27 August 2005

Simplicity I Had Found


I read Phalkun's posting , Khmer blogger from Auckland NZ on the quote of nature's simplicity at P+K Random Stuffs . After the reading, I was prompted to reminisced to my child age where I had experienced my version of simplicity.

Fifteen or more years ago I could go back to during my child age of 7 or 8 years old at Svay Rieng province, Cambodia, which is the birthplace of my grandparents, parents and me. At the time and place, my parents owned some patches of rice paddy.

As a small boy of 8 years old, I was at my height of curiosities. I love to read. I first learned to read from my mother. I remember the first book she read to me was from “Reung Preng Ni-tean Khmer” or Stories of Khmer Folklore and Legend. There were stories of Wise Rabbit, Cunning Coyote and Gullible Tiger.

I was not much of my parents’ helper. While my parents were wet and dirty in the rice paddy planted the new rice shoots into the muddy soil (Khmer: stoong srov), I kept myself dry on the “plieu sre” –(the raised dirt between the rice paddies) with books in my arms. I remember I read the stories under the verdant, lush shade of an aged tamarind tree that grows between rice paddies, while tended to my parents’ pair of water buffaloes. More than one occasions, our buffalos wandered to the smaller hill right next to it. I then would followed them and changed my sitting to under the group of "deurm tnaut" sugar palms; still clutched to books and so absorbed to my readings.


Not a care in the world. This was my simpleness of life as I remember when I was an 8 year old boy.


Please forgive my writing. Grammar, choice of words and spellings may not look right. Writing English is not easy for me. So frequent I'm still consulting to the English dictionary on every word I'm not sure of.


And thanks for reading my blog.

Thom.

9 comments:

p+k said...

"Wake up, eat, go to School, come back home, have fun, eat, and then go to sleep" is our everyday routine when we were young. After from that, we cared no other things. We cared less and have fun more. But as we grow up, we started to realize what is really going on around us more and more. We live in a community, more or less we're affacted by community until you attach ourself to that complexity and thus we can't go back to where we used to be, where we had our simple lives.

Anonymous said...

The rice field pictures are very nice. Remind me during the time I lived in Battambang. Keep on reporting, preferbly if you can post more scenic pictures from Cambodia.

Blog By Khmer said...

P+K: Thank you for your response. Couldn't have disagree with you.

here's my suggustion I think perhaps simplicity could be obtained if you "tov bours" :o) go to becomming a monk.

Agreed with you. We tend to have stress more as we grow up. We live in a community full of competitions. How can I get better school points than other students ? How can I earn more money ? Competitions that thrive people and the whole community forward.

You are lucky to live in the already developed country such as New Zealand. Your contry has competent, educated leaders to lead by the rules of law.

What affected the community is leadership. In the developing contries bad leaderships, and no rule of laws will affect those whole communities and contries. And, those countries are going to be in the extreeme poverty for very long log time.

Simplicity is really a complixity !

I am currently very sad for my contry.

Thom

Blog By Khmer said...

Thank, anonymous, for visiting my blog. I will try to post someting interesting. During what year were u lived in Battambang. Before i was born, perhaps ?

thanks again.!

thom

p+k said...

Thom, I'm here just to study. Me too, i feel so bad about what is going on at the moment.

Anonymous said...

A Film Documentary Aekasa Khmer.
You need Real Player 10 and
a fast speed internet to watch.
True story.




http://devaraja.free.fr/khcrucial-event/sihanouk-crime/sihanouk-crimekh.rm

Anonymous said...

http://216.46.238.5/video/v018_cambodian_genocide.wmv

Anonymous said...

I saw this Khmer pol pot history written by white peep.

It said youn is mean barbarian. It is incorrect youn is their old name. They have a new name now. annam, viet. like Siam.

Barbarian in khmer word is Sahaaw. Reusya. They don't event understand khmer language or speak khmer and say they know how to teach khmer the meaning of the khmer words. They have never said Khmer words correctly and sound very funny.

Anonymous said...

Claude Sothy, 39, a rich Cambodian-born American woman from San Jose who was kidnapped on 26 August 2005 had been freed unharmed on 29 August 2005. The group of kidnappers led by a one star general of the Royal Cambodian Armed Forced Kim Van Thai. Thai demanded a 5 million dollars ransom from Sothy, a demand she could not deliver. After gone high profile in the late 90s and sustained a periodic calm, kidnapping has resumed since last year. It scared both local and foreign investors as well as tourists in Cambodia. Since this case involved a senior army official, people suspect of a possibility that powerful people are behind this act.