Language

Cambodia’s national language is Khmer. It is the only language taught in the country’s schools and is used in government documents. The Khmer writing system comes from an Indian alphabet that was brought into Cambodia over a thousand years ago. In Khmer, everyone refers to each other as older brother and older sister, or Aunt and Uncle. Many ancient words are borrowed from Pali or Sanskrit and many more recent words are from French, words such as “chocolate” and “gateaux.” Khmer grammar is very simple. For example, there are no tenses. If you want to change “I go to the market” into the past tense, you just add the word already. But Khmer is precise in ways that English isn’t. Like many languages, it has many words for articles which are useful for Cambodian people, for example there are over one hundred words for rice!! Also, there are different words for “you,” depending on whether you are speaking to a child, a parent, a Buddhist monk, or a member of the royal family. Under the Khmer Rouge regime, they tried to forbid some of these pronouns so that everyone was placed on the same level. Among educated Cambodians over forty years of age, French is still a second language. In the mid 1980s, however, French was overtaken informally by English as the European language that urban Cambodians wanted to learn. In rural areas, not many people speak a foreign language.Top ^  

Literature

The greatest piece of literature in Khmer is called The Reamker. It is the Cambodian adaptation of the Indian epic of the Ramayana. It dates from the fifteenth or sixteenth century.

The story of Hanuman and Sovann Macha (which is described separately) is derived from this story and made into a dance. Many Cambodian dances, and shadow plays are also taken from the Cambodian version of The Ramayana. The Ramayana is found in many cultures throughout Southeast Asia. Cambodians also like to tell their children “chbap”s or moral proverbs which school children memorize, as well as stories from the Reamker of folk tales. The chbap teaches the values of Cambodian society, such as being obedient to your elders and protecting those who are less fortunate than yourself.Top ^

 Weddings

Weddings are the most important social events in the lives of young people. Men usually get married between the ages of nineteen and twenty-four and women between the ages of sixteen and twenty-two. Most families want their children to be married by the age of twenty-five, otherwise other people might wonder why the family is unable to find people willing to marry their children!! There are traditional ways in which a family should decide if a partner is suitable or not. Each family appoints a representative to investigate the other family who makes sure that the other family is honest and, hopefully, wealthy. Once the two families agree to the wedding, they exchange gifts of plants and food and then they consult an astrologer who chooses a lucky date for the ceremony. The wedding ceremony takes place at the bride’s house. The bride and groom exchange gifts and rings. Their wrists are tied together with red thread that has been soaked in holy water. A Buddhist priest delivers a sermon, and married guests pass around a candle to bless the new couple. After the ceremony, there is a grand feast. People eat fruit, meat, and small round cakes filled with rice or coconut. Musicians play traditional instruments like the ones seen in this unit’s figurine collection.Top ^  

Funerals

Most Cambodians are Buddhists. Accordingly, they do not look on death as the end of life. Rather, they consider it the beginning of a new life that they hope will be better than the one which ended. Therefore, just as performing the wedding rituals correctly is very important, it is also very important to perform the ceremonies for death in the correct Buddhist tradition. Otherwise the relative will not be able to pass on to their new life. When a person dies, their body is washed, dressed and put into a coffin. Flowers and a photograph of the deceased are usually put on top of the coffin, which is then carried to a special Buddhist pagoda to be cremated. All the family members walk with the coffin to the pagoda. If the dead person was important, everyone in the village also joins the procession. Family members sometimes show their sorrow by wearing white clothing and shaving their heads. White is the traditional color of death instead of the Western idea of black. Because the rituals connected to death affect the ability of the dead person to have a happy next life, many Cambodians were distraught that they were not able to perform the correct rituals for loved ones who died under the Khmer Rouge regime.

Customary Cambodian teachings include: that if a person does not wake up before sunrise he is lazy; you have to tell your parents or elders where you are going and what time you are coming back home; close doors gently, otherwise you have a bad temper; sit with your legs straight down and not crossed (crossing your legs shows that you are an impolite person); and always let other people talk more than you.Khmer culture is very hierarchical. The greater a person’s age, the greater the level of respect that must be granted to them. Everyone in Khmer culture is given a hierarchical title before the name – in some cases names are shortened with the title added before the name is given – which varies in relation to the person. In some cases elders are referred to by a family title even though there is no relation, out of respect to their seniority in life. Referring to someone by the improper title is a sign of disrespect and would be assumed as improper parenting or a lack of respect for elders.Cambodians traditionally wear a checkered scarf called a “Krama“. The “krama” is what distinctly separates the Khmer (Cambodians) from their neighbors the Thai, the Vietnamese, and the Laotians. The scarf is used for many purposes including for style, protection from the sun, an aid (for your feet) when climbing trees, a hammock for infants, a towel, or as a “sarong“. A “krama” can also be easily shaped into a small child’s doll for play. Under the Khmer Rouge, all Khmer were forced to wear a red checkered “krama”.In Khmer culture a persons head is believed to contain the persons soul therefore making it taboo to touch or point your feet at it. It is also considered to be extremely disrespectful to point or sleep with your feet pointing at a person, as the feet are the lowest part of the body and are considered to be impure.One traditional Khmer belief taught by monks is that there are three types of delusions or addictions which will lead to the self destruction of a man which are

• women,
• alcohol &
• gambling (“srey, srah, la-baing”).

