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| People Power - Cartoon by Sacrava (on the web at http://sacrava.blogspot.com) |
October 20, 2010By A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
It was almost three decades ago, but the events remain as vivid as if they happened yesterday.
One early afternoon I was stretched out in a hammock under a trellis, feet away from the red, yellow and white bougainvillea, in front of my thatched hut where staff in the office of planning and analysis of the Khmer People's National Liberation Front gathered to finalize a document for submission to the commander-in-chief. We waited for my director, the chief of the Bureau of Information, Research, and Documentation (BIRD -- what an interesting acronym!) to supply a piece of information to complete our report.
My Walkman -- state of the art at the time -- was on my chest, two earphones plugged into my ears. I sang along with Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa," as the warm breeze from a small muddy pond touched my face: "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, Yes I would, if I could, I surely would."
The director came, gave what was expected to officers at work, but I remained in my hammock: "Away, I'd rather sail away, like a swan that's here and gone." He handed me a slice of mango, smiled, sat down on a bench, and asked the meaning of the last words of the song I uttered: "A man gets tied up to the ground, he gives the world its saddest sound, its saddest sound."'
Please click here to read more...
One early afternoon I was stretched out in a hammock under a trellis, feet away from the red, yellow and white bougainvillea, in front of my thatched hut where staff in the office of planning and analysis of the Khmer People's National Liberation Front gathered to finalize a document for submission to the commander-in-chief. We waited for my director, the chief of the Bureau of Information, Research, and Documentation (BIRD -- what an interesting acronym!) to supply a piece of information to complete our report.
My Walkman -- state of the art at the time -- was on my chest, two earphones plugged into my ears. I sang along with Simon and Garfunkel's "El Condor Pasa," as the warm breeze from a small muddy pond touched my face: "I'd rather be a hammer than a nail, Yes I would, if I could, I surely would."
The director came, gave what was expected to officers at work, but I remained in my hammock: "Away, I'd rather sail away, like a swan that's here and gone." He handed me a slice of mango, smiled, sat down on a bench, and asked the meaning of the last words of the song I uttered: "A man gets tied up to the ground, he gives the world its saddest sound, its saddest sound."'
Please click here to read more...
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