Unofficial Translation

Selected Comments at the Inauguration of Achievements at Sansam Kosal Pagoda

04 February 09

… I am so glad to return to the pagoda once again after my last trip on December 17, 2007 with my wife during the celebration of anniversary of Samdech Preah Dharma Likhet Luos Lai, the first deputy director of monks in the Kingdom of Cambodia – in his 94 years. The meeting today is possible because of the efforts we made together as collective and public achievements here in the pagoda of Sansam Kosal, Phnom Penh.

I may remind you of the report of HE Kep Chuktema, the Government representative (Governor) for the Capital of Phnom Penh that I was behind these achievements as HE Pen Siman of the Customs and Excise together with HE the Government Representative Kep Chuktema were the ones who actually saw through these projects …

Today my wife and I are so pleased to have noticed orderly manner and I am sure before soon the place will become sacred and venerated our people … I am so blessed to see that all nine Samdech (patriarchs) of the Buddhist monks are present today … it is quite a rare coincidence as normally we could have only five or less of them present together at one ceremony … As tomorrow is going to be the Buddhist celebration of Meakboja I would seek your consent with me that all merits gathered from this auspicious religious occasion should be a blessing for the place …

Achievements we have realized in the pagoda of Sansam Kosal are remarkably noble one among many others in 45 years of its existence … The place has evolved from a merit making building to a Buddhist pagoda in itself as is reported by HE the Governor Kep Chuktema. Let’s imagine, in between 1964 and 1975 this place was comprised of a wooden temple and a Buddhist monk residence. In between 1970 and 1975 the pagoda was then theoretically transformed into settlement for war displaced people and in between 1975 and 1979 it was left unoccupied like other pagodas throughout the country. Buddhism and other religions had come to a complete stop in this country.

After the liberation of January 7, 1979, together with people’s rebirth the pagodas and religions – Buddhism and others – have all come back to lives and made constant progresses at own paces … The pagoda of Sansam Kosal has in this last time been led by three head monks already and Samdech Preah Dharma Likhet Luos Lai is the incumbent Head of the Samsan Kosal pagoda …

I would take this opportune moment to call on the souls of the former Head Monks Pok Sam An and Um Doeun to witness the achievements today, which we all devote for the benefit of their memories and Buddhist development …

I also would like to take this chance to express my sincere thanks to HE Pen Siman and HE Kep Chuktema as well as other generous fellows in making these achievements possible as I learned also that a part of the resources used in reconstruction the pagoda has been noted as contribution from the Municipal of Phnom Penh as well … The space of the pagoda has been remarkably small as it has been divided into three major parts, one of them for the development of the Primary School of Sansam Kosal, which we all note with satisfaction that it is a strong bond of development between the Buddhist and the secular worlds … The Buddhist monks have shown through this gesture the concept of caring for the survival of the whole nation by taking responsibility in sharing resources for the sake of human resource development. This   is a remarkable sign of effort and farsighted Buddhist concept for the country’s development as a whole.

I am profoundly grateful and excitedly moved for the contribution that is great and vehement … Its impact has been farsighted as well as promoting vision which is my initiative for the development of the pagoda has been implemented in full.

I have fully responded to the wish of Samdech Preah Dharma Likhet Luos Lai’s wish, firstly, to have the Buddhist temple built, and secondly, to get the Buddhist temple in Kompong Speu to be inaugurated in March after my return from the ASEAN Summit in Thailand … I would see that the two wishes have now been fulfilled for the sake of devotion for Buddhism and for the people as well.

We are overseeing the Buddhist achievements in the pagoda and it should indeed be a tool for measuring interdependence between Buddhism or other religions and the country’s peace and political stability as well … The question is whether Buddhism and other religions in this world could be strictly abided by at the time of war or turmoil. As we can see in between 1970 and 1975, the people here could not exercise their religious duties and more than that it was nothing but a settlement for the war displaced persons from all parts of the country.

