Eye witness account

College Eye Witness Account I stare at the crowd gathered in front of the chief. The chief is burning colored clothing. There are so many instructions and rules to follow. No colorful clothes are allowed, if found they are set on fire. The crowd consists of the new and old slaves. The chief and his soldiers set the rules and control the workforce. There appears to be classes, the new people are least. The families sit down and wait to be given houses. I hear that a family has committed suicide by taking poison.
They soon get huts, and the bell rings to signal meal time. A long queue in the open hall is formed next to the women serving the rice and fish. There are no tables, no seats, just a long table. The darkness sets in, Kim is sent to work in the chief’s house. He brings leftovers home. The family eats them up hungrily and happily that they can get extra food. As days pass, Kim has scars, he is abused by the chief’s boys. The family suffers malnutrition. They look thin and sickly. The new people do not converse, everyone runs their life and does their job. They work for more than twelve hours a day in community gardens and rice fields. Twice a week they meet for a meeting under the chief for an hour or more. The Angkar government is all they hear of.
Landmines are on the edges of the place to protect the people. If people are sent to work there, they are blown off and soldiers shoot them to kill. No religion is practiced. All areas of worship are destroyed. The temple ruins are full of art, animals of the wild, gods and goddesses sculptured and drawn. Monks are killed if they do not convert to Angkar. The working hours increase and young men are forcefully recruited to be soldiers. Khouy is forced to marry a young girl to avoid recruitment. Soldiers rape young women and the families can do nothing. The slavery and bondage goes on.
Work Cited
Ung Loung (2010), 69 – 78: “ First they killed my father.”