On the evening of February 10th, we arrived at Battambang, possibly the second largest city in Cambodia. After freshening up, Vandeth and Tharun came by my hotel to pick me up and Mr. Vandeth told me that we are going to a western restaurant for dinner. Battambang still had a lot of old buildings and old shop houses, like in Macau. The old French architecture was still surviving. We dined at the famous White Rose restaurant, not a glamorous upscale one, but a simple restaurant with the most comprehensive menu I have seen – from Thai, Cambodian, Laos, Chinese, French to American food on it.
At the Battambang Defender Resource Centre
The next morning, we visited the Battambang Defender Resource Centre, which was also situated in the Provincial Court compound. It was a small office, but had at least a small separate office for the lawyer to interview his clients in there. I also met the lawyer assistant, Ouk Kalyan, whom I have known for many years. Kalyan was the lawyer assistant at the Takeo Defender Resource Center, also known as DRC 1, when we opened it in 2008. Since then, she has been working in a number of DRCs and she is now attached to the Battambang DRC. After taking pictures with my colleagues at the Battambang DRC, Mr. Vandeth told me that it was time to meet with the President of the Court. We met them and had a very cordial meeting with the Chief Judge of the Court, who commended IBJ’s work and urged us, like they did in Banteay Meanchey, to have an additional lawyer attached to the DRC. He was telling us that as the Battambang DRC is also covering the neighboring Pailin province, the lawyer has to travel often there when he is needed in court, which delays court processes. He also commended IBJ’s approach to work with the justice officials, not being confrontational and arrogant, but collaborative and constructive. He cited an incident where a “foreign expert” came to Battambang and arrogantly told the court officials “what and how to do things.” The Judge said, although the substance of the advice was useful, the approach did not go well with the local staff as the expert was quite disrespectful of the locals in dictating his terms.
Vandeth (left), President of the Court (center), Sanjee (right)
We left Battambang at around 11am en route to Phnom Penh. I knew we would be passing Pursat and Kampong Chhnang provinces on our way to the capital city. We were driving away from the city through a vast field. Vandeth then told us that this was the field where he used to forced labor for many years under Khmer Rouge regime.
Killing field
He had to wake up around 2am in the morning to plough the fields in darkness. He saw many older people die in this field. When people died, there was no funeral or last rites. Bodies were unceremoniously thrown into a pit. Vandeth is a survivor of this killing field.
Vandeth at the temple he grew up in
Soon we reached the temple where Vandeth grew up as a child. After he lost his parents during his childhood, he grew up with monks or the monks who adopted him. When we stopped at the temple, a woman from the adjacent school building ran towards Vandeth. She is a childhood friend of Vandeth and is now a teacher. There was so much happiness in their faces. This was the first time they’ve seen each other in years, if not decades!
Vandeth with his childhood friend
Before leaving the temple compound my eyes caught a series of statues of a monk. It showed the life of a monk, first standing in saffron robe. The second statue showed the monk without the robe, old and hunched. The third statue showed the monk sick, bony and old, and crawling on the ground. The fourth showed the monk dead and vultures devouring his body. Although the fourth statue was not a pretty sight, this showed the way monkhood was explained to me when I was growing up as a child in Sri Lanka. It was a selfless life and in the end, you even give your dead body away. That was how Buddha envisaged the life of a monk. I was then thinking of some monks in Sri Lanka. The things that distinguished themselves from others were only their saffron robes and baldheads. Some openly preached violence. Some act violently attacking others with poles. Some carry revolvers hidden inside the saffron robes. Some travel in Mercedes Benz cars. It is really shameful. I was also shocked to hear some Buddhist monks leading attacks against Muslims in Myanmar, which were caught on tape. I thought all young monks should see these four statues to remind themselves of the selfless and non–violent life they should live.
Statues of monks