^ MeMo, I don't pretend to have data or research to support what I'll say. But it is mostly a hunch.

I assume that most people who fled the camps or places where they live had either witnessed deaths and murders or they were themselves in danger of being killed anytime. So they would make plans to escape and take refuge in Thailand. From there, they would have a hard life in the refugee camps (testimonials usually say that the conditions were awful and that there may even have been mistreatment) before being resettled in a third country (usually the United States, Australia, and France, but rarely, I think).

On the other hand, Cambodians who have lived through the KR regime were farmers, KR members, or they managed to live quietly wherever they were, without witnessing the tortures, murders, and executions. So they had no reason to flee and they remained in the country.

It doesn't mean though that there are no Cambodians who remained in the country that didn't suffer trauma. There are a lot, but still a minority if you compare it to the number of Cambodians who lived through the regime, survived and moved on.

I remember back in 2004, I was attending a master class in International relations and the topic was about "pol potism". We had a guest lecture by 2 persons from the Khmer Institute of Democracy, who presented findings from a survey about the perceptions of Cambodians towards the Khmer Rouge Trials. One of my classmates at the time (a journalist, a few years older than me, if I recall correctly) became very emotional and told about his sister who had been raped and murdered by KR soldiers/officials in his presence. He had to leave the class earlier, in tears.

Joon wrote:^ MeMo, I don't pretend to have data or research to support what I'll say. But it is mostly a hunch.

I assume that most people who fled the camps or places where they live had either witnessed deaths and murders or they were themselves in danger of being killed anytime. So they would make plans to escape and take refuge in Thailand. From there, they would have a hard life in the refugee camps (testimonials usually say that the conditions were awful and that there may even have been mistreatment) before being resettled in a third country (usually the United States, Australia, and France, but rarely, I think).

On the other hand, Cambodians who have lived through the KR regime were farmers, KR members, or they managed to live quietly wherever they were, without witnessing the tortures, murders, and executions. So they had no reason to flee and they remained in the country.

That makes sense to me and largely aligns with the assumptions I had, but I've also wondered if there's a cultural element to it as well. Perhaps there are more traumatized Cambodians in Cambodia than we think, but they don't have the word for it or they feel they can't or shouldn't share it, whereas the Cambodians who resettled in new countries were encouraged to address the trauma it was assumed they had. So they told/tell their stories, while the Cambodians who stayed behind remain silent. Maybe some of both? I don't really know.

I was a Comms Officer for the SES. When towns in Australia are being prepared for evacuation ahead of severe cyclones, the townspeople are told by emergency services psychologists that those who remain in town (in safety shelters) and then deal with the aftermath will cope far better psychologically than those who evacuate and then return to their home after the event. This is about the mental battle of fighter vs. victim. The ES system would far prefer that everyone evacuate as it's easier to deal with the logistics, but are required to give people the information and the choice.

I believe this is now required for fire storms, but I am not positive on that one.

StroppyChops wrote:I was a Comms Officer for the SES. When towns in Australia are being prepared for evacuation ahead of severe cyclones, the townspeople are told by emergency services psychologists that those who remain in town (in safety shelters) and then deal with the aftermath will cope far better psychologically than those who evacuate and then return to their home after the event. This is about the mental battle of fighter vs. victim. The ES system would far prefer that everyone evacuate as it's easier to deal with the logistics, but are required to give people the information and the choice.

I believe this is now required for fire storms, but I am not positive on that one.

How many jobs have you had?

You can't stay very long in each profession

StroppyChops wrote:I was a Comms Officer for the SES. When towns in Australia are being prepared for evacuation ahead of severe cyclones, the townspeople are told by emergency services psychologists that those who remain in town (in safety shelters) and then deal with the aftermath will cope far better psychologically than those who evacuate and then return to their home after the event. This is about the mental battle of fighter vs. victim. The ES system would far prefer that everyone evacuate as it's easier to deal with the logistics, but are required to give people the information and the choice.

I believe this is now required for fire storms, but I am not positive on that one.

Good insights, as always, Stroppy! It does seem to reinforce that observation I made.
Oftentimes, when discussing with young Khmericans, they would say that their parents or grandparents plainly refuse to come back to Cambodia for visit or retiring. On the other hand, Cambodians from France are more often eager to come back after retiring or when they have time to visit.

From what I've read, human conditions under the KR were remarkably different in different parts of the country. Some people were forced to begin farming on areas of land previously considered unusable for agriculture (hence the massive irrigation works by forced labor in horrible conditions) while others settled in already well-establish rice growing regions. Some regions had relatively competent local oversight while others were under control of murderous psychopaths. And then there would be the distinction between "new people" and the rest...the new people being previous urban dwellers who knew nothing about farming or rural survival and had much fewer rights.

kiwiincambodia wrote:How many jobs have you had?

I was actually waiting for that to set Digg3r off again, this is one of his favourite topics where I'm concerned.

I was a farm boy through to my mid teens, and then a qualified chef before spending time at Her Majesty's pleasure. On release I retrained in computer science and served for 20 years in the public service as a lecturer, then various manager roles, then lecturer again. While lecturing I served as a senior ambulance officer with St John, and later as a communications officer with State Emergency Service - not uncommon for public servants in the outback, the state government pushes government agencies to release staff for community service work due to low populations and almost zero support from private sector employers. The state then paid me a reasonable sum of money in exchange for my tenure.

I also like pina coladas and walking in the rain.

Hello to each of you, my name is Aurelius,
I am happy to say that I reached Cambodia and I am healthy and powerfull enough to travel. It is a beautiful country situated very well on the Earth with beautiful beaches and landscapes. Fortunately enough the planet gave us more than enough sources of ccomfort and we can choose many other destinations and we are not obliged primary by ourselfs neither by others to stay the lenght of time we decided to stay in Cambodia, many times inflicted by the visa duration, but we can simply leave earlier towards the specific road/destination which gives us a smile deep inside ourselfs, as life is short and happiness will always have priority to frustrations. Unlucky for Cambodians they had a bad history which envolved people of their own killing other people of their own and not enemyes from other countries invading them. Maybe hate was one of the feelings which helped them do all those things and this means there is loads of hate inside. But negligible we cross to the present and we can see that the lucky people left alive they are either fortunate to be so by "luck" or by the status they had, and this is bringing a big question: " What kind of people do surround you, are they the minimum smart enough to improove both you and them in a meaningful way or are they just a waste of time...
Well I would like it to be the first way but it seems that only the types of people who are under your or general standard would try so much to beg for attention, in different ways, which are not bringing benefits neither to them neither to you. One example is the way they try to convince you to use their "reputable/reliable/honest/safe/clean/inexpensive" tuktuk or motorbike. Another example comes from the way a customer is treated special if has a white skin frature by receiving a special price. Another example are the unfortunate travellers which had occured theft, scam, rudeness with low to non existent reasons, and as a proof of the visible difference of the character between Cambodians and Westeners, the related story of the Westener victim is not shout in an angry way but rather in a dissapointed sad way of having this kind of people as hosts in this country.
At the end, they deserve their life as they are the commanders of it and let's think deeper than just taking as granted the explination that corruptors are driving the country, because the corruptors are still cambodians and there is a phrase in the world and it sounds like this: " If you want to know how a man really is, put him on the throne. "
Thank you for your attention, I did read this blog and I want to give pure humanitarian and honest right to westerner's feelings of disregard towards Cambodia.

are you a bot aurelius? you posted the same thing elsewhere.