Some administration activities were executed on this weblog. I downloaded and installed a ‘Recent Comments’ section on the sidebar. This makes it easier to spot the latest activities.
There is a lot of spam comment submission lately. It is still manageable and I am not (yet) worried.
Keep on commenting! I will try to post on a higher frequency on my side…
Two weeks ago, we were in Paris to celebrate the Khmer New Year. If you want to see some photographs, look here.
Cambodians celebrate new year during a three day period: 13-14-15 of April. The western world celebrates new year on the 1st of January. This is the first difference.
There is a second difference: westerns moved to the year 2007, but Cambodians to the year 2551. Or is it the year 2550? Lets find out…
There are multiple calendars in use here. The western world (and most of the rest of the world) uses the Gregorian calendar. This calendar is named after pope Gregorius XIII, who corrected some errors back in 1582 and fixed the counting of leap years to what it is today. This calendar starts counting the years from the year of the birth of Jesus Christ (more or less). Today it is the 1st of May, 2007 AD. The AD stands for ‘Anno Domini’, which is Latin for ‘the Year of our Lord’.
The other calendar is the Buddhist calendar. This calendar starts counting the years with the year of the death of Buddha (more or less). This was around the year 543 BC (where the BC stands for ‘Before Christ’). This calendar uses the BE (‘Buddhist Era’) suffix for a date. The Buddhist calendar is used on mainland south-east Asia in the countries of Cambodia, Laos, Thailand, Myanmar (formerly Burma) and Sri Lanka.
Thailand is the only country where this calendar is the official calendar. The Gregorian calendar is also in use, but only in business where the rest of the world is involved. Today, it is the year 2550. You add 543 year to our year to get theirs and you subtract 543 years from theirs to get ours. A new year starts on the 1st of January. But in the past it was different. Before 1941 AD, a new year started on the 1st of April. The year 2484 BE (= 1941 AD + 543) was the first year that started on the 1st of January. The previous year 2483 BE had only 9 months. If you go to the Royal Thai Government’s website, you see that all recent publications are dated to the year 2550 (BE).
Cambodia uses the Gregorian calendar as the official calendar. The Buddhist calendar is used in a more religious context, with one small (annoying) difference. Cambodia is from its new year’s day in April to the end of the Gregorian year (western new year’s eve) one year ahead of the Thai calendar!
So, on new years day, the new year is the thai year + 1! And NOT as indicated in Paris…
Happy New Year Khmer 2551!
As [wrongly] reported directly from Phnom Penh, it is Royal Ploughing Day today on the 5th of May in Cambodia.
The Royal Ploughing Ceremony marks the start of the rainy season. This year, it is on the 1st 5th of May. The plough (American spelling: plow) is a tool used in farming for initial cultivation of the soil in preparation for sowing seed. This ceremony marks the start of the rice-planting.
A ceremonial furrow is ploughed in the park in front of the National Museum in Phnom Penh. The ploughing is performed by a man, King of Meakh, and the sowing of the seeds is performed by a women, Queen Mehour.
After circling the field three times, the sacred cows are offered selected foods. They are brought to eat from seven silver trays containing rice, corn, beans, sesame seeds, grass, water and wine. These seven silver dishes symbolize the possible outcomes of the coming harvest.
Foretellers predict the following year based on appetite of the cows. The harvest of the coming season will be good if they choose the cereals. There will be plenty of rain if they drink water. But if they eat herbs, cattle disease can be expected. The worst can be expected when they drink alcohol.
The priests formulate the prediction of the coming season. They also call upon the protection of the gods.
During this festival both men and women are wearing brightly colored traditional Khmer costumes. Frits in Phnom Penh has some nice photos of lasts year ceremony here.
Formerly, this ceremony was conducted by the King. Today, the ritual is performed with representatives of the king taking the role of King Meakh and of Queen Mehour. This ceremony originally was a pure Brahman rite. Brahma is one of the three Hindu gods. The others are Vishnu and Shiva. They have been called the Hindu trinity. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver and Shiva is the destroyer. Later on, some Buddhist elements were added to it.
The date of this festival changes every year and is calculated according to the lunar calendar.
Cambodians name this festival ‘Bonn Chroat Preah Nongkoal’ or ‘Bonn Chrat Preah Nongkol’. The last word is the khmer word for plough (នង្គ័ល).
These days, all Cambodians all over the world are preparing themselfs for a three day new year holiday. It is a very important holiday for Cambodian’s. It starts this Saterday and lasts three days. Phnom Penh will become an almost deserted city. The area around Psar Thmei and the new Soriya shopping mall will be down during these three days.
As is the new year’s tradition, everyone will be driving up and down the riverfront road, dousing each other with water.
We here in Europe are heading to Paris (next time Phnom Penh?). Located near the ‘Bois de Vincennes’, there is a Bouddha temple. Cambodians gather together for praying, making music, eating, talking,… And the weather forecasts are promising for this WE.
