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As you already may have heard, there is a new movie being made about the “Great Khmer Empire”. John Cena, the former pro wrestler, will star as the great Khmer King Jayavarman VII. Angelina Jolie, Jet Li, and a few other recognizable Hollywood names will be in it, too.

Currently, the movie is still in production. The last time I read about the movie, they were “consulting” with the Cambodian government about the “historical accuracy” of the film. It’s interesting that they’re consulting with government officials, rather than scholars and historians, about the film’s historical accuracy.

Obviously, many Khmer people are very excited about this project because they think Hollywood is showing interest in our culture. Personally, I don’t think there is anything in this movie for Khmer people to celebrate about. Casting John Cena as Jayavarman VII, the greatest of Khmer kings, is about as credible as casting some Chinese guy as George Washington in a movie about the American Revolution. And the idea of making King Jayavarman VII look like some sort of Conan the Barbarian is a complete joke.

So why aren’t Khmer people laughing? Why are most Khmers embracing this movie as some sort of honor to them? I for one would feel rather awkward watching a movie supposedly about the The Great Khmer Empire in which none of the main characters could even pronounce the word “Khmer” properly. (No, it’s not “Khmair” or “Ga-mair” or “Xmer”.)

I think that we Khmers are so beleaguered– militarily, economically, morally, and psychologically– as a people that there’s hardly any objection within our community to the making of a movie about Khmer civilization where the main roles are being played exclusively by non-Khmer actors. Beleaguered means besieged, defeated, down and out. Granted, our civilization has endured a streak of bad luck for the last several centuries. Cambodia today is reduced to a small fraction of the Great Khmer Empire that we once were and our people scattered throughout the world. When foreigners visit Angkor Wat, they often express disbelief, in a mocking way, how a people once capable of building a monument of such grandeur could have declined to our present state.

While I am pleased that Hollywood is shown interest in our great past, I think it’s insulting to reduce the real Khmer people to token roles in a movie about our great ancestors. If the makers of this movie do not deem Khmer actors marketable to the Western audience, then the movie is probably better off done entirely in CGI (computer generated imagery). Can you imagine the outrage in the African American community if they were to make a movie about Martin Luther King, Jr., casting a white actor in black face as the great civil rights leader?

Speaking of civil rights, I think it’s absolutely wonderful to have an African American holding the highest office of the most powerful country on the planet. As brilliant as Barack Obama is, his success cannot be credited entirely to his own efforts alone. The rise of a black man to the US presidency did not start in Uncle Tom’s cabin. Rather, it is the culmination of the sacrifice, devotion, courage, and moral defiance of Abe Lincoln, Rosa Parks, Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, Jr., and countless other great people.

King Jayavarman VII was a great warrior. More than a warrior, he was a great intellectual, a planner and builder, a deeply spiritual person. Above all, he was a proud Khmer, a strong and assertive leader who probably would not have been very amused by this Hollywood shenanigan.

Come to think of it, the Khmers of the Angkorian period were so different from what we’ve become today that it might be more fitting– in a sad way– to have non-Khmer actors play the roles of great Khmer figures from the past. And with proper “consultation” with Cambodian government officials, they might even portray Jayavarman VII as an alien from outer space who descended temporarily upon Earth in the 12th century and chose present-day Siem Reap to build Angkor.

I think Khmer people can become great again, but it’s going to take a bit of awakening. We must understand what it takes to become great. Greatness does not come from subservience or passiveness. Greatness starts with knowing where we are and where we need to go. Greatness takes strength, vision, purpose, hard work, unity, courage, and determination. It takes pride, confidence, and assertiveness, tempered by compassion, tolerance, humility, and flexibility. Greatness takes creativity, gumption, and willingness to adapt to changing circumstances. To be great one must constantly pursue excellence and higher good on one’s own initiative and personal moral convictions, not simply to win the approval of others.

