When I left my commune of Tang Krassang and headed for Lycee Suryavarman II in Siemreap, I felt reluctant to leave the comfortable surrounding of rural life and many of my friends from the villages. Needless to say, my parents urged me to go on and pursue my secondary education in Cambodia. For me, the natural sentiment of human bondage and related associations were more important than formal training and the cultural enrichment for better life. But I went on, against my better sense of the moments and the constant longing to escape from boredom and hard works.
City kids are slick, clever, and articulate.
I didn't have much to say. But I hang on through high school and managed to learn the rope of city life. Just like that farm boy from Tang Krassang who was idealistic and sentimental, I'm currently seeing my old country of Cambodia taking the same hesitant footstep toward democracy, a vestige of western ideology and a legacy of Greek philosophers. In spite of exposure to western thinking, many good Cambodian leaders are taking a bureaucratic wait and see in order to implement democracy in the State of Cambodia. I'm seeing fear, doubt, and cultural pride.