This weekend, Columbia students and members of the larger New York community gathered together to learn more about genocide and its long term consequences, as described in Tiara Delgado’s documentary “Fragile Hopes at the Killing Fields.”
By Nettra Pan
Monday 5 October 2009
(Post by CAAI News Media)
If you have ever endured trauma and lived to tell the tale, you’re likely to be considered what The Cambodia Project Chapter’s guest of honor, Ambassador Kilong Ung, calls a “golden leaf,” a phrase he coined to describe and unite people who have survived despite extreme odds. Ambassador Ung would call himself, and roughly six million other people who lived in Cambodia from 1975 to 1979, a “Golden Leaf,” a title he trademarked to describe a survivor of the Cambodian genocide. It is Ambassador Ung’s hope that the use of this phrase will also help raise awareness about one of the worst genocides of the 20th century, one in which so few people show interest.
Of course, this is information that attendees of “Survivors of Genocide,” which took place in Lerner C555 last Saturday, already know. “Survivors of Genocide” is one of many inter-school events organized by the Cambodia Project Chapter, a Columbia student-led group, which aims to raise awareness surrounding development issues with a focus on Cambodia and the larger Southeast Asian region. This weekend, Columbia students and members of the larger New York community gathered together to learn more about genocide and its long-term consequences, as described in Tiara Delgado’s documentary “Fragile Hopes at the Killing Fields” and a presentation given by Ambassador Ung on his personal experience during the genocide in 1975 through 1979.
As part of the introductions to the night’s somber topic, Delgado’s film featured a brief clip on how the Khmer Rouge came to power in 1975. Although her documentary focuses on the Cambodian experiences of a Cambodian genocide, Delgado’s film begins in the White House in the presence of Richard Nixon. The audience members watched as the former president directed their attention in the grainy black and white film to the eastern half of a map of neutral Cambodia, where he and former National Security Advisor Henry Kissinger organized secret bombings. According to Yale historian, Ben Kiernan, the United States dropped 2,756,941 tons of bombs on Cambodia, roughly 700,000 tons more than the Allies dropped during World War II. These frequent bombings may place Cambodia first among the most heavily bombed countries in history and are likely to have led to the rise of the Communist Party in Cambodia. Before delving into the personal struggles of a young writer, a painter, a land mine remover, and a Californian refugee, Delgado’s narrator, Susan Sarandon suggests that the U.S. bombings played a role in creating a tangible external enemy through which the Khmer Rouge were able to effectively garner support from the rural, heavily bombed areas of the nation. That greater political powers outside Cambodia were responsible in helping the Khmer Rouge come to power partially explains the staggering lack of awareness surrounding this genocide, although it occurred no more than 30 years ago.
Another contributing factor to the lack of awareness about the genocide and its modern-day consequences is the sheer absurdity of the survivor tales. The daughter of another genocide survivor interviewed in “Fragile Hopes” stresses the importance of evidence in order to convince youth of the genocide occurrence. Painter Vann Nath explains how he survived S-21, a torture prison with a 99.96 percent death rate by painting propaganda featuring the Khmer Rouge leader, Pol Pot. Today, he uses his memories and his art to educate people about the atrocities that occurred in this prison. Ung is a genocide survivor and president of the Rotary Club of Portland, Ore. He is also a knighted member of The Royal Rosarians, an Ambassador for Peace, and author of his life’s story, “Golden Leaf.” As such, he was The Cambodia Project Chapter’s unsubtle attempt to bring this “evidence” in its most modestly eloquent and sincere form to Columbia University.
Watching and listening to the Ung’s presentation, one would never guess that he learned English in high school, suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, and was subject to an extreme disregard for human dignity by Khmer Rouge soldiers. Ung recounted the incident when he was caught by soldiers no older than he was for stealing a coconut out of extreme hunger. Cornered by two AK-47 rifles, he wet his pants from fear. His voice trembled when he spoke about his little sister Ali, the secret smiles they exchanged under the totalitarian regime, and her premature death from starvation. The living example of the American Dream openly confessed to the audience that he, too, shed tears while watching Delgado’s documentary. Ung left students with an inspiring message of hope, urging us to use our leverage so that the suffering of those who died during the genocide and of those who are still being targeted is not in vain.
The author is is a Columbia College sophomore. She is the president of the Cambodia Project Chapter at Columbia. opinion@columbiaspectator.com
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