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One thing that strikes me about Theravada Buddhism is it places significantly lower emphasis on spiritual enlightenment for laypeople, as opposed to the monks. The roles of lay followers are reduced to looking after the needs of the monks and participating in religious rituals and ceremonies. This is a major departure from Mahayana traditions that encourage realization Buddha-nature for monks and laypeople alike.

To this day Khmer kings and leaders tend to associate themselves closely with religion, but as followers the Theravada tradition, their roles are limited to protecting religious (Theravada) orthodoxy, as opposed to attaining personal spiritual enlightenment and using it to guide their leadership, aspirations, decisions, plannings, strategies, purposes, and so on and so forth. As the mindsets of our leaders have been dictated by religion, the shifting religious beliefs and practices throughout the centuries undoubtedly altered the course of our history.

By raising this discussion, I’m not suggesting that we should return to Hinduism; I would like to see our people try to incorporate the teachings of Lord Buddha more fully and intimately into our everyday lives. I would like to see us more engaged in the practice and understanding of Dharma rather simply go through the motions of religious ceremonies and rituals. Orthodoxy is a dangerous concept as it invites rigidity, intolerance, ignorance, elitism and reliance on dogmas and authority. More than 2,500 years ago the Buddha had set out to free sentient beings from suffering. I think it’s important that the greatest number of people accurately grasp his teachings so that they could more fully and properly receive the fruits of his discovery.

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I find it particularly interesting that most of the great Angkorian Khmer kings were not Theravada Buddhists, but were Hindus and followers of the Mahayana school of Buddhism.

Is it a mere coincidence that the decline of the Khmer Empire gained momentum as Theravada Buddhism became established in Kampuchea, or is there something more?

Although other forces are involved, religion has always played a central role in Khmer civilization. How might the Theravada beliefs and practices lend weakening influences, if any, to the Khmer civilization?

I don’t think Buddhism itself was responsible for the decline of Khmer civilization. Quite the opposite, I think it was weakened role of Dharma in the everyday lives of Khmer leaders and ordinary citizens alike that led to our present state. This led me to wonder if there isn’t something about the practices and traditions of the Theravada school of Buddhism that might have contributed to the divorce of Dharma from the everyday thoughts and actions of Khmer people?

Hindus consider Buddhism not as a separate religion, but as a branch of Hinduism, which is partly why the transition from Hinduism to Buddhism in Khmer history was so smooth. By contrast, sectarian and denominational divisions within Islam and Christianity have been responsible for much bloodshed among their followers.

King Jayavarman VII, the greatest of Khmer kings, was a Buddhist-king; to be more specific, he was a Mahayana Buddhist-king. The phrase Buddhist-king has a very special meaning here. It signifies not just a king who happened to identify himself as a “Buddhist,” but one who had exceptional intellectual and spiritual grasp of the Dharma, and whose religious thoughts and convictions were expressed through great deeds and great monuments. The Buddhist-kings, I surmise, were religious scholars who were adept at meditation and at applying Dharma to everyday governance. They did not simply uphold and advocate religious practices and tradition, but lived and acted with divine purpose. In these respects, the Khmer Buddhist-kings (as opposed to the non-hyphenated Buddhist kings) were not so different from their Hindu god-king predecessors.

The Khmer Buddhist-kings of old, who devoted their lives and kingdoms to the realization of their spiritual convictions, would have no use for $100 million in a personal Swiss account, for instance. They’d use the money to fortify national defense, build social infrastructure, and erect great monuments to mark their lofty aspirations. That, in my view, was why they were such great warriors and builders.

The real issue is not that we should dump Theravada Buddhism in favor of Mahayana Buddhism or Hinduism. If anything, we should do away with “isms” altogether. The question is, how do we incorporate the beautiful teachings of the Buddha into the daily lives of Khmer leaders and ordinary citizens alike? How can Khmer people become more engaged in the spiritual underpinnings of a religion to which we so proudly proclaim to belong?

Practically every Khmer person agrees that Angkor is a great achievement. But do we really understand why it is so great?