The war between 1970 and 1975 could be clearly seen, evaluated and studied to be a lively lesson that as long as peace and political stability are not available people first of all could not defend their lives not to mention practicing religious duties … The wrong political concept of the Pol Pot genocide had brought about forbidding beliefs and religions, and Buddhism was indeed banned whereas monks were either killed or disrobed, while pagodas were turned into torture camps or places for other purposes...

In between 1979 and 98, we have tried step after step, in a period that Cambodia was caught in a situation of parts of the country were in peace and others were in war, and to be frank the part under peace was larger and more frequent than the one at war. Still the war situation in those parts and times had disturbed our ways of life – some of our people who traveled from one place to another for the purpose of Buddhist rites were frequently ambushed by guerrillas or other illegal armed clans …

As of now the people of Cambodia in the whole Kingdom could exercise their religious rights anywhere they wish – in pagodas that is far deeper in forests or in places where there never has been a pagoda before – take for example the pagoda of Keo Sekha Kiri Svarak close to the Preah Vihear temple – the world heritage of Cambodia. We have up to 4,000 Wats (Buddhist pagodas) and there are in all 50,000 Buddhist monks.

One may ponder and ask a question, what would happen if the country were to get back to war? Would our people have chances and retain their rights to exercise religious beliefs? Some parts of the country may but there are parts that may not. I could remember in 1973, when the US had yet to sign the Paris Agreement to withdraw its troops from Indochina, the US and the South Vietnamese troops and the Lon Nol troops themselves bombarded Cambodia and at one time I was at Ji Lang of Kompong Cham province … People called out to the monks for help and the monks responded that they could not help it themselves …

That is why I always prognosticate that at whatever cost we have to keep peace and political stability that are sought out and achieved in heaps of hardships … The win-win policy that I have applied has brought an end to the war and division … Cambodia which before this policy was divided into many parts at one time – for example Cambodia between one part with Lon Nol, South Vietnamese and the US forces and another with the National United Front of Kampuchea led by Samdech Preah Norodom Sihanouk, which later was usurped by Pol Pot and destruction of lives came about … while the forces to struggle to thwart them off came to be reckoning with …

Cambodia in between 1979 and 1993 was divided into four parts – the Government of Phnom Penh and the tripartite coalition Government of Democratic Kampuchea … In between 1993 and 1998 Cambodia was under two different controls – the Royal Government of Cambodia and the Government of Anlong Veng – I said so because there had been local currencies at that time. By and large it was a steadfast attempt to get the win-win policy implemented the result of which is no secession, and cohesion is observed also in the relations between Buddhist and secular worlds…

It is in this reality that I urge Buddhist monks, Buddhist followers and those in the secular world to observe together an obligation in maintaining peace and political stability. I may remind all of you that UNTAC spent over two billion US dollars in keeping peace in Cambodia but the Head and Commander of UNTAC could not enter the Khmer Rouge’s headquarters for one-piece bamboo barricade by two Khmer Rouge soldiers … But we have finally made them united with the nation fold …

Some people have been quite courageous but I noted that in meetings everywhere like Paris, Bangkok, Jakarta, Beijing, Pyongyang or in the Khemarin hall in the Royal Palace, those who said themselves to be strong in fact stared the floor every time Khieu Samphan read his interventions …

To recap what I have said earlier this has in fact been the path that Cambodia has taken to get here – to get to Buddhist development and it is undeniable that no progress could have achieved if the secular world did not make any development. Vice versa, Buddhist development contributes to a great extent to peace and political stability of the country. As far as I know many pagodas have offered residences and food to students coming from provinces in pursuance of their studies and recently the Buddhist monks have gone all the ways to give help to soldiers at the forefront …

I wish to make a remark about one thing that has disturbed and caused reaction from the Buddhist monks – that is the opera of Where Elephant Weeps – I agree with what has been proposed by Samdech Buddhist Patriarchs and I have written my instruction on this matter already… I would like to take this chance to place my appeal that all sorts of plays in form of drama or opera or movie must first have permission from the Supreme Buddhist monks and the Ministry of Cults and Religious Affairs …/.

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