I must admit that I had mixed feelings when I see pictures of bomb shells in Laos. A feeling of a guilty person, for up until my mid 30s I never knew what happened in part of my mother’s land. How ignorant is that? And yet a feeling of at last I have opened my eyes. I have listened carefully and think about the stories that people shared with me and try to understand what happened to them.
I was a Lao city girl born and brought up in Vientiane and for the whole time I didn’t even know there was a war in northern Laos and along the Ho Chi Minh trail.
I felt very embassed to learn later that tens of thousands of families had suffered from the so called “secret war in Laos”. The houses that had been destroyed; the land that had been destroyed; the suffering from losses of family members; the land mines and bombs that are still taking hundreds of lives and making thousands disabled.
I just want to say that there were many ignorant Lao (and non-Lao) people like me that did not know about this war. Yet it is not too late to wake up. For me to know about this really opened my eyes. And it changed my life.
For the first time in my life I flew to Siangkhuang, to the north of Vientiane, in January 2002. Just before descending I saw big holes in the ground below. Many holes in the ground of the Siangkhuang plateau. Someone who sat next to me told me that they were bomb craters. And there was hardly any trees, just bare dirt on the ground.
When you leave the city in Laos, it is quite normal to see piles of bomb shells along the road. (Perhaps there won’t be many left soon – the Chinese are buying them and taking them to China!).
I for one have a better understanding of my mother’s land. I want to be one of the voices for those who suffered from the war. There is no winner in any war.
My friend took me to one of the caves where many people were killed when a B52 dropped a bomb. There was nearly 200 villagers and a few soldiers in there.
3 responses so far ↓
1 patiwat // Dec 2, 2006 at 4:51 pm
How active are 1st/2nd generation Lao-Australians in influencing Australia’s international/development policy to Laos?
2 Saowapha Viravong // Dec 3, 2006 at 8:36 pm
I don’t think the 1st/2nd generation Lao-Australians are that active.
Firstly you have to understand that Lao people in general don’t like to talk about history . The one who serves the old government (Royal Lao) or the Americans feel shamed and don’t want to pass this to their kids. It is in human nature that we don’t like to talk about “bad” history, espeially the bad bit that we are a part of. This is not unique to Lao.
We need to face the truth and understand it, this we can share with the younger generation. Without this the 2nd generation are either lost or confused.
We should be brave enough to openly discuss Lao history. There are many publications by foreign authors that give more facts than any books by Lao authors, but some reject the idea that any foreigner can write authoritatively about Lao. It wouldn’t matter who was writing, the Lao don’t want to hear, don’t want to be reminded of their shame.
The 2nd generation simply don’t really know the history, don’t understand their motherland, they are lost and don’t know how to begin to deal with the situation in Lao today. They go back to Lao as a tourist destination, they cultivate no real connection to the country. If only they understood, thye could use their positions, connections, skills to make a difference, here or there.
My concern is the second generation. How can we help them to understand?
3 Paul Sidwell // Dec 3, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Re Patiwat’s question, Australia’s international/development policy towards Laos is governed strictly by what is perceived as in Australia’s best interests. All official aid is directed through Lao government agencies or through NGO’s licenced by the Lao PDR. In this context it is difficult to see how any activity by Lao expats could have an influence, expecially any associated with the previous regime.
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