A. Gaffar Peang-Meth
PACIFIC DAILY NEWS
I hear, from time to time, from some in the Hun Sen regime, and though I disagree with their association and their work for the dictatorial government, I don’t doubt some folks in Hun Sen’s civilian administration and military sincerely love Cambodia and want the country to be free, independent and democratic, with justice and rights for the people. Those who are close to politics and the action every day may not be as happy as they seem.
First, my apologies for not having answered all emails: It’s physically impossible. Second, to my friends on Guam: Thank you for seeing that what I write about Cambodia can be universally applied (my former comparative politics students at UOG can smile). Third, I wish to announce that beginning in July I will decrease my writing in this space from weekly to biweekly to have time to meet other obligations.
Reactions from readers, Cambodians and non-Cambodians, to what I write (and do not write) have been educational for me. I write to share what I know and to provoke thoughtful debate. So, the positive and negative reactions I received affirm that my goal is attained: I am able to shake the resting mind to ask questions. Most would agree that one who does not question is intellectually dead and cannot know how to proceed.
From what readers write, I am confident that “how” one thinks determines the kind of world in which one finds oneself. “What we think, we become,” Gautama Buddha said 2,500 years ago. The concepts have been reiterated in different ways by many, including Mahatma Gandhi and Barack Obama’s “Yes, we can!”
How one thinks does not mean shooting off one’s mouth under the guise of protected free expression. A well-reflected thought is a far cry from a fleeting opinion. Among many things, to think involves using the mind to imagine, inquire, interpret, relate, evaluate, compare and analyze. A school of thought urges that we not be satisfied and settle for an answer, even if it is so clear and so logical, but to keep asking questions until we reach a horizon with a panorama of answers from which the best one can be chosen.
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