Discuss this topic on Khmercity.net

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A lot of people I know are still bewildered as to why I chose to return to live in Cambodia. They say that Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in the world. They say that it is infested with corruption, lawlessness, AIDS, drugs, chaos, human rights abuses, and so on and so forth.

That may be true. I am not going to deny that these problems exist. Living here I can say that not only do they exist but are in some ways worse than outsiders could imagine.

Back in America I was making a good living, owned two cars and a nice house in an upper-middle class suburban neighborhood, and enjoyed a network of close friends and relatives who were (and still are) very dear to me.

But something was missing.

Although I spent 75% of life and most of my childhood in the U.S., I remained a perpetual outsider. I remember arriving in at the age of 9 years old in a foreign land speaking very little English. The other kids would taunt and harass me on a daily basis as I struggled to adapt to the new environment.

Here in Cambodia when Westerners speak broken Khmer, they don’t get teased– they become celebrities. The Khmer TV and radio stations would seek them out to interview them on their programs, marveling at their ability and willingness to learn our language.

Personally, I don’t think it’s a big deal for a Westerner’s being able to speak Khmer. We shouldn’t feel it’s some form of special honor just because a handful of Westerners elect to learn our language. In fact, I expect any foreigner who comes here to live or work in srok Khmer to learn Khmer. It’s completely normal; every country has the right to expect as much.

Nor should we taunt the foreigners for speaking Khmer with a bad accent, as Americans have taunted Asian immigrants for speaking broken English.

In fact, the constant torment that I received as a recent immigrant was a major motivation for me to study hard and excel in school. Sure enough, within a couple of years I managed to top my class in all subjects of study, including their native language English. From then on I would be known as the “smartest” student in every school I attended.

While I gained some respect and even admiration from my peers for my academic achievements, I remained an outsider. I often sensed fear, jealousy and resentment from fellow students, their parents, and even some members of the faculty. They felt threatened, but they couldn’t do anything about it. They had to give me my props because I played by the rules and beat them at their own game. Still, some people would say, “Sure, Oudam, you’re book-smart, but how street-smart are you?” I didn’t respond to them because I knew the none of those “street-smart” native-born Americans could have survived the Khmer Rouge as we had.

At any rate, despite my best efforts to fit in, I never felt like I belonged. I remained an outsider. By college and graduate school I began to realize that even with my hard work, determination, and scholastic achievements, I would not achieve the fabled “American dream”.

Beyond school, it would take much more than talent, credentials, and qualifications to succeed in the American society. While my straight A’s and academic accolades in high school eventually earned me admission to one of the nation’s elite universities, they would not give me entrance into the old boy’s network.

It has been my experience that even in America, you can’t realize your full potential if you’re an outsider. While you may overcome racial and ethnic barriers in certain aspects of life, you will be missing out on other areas. Sooner or later you’ll begin to question yourself: Are you better off in America or Cambodia? How much of yourself– your social associations, your ethnic identity, your culture, tradition, and heritage– are you willing to sacrifice to gain acceptance by a foreign country?

While America has always offered our family shelter since we immigrated there 28 years ago, but it never offered us a home.

A shelter is not necessarily a home.

If you live in a modest house that gets flooded by a storm, your rich friend may offer to let you stay at his million-dollar estate for a while. But his mansion is not your home but a temporary shelter. As a guest you don’t enjoy all the privileges that owner does. Even if you’ve earned the legal rights to call the property your own home, e.g. by paying your share of the bills, taxes, and living expenses, there’s always something, perhaps even your friend himself, to make you feel like an outsider.

Why do I love Cambodia?

I feel right at home here.

Our country may be a small house badly damaged by a monster storm, but at least we still have a home. I think if more people here in Cambodia could appreciate that they’re very lucky to still have a home and stop coveting other people’s mansions, then they might make a more serious, concerted effort to rebuild it, rather than wishing to flee it to seek shelter elsewhere.

For me it’s very easy to appreciate Cambodia as my home because I’ve already spent three-fourth of my life somewhere else. Of course, it would be best if Cambodia is both a home and a shelter to her people because a home that is not a shelter is really not a home.

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