Cambodian Sayings

Khmer Sayings

In the former Cambodian society, people have gone through many experience f life, and they want to guide and advise the next generations with some insights and directions, which later on known as lessons learned from the informal society. For any particular life experience, situation or circumstance, there was a lesson learned drawn from it. Those lessons learned were formed and transformed into good and beautiful sentences (often with rhyme words) to make people easy to say and remember, and finally become "sayings". For me, Khmer sayings and Cambodian lessons learned from the former Khmer society are the same.

During the course of time, while some sayings still useful and powerful for the current Cambodian society, some others become irrelevant or even hindering forces to the positive social changes. In other words, there are sayings that influence Cambodian behaviors positively and sayings that influence people's behaviors negatively. Some old Khmer sayings are not relevant at all for the current society (meaningless). Below are some sayings that still have powerful influences on Cambodian attitudes and practices:

Khmer sayings that facilitate learning and change

Tork Tork Penh Bampong

Do thing step by step; small things (saving) will be accumulated to a big one.

(Direct meaning came from Cambodian countryside while people produce palm sugar)

Drop by drop fills the

(bamboo) container

Ches min chhnah chorng

Willingness get more successes than knowledge. It gives values to person's attitudes rather than his or her knowledge.

Knowing is not better

than willingness

Ches mok pi rean,

mean mok pi rork

This saying encourages people to learn and to work hard (not lazy), if s/he wishes

to become knowledgeable and rich.

Knowledge come from learning, wealth from business

Ches dob min smoeu

ning prasab mouy

Being skillful is far better than just having knowledge. This saying gives more values to

people's talent and their creativity in achieving the goal.

Know 10 is not equal

than 1 skillfulness

	Damrey choeung bourn kung mean ploat, nek prach ches stoat kung mean phlek	Everyone makes mistakes. No one can avoid mistakes. Making mistakes is human natural.
	4-feet elephant will surely trip, professional wise man will surely forget

Kmas lngung toeb ches,

Kmas kror toeb mean

Being sensitive to your weaknesses so that you can overcome them.

If you don't care about them, nothing will be improved.

Feeling shame of being ignorant leads to be knowledgeable, feeling shame of poor leads to be rich.

Khoeng koch, khoeng khat

We need to control our temper (anger) so that everything will go smooth without disasters.

Anger is damage,

anger is waste

Khmer sayings that hinder learning and change

Strey bangvel changkran min chum

Women has limited ability to do thing. The prioritized work for women is around

household (such as cooking, cleaning, children etc.)

Women cannot manage around stove

	Kloun tirp kom toung dey kley kom choung sra war aub phnom	Do not try to do anything beyond your abilities and available resources.
	Do not try to grasp the mountain with your short body and short arms

Kom Kit doch

chao chak smok

This is a saying from a Cambodian folk story. A man sat on the top of a palm tree, and was making a box from the palm leaves. While he was doing, he started to dream with a logical steps, i.e. when I have produced so many boxes, I will get a lot of money, and when I get a lot of money I will do this, then this ..., finally I can hire a housemaid to work for me, and if the housemaid does not work and behave appropriately for me, I will kick him. While dreaming to this stage, the man has made a real kicks down the palm tree, and unfortunately he fell down from the palm tree .

Do not think like the man, who makes palm leave box

Num min thom

cheang neal

Parents have power / control over their children.

Parents can make decision on behalf of their children.

What the children have to do is to comply the parents' decision.

Cake is not bigger

than its basket

	Khoenh damrey chuh, kom chuh tam damrey	Do not try to do anything beyond your capacity and ability. Do not be ambitious!
	See elephant defecates, do not defecate as it does

Kom put sralao,

kom pradao srey koch

Sralao is a kind of tree.

The saying means that you cannot change anything from its nature.

Prostitutes are not be able to be educated to change their attitud

Do not bend sralao, do not educate prostitute

Khmer sayings about power

	Pong moan kom chul ning thmor	Weak (powerless) people not to challenge powerful people.
	Egg not to hit stone	Weak (powerless) people not to challenge powerful people.

Phnom mouy min del mean kla pi

There is only one powerful person, who has the control over one area (location).

A mountain never

has two tigers

	Changkes mouy bach kach min bak	Represents the power of solidarity or being together
	A bunch of sticks cannot be broken	Represents the power of solidarity or being together

Tek loeng trey si

sra-mauch, tek hauch sra-mauch si trey

A powerful person will certainly powerless in some circumstance, and the powerless person will be powerful in another circumstance. Circumstances can change people's power status.

when water raises,

fish eats ant,

when water decreases,

ant eats fish