, and dedicated to the fallen stars and staff of Khmer cinema. While I was disappointed with the moral resolution for one of the characters (the girl’s father), in general the story was engaging and carries well. 

Jailbreak (2017) is a Cambodian action movie directed by Jimmy Henderson. It is a high-paced action movie with many choreographed fighting scenes. The movie achieved exceptional success in Cambodia. Most of the movie happens in a prison and a lot of the action is between three police officers who are protecting their key witness against an angry prison mob, while trying to save their own lives in the process. There is not much character development but the fight scenes are energetic and showcase ancient Cambodian martial arts – Bokator (derived from the words ‘bo’ – to pound, and ‘ator’ – a lion, generating the meaning ‘pounding a lion’).  Bokator, also known as Kun L’Bokator, is one of the oldest fighting systems in the world and recognised as UNESCO intangible heritage. Some parts of Bokator resemble dance, which in the movie gives it a highly choreographed feel. The plot itself is not very well developed and basically provides a setting for extended action scenes. 

Cambodian Living Arts 

Arn Chord-Pond founded Cambodian Living Arts in 1998. When he returned to Cambodia to try to find friends and family, he discovered that most of Cambodia’s artists had been killed and the remaining were living in poverty. He wanted to revitalise Cambodian cultural traditions and its arts scene. It is a wonderful, vibrant, interesting organisation that carries out very important work. More at https://www.cambodianlivingarts.org

Next stop: Cameroon

Thank you JK for proofreading