Consultation Paper

Living our Faiths in Community:
Young People as Peacemakers and Culture Bearers


5-11 September, 2004
Hyderabad, India

Jointly organized by:
Asia Pacific Alliance of YMCAs (APAY), Christian Conference of Asia (CCA), Church Development Service (EED), Germany, and Henry Martyn Institute

Khmer Ahimsa Introduction
to Interfaith Consultation in India


[Download Word Document]

My Views about the youth

The youth crisis in Cambodia is caused by two social currents - materialism [modernization] and moralization. Modernization is growing faster than moralization which is, in fact, gradually disappearing. The power of ignorance is dragging the youth into delusion. The model of a bitter life is being illustrated through songs, music and movies that encourage youth to attack, to fight and to continue revenge. The reality, then, is that people are living in danger all the time. What is the cause of this? The Cambodian people experienced living in war for more than 20 years. The war created a society of revenge and division. It changed people's behavior from morality to immorality. Young people born in a country at war are given a war ideology which means they are taught to fight, to be brave and to have no tolerance toward their enemy. The teachings about how to be truly human must be given priority. I have heard a common saying, which says that the "one who is strong is the one who can survive." The weak, the poor and the illiterate have been oppressed and most of the time they have been divided and asked to fight against each other.

I have witnessed many events in Cambodia since my birth in 1980: Civil war followed the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime in 1979. The Vietnamese troops withdrew from Cambodia in 1989. The civil war between the national liberation forces and the Phnom Penh government continued. The Paris Peace Agreement on the comprehensive solution for Cambodia was drawn up. The first national election under UN supervision was held in 1993 to form a new government. This election led to armed conflict between the two Cambodian prime ministers. Street demonstrations led to many arrests and killing of people. The national election in 2003 led to a political block to form a new government. All of these events have taken place in my short life time.

The Cambodian people have been living in great fear all this time and the youth are the first group negatively effected by these events. In addition, the growth of anarchy, drug trafficking, political ideology and crime are threatening young people. When trying to respond to these problems, economists say that they are caused by financial problems and that the people do not have enough food. Politicians say the problems are caused by the lack of political reconciliation. Educators say the problems come from a lack of education and culture and ignorance. If people received a good education, they would have knowledge and then peace would come to Cambodia. Sociologists say that we have a society of social poverty.

“Tumpeang Snong Reussey” is an old Cambodian proverb advising children to prepare their behavior and knowledge in leadership for the family and the country. In Cambodian society, the children are normally instructed in the family or in the classroom to play a role in social development. Most of the girls in the country have had their schooling stopped at the age of 15 to 20 by their parent in order for them to help do the house work or to do some income work for the family such as chicken and livestock raising. The boys are encouraged to continue studying in the higher grades. Before marriage the boy is requested by parents to go to the pagoda to be ordained as a monk for one or two years. During the decades of civil war, the youth were used as tools in the war through the philosophy of the war-lovers. The youth were ordered to confront the crisis in the politics through violence.

The period of terror in Cambodia ended after the Paris Peace Agreement on 23 October 1991. However the legacy of the armed conflict remains rooted in present Cambodia. The political climate has been changed from time to time. The education situation in Cambodia is often criticized for its ineffectiveness and poor quality. The curriculum does not focus much on social and moral knowledge. With current globalization and the mass media young people are receiving the message that materialism is the only important issue in society.

In recent years, people have started complaining about the growth of youth gangs in the villages. Most of the youth gang members are addicted to drugs and are led by the sons of the powerful people. They have created many violent conflicts in the communities.

One youth in Seila Mineang Village was beaten to death by another youth group from Sre Ambel. Police went into Dong Peng pagoda to crackdown on the village gang living in the temple grounds and mistakenly arrested the son of a villager in Chomcar Krom. The boy received physical torture in police custody. His mother had to send money to the police authority for the release of her son. This incident was unfortunately cause by gangs who use the pagoda to start wars against each other.

Khmer Ahimsa (Khmer Nonviolence) is working to promote peace, justice, human rights and reconciliation in the community. Youth is one of our target groups who are receiving the opportunities to develop themselves and their community to deal with social injustice. Youth are being developed through training on leadership and the building of peace. They also gain experience through field trips. Following are some stories reflecting the community youth situation in an area where Khmer Ahimsa is working:


Community Division

Deikroham village is in Kompong Seila district of Koh Kong province. The village is divided by religious groups. People follow the Muslim, Christian and Buddhist faiths. Although people have different religions, they are still living in peace with each other. The community practices their religions without conflict. Muslims say that they have a good relationship with Buddhists and Christians say they have a good relationship with the Buddhist monk.

Recently, there was a conflict related to the use of a gun by the Christian youth to threaten a Buddhist youth for making love with a village girl. Following the incident, the police came in and arrested four Christian youth and took them to court. The youth were accused of illegal use of a gun and sent to police custody. After their release, the church leader said the youth had developed a positive attitude toward Buddhist youth. They came to church to receive God’s advice and with tears expressed their regret about the incident. However, according to a Muslim man, the Christian youth did not change their behavior but instead have created many problems in the community. He says he has seen this group drinking alcohol and using the broken bottle to fight against Buddhist and Muslim youths. The community relationship has deteriorated because of the youth.


Value of Religion

The Cambodian constitution stipulates that Buddhism is the first religion of the country. The law also assures the rights of its citizen to participate in other religious beliefs such as Muslim and Christian. After the first general election in 1993, many churches, mosques and temples have been built. Each religion tries to attract people to their faith. One former Buddhist priest became a Christian teacher. He was strongly criticized by the community members. The man blamed Buddhism of cheating people and compared a Buddha to a sack of cement. Many Buddhist people warned the man that if he died he would not be allowed to be cremated on community land. The Buddhist group responded that a wooden Christian cross is not as valuable as a sack of cement. In this way there has been an increase of interfaith conflict among the people.


Villager intervention in youth conflict

Prieng and Chomcakrom are neighboring villages in Sre Ambel district. On Khmer New Year day in April 2004, Prieng organized the traditional ceremony in their Sala Bon (traditional meeting house). During the day time, they invited monks from Wat Dong Peng to receive food and to chant for New Year blessings. At the night time the Sala Bon committee prepared traditional games and dancing for village youth and children. The program welcomed all visitors. A youth group from Chomcar Krom village, led by the son of Sala Bon committee members Mrs. Sai, attended the festival. After several songs were played, a youth group from Chomcakrom quarreled with Preing youth over a female dancing partner. They started to attack each other and two youths were seriously injured. The festival was stopped by the incident. Sala Bon committee and village elders came to arrest 3 attackers who were the youths from Chomcakrom and brought them to the Sala Bon to sign an agreement not to create problems in the future and asked them to pay 30,000 riels each to cover the damage. Mrs. Sai learned about her son’s involvement in the conflict. She raised the issue of the youth conflict at a village meeting in Chomcakrom. She told the meeting about her unhappiness concerning the measures taken by Preing elders against her son. The elders and Sala Bon committee of the two villages discussed the problem in the presence of a Khmer Ahimsa community peace worker as facilitator. The two villages agreed to heal the wounds caused by the youth and committed themselves to rebuilding friendship. At the same time, they formed one youth association which both villages participated in. The association was set up to make peace and to build good relationships. Three to four youths attended this meeting. Since the establishment of the Village Youth Association in May 2004, the situation between the youth has remained calm and people continue their cordial relationship as usual.


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