reflection #9 Part 7: Cambodian Genocide and Cultural Diversity

Yous Sopanha, a Cambodian tour guide, may seem happy but from inside he is deeply hurt because of his horrifying youth. He has lost many relatives to the minefields scattered across Cambodia. Before the peace, Cambodia was tormented and tortured by Pol Pot, the Cambodian murderer and he made a field know as the killing field. It was a field were Cambodian farmers, workers, families and children were taken there to be let out and watch them as they scatter themselves just to save their lives and reach for freedom and those who made it were shot down by the soldiers. An example of racism is when Martin Luther King Jr. tried to free the black community from the hands of the white man power and suffered and endured a lot just to help them.  

reflection #8 Part 6: Cambodia's Brutal Khmer Rouge Regime

The main cause of the civil war traced back to the end of World War II when a Vietnamese veteran tried to free Indochina ( Vietnam, Lao and Cambodia ) from the hands of the Japanese. In 1975, Vietnam was split into south and north Vietnam with the USA supporting the south. Washington has covertly aided and abetted the Pol Potists' guerrilla war to overthrow the Vietnamese backed government of Prime Minister Hun Sen, which replaced the Khmer Rouge regime. They will continue supporting them because if they do, they will still have control over some parts of Vietnam and thus, gaining more power and extending their dominance.

Reflection #7 Part 5: Cambodia’s Rich Cultural History and Awe-Inspiring Temples

Angkor Wat is one of the most famous and interesting temples that was ever built in Cambodia for its ancient and was built in the mid 12^th century by king Survyavarman II and was build for him to be his home and capital city. It was originally worshiped by Hindus but was later replaced with Thiravada Buddhist. It then got overthrown by the Chamas, rivals of the Khmer, and builders of the temple. The invasion lasted for about a century and then got taken back by king Jayavarman VII and during that period the Hindus got replaced by the Buddhists. After that, people stopped caring about the temple and didn’t give it much thought and thus, got overthrown by the jungle and became historic, ancient and delicate.

Reflection #6 Part 4: The Beauty, Diversity and Poverty of Cambodia

Cambodia is known widely for its poor and unhealthy people. They endure a lot of pain and hard work just to put food on the table for their wives and young children. The best way to help them is to donate every month to help raise their living standards and also help increase their income. The UAE have done a great job by donating lots of money and resources like oil to them and providing them with great education from teachers sent there. Also, countries from all over the world could send their working labor to help them by extracting their rich resources and distributing them all over Cambodia to support and assist them in anyways possible. I am a citizen from UAE and I cannot imagine what life would’ve been without oil to support our living standards. Life would’ve been tough and we would’ve worked extra hard and suffered just to get enough money to support our families. I encourage all people to help these amazing people by donating money and supporting them by any means possible.

Part 3: Cambodia Customs and Values

Objective: To understand some similarities between Emirati and Cambodian Culture

Task: Compare Cambodian and Emirati values

Highlight in yellow all the values that are similar to Emirati values

A.   Traditional Cambodian values include a strong family identity and loyalty

B.   Cambodian-born people have a respect for culture and older people.

C.   Cambodian families tend to be very private and reluctant to discuss family issues or conflict with non-family members

D.   Stoicism is a highly valued Cambodian character trait, reducing the tendency to complain about their health or services they are receiving

E.   Modesty, particularly for women, is very important

F.    Visitors to Cambodian-born people’s homes are often expected to remove their shoes, however they might not ask

G.   Accepting of food and refreshments when offered may break down barriers, open communication and build trust

H.   Cambodian-born people regard touching people on the head or pointing feet or shoes at them as offensive.

I.      Cambodians consider it impolite to make eye contact with someone who is older or considered a superior

J.    Cambodians have a tendency not to question instructions or authority

K.   ‘Yes’ may be an ambiguous response to a question or request, and does not necessarily indicate agreement. Reponses that might mean ‘no’ include; no response, changing the subject, or statements such as ‘it’s OK’ or ‘no problem’ or even an unconvincing ‘yes’

L.    It may take time to develop working relationships, trust and rapport

M.   Loud or over-familiar behavior towards others is generally not favored.

N.   Cambodians tend to avoid showing anger or getting involved in confrontation

O.   Cambodians prefer to be addressed using their correct title. For example Mr, Mrs and Dr

P.   Women traditionally retain their own family names on marriage or they may have two surnames. Cambodian names are traditionally written with the surname first, followed by the given name.

Q.   Cambodians may not recognise their names if they are pronounced incorrectly

R.   Cambodians may not always address people by their name

Reflection #4

Gap Year

 

There are many benefits of taking a gap year that many people do not know about. Some of them relate the fact that some people take a gap year to travel outside in order to gain many skills and get to know the people outside his residing country. This helps people to realize that there are many beautiful views and things outside their own country. Emarati people are not interested in gap years because they think it’s a waste of precious time but what they do not know is that gap years can really help and benefit them. I personally would like to have a gap year so I can have the time to visit my favorite country which is China. The reason I chose China is because it has many modern technology gears and also have many great views. The UAE has a strong connection with Cambodia and especially economically. The UAE has many trade roots with Cambodia and they gain many beneficial natural resources from them and in exchange they handle them modern world resources like for example, rare vegetables for advanced computers.

shock reflection - personal reflection 3

Once I was in school, I had the most wonderful day in my life because I just came from home with my dad feeling satisfied from me because of my hard work and good intentions but it just wouldn’t last long. Some of the people in my school feel that they are above themselves and they are the kings of the world. My origin comes from Persia and they think its something to laugh about. When I arrived, they gave me a disgusting look and started to make funny and aggressive signs towards me. During the lunch break, one of them came to me with a sarcastic face and started calling me Iranian rubbish and that I come from a disgusting origin and that I do not belong to the UAE. I felt really bad and couldn’t answer back because it is against my intentions and will. When I went home I told my father about it and he told me not to worry about it because they are actually jealous from me and what I am. I wasn’t sure and thought that he was just saying that to make me feel better. When I asked my mother, she told me that he has a point. When I went to school, I asked him why he was making fun of me and he told me that he was jealous of me and my place among the community so I told him that as long as we are friends and Muslims, we can never be different from one another.