Khmer New Year in Cambodia

Khmer New Year in Cambodia Khmer New Year, or ‘Bon Chol Chhnam Thmei’ in the Khmer language, is the greatest traditional festival and national holiday in Cambodia, and the celebration last for three days. Khmer New year starts on April the 13th, 14th or 15th depending on the ancient horoscope â€Å"Maha Sangkran†, 2012 it starts on the 13 of April. The majority of the Cambodians are still farmers and Khmer New Year marks the end of the harvest season when farmers enjoy the fruits of their labor and relax before the start of the rainy season.In the villages the people engage in traditional Khmer games, they play games such as the Bas Angkunh ‘seed throwing’, Chaol Chhoung ‘twisted-scarf throwing’, Leak Kanseng ‘twisted-scarf hide’ and dance to traditional Khmer songs. The first day of Khmer New Year is called â€Å"Maha Sangkran†, Sangkran means movement and refers to that the sun is moving into a new Zodiac sign and Ma ha means great. Some say that Maha Sangkran means welcome to the new spirits. In the morning the Cambodians will go to the temple and offer food to the monks and receive blessings.During this time the Cambodians clean and decorate their homes and prepare fruits and drinks on a table or in their spirit house to welcome the new spirits. Elderly people like to meditate or pray the Dharma because they believe that any spirit that comes to their home will stay with them throughout the whole year and take care of their family. The second day is called â€Å"Wanabot† and it is the day that they offer gifts to parents, grandparents and elders.In the evening of this day many Cambodians will go to the temple and build a mountain of sand to remember their ancestors who have passed away and have the monks give them blessings of happiness and peace. The third day is called â€Å"Leung Sakk† and this is the first day of the new year. In the morning the Cambodians go to the temple an d perform a ceremony where the mountain of sand gets blessed. The last ceremony is called â€Å"Pithi Srang Preah† and the purpose of this ceremony is to honor and to give a special cleansing to Buddha Statues, the monks, elders, grandparents and parents.During this ceremony the participators apologize for any mistakes they have made during the last year. The Khmer New Year is not only a great festival it is also an opportunity to pass on the Cambodian traditions to the next generation. The History of Khmer New Year Posted on April 10, 2009 by Chanroeun Pa| 4 Comments In ancient countries of Chompou Tvip (the central continent of the seven continents surrounding Mount Meru) the elder people adopted the Khmer New Year’s date in Khe Mikase (January), i. e. he early year. According to the lunar calendar, they formerly chose three seasons including Heman Radov or winter, Kimha Radov ir hot season and Vasan Radov or rainy season. Since Chol Sakarach (Lesser Era) they have formally adopted the solar calendar and held the Khmer New Year Festival in Khe Chet (fifth month) that is a free time from their farming. Four main seasons in the solar calendar contain winter, spring, summer and autumn. The Khmer people have adopted the fifth solar month, known as Khe Chet, to celebrate their New Year festival.Usually, according to the solar calendar, the Khmer New Year falls on the 13th of April although sometimes it falls on the 14th of April. The auspicious occasion of the Khmer New Year is detailed in the astrological almanac and extends over three days. The first day is known as Maha Sangkran or â€Å"Great Almanac Day†, the second day is called Veara Vanabath or â€Å"Worshipping Day†, and the third day is known as Veara Leung Sak or â€Å"Rank and Promotion Day†. Of the three days Veara Leung Sak is considered the most auspicious.The history of the Khmer New Year is closely connected to the seven signs of the zodiac for the week. The le gend of the New Year is detailed in the Almanac which says: In ancient, happier times, a young man by the name of Thoamabal, the son of a tycoon, had an extensive knowledge of three Vedas (ancient books on Hinduism) by the age of seven. Thoamabal’s father built a temple under the spread of a large Chrey tree (a fig tree) on the banks of a river that was home to many species of birds. He had an innate ability that enabled him to understand the languages of birds. Thoamabal’s attributes allowed him to become a layman in charge of religious ceremonies for all classes of people. Upon hearing this news