A quarter of the population at the time. That means 1 in 4 people...people who, if my age in 1979, would now be only 65 years old. It was so recent.
Tuol Sleng
This picture is taken from an ordinary school in Phnom Penh which Jon and I saw 3 months ago in January. The school was turned into a prison and torture centre by the Khmer Rouge and is now a museum.
When the Vietnamese broke into the prison towards the end of the Khmer Rouge reign they found someone tied to this exact bed, in this exact room. Nothing has been moved. The item hanging on the left wall in the above photo is a blown up photograph showing the person the Vietnamese found in this exact room when they entered. It's gruesome.
No need for packed lunch
The Khmer Rouge specifically targeted and killed almost 90% of the educated population. That means anyone that went to school (at primary school, secondary school or university), teachers, doctors, university professors, lawyers, architects, engineers.
It means an entire nation now struggles to learn the skills necessary to develop infrastructure like roads and bridges, establish sewerage and drainage systems, combat disease, stimulate business, build and provide affordable housing or protect its environment.
The result distinguishes Cambodia from almost all modern countries. The Khmer Rouge destroyed the medical, legal and economic infrastructure of the country and traumatised those left behind. Cambodia has not recovered from that destruction.
By educating and empowering the brightest young women in Cambodia, there is a real chance that they will be able stimulate growth and development across the entire country.
PS They really do drive motos like this.
