Now we have been here a while it is important to acknowledge Cambodia's history. From April 1975 to 1979 the Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot was in force. The background is very dark and implicates USA, China and others. Essentially the US continued the Vietnam war by bombing the hell out of Cambodia. The Khmer Rouge rose up against the Vietnamese and Pol Pot defined his vision of year zero (think Gadaffi, Mugabe, etc).
Everyone was driven out of the cities to the countryside to grow rice. Hospitals, schools and other organisations closed down. Anyone seen as a professional or intellectual - or anyone wearing glasses was tortured and killed. An estimated 2 million (of 8 million) died.
Even after the Vietnames conquered the KR in 1980 there was turmoil and upheaval for the population until 2000. So you can imagine the lasting legacy. Everyone has lost some relatives; no one had property (no records) and even the museums and libraries were destroyed.
It is grim; but in the face of it the spirit of the people is awesome as they start to go back to normality. But its important to understand the background. Believe it or not only one of the perpretrators has been tried and found guilty. Pol Pol died peacefully overseas in 1988.
How do people deal with such a history? A brilliant book is "First they killed my father" by Loung Ung (or visit her website: www.loungung.com. She was a young child when this happened and recounts everyday life - - scrabling to get food, the fate of her family and her escape.
Sorry folks - a bit serious today! But if you are worrying about the carbon tax or state of your AFL team - don't!
