Group Maintenance and Ethnic Commitment

Cambodians in Canada are trying to balance a fragile sense of identity with learning new languages and finding a sense of place within a multicultural society. While older Cambodians tend to cling to a Khmer identity rooted in a glorious past, younger people, born or raised in Canada, attempt to adopt an identity as Cambodian Canadians. There are distinct differences between the older Cambodian youths, who arrived in Canada as teenagers, and their younger siblings born or raised in Canada. Some families have two sets of behaviour criteria for their children. Older youths are expected to adhere to traditional Khmer ideals, such as obedience to parents, restrictive gender behaviour, proper etiquette and speech, and willingness to accept arranged marriages. Parents recognize that younger offspring, especially girls, are rejecting these practices and the associated restrictions to their freedom in favour of careers and higher education.

Many younger youths are confused about their Cambodian identity and shamed by Cambodia’s past. No one can explain to them why such horrific events occurred, or why the Khmer Rouge caused so much suffering to their own people. Cambodian youths have been taunted by other Southeast Asian youths about the genocidal tendencies of the Khmer Rouge and the helplessness of the Khmer people against Khmer Rouge control and Vietnamese invasion. With these and other demeaning invectives thrown at them, and with the severe shortage of Khmer cultural and language programs or Cambodian role models, youths may renounce their parents’ identity and seek out a different basis for self-identity, self-esteem, and success.

In a 1993 workshop for Cambodian refugees in Ontario, for example, Cambodian youth ridiculed the wearing of traditional Khmer clothing (sampot and krama) in Canada and said that they doubted that rural Cambodian values and traditions would have any worth in urban Canadian society. Other young men passionately argued that wearing long hair and an earring should not negate their claim to Cambodian identity in the eyes of the community. Cambodian youths are confused as to what is involved in identifying themselves as Khmer: is it a matter of acknowledging heritage and ancestors, or must it involve active participation in Khmer cultural traditions? The same issue has also been raised concerning those who converted to Christianity and who now refuse to attend Buddhist ceremonies and festivities.

Despite these challenges, Cambodian youths have organized themselves into active groups geared towards serving the Khmer community and preserving their heritage. In Toronto, for instance, the United Cambodian Youth Fellowship communicates and associates with numerous Khmer youths throughout Ontario as well as across the country. Various activities and events are held, such as volleyball and soccer tournaments, clubs, singing contests, and conferences, often with young people from other communities in Ontario and Quebec, and occasionally with Khmer youths from other Canadian or American cities, such as Detroit. Youth participants in these activities tend to be male, because Cambodian parents do not encourage gender-mixed socializing.

Several Cambodians with Chinese ancestry (through one or more grandparents) have stated that, even though they speak only Khmer and feel thoroughly Cambodian, they are often labelled by others in the Cambodian community as not being “real Khmer.” Some of these individuals are female, Khmer-speaking community-service workers and have been told that if they were “real Khmer women” they “would not be doing this kind of work.” The label of not being “really Khmer” is also directed towards Kampuchea Krom individuals. Since Kampuchea Krom have lived for generations in Vietnam, and most speak Vietnamese as a second language, their identity as Khmer is different from those born and raised in Cambodia. Khmer from Cambodia are hesitant to accept Kampuchea Krom because of the centuries-old animosity and mistrust between Cambodia and Vietnam. Further, because they are Vietnamese nationals, the right of Kampuchea Krom to participate in programs and services organized by Cambodian associations in Canada has been questioned. But since Vietnamese associations tend not to welcome Kampuchea Krom as members or even to allow them to take advantage of services, they continue to turn to Cambodian associations or Khmer-speaking service providers.

Though the Kampuchea Krom feel that they are not fully accepted by ethnic Khmer and tend to remain marginal to Cambodian-Canadian community networks and associations, they have helped to re-create and establish Khmer Buddhist temples and Buddhist religious practice in Canada. Theravada Buddhism has been the nucleus for Kampuchea Krom culture in Vietnam, providing the means through which a Khmer national identity could be retained and perpetuated in a Vietnamese social system designed to eliminate it. Khmer Buddhist temples in Vietnam retained their original Khmer style, and Khmer names of the temples became the names of villages or locations of the Kampuchea Krom-inhabited region. Just as Khmer Buddhist temples in Vietnam provided a bulwark against imposition of political authority and cultural assimilation, the Kampuchea Krom in Canada recognize the important role of Buddhism in helping them to retain their Khmer identity. Canadian Kampuchea Krom are also affiliated with the National Association of Khmer Kampuchea Krom – U.S.A., founded in 1984. Their associations, found in every large Cambodian community, are part of a global community of Kampuchea Krom resettled in various countries, such as France, Philippines, and Thailand, as well as those remaining in Vietnam. An annual Kampuchea Krom world convention, and numerous North American meetings, have helped to foster an active identity and provide a forum for shared concerns.

It is possible that the successful strategies employed by Kampuchea Krom to preserve their ethnic Khmer identity in Vietnam can eventually be utilized by ethnic Khmer from Cambodia and thus help them to develop and maintain their identity in Canada. Canada provides an opportunity for Cambodians to transcend their regional, religious, and ethnic identities in favour of an identity based on shared cultural values, appreciation of Cambodia’s historical achievements and success, and concern for future peace and stability in Cambodia. For the present, however, since the majority of Cambodians now in Canada were born in Cambodia, their identity as ethnic Khmer, and as Cambodian Canadians, remains tied to their memories of life before 1975, their experiences during the holocaust under the Khmer Rouge, the refugee camps, their process of resettlement, and the creation of Cambodian communities in this country.