My grandma is now 92 years old. She used to tell me a lot of stories about her life in the past especially about the war and life during the war. In her life she has been experience few wars period in Cambodia, from Vietnam war that American bomb Cambodia until Khmer Rouge.
Until around year 2000, she still keeps her clothes in a bag so that it would be easy to grasp and go if there is any war happen. She also recommends me to prepare the same bag, unfortunately life in my generation is too far to believe that such a war can happen again so I did not follow her advice :)
The Generations of this mix Cambodian-Chinese family until my grandma generation are the agricultural farmers merchants. The families and extended family live along the Mekong River in Kampong Cham province. They have big agriculture land where they hire people to work for them.
Recall to that time, my grandma has many happy stories to tell about happy village life. She said that, people in the past are generous and honest. Traveling from one village another far village can takes days. At night the traveller can stop at the transit village and the host villager welcome to the unknown traveller by offering accommodation and food. It is known to be a common attitude for people at that time.
My grandma is illiterate as in her time only Buddhist temples are hosted as school and only accept boy. Somehow in Khmer society there are Chbab Srey(law for women) and Chbab Pros (law for men) to teach men and women to be behave good in the family as wife and husband and to the community. This law has been embedded in Khmer culture and has been verbally teaching in the family to son and daughter from generation to generation. These laws were at one point in the history written down into poem by Krom Ngoy, a famous Khmer scholar and poetry of all time.
In my generation, I learned about that laws at school but I notice that my grandma who is illiterate has been well follow and deeply understand the meaning of the laws. Example, when walking with her she never passes over a branch of tree that fall on the road. She usually picks it up and put it a side of the road. She said we should not pass over any branch/blockage that block the road, that way other passengers that come after us won't get into any accident.
(to be continued ... )
Until around year 2000, she still keeps her clothes in a bag so that it would be easy to grasp and go if there is any war happen. She also recommends me to prepare the same bag, unfortunately life in my generation is too far to believe that such a war can happen again so I did not follow her advice :)
The Generations of this mix Cambodian-Chinese family until my grandma generation are the agricultural farmers merchants. The families and extended family live along the Mekong River in Kampong Cham province. They have big agriculture land where they hire people to work for them.
Recall to that time, my grandma has many happy stories to tell about happy village life. She said that, people in the past are generous and honest. Traveling from one village another far village can takes days. At night the traveller can stop at the transit village and the host villager welcome to the unknown traveller by offering accommodation and food. It is known to be a common attitude for people at that time.
My grandma is illiterate as in her time only Buddhist temples are hosted as school and only accept boy. Somehow in Khmer society there are Chbab Srey(law for women) and Chbab Pros (law for men) to teach men and women to be behave good in the family as wife and husband and to the community. This law has been embedded in Khmer culture and has been verbally teaching in the family to son and daughter from generation to generation. These laws were at one point in the history written down into poem by Krom Ngoy, a famous Khmer scholar and poetry of all time.
In my generation, I learned about that laws at school but I notice that my grandma who is illiterate has been well follow and deeply understand the meaning of the laws. Example, when walking with her she never passes over a branch of tree that fall on the road. She usually picks it up and put it a side of the road. She said we should not pass over any branch/blockage that block the road, that way other passengers that come after us won't get into any accident.
(to be continued ... )
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