I’ve just returned from a little under two weeks in Vietnam and Cambodia. I was there are part of a People to People delegation of psychologists. I’m preparing a number of presentations about this experience for various audiences (students, professionals, general education/mental health settings), so please help me out by asking me questions! Thanks.
Erm… what did you do there? Why have a delegation of psychologists in Vietnam and Cambodia, rather than say, Montreal?
How “authentic”, if you will, is the common fare(around here) of beef noodle soup and vermicelli rolls compared to actual cuisine in Vietnam?
We visited mental health hospitals in both countries and met with students and faculty of a psychology training program in each country (these are undergraduate programs, relatively new, whose graduates are termed “psychologists” and provide direct mental health services, similar to those provided in the US by bachelor’s-level human services graduates. In Cambodia we also met with the Cambodian Women’s Crisis Center and visited their safehouse and workshop for abused women.
Both of these countries have a great need for, and great lack of, direct psychological services. Montreal, in comparison, is much better supplied. This wouldn’t preclude a delegation visiting Montreal, but our focus and the ways we could help would be very different. To give a concrete example: At the Royal University of Phnom Penh, the students use a personality theories textbook published in 1978. This means that their training and subsequent interventions are entirely out of date and don’t benefit from the research base since then. In 1978, Pol Pot was still in power, and the Khmer Rouge was exterminating everyone with more than an 8th grade education, or who had soft hands, or who wore glasses. We didn’ know about AIDS. Research onm Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, which is highly relevant to Cambodia, was far less advanced. There were no SSRI antidepressants. Various forms of therapy that work well in groups, community settings, and with a strength rather than deficit base were not yet developed.
Pretty typical, though we were served pho mostly at breakfast. Our lunches and dinners typically included rice and fried fish.
I have been to Cambodia 3 times for a total of 6 months. My wife is Cambodian.
I am no expert on the country but I do know quite a bit.
Most educated people know about the Khmer Rouge in Cambodia in 1975- 1979.
Most educated people do not know what has happened in Cambodia from 1979-2006.
Under two weeks there certainly doesn’t make you an expert, but my questions would be:
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What do they think of Americans?
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How is their standard of living?
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What is the infrastructure like there since the war?
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Still have the sex trade going on there?
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Did you see mixed race (from GI’s during the war)?
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Their little country beat the fuck out of the USA in a war…how?
I agree, though I have found that many educated people do not really know much at all about the Khmer Rouge years either. Sites such as Wikipedia give brief overviews that may be helpful.
These accounts may be useful for anyone interested in this region:
Beyrer, Chris. (1998). *War in the blood: Sex, politics, and AIDS in Southeast Asia. * New York: St Martin’s Press.
This is getting a little outdated, but gives good historical and cultural background for understanding contemporary HIV/AIDS issues in the region.
Brownmiller, Susan. (1994). Seeing Vietnam: Encounters of the road and heart. New York: HarperCollins.
This was interesting but ultimately rather disappointing because the tone was rather negative. It might be good to read for contrast.
Elliott, Duong Van Mai. (1999). The sacred willow: Four generations in the life of a Vietnamese family. New York: Oxford University Press.
Follows the history of the author’s family from 1851 through their arrival in the U.S., including family conflicts about politics and culture.
Fadiman, Anne. (1998). *The spirit catches you and you fall down. * New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Although this family was not from Vietnam, many Hmong do live in the north. I teach with this every year and get rave reviews from undergraduate students because Fadiman articulates the conflicts that may arise between a Hmong worldview and the worldviews and intentions of U.S. medical and social services professional.
Gray, Spalding. (1985). *Swimming to Cambodia. * New York: Theatre Communications Group.
Interesting contemporaneous riff to read in conjunction with the film *The Killing Fields. *
Hayslip, Le Ly, & Wurts, Jay. (1989). When heaven and earth changed places: A Vietnamese woman’s journey from war to peace. New York: Plume.
A Vietnamese teenager’s experiences in the war (where she was a child recruit of the Viet Cong), her journey to the U.S., and her return to Vietnam to reuinite with family.
Him, Chanrithy. (2000). *When broken glass floats: Growing up under the Khmer Rouge. * New York: Norton.
Very moving account of the author’s experiences as a young girl. At the time of publication, she was working with a Cambodian youth PTSD project in Oregon.
Nhat Hanh, Thich. (1966/1999). Fragrant palm leaves: Journals 1962-1966. New York: Riverhead.
