The King Father's Funeral - A glimpse of Cambodia's past
on Phnom Penh Pal (Cambodia), 10/Feb/2013 12:01, 34 days ago
We were out of the country when the King Father died in October, and we missed witnessing the huge numbers of Cambodians who made their way from throughout the country to pay their respects at the Royal Palace. Catching up with what had happened also meant learning about the relationship between the people and their King Father.Claire had been told that foreigners who have only been here for a couple of years would find it hard to understand how big a part the King Father had played in the lives of Cambodians over the last decades, and without this we could not understand their sense of loss.This is where the King Father's cremation happened.It was built during the 3 months mourning period. The King Father was a man who was anointed King by the French when aged only 18, but rather than be a puppet, he won independence for his country. Then instead of sitting and enjoying his position, he abdicated to become Prime Minister creating a period which is thought of as the golden era of modern Cambodia. The Sihanouk Era of the 50s and 60s is the yardstick against which Cambodia currently measures itself; the dream to which Cambodia has never returned.Respect for authority is a characteristic that is definitely more ingrained in Cambodia than in European/North American cultures, but even Cambodians who recognised the mistakes and faults of the King Father (he was a bit too closely aligned with the Khmer Rouge initially), told us that they would weep uncontrollably when thinking of his death. He not only won them independence in the 50s, but he brought them back together again after the horrors of the 70s and the 80s, when he returned as King.The King Father though the ages - lapels that you should buy to wear with a white top to show respectDuring the 90s, there were still deep divisions in Cambodia; the Khmer Rouge was fighting and there was even an armed battle in Phnom Penh overthrowing the then first prime minister. But above this was the King Father, then King, who was the unifying figure, the moral authority that all Cambodians listened to.It was in 2004 that he became the King Father, as he abdicated and one of his sons was appointed (by a council; it is not a hereditary monarchy) King, but his place as head of the Cambodian family remained.You see trucks full of people every day, usually garment or construction workers, but this was for the funeral. So when his funeral was due to take place on Feb 1st - 4th, it was expected that Phnom Penh would be overcome with maybe a million-plus Cambodians coming to pay respects. This led foreigners, and some Cambodians, in Phnom Penh to plot their escape from the city but before we made ours, Claire and I got up early to walk the streets of Phnom Penh and witness the funeral procession.Flanking the streets ready for the processionBecause of the procession, cars and motos had been banned from a section of the city and we walked the streets with thousands of Cambodians in a serene, peaceful and even happy atmosphere. Along with others, we stopped and looked at monkeys above our heads playing on telephone wires. We passed the Independence Monument and strolled across what is usually the busiest road and into the park. We wandered into the huge Wat beside the Royal Palace and through tree lined streets spotting things that you normally pass by. All the time surrounded by people who seemed to have something to celebrate rather than just commemorate.It felt as if this was what the city could have been like back in the Sihanouk Era; his funeral was not just helping Cambodian remember those golden times, but were actually giving Cambodians one more experience of them.A picture of the King Father in the procession4x4s rule the road in Cambodia. They honk their horn and stop for nothing. They are a symbol of wealth, power and being above the law. We ended the morning watching the procession with a host of Cambodians, including a bunch of little kids who had commandeered, for a better view, the roof and bonnet of a now too ubiquitous 4x4. There was no better symbol of the Sihanouk era reigning once again, if even just for a morning.Gordon