This is a video recorded by my late father, Oan Yos, in Cambodia before the war and genocide. My brother is digitizing his old film reels and we found this gem. No audio in these old films.
I can understand the pain every Cambodian feels of a nation destroyed. Only now has there been real reconstruction, but it will take another generation to reconstruct the psychological aspects of Khmer Rouge devastation. My heart goes out to the innocent people of Cambodia.
Thank you Lord, for your faithful servants and we know they are with You now. I was in Cambodia during this time, left permanently in '73 (at 10 yrs. old). Can't believe I can still see what Cambodia looked like. Awesome job in sharing these memories.
Chola, that is amazing that you were able to leave in '73. We immigrated to Thailand in '75 and then to the USA. My dad took these videos, so it's sad that I don't get to see him in the video.
Wow! Amazing video. Thank you God and your beloved father for this footage of peaceful and beautiful Cambodia we used to have. I only heard now I see it through your father’s work. He is with Lord now.
Wow this is crazy. Thanks for this...I've been asking my dad about what Srok Khmer was like pre khmer rouge and this footage is pretty much accurate to what he has told me so far. I have been watching a bunch of these videos lately to try to educate myself on what happened to our people and it is all so very sad. I've only been there once when I was 9-10 and I am 29 going on 30 now and I hope to really go visit my family there in the next couple of years. I don't know how they survived because my grandpa was taken away and was never seen again. He was the only death from my dads immediate household whereas my moms side, I know that 3 of her uncles were killed. I would love to learn more through footage like this. Thanks again for all that your father and you have done!
Yes, urban living was pretty westernized. My dad had actual film of Cambodia, but we can't find it. I think we need to go back to NY and go through the attic of one of the properties that was sold from his estate when he passed.
@@SimornM The sort of lifestyle you see on the video was for a few percentage of the population Don’t rural residents accounted for 90% of the population
t 6:04 we can see the damaged tip of Wat Phnom (King Ponhea Yat's cheddi built in the 15th century). i was in a class room at the nearby Lycee Descartes in 1974 when lightning struck with a mighty bang and destroyed the tip of the main cheddi. That incident was taken as a bad omen by people in the city before it fell in 1975. on my first return to my beloved city in early 1993 i noticed the cheddi had remained unrepaired through all those years in between. The van at 8:55 is parked along Monivong bvd, just before reaching the corner with Josep Broz Tito street. I used to bike past that very busy corner church in my youth. Please please post more of your priceless films.
I really love this video, I am Indonesian and I always curious about how Cambodia looked like before the Khmer Rouge dark regime.... so glad to see this video
Not many people were able to flee the genocide with photos and memorabilia. We were lucky we left early and moved out of the country before the war. There was civil unrest and my dad had the foresight to leave. Cambodia was very modern at that time. Our friend has many videos of the music and culture, the rock n roll era, as well as the glamorous actors and actresses.
@@SinnarySam Your father was lucky to have left when he did. Staying behind would nearly have meant certain death. I look at the people around in this video and wonder how many survived through the Khmer Rouge.
@@pbc5137 yes he said he knew there was civil unrest in the country. We originally immigrated to Thailand and were not refugees. Being a teacher and wearing glasses would have definitely gotten him killed.
Beautiful video. The society looked so calm and peaceful then. It's sad to realize a large percentage of the people shown in this video would be killed during the following decade.
outstanding video. i could feel the bustle of city and great culture mixed with bit of french legacy through the video. I realized that many of office worker look people in the video seem to be Chinese khmer including the booksellers.
Yes they were very active. My dad took the video so it's too bad I don't get to see him in these videos. But he was very passionate about what he was doing.
Back then Cambodia was very rich they have a lot of jobs and not so many people poor like now a day . And the city kept really clean. Pol pot destroyed every thing , I really hate pol pot .
I really don't know. My brother transferred everything to digital. This has no sound, so, my dad had an old fashion video camera that only recorded the video without the sound.
@@SinnarySam Ask him to examine the film since you can tell easily which format by examining the edge of the film as the dimensions of the rectangular perforations along one edge are smaller, which allows for a greater exposed area. A camera manufactured for 8mm will not work with super 8. Kodak introduced the super 8 format film in 1965, and stopped manufacturing 8mm completely at the end of 1969. Anyhow, it appears you have the general time frame.
That's amazing! My father was the camera man. But he passed away in 2015 in a car accident. I will ask my mother if anybody in this video is still alive.
Did most Christians leave the country during the war? Seems like most present day Christians converted in the refugee camps, but I see there was a significant presence of christianity in Cambodia before the war too.
That's a good question. I am really not sure. The communists did target the educated and I would guess that many who were Christians were Westernized and educated and therefore fled as we did. My father did teach at a Bible School so it would seem there was some presence there, enough so to allow for a school.
For me, Cambodia Buddhism is more suitable to the khmer people. That happened the genocide Khmer Rouge , it was the problem the khmer politic at that time was too pro communist china.