Happy New Year!
សួស្តីឆ្នាំថ្មី
Why are there some many different webbrowsers? Why are there different versions of the same webbrowser around? They call it ‘progress’!
As mentioned previously, search engines work with words. Khmer does not use word separators. Therefore, when you write in khmer, you add ZWSP’s (zero width space) in your text. They are there, but are not visible (zero width). This character has the Unicode value 200B.
But it seams that not all browsers, in casu my older version of Internet Explorer 6, do ‘know’ about this character. These browsers show this character as a ‘not so zero width space’!
I’m getting frustrated! Why do other sites, like Wikipedia, do not have the problem I am looking at? After several hours (hacking), I found that the difference was in the style sheet. I had to add the ‘Lucida Sans Unicode’ font to the font-family list. The ZWSP is now a real ZWSP.
In my previous post, I wrote a song text down in Khmer. Before I could post it on this weblog, there were some technical issues to resolve like fonts and the like. Some issues were resolved with the help of some of you out there. By this, thank you all.
The last few days, I was struggeling with the following: a text written in Khmer appears as long sentences without word separators. In a western language, we put ‘whitespace’ characters between the words. ‘Whitespace’ characters is the technical term for blanks, tabs, newlines, etc… At first sight, written khmer does not. How would search engines like Google handle this? The basic elements a search engine works with are words (also called terms). Do they break these long sentences into words? Are there any rules one can use to develop some piece of software?
I found a Java program (khwrdbrk.jar) that can do the job, or at least tries to. If you give this program a Unicode file with a Unicode encoded text in khmer, you get an output file in Unicode. But when I opened the output file, the text looked exactly like the original text. The output file on the other hand was bigger than the original?! The reason why is that this program inserts indeed a word break character between each word. This word break caracter is called the ZWSP. It is not visible, or has a zero width! I tested the program on one of my texts. The result is not 100% correct. Some word boundaries were not found.
I was so proud of my previous post, but now I have to admit that it is NOT what it should be. Time for a second try!
The song text from the previous post is from a song sang by a boy. This song is based on an older song, sang by a girl and made popular by the singer Oeun Sreymom. Her song in its turn is the khmer version of an even older Khmer Surin song.
The song is about a girl that saved some money, sold three chickens for money (without telling her mother), just to buy herself a new shirt (shirt: អាវ) which she (and the boys) likes so much that she does not want to take it off (undress: ដោះ). It is this last word (breast: ដោះ) that made others to put new lyrics on the same music. And this introduces a classic word play because of the double meaning of “ឃើញដោះ”. These two words can be interpreted as “wearing a shirt that none seen taking off” or “wearing a shirt that never shows her boobs”.
The text of the song, and now with the necessary ZWSP’s, goes as follows:
អាវថ្មីមិនខ្ចីដោះ
មានអាវមួយសន្សំលុយយូរខៃ
ស្រលាញ់ម្លេះទេ អាវថ្មីចេញម៉ូតស្រស់
ពាក់អោយកេដឹង ថាមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
ទៅនេះមកនោះ ពាក់តែអាវមួយហ្នឹង
អាវជិតកល្អត្រូវចិត្តស្រី
លក់មេមាន់បី មិនអោយម៉ែគត់ដឹង
ពាក់ដើររាល់ថ្ងៃ ប្រុសលួចសម្លឹង
ខ្លះស្ទើរភ្លឹកព្រលឹង សរសើរស្រលាញ់ខ្ញុំ
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
គិតអីឬវាយ៉ាងណា យ៉ាងម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
អាវថ្មីខ្ញុំមិនខ្ចីដោះ អាវថ្មីខ្ញុំមិនខ្ចីដោះ
កំលោះនាំគ្នាចោមរោម បើសរសើរខ្ញុំ ខ្ញុំរិតតែលែងដោះ
រូបរាងស្រីទាំងសម្ដីវាចា
ឬកពាចរិយា អាវថ្មីឆើតស្រស់
មានអាវថ្មីមួយ ពាក់មិនខ្ចីដោះ
ប្រុសណាស្រណោះ ចូលដល់យាយតា
រូបបងប្រុសមិនយល់សោះចិត្តស្រី
ស្រុកសីវីល័យ ស្រីតែងខ្លូនសង្ហា
ពាក់មិនឃើញដោះ អាវនោះយ៉ាងណា
បើប្រុសសង្ហា ស្វែងយល់ខ្លូនឯង
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
កើតអីឬវាយ៉ាងណា យ៉ាងម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
អាវថ្មីខ្ញុំមិនខ្ចីដោះ អាវថ្មីខ្ញុំមិនខ្ចីដោះ
កំលោះនាំគ្នាចោមរោម បើសរសើរខ្ញុំ ខ្ញុំរិតតែលែងដោះ
I checked it carefully: all ZWSP’s are there! I will keep an eye on Google to see if a search on one or more of the above words will hit this weblog.