Some Khmer men and women wear a Buddha pendant in a necklace fashion. There are different pendants for different uses; some are meant for protection from evil spirits, some are meant to bring good luck. However, women are only allowed to wear a Buddha pendant if she remains “pure,” or a virgin. It is considered a sin for non-virgin Khmer Buddhist women to wear the pendant.When greeting people or to show respect in Cambodia people do the “sampeah” gesture, identical to the Thai wai and similar to the Indian namaste.

The U.S. State Department has apparently given Hok Lundy a dressing down over Cambodia’s poor human rights record and its notoriously corrupt police force, of which Hok Lundy is the chief. From the State Department press release:

While noting improved bilateral cooperation between the United States and Cambodia in areas such as counter-terrorism and counter-narcotics, Hill, Patterson, and Farrar urged Lundy and the Cambodian police to strengthen significantly their efforts to combat trafficking in persons, which remains a serious problem in Cambodia. They also urged that Cambodia make much greater efforts to prosecute and convict public officials, including police officers, who are involved in trafficking, and that Commissioner General Lundy make the police more responsive to trafficking issues.

Cambodia have a old tranditional in Dressing. the wearing is consider by the day and suitable to the color , such as on Sunday People are prefer to wear the red color that is popular in Cambodia.

This Blog we want to show you about How many of Cambodia popular food, friut, and Vegetable.

Banana Rice Pudding1 1/2 cups brown rice — cooked

• 1 cup nonfat milk
• 1 medium banana — cut in slices
• 1 can fruit (15-ounce can) — cut in slices
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

DirectionsIn a medium-size saucepan, combine the banana and fruit slices, water, honey, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer for 10 minutes, or until quite tender but not mushy. Add the rice and milk and mix thoroughly. Bring to a boil and simmer 10 more minutes. Serve warm. Another Banana Dessert

• 3tbsp shredded fresh coconut Boua LoyNarrative Recipe The unusual ingredient for Boua Loy is glutinous rice flour. Beside that we will also need some brown (if possible) sugar, or some even healthier sweetener. Also an egg, some coconut milk and a bit of salt. We will have to make some dough from the rice flour and the trick is to get this dough just right. You start out with some of the flour that you mix with some water in a big bowl (OK, not THAT big – just a bowl.) and mix it well until you have something that resembles a dough. It will probably be rather sticky to your hands if you touch it. Now start to knead it by adding small amounts of the flour, until the dough transforms into a big blob that you can knead without it sticking to your fingers any longer. Then it’s right. Now form little balls of about half an inch from the dough. This is a nice job while you watch your favorite soap (it you like that stuff, that is). I don’t really know how much flour you have to start with (in ounces or grams) but I usually plan the ingredients so that I end up with about two hands full of these little balls. Now you boil some water and give the little dough balls into it. They will magically float up when they are done. Take them out, drain them, and put them into some boiling coconut milk. Add sugar and a little salt ’till it’s just right for your sweet tooth. I like to add an egg or two. I put them into the still boiling coconut milk whole without stirring so that they are poached. That’s it for this little mouth teaser – the feel of the little balls in your mouth is really unusual and – yes – funny.
• 60g/2oz cup unsalted butter
• 1tbsp grated ginger root
• grated zest of 1 orange
• 6 bananas
• 60g/2oz cup caster sugar
• 4tbsp fresh lime juice
• 6tbsp orange liqueur 3tsp toasted seasme seedlime slices to decorate
• ice-cream

Directions

Heat a small non-stick frying pan until hot. Add the coconut and cook, stirring constantly, for about 1 minute until lightly coloured. Remove from the pan and allow to cool.
Heat the butter in a large fring pan until it melys. Add the ginger and orange zest and mix well.
Pell and slice the bananas lengthways. Place the bananas cut-side down in the butter mixture and cook for 1-2 minutes or until the sauce mixture starts to become sticky. Turn to coat in the sauce.
Remove the bananas from the pan and place on heated serving plates. Keep warm.
Return the pan to the heat and add the orange liqueur, stirring well to blend. Ignite with a taper, allow the flames to die down, then pour over the bananas.
Sprinkle with the coconut and sesame seeds and serve at once, decorated with slices of lime.

Oranges in SyrupNote: This is a hot weather dessert, and you can serve it over ice cubes to make it really cold. Ingredients

DirectionsPeel and segment the oranges, ensuring that no pits, pith or skin remain. Put the segments in a glass dish and set aside. In a small saucepan, bring the sugar and water gently to the boil, stirring occsionally. Boil for 15 minutes, until it is the consistency of a thin syrup. Add the rosewater and stir to blend. Pour the syrup over the orange segments and chill until required.  

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