another religious leader Kabel Maha Prohm, decided to challenge Thoamabal with tree riddles. He vowed that if Thaomabal could successfully answer the riddles he, Kabel Maha Prohm, would be beheaded; however if Thoamabal could not answer the riddles correctly then it would be Thoamabal who would be beheaded. Thoamabal insisted on having seven days to answer the puzzling enigma until Kabel Maha Prohm agreed.For six days Thoamabal could not solve the problems and knew that he faced the prospect of being killed by Kabel Maha Prohm the next morning. He therefore decided to hide himself and let his life fade away by natural causes. He hid himself beneath a pair of sugar palm trees in which a pair of eagles were nesting, that night Thoamabal overheard the eagles talking. The female asked, â€Å"What will we eat tomorrow morning? † The male eagle replied, â€Å"We will eat the flesh of Thoamalobal because tomorrow he is going to be beheaded by Kabie Maha Prohm due to his inability to solve the riddles†.The female then asked, â€Å"What are the riddles? † The male answered, â€Å"The first riddle is, where is luck to be found in the mornine? † Of course the answer is that luck is on the face because people always take water to wash their faces. The second riddle asked, where is luck located at noon? It is on the chest because people a lways take water to wash their chests. Finally, the third question asked, where is luck located in the evening? The answer is that luck is on the feet because people always wash their feet in the evening.Thoamabal overheard all of the conversation and so happily returned to his temple. In the morning Kabel Maha Prohm came to ask Thoamabal if he could answer the three riddles. Thoamabal successfully answered each of the riddles. Kabel Maha Prohm realixing he had failed, called his seven daughters, who were maids of Branma, to learn of his fate. Kabal Maha Prohm said, â€Å"Your father is foing to be beheaded in front of Thoamabal. If my head is set on the earth , if will set fire to Earth, if my head is thrown into the air, the rain will evaporate, if my head is thrown into the sea, the sea will dry up.Therefore I ask you, my seven daughters to get a holy metal tray on which to set your father’s head†. Having said this, he beheaded himself and his head was passed to Nea ng Toungsa, the eldest of his daughters. She placed her father’s head on the holy tray and then proceeded to walk around Mount Meru for one hour, respectfully keeping the tray on her right hand. She then took the tray to the temporary sanctuary of Phnom Kailas. At Phnom Kailas, Preah Visakam created a hall where seven holy glasses (Pheakabatei Saphea) were set. The glasses were for use by angels during ceremonies.Each year the seven angels took turns to invoke the head of Kabel Maha Prohm to and complete a holy procession around Mount Meru. Following the holy procession the angels returned to their heaven. The Seven Angels of the Almanac: If the annual procession talls on a Sunday then the day will be known as Toungsa, Monday is Kooreak, Tuesday is called Reaksa, Wednesday is   Kereney, Friday is known as Kemera and Saturday is Mahaotra. During the Khmer New Year Festival, youths gather to play popular traditional games such as Chaol Chhoung (throwing a ball) and Bas Angkun h (throwing brown seeds).The youths are normally divided into female and male teams to play these games. In some parts of Cambodia, e. g. Siem Reap and Battambang, they play a game known as the â€Å"Trot Dance†. Trot performers dance and ask for alms from house to house in their village. A man will ride on a long curved stick with a deer’s head on one side and with a cluster of grass on the other side like the deer’s tail. Two men pretend to be hunters and are armed with a crossbow. When they receive alms they will donate it for the benefit of the local pagoda.In villages along the Mekong Riverinthe province of Kandal women gather to rowboats in front of the pagodas. This action is believed to appease the crocodiles. This custom originated long ago when many crocodiles lived in the river. In some villages, people trample on effigies to appease the ghosts that live in the trees near the pagodas and ask for happiness in the coming year. The Khmer people will gath er together and visit pagodas and temples on the occasion of the Khmer New year. Each year many residents from other provinces visit Angkor Wat to worship to the powerful gods and trace their ancestors’ heritage.