Describes the author’s experiences as a Buddhist monk in Vietnam. Critical of the government’s policies, he fled Vietnam. These journal entries were written in the U.S. and chronicle both his history and the concurrent events in Vietnam.
Ngor, Haing, & Warner, Roger. (1997). *Survival in the killing fields. *New York: Carroll & Graf.
The autobiography of the actor who played Dith Pran in The Killing Fields; also a survivor of the Khmer Rouge.
North, P. (2005). *Cultureshock! Cambodia. * Portland, OR: Graphic Arts Center Publishing.
A traveler’s guide with an emphasis on culture-specific information and advice. Annoying cartoons.
Quincy, K. (1995). *Hmong: History of a people. * Cheney, WA: Eastern Washington University.
An easy to read but information-rich history of the Hmong. A good companion to Fadiman.
Pham, Andrew X. (1999). Catfish and mandala: A two-wheeled voyage through the landscape and memory of Vietnam. New York: Picador USA.
An interesting travelogue by a man who escaped from Vietnam by boat as a child, now returning with the intention of bicycling through the country. A good companion piece to
Ung’s Lucky Child, and both illustrate some cross-generational acculturation issues for war survivors living in the U.S.The story of Pham’s sister, who does not meet her culture’s gender expectations, is woven throughout.
Truong, Nhu Tang, Chanoff, David, & Doan, Van Toai. (1985). A Vietcong memoir. New York: Vintage.
The author was a prominent member of the political arm of the Viet Cong. He describes his motivations, putting the war with the U.S. in the broader context of French occupation and other Indochinese conflicts, as well as the betrayal of the Southern activists when the Northern communists took power.
Ung, Loung. (2000). First they killed my father: A daughter of Cambodia remembers. New York: HarperCollins.
Ung, Loung. (2005). Lucky child: A daughter of Cambodia reunites with the sister she left behind. New York: HarperCollins.
An account of the author’s life under the Khmer Rouge, her escape to the U.S., experiences in the U.S., and return to Cambodia to reunite with her family. Lucky Child is the more polished of the two, and more effectively describes the post-traumatic components of her experience. Her sister narrated her experiences after the family split up, and her story of remaining in Cambodia is interspersed throughout.
Other
Ratti, Rakesh (Ed.). (1993). *A lotus of another color: An unfolding of the South Asian gay and lesbian experience. * Boston: Alyson.
This is an anthology of South Asian, not Southeast Asian, writing. It doesn’t represent Vietnam or Cambodia, but might be useful for understanding some of the cultural influences affecting LGB people in the broader region.
I agree, and haven’t claimed to be an expert. I said I’d be making some presentations and asked for your questions because this will help me do so.
1. What do they think of Americans? In Vietnam we did not encounter any overt negativity toward Americans. When asked, people said that the war was in the past and that it had been more meaningful to Americans, whereas for the Vietnamese it was one in a series of wars and does not particularly stand out. I heard that if we were to go into the countryside I’d hear more Anti-American sentiment; of course, if I interview a cross-section of Americans, I hear a reasonable amount of Anti-Vietnamese sentiment. In Cambodia the only anti-anybody sentiment I heard was anti-Vietnamese. In both countries English is a high-status second language.
2. How is their standard of living? Many people are still subsistence earners. The CIA World Fact Book shows a terrific disparity between these countries and the U.S. In both countries, people reported a great deal of corruption, tax evasion, and funds diverted from humanitarian targets. There is a large economic gap between the highest and lowest brackets. State jobs do not pay wages sufficient for expenses. In Cambodia, landmine-related disability and AIDS rates are comparatively high.
3. What is the infrastructure like there since the war? Both have a communist base. In Vietnam, it seems cumbersome, with some loosening occurring in recent years. Vietnam has centralized policies that may inhibit flexibility in areas such as education. Cambodia still seems to be recreating an infrastructure, with heavy outside influence (e.g., the domestic violence law reflects American sentiments and is phrased in a way that sounds lifted straight from U.S. law).
4. Still have the sex trade going on there? Apparently so. Each wanted to attribute more of this to the other. Cambodia appears to be at more overt risk given both its Thai border and destitution.
5. Did you see mixed race (from GI’s during the war)? Not that I could tell, but given the variety of local ethnicities it may not have been obvious. This would be more likely in Vietnam than in Cambodia. It was reported to us several times that the majority of Vietnamese women married to U.S. soldiers during the war were moved to the U.S. This doesn’t answer questions about pregnancies, however.
