ORAL HISTORY PROJECT

04/07/2021

THE FOLLWING IS ONE OF GREATEST EPISODES OF MODERN CAMBODIA

10/08/2020

EXTRAORDINARY JUSTICE, a book by Craig Etcheson, 400+ pages, 10 chapters, published by Columbia University Press. If you order the book directly from Columbia University Press using the code CUP30, you can get a 30% discount.

On the 21st of September, I sent out my partner Run and her daughter Jolie to pick up the book at Marine Bookstore and I read it from cover to cover and often returned to the pages I had read to get a good grip of the story.

By the end of the first week of October, I finished the book while I was bedridden with an attack from the residuals of my past stroke, causing severe itching and horrible skin condition.

In view of the story of the Khmer Rouge atrocities and the skillful organization by the writer, himself the chief investigator for the prosecuting team of the court, I advise those of you who do not necessarily have to read and digest the content of a book from your sickbed, to pick up a copy of EXTRAORDINARY JUSTICE and commit yourselves to explore how justice for the Cambodians has been obtained by the international justice.

In EXTRAORDINARY JUSTICE, vivid, unprecedented, and, of course, extraordinary, Craig Etcheson has achieved splendidly his purpose of archiving for the public readers, how justice has been so tediously explored over the past ten years over the massive killings of the Cambodian people by the Khmer Rouge. END

03/14/2020

Now, I know how to post at this site. I will do it later as we has several posts to handle.

02/18/2020

Performance
LETTERS FROM HOME,
Irvine, CA, 13 February 2020 -- It's scary when we think of something that could end. We usually don't want to see the end of things, but at least the jet lag which afflicted me as the result of my long cross-Pacific Ocean return trip from Cambodia has ended. It has ended just to give me enough time to attend this week the performance of LETTERS FROM HOME, at the Humanity Center of the University of California at Irvine.
I was very concerned about our trip to Irvine. I'd heard of the famous name of the school, but I did not know where it was. Luckily, by five o'clock, our friend OLARY YIM drove my caretaker and me from our home in Long Beach, some 45 minutes away, then navigated the UCI campus traffic signs and reached the theater where LETTERS FROM HOME would be performed at 7 pm. We felt very relieved when we located our host Professor CHINARY UNG already sitting comfortably right in the middle of the large audience.
It was something that enchanted my mind. Professionals and academics directly contributed to the production of LETTERS FROM HOME, but the audience which filled up the theater to capacity was sustained for the entire two hours by the brilliant performance of KALEAN UNG that one could hear a pin drop.
KALEAN UNG is an award-winning actress, singer, and inter-disciplinary artist, based in Los Angeles. She said that LETTER FROM HOME was her journey of navigating through her family stories, the depth of her sub-consciousness and the inter-generational trauma of the Khmer Rouge. She performs LETTERS FROM HOME solo tonight, with music by her father, Professor CHINARY UNG, the internationally renowned musicologist and a Cambodian-born composer whose music incorporates Eastern characteristics into a Western classical setting.
LETTERS FROM HOME was directed by MARINA McCLURE.
The letters, collected by Prof. CHINARY UNG, that inspired the creation of Letters from Home, are on view at UCI's Orange County and Southeast Asian Archive, Gateway Study Center across from the Langson Library.
Open Monday-Friday, 1-5 pm, until 1 April.
Photo, Left to right: Susan and Chinary Ung, Olary Yim, Chhang Song, and Run Sum gathered at the balcony after the performance of LETTERS FROM HOME.

02/10/2020

A PRESS INTERVIEWhttps://www.facebook.com/withoutfearorfavorkh/videos/116961073072234/?vh=e&d=n

Long Beach, 9 February 2020 -- I could hardly articulate familiar Khmer words in my interview earlier this week with CAMBODIA DAILY by radio broadcaster KASSEM HASSAN.

My long-distance travel from Asia to the US, the frequent and abrupt change of air-carriers and their routes, the immigration procedures, the threat of coronavirus attacks, and, above all, the jet lag I suffered once I got home finally took their toll when I tried to deliver my answers.

