This is the second exploration of the school year which I found a really interesting topic to investigate about. We took this exploration to learn about our history which is Khmer Rouge or Khmer Red as we call.
For me, it was a little bit difficult and painful to learn about this history because whenever I’ve heard new information or learn new things, I always wish I hadn’t hear that. This class took a lot of my imagination about the past. My mother has experienced that time and I never had the courage to ask her what happen because I knew that it would hurt her even more when she think about it.
Khmer Rouge was formed in 1968 by the leader Salot Sor aka Pol Pot. Khmer Rouge enter Phnom Penh in 17th April, 1975. It ends on the 7th January 1979 from the help of Vietnam soldiers. People in the city were evacuated and forbidden to move out from their city to the rural area. A few days after Khmer Rouge enter Phnom Penh, the city became quiet and no one live in the city. At that period, the city was called a “ghost city”. People were forced to do hard working and some people die because of illness and starvation from not receiving enough nutrients.
There are loads of information that I’m sure you’ll be surprised when you hear it but there’s too much to describe how awful it was.
We also went to Siem Reap and Odor Meanchey province in order to explore more about the history back then. We went to Anlong Veng mountain and that’s where Khmer Rouge soldiers were hidden after the period ends. We get to interview some people back there about their experience and perspective and there were also some new information to compare to when we learn in class. While we were in Siem Reap, we also explore many different museum that relates to Khmer Rouge like, War Museum and Landmine Museum. It’s really interesting to see all of those big tanks, bombs, mines, and others dangerous weapons that they use in Khmer Rouge.
I also create a documentary about Khmer Rouge while on trip but unfortunately I haven’t upload in Youtube yet.