How the King Died

Royal Palace Scenes: Incense, prayers, and flowers

On 15 October this year, former Cambodian king Norodom Sihanouk died from a heart attack in Bejing. He was 89 years old and had been living in China (and North Korea) since 2004. And then Cambodia got surreal.

I'm told it's bad karma to discuss a person's flaws after their death, because even though they're dead, their spirit is still alive and present and if angered, will wreak havoc on me. That's the thing about death in Cambodia, you're never really dead. Your spirit lives on and is still very present in day-to-day life and must be treated with reverence and respect. However, Sihanouk was human, which means he was flawed.

Sihanouk is considered a god-king. Product of the long line of Cambodian royalty, he was installed as king by the French in 1941. At 19, he was slated to be their puppet. He proved otherwise and after a long campaign, Cambodia won independence from France in 1953. After that, he played all sides in the military escalation in Vietnam including the USA and China (all of whom he supported at one point), was disposed in a coup in 1970, served as the puppet leader by the Khmer Rouge in 1975 (who he supported than didn't), disposed by the Vietnamese in 1979 (who he supported than didn't) after which he lived in exile in North Korea. He was finally reinstated in 1991 by the United Nations Transitional Authority for Cambodia (UNTAC), the UN program which poured $2 billion into Cambodian reconstruction after over 20 years of conflict.

Despite UNTACs efforts, by the mid-90s, power lay with still incumbent prime minister Hun Sen. Despite the lively political intrigue, back-door deals, clever power plays, and even a small coup, Sihanouk was never more than a figure head. He abdicated in 2004 and left the country, largely because bad health. On a personal level, Sihanouk had two wives (unofficially, he had seven), 14 children, and was a filmmaker, poet, an avid blogger.

Some called him a master politician. Others called him power hungry. Most in the West agree he was elitist and authoritarian. In Cambodia, he's remembered with awe and reverence, bestowing Cambodia it's freedom from France. He's remembered as a strong unbreakable leader who put Cambodia on the map. He's remembered as the only king who ever "truly loved his people" (a slap in the face to his son and current king). People are genuinely distraught at his passing, young people who never knew him as their leader and older people who remember the dark days. There have been many tears in the last week.

Sihanouk's body returned from China on 17 October with thousands lining the streets to see the casket. He's currently laying in-state at the Royal Palace for three months and sometime after that we'll have the funeral and cremation (date not set). He death was followed by a week of mourning, and a ban on all television programming that showed smiling, laughing, singing or dancing (end date, unknown). Technically there is a national ban on all smiling, laughing, singing and dancing. Water Festival in November was cancelled...again. People make pilgrimages to the Royal Palace to light incense lay lotus flowers, and pray that his spirit will be at peace and feel sufficiently respected, even in death. While down at the Palace madhouse, you can pick up a t-shirt on sale with his face emblazoned in black and white, as well large photographs of him, and finally a few snacks.

I've lived here for two years. You learn a lot in two years. Yet with this outpouring of grief and sadness, with all the black ribbons pinned to tops and shirts, with all the little shrines in front of businesses in Sihanouk's honor, I have an confession to myself and the world. Frankly, I do not understand Cambodia whatsoever.