Memories of Cambodia

In the blink of an eye, it has been 40 years since Cambodia was liberated from the genocidal regime of Pol Pot, Yeng Sari, Khieu Sam Pon, and 37 years since we taught Vietnamese in Cambodia.

Here are some memories I've jotted down to remember my beloved 20s.

CK establishment

It was a special establishment assigned by the Ministry of Universities and Vocational Secondary Schools (now the Ministry of Education and Training) to the Faculty of Vietnamese, Hanoi National University in 1980 to meet the actual needs taking place in the K battlefield (Cambodia) right after the Pol Pot genocidal regime was overthrown by the Vietnamese Volunteer Army and the Rebel Army of the Cambodian United Front for National Salvation on January 7, 1979.

The Vietnamese Language Department, Hanoi University of Science has the task of recruiting literature students who have just graduated from university in the 1976-1980 course to the Department to train in Vietnamese language teaching, learn English and prepare to go to Cambodia to teach Vietnamese.

The 21st class of the University of General Sciences had 18 people recruited to the Faculty (17 people from the Faculty of Literature, 1 person from the Faculty of History; next year, 5 more people from the 22nd class of the Faculty of Literature's Language major were recruited) and focused on studying English and practicing teaching Vietnamese to prepare for departure.

In fact, right after the liberation day of January 7, 1979, three veteran teachers of the Vietnamese Language Department, Hanoi University of Science were assigned by their superiors to fly to Thu Duc to quickly teach Vietnamese to a number of key cadres of the Cambodian United Front for National Salvation for a period of 3 months.

A group of Vietnamese language teachers in Cambodia took a photo with Minister of Universities and Vocational Secondary Education Nguyen Dinh Tu in 1983.

Atmosphere of war

While waiting to leave, we attended a meeting at the Ministry with members of the Vietnamese Language Department who would go to Cambodia. The meeting was chaired by Mr. Hoang Xuan Tuy, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Universities and Vocational Secondary Schools at that time, to promote the spirit of international obligations. He talked about international obligations and emphasized: "Each comrade has the obligation to go for 1 year. Any comrade who dares to go for 3 years will be given an apartment by the Ministry and have his salary increased by one level when he returns home." That statement was correct in the latter part because in the end, I was the one who went for more than 7 years.
After only a few months, the first group had to leave for Cambodia to teach Vietnamese at the Phnom Penh Foreign Language University. The group consisted of a number of veteran teachers and half of them were “new recruits”. After a year, the “troops were replaced”. About ten of my friends and I joined the second group. That day, at around 4am on June 21, 1982, our group gathered at the beginning of alley 30, Ta Quang Buu Street now, to quietly go to Noi Bai airport to catch an early flight to Phnom Penh (what an interesting coincidence, recently I learned that on June 21, 5 years earlier, Regiment Commander Hun Sen and his comrades also sought to go to Vietnam to ask for help to fight against Pol Pot). There were also sobbing scenes from those who saw us off, most of whom were older brothers, sisters, and parents, because except for a few veterans who returned to study at university, we were all only 22 or 23 years old. I remember Thuan, the older sister of my groupmate Thuan, tearfully told me:When you get there, remember to take care of each other, Nam..

Vietnamese language class in Cambodia in 1983

The plane landed at Pochentong airport at about 10:30. The airport looked like a military airport. There were many people wearing uniforms of the Vietnamese army and the Cambodian revolutionary army. Many military helicopters were parked in the distance. What I could not forget was the girl checking the luggage, her right hand held a pistol, and her left hand was comparing the ticket stub. I thought to myself, no wonder the deputy minister said “who dares to go for 3 years”? The atmosphere of war was too much! I was afraid that the gun might accidentally go off. Later, when I got to know that employee, I told her this story, she laughed and said, there was no such thing as the atmosphere of war being that bad, but that time she was holding a pistol for a military passenger and handing it to the flight attendants.

