khmer sources

Miech Ponn speaks hoarsely and at length. At 73, this Cambodian writer has a lot of time under his belt and a great deal to say.
His half-century experiences make him widely recognized both amongst the Cambodian public and abroad. Few men of his ilk survive. In 2003, Miech was presented with a lifetime achievement award by Hun Sen and last October, was the first Cambodian writer ever to win the prestigious SeaWrite Award—an accolade presented to promote Southeast Asian literary talent and to bring the nations of this region closer together.
Miech Ponn is the author of a number of important books about Khmer culture. Aimed at Cambodian youth, the titles include A Girl Entering the Age of Puberty, Khmer Tradition Parts 1, 2 and 3 and Children’s Folktales. Besides these, Miech has another book in the process of being printed—Four Types of Khmer Wedding Ceremony.

"I had been researching and collating that research into these four books since I was a teacher in 1953. I only completed them a few years ago and I am so proud of my work," Miech says Khmer literature student Chhorn Norn, who studies at the Royal University of Phnom Penh, says Miech
Ponn’s achievements are very important for both Cambodian and foreign children.
"In a modern society—even as technology begins to usurp the traditional—we still need to be aware of our national identity," Chhorn says. "There are no other writers in Cambodia like Miech Ponn."
Miech Ponn was born in 1932, to a farming family in Kirivong district, Takeo province. The youngest of five sisters and four brothers, Miech was aware of the importance of Khmer traditions from an early age—his mother organized wedding ceremonies and other such events.

In 1939, he was one of the first Cambodian schoolchildren to go to primary school under the French-governed education system. "I went to Wat Pratheat School in Kirivong. As boys we were to become monks and were to learn about Buddhist doctrines and the workings of the pagoda, and the
girls were to study at home. The girls could only learn how to read and write, that’s all. I liked learning poetry."
Miech proved to be a competent student and was given the opportunity to study further at one of only two training schools in the country. "In 1950, Cambodia only had two such higher-level institutions, one school was for Administration, Economy and Finance Management, the other was a teachers’ training college."
His father was wary of the former school, preferring Miech didn’t study business. "He told me I would learn to sin if I studied economics or finance management, he wished for me to study to be a teacher … and I agreed with him." His parents, and mentors, died before they saw their son graduate. Awarded his teaching license in 1953, Miech was then sent to work in Stoung, Kompong Thom province. In 1970 he married Sam Kim San, together they had five children.
In 1972 he left teaching for a position as president of an American-funded community development scheme in Kompong Thom. Miech says he learnt a great deal about Khmer traditions because he lived and worked in a close-knit community and was able to observe their customs and record them.

"I did spend a lot of time far from my family, because I had to travel for work. And during the civil war, from 1972 to 1975, it was even more difficult to see them because the roads were very bad. The road from Phnom Penh to Kompong Thom was usually cut off."
On April 17, 1975, Khmer Rouge armed forces ousted the population of Phnom Penh into the countryside. Miech was in the capital at the time and wanted to travel north, to Kompong Thom and his family, but was forced to travel in the opposite direction. When Miech asked the soldiers why he was to go to the south, a gun was pointed at him and he was told, "If you do not want to die, you will go south." His hopes to see his family in Kompong Thom were dashed. He spent two weeks walking, carrying his beloved books and papers to southern Takeo province.
The Khmer Rouge regime, led by Pol Pot, closed markets, stripped the population of individual property rights, permitted no employment besides working in the fields and disallowed eating in groups.
"Everyday I had to work very hard just to get a plate of rice, if anybody violated this rule, they were tortured and killed as they were said to have betrayed the Angka or Organization."
It was imperative Miech kept his background a secret, so he buried his books and documents in the ground. "Many intellectuals like me died because of torture, over-work, and disease."
"I nearly died twice. The first time, a Khmer Rouge soldier ordered me to guard a corn field, so (as I found out later) they could kill me during the night. My nephew was a Khmer Rouge local security man and he told me, if possible to stay away, which I did. The second time I was very ill because I was so hungry … I also didn’t want to live and I told my older sister I would kill myself."
"But even though I survived, two of my brothers and a sister died at that time."
After those terrible years, Miech returned to Kompong Thom to find the rest of his family. "From Kirivong to Kompong Thom I had to travel by army vehicle for many days; just finding transportation took a long time," he says.
"When the car stopped in Phnom Penh, I went to buy something from a book shop I used to frequent. Inside, I met a relative of my wife’s called Phat [pronounced Pat]. Phat was now very thin and really didn’t look like the Phat I once knew. He told me my wife and my children were all killed in the Pol Pot regime." Miech says he collapsed upon hearing the news.
"I cried … and Phat cried."
Miech did eventually remarry; they had three daughters.
During the Vietnamese socialist regime post-Pol Pot, he began work as deputy chief at the administration office of the party’s political science school from 1980 to 1985, promoted to chief in 1986. He also taught history of economics, translated communist literature from French into Khmer including the biographies of Karl Marx and Ho Chi Minh. He also worked alongside Nicole Vairon, compiling a French-Khmer economics dictionary and in 1989 he collaborated with Dr. Long Siem putting together a dictionary of Khmer spoken during the Angkor period.
After the election in 1993, he retired from the Ministry of Planning and has worked as a writer and researcher on Khmer culture and tradition at the Buddhism Institute ever since.
Miech is pragmatic about his role as Cambodia’s cultural historian and doesn’t do it for the money.
"I think there are very few people who would want my job as a writer on culture and tradition. I have to work hard for little financial gain, but I will work until I can no longer stand up."