Cambodia is a small country located in Southeast Asia. This country is unknown to many people all around the world. Not until the communist party of Kampuchea took power that changed the fate of the country. During this brutal regime, approximately two million people were killed and tortured, which caused chaos everywhere in the country. Countries all around the world heard about it and despised the country’s government. The people of Cambodia hated that regime, and they hoped for a better future. Luckily, on January 7, 1979, the civil war ended which brought peace to the country. After the war, Cambodians started rebuilding their home country to become a better place to avoid the horrible past and to make people think positively about the country again. Because of the hard work from every citizen, Cambodia became what it is today. If we compare Cambodia today and Cambodia in the Khmer Rouge period we will see there is a major difference between the government, people’s lifestyle, and culture.
History of Cambodia
The first major difference between the two periods is the government. In 1975, the Khmer Rouge leadership secretly headed by Pol Pot, took power and established the communist party of Kampuchea. They named themselves the Democratic Kampuchea (DK). This party lasted from April 17, 1975 to January 7, 1979. Because Vietnam invaded the capital city Phnom Penh, the Pol Pot regimes ended. During this period, the late king, Norodom Sihanouk was imprisoned in the royal of palace at Phnom Penh. In this case, this event ended the monarchy of Cambodia that lasted about 1000 years. When Pol Pot took power, he forced all the people who live in the city to evacuate to the countryside for 3 days. He told them that the Americans were invading the capital Phnom Penh. This was obviously a lie. He sent them out to the province because he wants the people to work as a farmer. The government’s goal was to transform Cambodia into a rural, classless society in which there were no rich people, no poor people, and no exploitation. To accomplish this, they abolished money, free markets, normal schooling, private property, foreign clothing styles, religious practices, and traditional Khmer culture (Khmer Rouge History).
If any individuals opposed to the government, that person or the whole family will get executed. The country has no connection with any foreign countries. There was no import or export and no tourism. On the other hand, if we looked at Cambodia today, the government is completely different from that period. In today’s period, the king serves as the head of the state while the prime minister serves as the head of the government. Because of that, Cambodia is called the Kingdom of Cambodia which was established in 1993. The prime minister is Hun Sen while the current king is Samdach Norodom Sihamoni. The governments today believed in a democracy that established free trade. The currency of the country is the riel, but they also use the dollar. Country all over the world is cooperating with Cambodia through trading and business. Industry inside Cambodia manufactured clothes, and they do agriculture which is mostly exported to foreign countries. According to the statistic of the ministry of tourism in Cambodia in 2017, the country received 3638 million dollars from international tourism from 5 million tourists all around the world (Cambodia tourism statistics). Because of that, Cambodia is currently developing everyday compare to Cambodia in 1975.
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Lifestyle in Cambodia
Not only the government of the country is different, but the people’s lifestyle is different too. During the Khmer Rouge period, they classified people as “base people”- people under Khmer Rouge control before April 17, 1975-and new people- mostly city people (Jeff Hay 59). The base people are the people living in the province, and they usually work as a farmer. The new people are the people that were evacuated from the city to the provinces. Before they were evacuated, they have a good decent job. If the government knows that you are well educated or worked for the previous government, you will get executed. Some children were forced to join the government’s military camp to trained to become a soldier. They were brainwashed by the government and killed all the people that disobey the rule even if that person is their parent. All people during that era were treated as slave laborers. They have to work heavily every single day with less amount of food. If they don’t work or steal any type of food that was not provided by the government, they will get punished. Families often were separated because people were divided into groups according to their sex and age group. They also couldn’t travel freely. Because of all of this, they don’t have a good lifestyle and people wanted to migrate out of the country. In contrast, Cambodian people today have a better lifestyle than in the past. Adults can work any job they want if they have the knowledge to do it. They are not forced to work heavily or overtime. As for food, there is a lot of choices for them to eat from traditional Cambodian food to Japanese food. Children have access to a good education system. Every child was sent to school by their parent, and the student wants to seek for better education. People can travel freely anywhere they want. Businessmen and investors are building mall or entertainment centers for everyone to enjoy and have fun. Families also have access to better healthcare compared to the past.
Culture of Cambodia
The last dissimilarity between the two periods is the culture. During the Khmer Rouge period, everyone was forced to wear dark clothes and was killed or punished for wearing jewelry. Whereas today, people were influenced by western culture, so they started wearing a different style of clothing from all over the world. In addition, Cambodian also keeps their tradition by wearing traditional outfit such krama, sampot, and sarong. The marriage in the Khmer Rouge era was forced and controlled by the government itself. Strangers were forced to marry another stranger, rich with the poor and ugly people with beautiful people so that the society is balanced. At the wedding, there are about 20-30 couples together getting married on the same day. However, in today wedding, some marriage is arranged by their parent and some is decided by their own. The typical Cambodian wedding usually lasts for 2 days. The first day started in the evening were they invited monks to give them some blessing. On the morning of the second day, they have some traditional ceremony while in the evening is the wedding reception. Even though Cambodia believes in the Buddhist religion for about 1000 years, the Khmer rouge tried to eliminate the religion. Monks were killed, disrobed, and were sent to the field to work as slaves. Buddhist statues and pagodas were burned and destroyed. After the period ended, Cambodians still practice the religion. Temples are built and people started going to them again. The government of the Khmer Rouge doesn’t celebrate any important holiday such as the Khmer new year, so people have to work every single day. As for today, there are a lot of major holidays in Cambodia. One of the most important holidays is Khmer New year which is celebrated in April. During this holiday, every Cambodian gathered and played traditional games, sing, and dance. Most importantly, they also go to the pagoda to get some blessing from the monk.
Conclusion
In conclusion, there are dissimilarities in the government, people’s lifestyle, and culture in Cambodia during 1975 and in the present. During the Khmer Rouge period, the government-controlled the fate of every citizen, people do not have a good lifestyle, and culture was forgotten. Whereas today, the government is currently developing every day, people have the right to do anything they want, and people maintain their traditions. Cambodian citizens should all work hard and study hard to help develop the country to become a better place to live in. In addition, we should learn from the past to avoid the horrible things that happen and build a new future for the next generation.
