A man of Generations-When I started my work as a farmer-Part 6

A man of Generations Part 6

When I started my work as a farmer

As told in Part 1, I studied since my childhood and never experienced in the rice field. I had my job as teacher at primary school​ and at the Ministry of Education (1970-1975). It was my first time to work in the rice field. It seemed that I was in another world. The world of farmers. Children of the cities and towns never knew how rice was made, just knew to eat good flavor rice. And sometimes, they undervalued them, rice growers. I had never experienced since my childhood.

It was May 1975. The rainy season started. My wife and I pushed to start working. As my wife was recently delivered a child, she was ordered to work light work and classified in the old women group working in the village. My children were cared by an old woman. For me, I was classified in adult group and could work anywhere far away from the village.

It seemed that​​ I dislike the mud in the rice field. They asked me to take off my slippers and come in to pull young rice plants. The young ladies with black clothes taught me before I did it. Then I could do it like the others too, but not very skillful. It was not mathematics, haha…. Some ladies laughed at me. But It was also fun to work in the group. We laughed, enjoyed the work. We did it the whole day and had lunch at the rice field.

I thought it was good to do the work, because I must not work at the office anymore, not even to think about finding money to make a living. Now I could live for only going to the field and work and I had meals. Become a farmer, things had changed to me a lot.

Everyone wore black clothes. My family dyed black. Nothing to do to dye, just keep clothes in the dirty mud. I was told if I did not do that it was said you were capitalist. By so doing it was the target of suspicion leading to execution. Furthermore my grand-mother mentored me to keep tongue-tied, do not speak in the night. Do not argue, just follow the order.

Every morning around 5am, the sound of bell was heard. I woke up and rushed to the cooperative (sahaka សហករណ៍) where all family members had to gather for order. The group of women and the group of men. We listened to cooperative leader who organized everybody’s work. It was noticed that I lived in Sithor Lech of Sithor Commune, around 20km east of Phnom Penh. It comprised of 6 villages: Sithor Lech, Sithor Keut, Toul Ponror, Prey Baing, Kompong Lovea and Mebon.