Rules of the University Expert Group

After 3 years, 8 months and 20 days under the Pol Pot genocidal regime, a capital without people with many areas had become wild forests. We lived in the Vietnamese Expert Zone in Bang Kinh Koong market area from the time of Sihanouk, Lon Non. Trees had grown like forests in and around the villas.

The University experts group stayed in a villa near Bang King Koong market. On the very first evening, our group gathered to listen to the Head of the University experts group, Mr. Phan Hoang Manh, announce the regulations of the group. Mr. Phan Hoang Manh was the Head of the Secondary Education Department of the Ministry of Universities and Vocational Secondary Education at that time, and was sent to be a University expert, helping our friends build a young University after the genocide regime. This set of regulations, drafted by Mr. Manh, included very strict, very detailed, and very practical provisions on the lifestyle in the group's building. When announcing, he added specific examples to illustrate more clearly, making everyone look at each other and hold back their laughter. First and repeatedly emphasized was the word "labor". For example, we are here, far from our homeland, far from our families, so we must build our group into a warm family, and must have a spirit of hard work, must build a hard-working lifestyle, must build a hard-working life... Then, our group has 2 guns and temporarily divided them like this: the pistol is carried by the group leader, and the carbine is kept by comrade Tung, because comrade Tung is a veteran who has been through the battlefield, remember to always clean it carefully and most importantly, do not let it go off by accident. And many details about the men's and women's restrooms, carrying water to fill the tank in the restroom, about guests coming to visit the group...

Every few months, there would be a new batch of teachers to meet the demand, and each time a new group arrived, even if there were only 3 people, there would be a group meeting in the evening to announce the rules to the newcomers. We remembered these things by heart. And half a year after arriving in Cambodia, we celebrated our first Tet holiday 1982-1983 away from the Fatherland. That time, Uncle Manh, the group leader, returned home, and in the sad late night, the three of us, Vu Thanh Tung, Nguyen Trong Tan (later a writer) and I popularized the songRulesby Uncle Manh to the Nghe Tinh Vi Dam tune. I sang it and Trong Tan recorded it on a reel-to-reel tape. I assure you it is very artistic, good and not at all derogatory, just listen. And he agreed to let me try singing it. So I hugged the guitar and played it loudly and sang the whole song. Uncle Manh listened and laughed and said:Too fast, too fast, you guys are too fast(Uncle Manh is from Hue). Later on, Uncle Manh contacted me many times to ask me to cover that regulation for him. I kept promising but I still couldn't do it because I forgot a sentence. Then two years ago, one day when I got home, my wife said, this afternoon Uncle Manh called again and asked Nam to give him the song.Rules, and I also happened to remember the forgotten sentence "if anyone does not comply carefully, it must be confiscated and handed over to the head of the group". And I sang it again, then asked my wife to record it with her phone and send the link via email to my uncle. When the head of the group returned to Cambodia, I intended to show off my "achievements" in popularizing folk songs: "Do you like to listen to the song "rules"??" was corrected: "What's the point of you guys writing verses to defame me??" (Someone told the boss about this).

The lyrics are as follows:

LyricsRules(to the tune of Vi Dam)

Original text of the Rules: Phan Hoang Manh
Lyrics: Vu Thanh Tung, Nguyen Trong Tan, Nguyen Thien Nam
Cover by: Nguyen Thien Nam

1.
Oh, oh, here we are far from our homeland and family, so we have to build our collective into a warm and cozy family.
Must build a life of hard work
Must build a life of hard work
If guests come to stay overnight
Must report to Captain Manh
The first thing we must do is to protect ourselves.

2.
Well, our group has two guns, so let's temporarily divide the tasks like this.
The pistol worn by the group leader
The group leader carried a pistol.
The carbine held by Tung
Always clean carefully.
The first thing is not to let the trigger go.

