History...S21 !!!???

 …a little something to ponder in Land of Khmers  

Once, I visited the infamous Toul Sleng Genocide Museum (S-21) in the heart of Phnom Penh. It proved to be the most sobering hour I have spent in my entire life. During four years (1975-1979) the Communist Khmer Rouge under Pol Pot carried out one of the worst genocides in modern history. Officials estimated that more than 30% of the population (about 2-3 million of the estimated 7 million population) was killed. Around 20,000 of this number passed through a converted high school, which came to be known as S-21 or Tuol Sleng concentration camp. It could be that only seven people out of the 20,000 survived. One of them was Vann Nath, a skillful artist who was kept alive due to his ability to draw leaders of the Pol Pot regime. Vann Nath was able to draw the classrooms from memory in graphic detail. These rooms had been converted into tiny prison or torture chambers. Even more disturbing were the many renderings of indescribable torture inflicted by young guards, most of them in their early teens. 

One room contained photographs of former Khmer Rouge soldiers and their testimonies of why they had joined the Khmer Rouge. Many claimed that they had to kill their own people or be killed themselves. Most of them had been defaced and had graffiti on them. One picture, however, stood out from the rest. It showed a woman, formally of the Khmer Rouge, making an offering to a monk in a Buddhist merit-making ceremony. I asked my host to translate the bright red graffiti on the picture (likely written by a Cambodian affected by the carnage of the Khmer Rouge). It read, “There is no reason to concern yourself with meritorious ceremonies, your murderous crimes will never go away.” The weight of this statement struck me deeply. It encapsulates in one sentence the utter bankruptcy and hopelessness of man made religion, which seeks through human effort to somehow erase the deep shame and guilt of sin.

Thus, it is sad that genocide had to be experienced first before the life-giving message of forgiveness could break through to Cambodian hearts in large numbers. My fellow Malaysians need to hear that no amount of merit making will erase the sin debt. Satan (the original murderer) runs his own spiritual concentration camp which keeps people captive to deception and sin…

p/s  visited Hoi An (2005) for some fine tailored clothing and beach relaxation. Nice expat population gives way to some West meets East restaurants. Halal food -well sure there are of course! Check it out! Took a junk trip around Ha Long Bay; its UNESCO world heritage site and, indeed  definitely something worth the trip !!! ... no doubt it was  initially  like  having a nightmare being in the museum.

Hopefully peace is here to stay !