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Page 1: Twenty-Five Years Later, The Haunting ContinuesBy Ronnie Yimsut
Friday, May 12th, 2000
Oregon, USA -- During Khmer New Year in April 1975, I was a young 13 years old. It was an age too old to forget and too young to deal with what I have witnessed and experienced in Cambodias recent bitter history. Exactly twenty-five years later, during Khmer New Year 2000, I found myself sitting on the top floor of the Popular Guesthouse in my old neighborhood and reliving the old memories once again. From the top of this popular backpackers establishment, which sat just across from Siem Reap River and my old home site, I reflected on what had happened to my beloved birthplace, my people, my family, and myself.
I suppose I was attempting to understand and make some sense of tragic events that had occurred here in the past 25 years. Twenty-five years may seem to be a long, long time, but it was just "yesterday" for me personally. The memories of the days gone by are still fresh in my mind. The world, in general, now knows what had happened to Cambodia since April 17, 1975. Most notably, the world now knows about the Khmer Rouge reign of terrors and the Killing Fields that followed. It was a nightmare that I would rather forget completely. Unfortunately, it was not possible for me to forget this tragic past in Cambodias history and my own. It is part of me, the nightmare, like it or not. The Khmer Rouge was back in the news again after 25 years. Perhaps justice (not revenge) for my murdered family members and for my own suffering is near as the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia were negotiating for a tribunal of the last surviving Khmer Rouge leadership, the mass murderers of more than three millions. I am still hopeful for justice because vengeance can be very bitter, I know.
I am not certain why I wanted to be in Siem Reap again at this specific time. Perhaps it was the 25th anniversary of the falls of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge that drove me here. Perhaps it was the great ancient city, which was a good home to me once during my early childhood. Perhaps it was the "stoic" smile of the simple people of Siem Reap that drove me back here again. Perhaps I was in Siem Reap to reflect on the good and bad memories from my youth, to heal and to reconcile. Whatever the reason, I knew that I needed to be back at my birthplace. |
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