Visiting a Kathen (bonn kathen festival cambodia)

Kathen is the name of a religious ceremony which Cambodian people always celebrate every year in every pagoda for one night and a half day from October to November.

Last year my family and my relatives went to a Kathen in a pagoda in my home which is about fifteen kilometers to the south of the center of Takeo province. The Kathen was celebrated on Sunday, so it was a good time for us to go there because it was our holiday.

We rented a bus which could take all of us there. In the early morning at 5.00 on that Sunday, we gathered at my house, and got on the bus. We were putting on beautiful, traditional clothes. It took almost three hours to get to the pagoda because we all live in the city. Reaching the pagoda at 8.00 in the morning was really wonderful to visit the Kathen, it was beautiful day, the sky was blue and the sun was shining brightly. There were so many people, walking around in the pagoda. It was really a good experience to Visit a Kathen last year with our relative.

The Use Of Trees

Trees are a very important resource for our country. Both people and animals can get many kinds of food and medicine from them. Their wood can be used for many things including cooking, heating, making furniture and building houses and boats.

If we cut down trees, we may destroy our environment, because without trees our environment will not be either comfortable or attractive in either town or country. An important thing to know about trees is that they hold the earth tightly so that the soil on the surface cannot be blown away in windy or washed away by heavy rain. 

This is important, because when the surface soil is blown or washed away from an area, plants cannot grow there and that place becomes a desert. When it becomes empty and dead, people will avoid it and everyone living there will suffer and have to move away.

Of course, sometimes we must cut a tree, but we must plant another in its place. And we must do this regularly. Remember, it is easy to cut down a tree, but it isn't easy to grow one, it takes only an hour or two to cut down a lovely, big tree, but it can take more than one hundred years to grow one. Now we may feel that our country is very beautiful. But for how long? We must look after our trees carefully if we don't want our country to become a desert.

Science And Its Effects

One of the most striking features of the present century is the progress of science and its effects on almost every aspect of social life. Building on the foundations laid by the predecessors the scientists of today are carrying their investigation into ever-widening fields of knowledge.

Modern civilization depends largely on the scientist and inventor. We depend on the doctor who seeks the cause and cure of disease, the chemist who analyses our food and purifies our water.The entomologist who wages war on the insect pests, the engineer who conquers time and space, and a host of other specialists who aid in the development of agriculture and industry.

The advance of science and technology has brought the different parts of the world into closer touch with one another than ever before. We are able to reach distant lands within a very short time. We are also able to communicate with people far away by means of the telephone and the wireless.

The invention of the printing machine has made it possible for us to learn from books and newspapers about people in other lands. Indeed, man's curiosity and resourcefulness have been responsible for the steady stream of inventions that have created our civilization.

At the same time, however, there have been harmful effects. Our machine civilization is responsible for numerous accidents and industrial rivalries among nations. Everyday hundreds of people are dying from serious wounds and injuries. Further, the rapid tempo of modern lite results in wide spread nervous disorder.

Moreover, science, which has helped man to secure control over nature, has also made it possible for him to develop more deadly weapons of war. More and more countries are competing with one another in the production of war material. But in these instances the fault lies not with science, but rather with man's intention to misuse the discoveries of science. Science is admittedly the dominating intellectual force of the modern age.

Khmer New Year

People of all races usually celebrate their own New Year every day. They set the time of celebrating their New Year in accordance with their beliefs, customs and traditions. Cambodian people have also held their New Year since the ancient time. 

Cambodian people celebrate Khmer New Year for three days, usually from 13^th to 15^th of April or Khmer called “KHE CHET” which is the time when people release from their hard work.

Before the New Year, people prepare food, clean their houses, buy new clothes and so on. However, the people in the country sides make traditional cakes called NUM ONSOM and MUM PUM. In the pagodas, we build sand mountains outside the temple. The first day of Khmer New Year is called MOHASANG KRAN.

The second day is named VIRAK VANABOUTH and the third day is called VIARAK LOEUNG SAK. The people always go to the pagodas to meet each other and play traditional games. Khmer New Year is the most perfect time for Cambodian people.

Crops Along The Rivers

Farmers along the rivers work harder than other farmers in our country. They plant all kind of crops, rice, com, beans and tobacco. This work makes them very busy. Every day they must work in their fields from Sunrise until sunset.

Before the farmers plant or transplant their seeds. They must prepare the soil. First, they have to take out the small plants. Then they must plough and rake the soil until it becomes muddy.

When the crops are growing, the crops need a lot of the water. So the farmers must make enough ponds and wells. But diseases and insects also like water, so the farmers must be careful or they will increase and damage the crops. Then, when the crops are ripe, the farmers are busy again. First they cut the crops in the field. Then they collect them for their homes or the market.

Importance of Peace

People always want peace in their country because peace is that most importance thing in their lives, in fact, there are several importance for the people and the development of our country.

For one thing, the people can live happily without worries about wars, so that they can increase their standards of living to be better. Moreover, they can have more time to develop their communities by building schools, hospitals, roads. 

Furthermore, they can travel to any place of the country safety. For our country, peace is the most important thing to develop the country to be a develop one.

One more thing is that peace attracts foreign investors to come to build a lot of factories which employ a lot of Cambodia people, so unemployment is not a problem. Peace also attracts a lot of foreign tourists to visit our country, and it is an opportunity to show them our culture. As we see the importance of peace, we must join with the government to keep peace in our country.

Destruction of Wars in Cambodia

For over two past decades, there were domestic wars in our country, and they made the country become a fighting area. Whenever, there are wars, there are always destruction everywhere.

In fact, wars destroyed everything in the country, School buildings, hospitals, people's homes, and other constructions were destroyed by dropping bombs and using powerful explosive weapons.

Furthermore, many roads and bridges were broken down during the fighting of army with army. Moreover, people pet animals and wild animals were killed in the wars. Another thing is that a lot of forests were cut down by the army in the forests to sell to foreign countries to get money to buy weapons to serve in fighting. 

What is the more, fighting place become mine fields which are dangerous for the people? The worst of all is that wars killed a lot of people and some survived people become cripples who are living with difficulty now. As we seen the destructions of wars, we must not let wars appear in our country.