Monday, 14 April 2008

Former U.N. ambassador speaks at CSULB

Sichan Siv, who survived a rebellion in Cambodia, was awarded by President Alexander for the establishment of Cambodian communities.

Joanne Tucker
Daily 49er
Issue date: 4/14/08

Former U.S. Ambassador for the United Nations Sichan Siv spoke on Wednesday at Cal State Long Beach on his upcoming book "Golden Bones" that describes his survival of the communist Khmer Rouge rebel occupation of Cambodia.

Karen Quintiliani, assistant professor for the department of anthropology, commended Siv as "putting Long Beach on the map in a whole new way." She noted that he helped establish Cambodia Town in Long Beach, which is home to the largest Cambodian community outside Southeast Asia.

CSULB President F. King Alexander also presented a gift to Siv for his encouragement and hope for the Cambodian communities.

Siv described his book, which will be released July 1, as a memoir and history of the Khmer Rouge occupation.

"By the early '70s I began to see so much death and destruction," Siv said. "I saw a lot of markets where civilian lives were lost."

Siv was offered a flight out of the country by the American Embassy on April 12, 1975. He missed the opportunity but remained at the embassy with his mother, brother, sister and their families.

After only five days, all of them were kicked out and they ended up in a forced labor camp.

"I knew my background put everyone, my family, in danger," Siv said, who had worked for an American organization, CARE.

"My mother gave me her blessing," Siv said. He left his family to journey through Cambodia on a bicycle for three weeks before being captured by the Khmer Rouge.

In order to avoid persecution and death because of his education and background, he convinced the Khmer Rouge that he was a former truck driver.

Siv is the only survivor out of the 16 family members.

"Whenever I went to bed I never knew if I would be alive the next day," Siv said, adding his goal was to eventually travel to Thailand for refuge.

On Feb. 13, 1976, Siv found a chance to escape. For three days he traveled through the jungles of Cambodia without food and drink avoiding patrols of the Khmer Rouge. After finally reaching Thailand, he was jailed for illegal entry and put into a refugee camp.

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