The Phnom Penh Post
Khmer culture
- Wednesday, 21 September 2011
A CULTURE’S clothing is symbolic of the nation. The Kingdom of Cambodia has a unique culture that dates from ancient times and continues today. Many people still wear traditional Khmer clothing to pagodas, to weddings and other ceremonies.
When there is a traditional ceremony, we often see beggars, young and old, inside the pagodas and outside the gates, asking for money. After they are given money, some of them use it to buy food – but others use it to buy drugs that can ruin their future and disrupt society.
Pchom Ben has arrived, and people are bringing food to the monks in pagodas and praying to dead family members. Some teenagers wear traditional clothing, made from silks such as Hol or Phamuong, to pagodas, but some wear sexy dresses. We discuss how that reflects on Khmer culture and whether it’s a good model for other young women.
On the topic of Khmer culture, we also speak to a 24-year-old who is exceptionally skilled in Chapei Dang Veng, A Yai, Mohaori and other styles of tradit-ional music.
She is not the only talented young woman in this week’s issue. We speak to a lady who designs traditional Khmer clothes, especially Khmer wedding clothes. She quit her nursing studies to start her own business specialising in wedding apparel.
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This is such an interesting article as I have been following your articles for a while.
Today, I would like to give some comments on this text.
First of all, the word "Pagoda" is, completely sure, not the right word to describe the Buddhist monastery either in Cambodia or, partially, in Vietnam, due to the differences in morphological and architectural feature. I know clearly how this word was been introduced. But from now on the right word that we should use to call a Buddhist monastery is "Wat" as this is such an important word for Khmer language. In addition, if we look at our neighbor, Thailand and Laos, they never adopt the word “pagoda” for their Buddhist Wat!
Second, I'm rather concern on your starting:
"A CULTURE’S clothing is symbolic of the nation. The Kingdom of Cambodia has a unique culture that dates from ancient times and continues today. Many people still wear traditional Khmer clothing to pagodas, to weddings and other ceremonies".
Yes, I am agreed that Cambodia has a “unique culture” that dates from ancient times, but it is never continue, or it is partially continue to today only! In term of traditional cloth, we never continue this except some traditional wedding dress for groom only! The real traditional dress was abandoned since 1940 or 1950 when Cambodia, as part of globalization and modernization process, eager to become too "modern". Today the so-called "traditional cloth" is the result of the modernization which is nothing related to the traditional cloth at all. The modern-traditional-Cloth is taken from either Nyonya Kebaya, Chinese-Malay-assimilated, or Baju Kurung of Malay tradition. Of course, I have to give the credit that the Cambodians had spending their effort of developing and modifying in order to become what they are now. Here I just would like remind some of the origin and its influence only as it need to have more research work.
Any way, thank you so much for reading this.
Best,
Sokly