I will correct the previous post asap.
And finaly, here is my first post in khmer.
It took me a long time to find out that there are currently two ways in use to publish a piece of text written in khmer.
The older system uses fonts which show a garbage looking text in nice khmer. This system is still in use on for example the Khosanthepeap website. Their page starts with a message saying that Firefox users should first download some fonts. Internet Explorer users on the other hand, no issues (héhé Microsoft). With an extra entry in the cascading style sheet, the same fonts are downloaded to the cache automagically.
The newer system uses Unicode. Gone are all these character encodings. One encoding for everyone, the dream of a programmer. This is how the khmer version of Wikipedia works.
I installed the Khmer Unicode Support, and…nothing happened. These small boxes were still on the screen. A quick visit to M|O|N|G|K|O|L to verify if the khmer text is visible, but no luck. A new test: to the computer of my daughter, installed the Khmer Unicode Support, and…bingo, Wikipedia ok, M|O|N|G|K|O|L ok.
So, what’s the difference between her and my computer? Internet Explorer 6 (hers) ok, Internet Explorer 7 (mine) not ok. Google help: with IE7 you have to specify which fonts to use for pages in the khmer language (héhé Microsoft).
And now a word about the text. It took me almost 2 hours to get it into a document. But don’t laugh, this was my first try and I am still learning. The text is from a khmer song I found in a karaoke movie on YouTube. In fact I found two versions: the first one a Khmer Surin version, the second a ‘normal’ khmer version. So, I sat down, watched it, paused it, typed it over, continued it, paused it again, typed over the next piece, copy/pasted some sentences, etc…
Cambodians like word games (at least that is what I experienced), and the song is such a thing. It’s all about the word ដោះ (dah or doh) which has two meanings…
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ
មានអាវមួយ ពាក់មិនដែលឃើញដោះ មានមួយប៉ុណ្ណោះ ឬយ៉ាងណាស្រីង៉ា
ឃើញសព្វដង មិនថាង៉ៃណា ឃើញកល់ណា ពាក់តាអាវដែលៗ
អាវយឺតក្រហម ល្មមត្រូវចិត្តស្រី ថាមើលស្រដី មិនដែលដោះម៉ាក់ម្តង
ប្រមាណង៉ៃហើយ ក្រមុំផន់បង ដល់ណាដោះម៉ាក់ម្តង ព្រោះតាបងចង់ឃើញ
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ កើតអុយ ឬមួយយ៉ាងណា
រម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ រម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ
មុខមាត់ស្រី មើលទៅស្នំស្នួន តែអាវក្នុងខ្លួន ពាក់មកច្រើនង៉ៃ
អាវដែលៗ ក្អែលចាប់ហើយស្រី ប្តូអាវថ្មី បានទេស្រីង៉ា
បងសង្ស័យ មកច្រើនង៉ៃហើយ មិនដែលដោះទ្បើយ អូនគិតយ៉ាងណា
បងចង់ដិញ ទំនិយស្រីង៉ា ឃើញកល់ណា ពាក់មិនដែលឃើញដោះ
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ កើតអុយ ឬមួយយ៉ាងណា
រម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ រម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ
បងសង្ស័យ មកច្រើនង៉ៃហើយ មិនដែលដោះទ្បើយ អូនគិតយ៉ាងណា
បងចង់ដិញ ទំនិយស្រីង៉ា ឃើញកល់ណា ពាក់មិនដែលឃើញដោះ
ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ ពាក់អាវមិនដែលឃើញដោះ កើតអុយ ឬមួយយ៉ាងណា
រម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ រម៉េចស្រីង៉ា បងមិនគើយឃើញដោះ
Sorry for those who can not read khmer. But don’t worry, stay tuned! One day, I will post a reading course…
(The translation will follow in a few days)
This weekend, someone told me about a British boy (found out that the boy is 17 years old) who received an offer from the BBC for his website. He refused it.
Can you imagine how many schools you can build, how many hospitals you can modernize with that amount of money? In Cambodia of course!
Read about the story here… The website referred to can be found here…
I have found some old movies on YouTube, 7 in total. They were rolled in Cambodia in 1965. I took a few screenshots from the first, which rolls in Phnom Penh. Have a look and leave a comment if you want.
Back in these days, Phnom Penh was called the jewel of Indochina.
The movies can be found here …
The photo album of our trip to Siem Riep for a visit to the Angkor site is online. For most of the family, this was the second one, the first dating back to July 2002. Each time, our trip started in Kampong Chhnang. We had to drive 60 km back in the direction of Phnom Penh (Highway 5) to the Prek Kdam Ferry point in Oudong. On the other side of the Tonle Sap River, the road (Highway 6) goes to Kampong Cham, then Kampong Thom and finaly Siem Riep.
The album is here:
and on the ‘Photo Albums’ page…
The next photo was taken on the ferry, when traversing the Tonle Sap River. In the background you can see the Royal Tombs on the hills in Oudong.
