VOA标准英语2010-Cambodian Schools Reopen History's Wounds

High schools in Cambodia have begun rolling out the first textbook dealing¹ with the genocidal Khmer Rouge² regime. It's part of an effort to teach a dark past long left out of the classroom.

Aubrey Belford | Kampong Trach, Cambodia 19 April 2010

 

A girl sits in a history class at the local high school in Kampong Trach, Cambodia

 

Between 1975 and 1979, as many as two million Cambodians were murdered, starved, or worked to death as the ultra-communist Khmer Rouge tried to build a rural utopia. Many older Cambodians are haunted by vivid memories of this time.

But for the young who make up most of the population, learning this history has been hard to do - schools have up to now just not taught it.

A high school in the southern town of Kampong Trach is at the front of efforts to teach - for the first time - the history of the Khmer Rouge. The school is using a new textbook called "A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979)".

History teacher Bin³ Cheat says his students only know a little about the Khmer Rouge from their parents, many of whom suffered under the regime.

Bin Cheat says students have been enthusiastic about the new classes.

As a boy, he was stuffed in a sack and nearly beaten to death by Khmer Rouge soldiers simply for letting air out of a car tire. He says it is important students learn about the Khmer Rouge era - and stories like his own - before it is all forgotten.

The new textbook book was put together by the Documentation Center of Cambodia, a non-profit group tasked with recording⁴ the years of mass killing⁵ under the Khmer Rouge.

Youk Chhang, the director of the Documentation Center of Cambodia

The center's director, Youk Chhang, says older history books simply ignored the Khmer Rouge era, with the exception of a brief mention in one book.

"They learned from '45 through '75 and they jumped to 1990, they jumped that period," he said. "After a long public debate they had a photograph of Pol Pot and exactly two lines in Khmer saying that Pol Pot is responsible for the death of 3.3 million Cambodian people. That's it."

Youk Chhang says it took 13 years from the new book's conception in 1996 to get it into schools. Distribution began late last year and the plan is to have one million books in schools and 3,200 teachers trained to use it by the end of this year.

He says getting the book approved was hindered by the fact that most former Khmer Rouge went unpunished and are now found at all levels of Cambodian society and politics.

"In the classroom I can assure you that at least 30 percent are the children of former Khmer Rouge, another 70 percent are the children of the victims," he said. "Among these three thousand teachers I can assure you almost 25 to 30 percent are former Khmer Rouge themselves. This is a broken society, it is a fragile society, so I think you have to live for the future, commit for the future, teach for the future."

At the school, 17-year-old Ny Pagnavuth says he never knew much about the Khmer Rouge. He says he was shocked to learn that when the Khmer Rouge took power, they emptied out the capital Phnom Penh at gun point and sent millions of people, including the old and sick, to toil⁶ in the countryside.

The story of that forced march has long been taught around the world as a brutal⁷ prelude⁸ to the Khmer Rouge's terror. Now, Cambodian students can finally learn the full story of their country.

 

1 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

2 rouge   

n.胭脂，口红唇膏；v.(在…上)擦口红

参考例句：

• Women put rouge on their cheeks to make their faces pretty.女人往面颊上涂胭脂，使脸更漂亮。
• She didn't need any powder or lip rouge to make her pretty.她天生漂亮，不需要任何脂粉唇膏打扮自己。

3 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

4 recording   

n.录音，记录

参考例句：

• How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间？
• I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 toil   

vi.辛劳工作，艰难地行动；n.苦工，难事

参考例句：

• The wealth comes from the toil of the masses.财富来自大众的辛勤劳动。
• Every single grain is the result of toil.每一粒粮食都来之不易。

7 brutal   

adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的

参考例句：

• She has to face the brutal reality.她不得不去面对冷酷的现实。
• They're brutal people behind their civilised veneer.他们表面上温文有礼，骨子里却是野蛮残忍。

8 prelude   

n.序言，前兆，序曲

参考例句：

• The prelude to the musical composition is very long.这首乐曲的序曲很长。
• The German invasion of Poland was a prelude to World War II.德国入侵波兰是第二次世界大战的序幕。