Santhor Mok High School, Phnom Penh, January 25, 2011 (please also see PDF file attached)
The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) has been authorized by the Ministry of Education, Youth, and Sports to install anti-genocide memorials in all high schools—over 1000—across the country for the purpose of promoting forgiveness, tolerance, education and reconciliation. The slogans acknowledge the memories of victims and survivors who lived through the Khmer Rouge regime and encourage support for the upcoming trial of the four surviving senior leaders of the Khmer Rouge. The two slogans say (1) "Talking about experiences during the Khmer Rouge regime promotes reconciliation and educates children about forgiveness and tolerance," and (2) "Learning about the history of Democratic Kampuchea helps prevent genocide."
DC-Cam will hold an inauguration ceremony of an anti-genocide memorial at Santhor Mok High School on January 25, 2011, at 8 AM. Her Excellency Chumteav Ton Sa-Im, Undersecretary of State of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport and Mr. Chea Cheat, Head of Phnom Penh´s Municipal Office of Education, will be the guests of honor for this ceremony. Santhor Mok High School is the sixth location to hold a memorial inauguration ceremony after Indra Devi, Russey Keo, Preah Sisowath, Hun Sen Ang Snuol and Tuol Tum Pong High Schools.
Santhor Mok Primary school was built in 1960 and dedicated to Grandfather Santhor Mok due to his reputation as a famous poet during the colonial period, the reign of King Norodom. Santhor Mok was a child of a poor farmer; he was ordained as a monk to study literature and Buddhist theology. Due to his reputation, he was honored by King Norodom. When the Khmer Rouge took power in 1975, Santhor Mok primary school was closed. The Khmer Rouge turned the school into warehouse. After the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, the school was reopened on September 24, 1979, and renamed Santhor Mok grade 1-2-3. In 1993, the school’s name was changed to Santhor Mok High School. In 2008, it was changed again to Chea Sim-Santhor Mok High School. Today it has 7,430 students, of whom 3,432 are girls.
During the inauguration, DC-Cam will distribute 300 copies of the textbook “A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979),” the monthly magazine Searching for the Truth, and anti-genocide posters to students and teachers in order to broaden their understanding of the Democratic Kampuchea period and the work of the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. Her Excellency Chumteav Ton Sa-Im will speak about the significance of the slogans, which have an important role in educating students and survivors about reconciliation, forgiveness and tolerance.
The slogans are being mounted with financial support from DC-Cam staff members and their friends who were former students of Chea Sim-Santhor Mok High School. Apart from the important objective of mounting the Anti-Genocide slogans, this ceremony is also an opportunity for former students to meet with each other to discuss the need to prevent genocide. DC-Cam will encourage its staff members to continue making efforts to mount slogans in their former high schools and all high schools across Cambodia. Banners cost only 40 USD and concrete and wood-designed memorials cost 400 USD. We are seeking seed funding for the design.
For additional information, please contact:
§ Ms. Ly Sokchamroeun; 012 69 16 13; truthchamroeun.l@dccam.org
§ Ms. Kry Suyhieng, 089 80 01 36; truthhieng@dccam.org
§ Mr. Mam Sovann; 012 48 34 24; truthsovann@dccam.org
§ Mr. Meak Chhoreaksmey, Santhor Mok School Principal; 012 85 64 63
Independently Searching for the Truth since 1997.
MEMORY & JUSTICE
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About Me
- Duong Dara
- Dara Duong was born in 1971 in Battambang province, Cambodia. His life changed forever at age four, when the Khmer Rouge took over the country in 1975. During the regime that controlled Cambodia from 1975-1979, Dara’s father, grandparents, uncle and aunt were executed, along with almost 3 million other Cambodians. Dara’s mother managed to keep him and his brothers and sisters together and survive the years of the Khmer Rouge regime. However, when the Vietnamese liberated Cambodia, she did not want to live under Communist rule. She fled with her family to a refugee camp on the Cambodian-Thai border, where they lived for more than ten years. Since arriving in the United States, Dara’s goal has been to educate people about the rich Cambodian culture that the Khmer Rouge tried to destroy and about the genocide, so that the world will not stand by and allow such atrocities to occur again. Toward that end, he has created the Cambodian Cultural Museum and Killing Fields Memorial, which began in his garage and is now in White Center, Washington. Dara’s story is one of survival against enormous odds, one of perseverance, one of courage and hope.
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