6. Their little country beat the fuck out of the USA in a war…how? This applies to Vietnam, not Cambodia, and wasn’t a focus of our visit. However, Vietnam wasn’t acting alone in that war, just as the Khmer Rouge wasn’t in Cambodia.
But how do they compare in price and quality?
But how do they compare in price and quality? Not what you intended me to answer, but the price is very high when you consider the cost of HIV. In Cambodia, 2.6% of adults have HIV/AIDS (2003 estimate); Vietnam, with better infrastructure, has 0.4% (2003 estimate).(CIA World Fact Book). HIV is implicated in a cycle of sexual exploitation where prostitution–>HIV–>death of parents–>impoverished orphans–>kids sold into forced prostitution–>, etc.
Remember also that Cambodia and Vietnam are very different countries and have different traditions, histories and languages. We may see them as very similar but people from those countries see them as very different countries.
Absolutely! Many superficial differences were immediately apparent, including ranges of physical appearance and behavior.
How bad was the begging? Did you run across a lot of children who wouldn’t leave you alone?
Stop trying to fool us. You are Chuck Norris reconning for Missing In Action XiV; No, I Eat *Your * Lunch Charlie!
Maybe you’d like to clue us in.
Did you encounter any strong feelings about Bush and/or the (current) War?
How bad was the begging? Did you run across a lot of children who wouldn’t leave you alone? It wasn’t bad, but beggars were being kept away from tourists at historical sites. They were permitted to solicit at entryways and outside the sites. They were reasonably persistent but very polite compared to, say, Egypt or Mexico. Given that a dollar will buy food for one person for one day in Phnom Penh, I’d beg too if I were in their position.
Did you encounter any strong feelings about Bush and/or the (current) War? In Vietnam, there was some mild amusement that we appeared to be repeating our errors from the Vietnam conflict. I wasn’t there when Bush said, “We’ll succeed unless we quit” and talked about what the U.S. had learned in Vietnam, but if I had been, I imagine that ther might have been more overt mockery.
Here is a book list
Book list
Articles
Hun Sen
In January 1979, following violent disputes with Vietnam over boundaries and revolutionary
leadership, Phnom Penh was overrun by the Vietnamese army. Khmer Rouge defectors headed by
Heng Samrin established a Vietnamese-style people’s republic backed by the authority of up to
180,000 Vietnamese troops and myriad advisors. The Khmer Rouge forces staggered to the western
boundary with Thailand, where the United Nations eventually organized camps for further waves of
Cambodians variously seeking food, haven, or resettlement. The Khmer Rouge launched guerrilla
resistance with arms supplied by the Chinese. In 1982, Prince Sihanouk and Son Sann formed a
coalition government in exile with the Khmer Rouge. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations
(see ASEAN), opposed to the growing Soviet and Vietnamese influence in the region, helped to arm
this more acceptable resistance group, which held Cambodia’s seat in the United Nations until 1990.
In May 1989 constitutional revisions restored the right to private property. The Vietnamese withdrew
almost all of their forces from Cambodia by September 1989 despite the collapse of multinational
peace talks on the future of the country. In July 1990, as the Khmer Rouge intensified their guerrilla
war, the United States withdrew diplomatic recognition from the government in exile, although it
continued to aid the non-Communist factions until 1991. China also agreed to stop aiding the Khmer
Rouge.
The UN Security Council drew up a comprehensive peace plan in 1990, and a cease-fire was
declared in June 1991. Under the peace accord signed on Oct. 23, 1991, Sihanouk became head of
an interim coalition national council that included all four factions. Much of the bureaucracy of the
Vietnamese-backed government remained in place pending elections. The UN Transitional Authority
in Cambodia (UNTAC), the largest peacekeeping operation in history, controlled several ministries,
oversaw the cease-fire, repatriated the refugees, and organized and supervised elections, although it
failed to disarm the Khmer Rouge, which withdrew from the coalition government in 1992 and
boycotted the 1993 elections. After the new National Assembly restored Sihanouk to the throne on
Sept. 24, 1993, the UN forces withdrew. The Khmer Rouge continued its armed insurgency from
bases on the Thai border. In 1996 it split into two factions, one of which sought to reach a
power-sharing agreement with the government.
On July 7, 1997, Hun Sen, the leader of the Cambodian People’s Party (CPP), overthrew Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh in a brutal, bloody coup. Two days of fighting left at least 58 people dead and hundreds wounded. Ranariddh’s forces were overwhelmed.