3.
Well, there are men and women here, so we have to divide them into two clear areas.
The water tank must be filled regularly.
Must fill water tank regularly
When the paper runs out, you must get it immediately.
Be careful while sitting in there.
Unfinished business, how to manage

4.
The porch is the face of the group, we must uphold the spirit of responsibility and preserve public property.
Comrade Tuyet is responsible for watering the flowers.
Comrade Tuyet is responsible for watering the flowers.
Do not let anyone hang clothes at the gate.
If anyone does not comply carefully
Then must confiscate, then hand over to the head of the group

5.
Oh, our group also has an extra refrigerator, but the electricity is unstable, so everyone has to pay attention.
If plugged into the cabinet, there is no rumbling sound.
Then we must hurry, get out, get out in time.

6.
Conclude:Must build a life of hard work
Must build a life of hard work
Must build a life of hard work
Must build a life of hard work

Khmer self-study textbooks were compiled during this period.

foolish

There is this story, now dare to tell.

In 1982, many people in the group believed that the building we lived in was haunted. Many people often heard strange noises at night. Young female teachers often had sleep paralysis. In my room, at around 2am, there were often strange noises like knocking on the wall. One day, Nguyen Van Phuc and I, who slept in the same room, both sat up because we heard strange noises. We got up to turn on the lights to check but saw nothing. When we turned off the lights and lay down, we occasionally heard them.

Nguyen Trong Tan, a soldier who came back to the university in the same class, attended the Vietnamese Language Department and went to Cambodia in the same batch as me, had a special talent for using his hand to cover his mouth and imitate the sound of a baby crying. One night, he, I and Vu Thanh Tung planned to tease Dang Van Dam, the team leader, who firmly declared that there was a ghost in the house. That night, when it was late, the three of us went to Dam's window and Tan pretended to hear a baby crying. Then he ran back to his room. Dam ran out and saw nothing. We teased him like that about 2 times, then the military intelligence officers of Department 2 in the villa next door heard it and used flashlights to search the dense garden behind for several hours. Finally, one of them got angry and shouted: if anyone missed it, tell me so we can take them to the hospital. That very night, an important part of the military intelligence team had to move immediately. Tan told us to keep this matter top secret, because if it was revealed, he would be severely disciplined.

Vietnamese learning materials compiled for use in Cambodia

Gathering firewood and getting drunk

In 1983, due to the increase in the number of delegations, the accommodation near Bang King Koong market was overloaded, so the University expert delegation was moved to the house of the 284 Medical Station of the Vietnamese Expert Group, after the medical station moved to a new location in the A40 expert area. At this time, we no longer ate at the A40 communal kitchen but organized separate meals for the whole group for about 20 people. The A40 kitchen was far away and not enough to eat. On Saturdays, the male teachers often pulled their tricycles into Bang King Koong Market, which at that time was like a dense forest, to collect firewood. Once, we left at 9am and while cutting dry branches from the bushes, we discovered 3 bald military intelligence soldiers sitting there butchering a dog. When we asked, we learned that these young soldiers were studying Khmer, the reason for shaving their heads was to focus on studying well, so they decided to shave their heads so they wouldn't have to go out to play. After getting acquainted, the three of us invited us to stay and drink together. It seemed interesting, so the group of about 5-6 of us agreed. After gathering firewood to fill the cart, we went to the house of this military intelligence group, about ten people, with a platoon leader, handsome like the movie actor Chanh Tin, asking everyone's permission to follow the custom of drinking wine with a kettle and a bowl, that is, a kettle of wine and a bowl, sitting in a circle and turning around each person once, everyone had to drink it all. After a few rounds, Dao Van Hung suddenly collapsed and didn't know anything, everyone carried him to bed and continued drinking. After being full, the music turned on and all these men danced. While dancing, Dao Hung woke up and also got up to dance with us. Around 1:00 pm, the whole group staggered back, at the same time meeting the group leader, Uncle Manh, and the young female teachers who were looking for him because they had been waiting for lunch for a long time, and were afraid that something had happened.

