People of No Choice
Witnessing evacuations of the American mission as well as majority of his government of the Khmer Republic, Prince Sisowath Sirik Matak was alone in the capital, farewelling his last Year of the Dragon.
The falling of the Republican government ushered the Khmer New Year of the Snake. Being acknowledged his name’s existence on Khmer Rouge’s Death List, the Prince was refused by the International Red Cross at the safe zone it set up at Hotel Le Phnom. Under violent threat and pressure, following notification by French diplomat Jean Dyrac, accompanied by British journalist Jon Swain and French anthropologist François Bizot, the Prince left the French Embassy ‘voluntarily’, accompanied by Mam Nai, later know as Comrade Chan, head of the interrogation unit at Tuol Sleng, or S-21 prison camp.
Ten years later, Gen. Lon Nol died from a heart problem in the United States. ‘Comrade Chan’, together with many senior Khmer Rouge leaders, technically including Hun Sen, remains alive, in freedom.
Fate of the Republican leaders has repeated throughout the decades in the tumbling modern history of Cambodia, to different political figures, with various endings.
Prince Norodom Sihanouk has been in exile again and again since 1950s, in different neighbouring countries. Another dozen of years after the General, Pol Pot died from a heart problem, at least reportedly, as well, in a remote area bordering Thailand. Currently active political figures of Norodom Ranariddh and Sam Rainsy have been and are having similar experiences.
Tracing back to the days commencing the fall of the Angkorean era in the fifteenth century, various Khmer rulers sought protection or support from Siam and Vietnam, and later France and China. The nation managed to be independent swaying between influences of different regional or international powers.
Surrounding the Tonlé Sap, and with the Mekong flows through, Cambodia lays on one of the richest lands of Southeast Asia, while being almost the poorest country in the region, probably only better than Timor-Leste, by war both of which have been torn for decades.
Following the fall of Angkor, the Cambodian history has been filled with compromises to external powers and brutality in domestic government, with only occasional confrontations to its neighbours.
Throughout the history of Cambodia, ordinary people have rarely been regarded with importance. The Khmer Rouge reign, during which millions were executed or died irregularly, was only an extreme example of the tradition. Not too many years before the rising of Khmer Rouge, Prince Sihanouk has been doing similar things during his rule in 1950s and 1960s. Despite executions and disappearances of dissidents, ten thousand farmer have been killed in 1967 as Sihanouk ordered his army to collect ‘rice surplus’ at government price and sell for foreign exchange.[1] Similar to the Military Communism existed during the Russian civil war, Sihanouk’s rule, however, was implemented in peace. Chandler reasonably explained the mass irregular death during the Khmer Rouge period. Policies have actually rationally, in other word, cold-bloodedly, made and implemented to maximize rice productions and minimize consumptions.[2] The government was only ready or willing to feed a population which he could ‘afford’. And this population, ‘selected by nature’, could produce more rice than those who ‘perished’. Mass executions existed during the rule of Khmer Rouge, however it is believed to be fairly less than those died from forced labour, quietly. Khmer Rouge has been exceptional for the number of people died irregularly, as well as for the ‘Communism’ label it was associated with. However, being a ‘Khmer’ organisation, Khmer Rouge did carry out the ruling in the Khmer way, but drove it to extremism. Such things still exist nowadays, but much less brutal, however mainly due to pressures from the West on whom Cambodia’s annual budgets have been relying heavily. Consequently, with the continual increments of Chinese aid, the Cambodian government, or the authoritarian rulers’ freedom of manoeuvre extended largely.
Coinciding the liberation movements worldwide, Prince Sihanouk was labelled and praised as a national hero and liberator. However, we may not ignore the fact that he was completely selected and crowned by the French as a puppet. During the World War II, he planned to make use of the Japanese influences to gain independence from French controls. Siam and Vietnam disappeared on the platform due to their own weakness during the periods. But what the Prince was doing had actually little difference from his predecessors who worked hard to maximise their own influences making use of other powers.
During the likely slavery Angkorean period, the country was being ruled with long-term plans. As the government heavily relied on agriculture, reservoirs or sometimes smaller water ponds were constructed for watering crops. These facilities allowed higher production of crops in the area even comparing with modern days when fewer attention have been put on organisation and maintenance of hydraulic facilities. The shift has probably begun as early as during later Angkorean periods when the royal family members and warlords fought each other for power. Repeated fighting for power, has made constructing or maintaining infrastructures meaningless, since long-term investments kept on being destroyed in short-terms. Indirectly, fight led to fights. Repeated conflicts for power has actually harmed respects to the King, as elite or warlord became King ‘by accident’ one after another following no generally-accepted rules, but power. The Kings are unable to set up a cult to themselves personally or to their own, but usually different, ‘royal’ clans. Gaining the power has been priority to many other things for the elites, such as the land of the country, and occasionally independence. It is true that, Cambodia repeatedly handed over land to its neighbours to avoid further invasions during the history, however, it also happened quite a few times that such an offer was only a price for its neighbour’s support to a particular ruler personally, and it had barely anything to do with the safety or wellness of the country. Vietnam and Siam had sometimes set up different kings fought each other. And those kings, in turn, had to compete in benefits offered to both neighbours. Cambodia, the country as well as its people, was a piece of cake to be fought for and shared by different powers. Interestingly as a result, new kings have now been being selected from a number of royal clans by a small group of political and religious elites, as ruled by the Cambodian laws, which further clarified that a king has no right to nominate the new king regardless he retires alive or passed away naturally. Under such circumstances, it has become obviously unwise to make investments into long-term infrastructure which would cost huge amounts of money and labour, but benefits would be seen long after. Despite who would rule the country in the future, the king might even not know whether the land, on which the infrastructure was being set up, would be within the Cambodian territory years later. With its neighbours developing into civilisation and modernity, Cambodia has been remaining ‘traditional’ for decades and centuries. As Chinese businessmen are boosting Cambodia quality for ‘natural’ and ‘no additives’, we might should also know that, it is lack of modern methods of hygienic controls in production and industrialised ways of packaging while transporting. Modern technology brings chemicals, but kills bacteria as well. Modernity brings longer instead of shorter expectation of human lives worldwide.
Cambodia, modernising under pressures from outside, remains quite unchanged as it has been for hundreds of years. Whenever a balance of powers is broken in the region, Cambodia would always to be the first victim. Prince Sirik Matak thought his government has ‘chosen’ freedom for his people. But, Cambodia and Cambodians are always not really having options on hand for picking up.
[1] From Independence to Civil War[M]//Chandler D P. A History of Cambodia. North Sydney, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin. 1992: 201.
[2] Revolution in Cambodia[M]//Chandler D P. A History of Cambodia. North Sydney, NSW, Australia: Allen & Unwin. 1992: 210-11.
