Experiences...
Meas
Bopha:
Meas Bopha was nine years old when the Khmer Rouge took over Cambodia.
Her father was a doctor, and for that, he was shot and killed by
the Khmer Rouge. Meas and her family were then forced to leave the
city. In doing this, Meas was separated from her mother and had
to endure the Khmer Rouge on her own. She managed to survive thanks
to her knowledge and wits. Meas changed her name and identity. She
gave false information about herself and her family to the Khmer
Rouge, in hopes of protecting them. Even with all her efforts, the
Khmer Rouge sought to kill her numerous times, but thankfully, she
managed to stay alive. Unfortunately, three of her siblings were
killed by the Khmer Rouge.
Ker
Hun:
Ker Hun, now 55, and his wife Chea Samdy, 45, are survivors of Pol
Pot’s regime. Ker Hun reflected back to the time before Pol
Pot took control of the country, saying that he and his wife were
laborers, and were at the bottom of society, socially and economically.
He said that thanks to this, his family survived the ordeal without
having anyone of them die. But Ker stated that all of his brothers
and sisters were killed. He added that all his wife’s relatives
suffered the same fate as his brothers and sisters did. Hun says,
“I think they did not kill me because they believed I really
was a cycle driver.”
Presently, Ker and his wife
along with their eight kids live freely in Cambodia. Ker is still
working, struggling everyday to earn just enough money to buy rice.
This shows that the Khmer Rouge is not capable of doing anything
but killing innocent people. Since their only objective is to bring
the peasant class of Cambodia up to replace the elite class, the
result is still, the people of the peasant class are as poor as
they ever were.
Source:
Faulder, Dominic. " Special Report: Indochina: In the years
of Dying: Human Bones bear mute-testimony to Pol Pot's Cambodia;
Here Survivors give their accounts. Asian Week. (April 7, 2002):
p ASWK10449687. (Expanded Academic Index)
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