Teaching thousands of people alone and living alone in two villas

In 1984, I was assigned to teach with Mr. Nguyen Van Chinh at the University of Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry in Phnom Penh. There were only 2 teachers but they taught 2 classes of international students who specialized in Vietnamese to go to Vietnam to study Medicine, Pharmacy and Dentistry. In addition, all students from year 1 to year 3 of the school, including university and intermediate levels, were arranged by the school to study Vietnamese 4 to 6 times a week. Thus, the total number of students studying Vietnamese was several thousand people. We combined 2 classes of international students into one and divided them into teaching both the non-specialized group, teaching both morning and afternoon. There were classes of 400 students, teachers taught by microphone, students studied with a bilingual summary document compiled by us, with the bilingual new vocabulary and simple commands and explanations translated into Khmer by a Cambodian teacher at the school who knew Vietnamese. The important thing for students to be able to grasp the knowledge is thanks to this bilingual document with easy-to-understand explanations and semester exams. Once there is an exam to get a score, students must study carefully. The school requires and supports us to organize the exam very strictly. On the exam day, we invited 15 Vietnamese teachers from a number of universities of General, Economics, Transport, and Politics to ask questions and give oral exams. During the written exam, dozens of school staff assisted in supervising the exam to prevent "cheating" in the exam. In 1989-1990, I was the only one teaching Vietnamese at the University of Medicine, Pharmacy, and Dentistry in Phnom Penh, although the number of students studying Vietnamese was still more than a thousand people. During this time, I finished writing the series "Vietnamese for Cambodians” 3 volumes, carefully bilingual. Teachers can give exercises for students to study comfortably on their own. When it was time for exams, I still asked a group of Vietnamese teachers from the General School and the School of Economics, about 15 people, to come and ask questions and give oral exams for me. During this time, I no longer stayed at the Ministry of Health Hotel, but my friend transferred me to an old villa at the end of Monivong Street, near Pa De Voat Hospital (Revolutionary Hospital), which has now regained its old name, Calmet Hospital. This villa actually has two quite large buildings. I stayed in the more beautiful building, with two floors and six rooms. These two buildings are located in a large garden, with many mangoes, coconuts, custard apples, lemons... and several frangipani trees, like a quiet pagoda. I also don't understand how I was able to live alone in that building for a whole year. Late at night, the wind from the Mekong River blew through the coconut trees in the garden, occasionally a few old coconuts fell with a thud and landed on the ground. One night, around midnight, while I was sleeping, I heard a loud noise. bang, i was startled, with the pistol i borrowed from the group, under my pillow, i quietly sat up, my heart pounding. it turned out the sound of the window in the other room being forgotten to close was caused by the wind banging.

Many lecturers of the Faculty of Vietnamese Studies and Vietnamese Language have spent many years carrying out the task assigned by the Vietnamese Party and Government of teaching Vietnamese in Cambodia.

Once, a group of professors from the Vietnamese Ministry of Health came to lecture at the Medical School. They included Professor Do Trong Hieu, Professor Hoang Ba Long, Professor Nguyen Van Thanh, and Professor Duong Cham Uyen. I invited the professors to visit my “monastery” and “temple”. The professors were surprised to know that I had been here for a long time, living alone in a deserted garden, going to the market, cooking, eating alone, and teaching Vietnamese to thousands of students, all day long engrossed in my studies or textbooks full of scribbled letters and bean sprouts. After that, every time I returned to Hanoi, I contacted the four professors and they asked me to drink at one of their houses.

Sometimes a group of students came to visit and asked, "Aren't you sad living like this?" "Aren't you afraid of "à Pot?" (À Pot = Pot, meaning Pol Pot). I answered: being alone, you can do many things, and whether you live or die is already determined.
I wasn't scared then, but now that I think back, I'm scared!

As for the CK staff, the brothers and sisters in the CK staff later and up to now, have been called by many people the "golden generation" in the profession of teaching Vietnamese to foreigners.

Hanoi, January 2019