Paris Peace Accords 23 Oct. 1991

Tuesday, September 12, 2017

Responding to "Cambodia and Asian values...don't...import foreign ideologies!"

Related: "We unite behind CNRP...We do NOT unite behind Kem Sokha and his treachery" and Asian values

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@Viseth Lbk "...Cambodia and Asian values... please don't trust and import foreign ideologies" -- How does one build a border around ideas? How did you stop Western ideas from seeping into your mind and soul when you studied in France and visited other non-Asian countries for work or pleasure? How do you as an educated person fluent in French and English and an avid Facebook user with "Friends" and information and ideas shared from non-Asian countries manage to set up a checkpoint to allow only "Asian" ideas through into your being? When you read in English and French, how do you limit yourself to only reading from Asian authors who wrote in English and French? And if you can do that, how do you know these Asian authors writing in French or English didn't import "foreign" ideas into their writings now transmitting to you? 

Poor you! No Shakespeare, no Rumi, no Socrates, no Plato, no Montesquieu, no Einstein, no Edison [read: no electricity], no James Bond, no French wine, no Swiss watch, no Italian pasta, no Belgian chocolate, no iPhone, no Rolls Royce, no airplanes...

No arithmetic, no going to the moon, no Tesla, no antibiotics, no modern medicine...

No Chanel, no Facebook (!) -- how does one live! -- no Beatles, no Mozart, no Monet, no couscous, no Rock-n-Roll (read: no Elvis!), no Jazz, no Charlie Chaplin and that mustache that is so "Cambodian"!, no hip-hop, no Céline Dion, no suits (Armani or otherwise), no cravat tie, no exclamation mark, no question mark, no quotations, no dashes, no smiley face emoticon, no Starbucks, no caviar (yuck!), no Swiss cheese (no! not possible!), no printing press, no internet/email/WhatsApp/Instagram/YouTube, no Angelina Jolie and Hollywood, no soccer/football, no cricket, no basketball, no Disneyland, no peace sign, no "hi" "hello" "okay", no passionate full-mouth kissing, no Frank Gehry, no Louvre, no cathedrals and "western" architecture, no Ziploc bags, no drinking straws, no anything with wheels...

For me, I read broadly wherever the source may originate and try to visit as many places and meet as many different people for they help me to be more human and see the universal in the variety. Education and learning require that we be challenged not by the same but by difference and learn to develop tools to be able to discriminate between ideas (what we called critical thinking). So the question I ask is not whether it is "foreign" but rather along the line of: is it true, is it interesting, is it beneficial/edifying, is it enjoyable, it is witty, is it beautiful, does it speak to the human condition?

5 comments:

  1. Anonymous3:47 PM

    លោក Viseth Lbk ប្រហែលជាធ្លាប់, ប្រាប់ពួកអ្នក ជ្រើសរើស ក្រុមនគរបាលជាតិ ថា, គាត់មាន កម្ពស់ ៣ហត្ថ ២ចំអាម និង ៥ធ្នាប់, គាត់មាន ទម្ងន់ ១ហាប ៨ខាំ ហើយរស់នៅ ក្បែរទីផ្សារ ផ្សែងហុយ !!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous9:59 PM

    Oh shit! Ah Karl was trying to be funny too eh?

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous3:55 AM

    Understand one thing - Theary Seng couldn't care less about this blog T2P because she simply uses it as data reference from her facebook. Her audience is over there on her Facebook, not here. She is leaving it all up to -DrGunzet- to trash Khmer race here. And you all are supposed to be smart enough to have figured out the true identity of that -DrGunzet- already by now. Be smart, be vigilant, be brave. Good luck to the Khmer people. God save Cambodia!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous8:47 AM

      You are a loser.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous4:39 AM

      Sure? and not the CNRP and the Khmer people? And NOT Theary SENG???

      Delete