However, I remember well the essential points which Cambodia's Prime Minister HUN SEN conveyed to the Cambodian press corps during his meeting at Koh Pich, Phnom Penh, the 14th of January. I attended the meeting with another six thousand journalists, government officials, and guests. These points include:

- The veracity of the news story, and
- The rights of other people.

These guidelines from the prime minister save me in my interview with the CAMBODIA DAILY. Those of you who could bear my delivery can click the above link to hear the complete questions and answers.

Thanks.

11/11/2019

https://www.facebook.com/BuddhistPagoda/videos/476509896289968/?t=0

10/11/2019

Southeast ASIA DAY,
By Chhang Song,

Long Beach, CA, Saturday, 5 October 2019 -- Today is a hot but pleasant day in Long Beach, CA where I live. The continued need for me to study the language nuance in the news reports from Cambodia has finally exhausted me mentally.

I am very familiar with the way Western correspondents report news and, as a whole, I trust these reports to be fairly accurate and fairly credible. However, we, the Cambodians use complex nuance in the language we speak and often truth is yet to be discovered by intuitive experience.

What RUN and I saw when we arrived at the Aquarium was completely different than what we had expected. It was not a solemn commemoration during which people would recite an incomprehensible mantra or an offering of foods to the monks, but a gorgeous multi-national exhibition and presentation. The Aquarium of the Pacific serves as host to the fabulous Day with a splendid help from Long Beach's weather.

Five hours later, we still could hardly leave the Aquarium which in itself plays the great role of the world's ocean life center.

08/11/2019

Have we all noticed the Chinese massive settlement in Cambodia? This seems to be a new historical trend we'll have to follow. It's blatant colonization worth a serious study.

The content of this profile is private and confidential information. The violation of privacy can be punished by law (UCC 1-308- 1 1 308-103 and the Rome Statute.

07/23/2019

What's happening in Long Beach that is of concern to the Cambodians

Congratulations President Lowenthal!

Harbor Commissioner Bonnie Lowenthal on Monday was elected president of the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners, which oversees the Port of Long Beach and the staff of the City’s Harbor Department.

The five-member Board also selected Frank Colonna as Vice President and Lou Anne Bynum as Secretary. Each July, Commissioners select a President and two officers to serve one-year terms. The Commission's new officers will begin their duties on Aug. 12, at the first meeting at the new Long Beach Civic Center.

Lowenthal has served Long Beach in a public role for decades. She is a former state assemblywoman, city councilwoman, vice mayor and Long Beach Unified School District Board member. She has also worked as a licensed family counselor and mental health consultant.

“I have spent more than half my life in Long Beach, my adopted hometown," said Lowenthal. "My fellow commissioners have honored me by electing me president, and I look forward to the challenge of improving the Port so it can continue to be an economic driver for the city we love."

The City Charter empowers the Board to set policy for the Port and manage the Harbor Department. Commissioners also direct the Port's Executive Director, who leads the more than 500-person staff in the development and promotion of the Port of Long Beach.

The Port of Long Beach is one of the world’s premier seaports, a gateway for trans-¬Pacific trade and a trailblazer in goods movement and environmental stewardship. With 175 shipping lines connecting Long Beach to 217 seaports, the Port handles $200 billion in trade annually, supporting 575,000 Southern California jobs.

Media Contact: Lee Peterson, Port of Long Beach Media Relations Manager, (562) 283-7715 (office), (562) 519-2177 (cell), lee.peterson@polb.com.

04/20/2019

I have posted quite a few stories on my page which, as a whole, make up the oral history project.

03/05/2019

NATURE MORTE
By Chinary Ung

Oral history Project encompasses a series of articles, testimonials, papers, photos, and findings related to past history and current events of the historical value of Cambodia. These materials are posted on my page as a way to share the knowledge and experience with the public. We encourage the public to participate in the collection and analysis of facts and information which has been collected and we appreciate new materials friends and the public, by and large, could contribute toward enriching the knowledge on past and today's Cambodia. Please keep reading our page.