African American Injustice Essay

â€Å"In the eyes of white Americans, being black encapsulates your identity. † In reading and researching the African American cultural group, this quote seemed to identify exactly the way the race continues to still be treated today after many injustices in the past. It is astonishing to me that African Americans can still stand to be treated differently in today’s society. In reading â€Å"Blacks in America†, Andrew Hacker states that â€Å"being black in America has consequences in areas of: wealth, identity, raising children, occupational opportunities, place of residence, and treatment in the criminal justice system. † To be honest, and I feel bad saying that I already knew this was happening to African Americans. I have heard stories of blacks not getting jobs; regardless of how qualified they are for the position, because of the color of their skin. I have heard stories, and even witness black children getting picked on in school because of the simple fact that they are black. I watched a video in school where a black family moved into a white neighborhood, and before long all the white families had moved out because they didn’t want a black family in their neighborhood. This was confirmed by Hacker in my research in the quote, â€Å"Almost all residential areas are entirely black or white. † I have also seen videos of African American men getting beaten by white arresting officers, and have heard stories of many black men being stereotyped by policemen. This must be why Hacker states â€Å"When white people hear the cry, â€Å"the police are coming! † it almost always means, â€Å"Help is on the way. † However blacks cannot make the same assumption. † These are all reports and events that I think the average American has seen before, but yet most people, including myself, continue to just shrug of and ignore. I guess it’s something that I might have subconsciously accepted, or maybe refused to think more deeply about. In reading and researching, I reaffirmed knowledge that I refused to take a greater note of. I wouldn’t say I learned anything new, because I knew what I wanted to focus on. A quote from Andrew Hacker’s article summarizes the above best, â€Å"In the eyes of white Americans, being black encapsulates your identity. † It may be easy to tell how I am going to focus this anthology. I am going to focus it on the injustices that African Americans continue to face in the United States today. That being, I know exactly what I need to get out of my interviewees, but it is probably a sensitive subject for some of the people I need to interview. I am not black, and I don’t know what it feels like to face this discrimination in everyday life. I can understand the tenderness that African Americans must feel then, when revealing and talking about their experiences with discrimination. I would think then, that it must be especially sensitive to talk about with a person from the race that they receive this everyday discrimination. It will be interesting to hear all the different types of prejudice that my interviewees have received throughout their lives. I would imagine that it ranges from just a look, or the way white Americans act around them, to voiced and physical altercations between themselves and white Americans. Hacker at times seems to be speaking directly to African Americans as he describes these altercations, â€Å"So many of the contacts you have with them (white Americans) are stiff and uneasy, hardly worth the effort. † But to me, that is exactly what the problem is. Why would it not be worth the effort? The first step to take for the uneasiness between the two races to cease to exist is for us (all people) to stop seeing color because once we act differently around the other is where all the problems seem to start. The second step is to make these contacts worth the effort. If we choose to continue to stay in our own comfortable circle of race, when is the problem ever going to end? The answer is never. My opinion as a white 18 year old is that most of the blame lies on the white race. Imagine being eyed every time you go into a store, having your car searched for no reason, or greeted warily at restaurants all because the color of your skin is different. We ignore this daily discrimination because no cares enough anymore to take notice that it happens every hour, every day somewhere in the United States. Will it ever stop? Not until we each take the steps to make it. A recent census commercial I’ve seen said â€Å"We (United States) can’t move forward until you mail it back. † I believe that our country can’t move forward and truly be great until we make sure these daily discriminations are eliminated from our society. In this project, I will interview African Americans on their personal experiences with discrimination, how they handle it, and if they think anything can be done about this problem. Sources: Andrew. 1999. â€Å"Blacks in America. † Pp. 160-168 in The Meaning of Sociology, 6th ed. , edited by Joel Charon. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall. A Time to Kill. Dir. Joel Schumacher. 1996. â€Å"African American History. † University of Washington Libraries. Web. 02 Apr. 2010. .

Developments in Young Adulthood Essay

Tayid, who is 29 years old, is born Indian but settled in United States since his childhood. Though he wanted to go for Law School, he was never confident on achieving his goal. He is now working as paralegal in a public defender’s office. After he passed over a promotion opportunity by his boss, he got upset with the position. His parents wanted him to go for another job where he can have prestige, but he did not want to leave the job, as he believes his stay in civil services will lay betterment for his career. Tayid has been dating Rachel, who is 27 years old with a young boy whose name is Luke. She has been sharing accommodation with few of her girlfriends, after she had break up with Luke’s father. One day it is Luke’s birthday. Rachel wanted to plan a celebration. Tayib already took Rachel and Luke to amusement park. However later Rachel invited Tayib and her family members for dinner. Tayib could not make it, as he was stuck up in the midst of his project work. Rachel is upset with Tayib’s absence in the dinner. She is afraid that the relation would not go smoother anymore as she wanted it to be. Tayib is worried why Rachel never understands him well, being a working woman. He thinks she should be aware of the work pressure he is going through. Finally, these thoughts keep both of them in dilemma, if the relation will go fine in the future or not. Young Adulthood stage of human starts usually between 19 and 20, and ends in between 40 and 42. This is the age where boys and girls usually think they are grown up enough to take care of themselves. Majority of young adults realize that this is the right time to build up their career. Yes, in fact, one can plan up one’s career and work on it along with relations at this age, as it is the perfect time. Early period of this stage is too dangerous at times, because they do not like to listen to anyone, they believe they can do things on their own, and they do not like someone taking responsibility of care taking them. As a result, they attempt doing things in haste without thinking much about the consequences and finally fall in failure. That is why people usually get into depression and some times it leads to suicide attempts. A young adult is often into conflicts, social relationships failure, disappointing relations, home sickness, sexuality, grief and loss, depression. One of the major changes is sexuality. Usually they get attracted to an opposite gender. They feel sexual intimacy is real intimacy, and they look for relations. Initially they get happy with each other as long as the sexual relation is good. Slowly, they realize the relation is not going well practically. Because the fact is mental intimacy is more important to the sexual intimacy. Four relationship styles were characteristic: integrated (high friendly and high intimate), intimate (high intimate and low friendly), and friendly (high friendly and low intimate), and uninvolved (low intimate and low friendly) (Fischer, 1980). Here the intimacy that comes with friendly nature can be suggested as more successful one. Both Tayib and Rachel are in their young adulthood. They are much in attraction towards each other and it is kind of a need of opposite gender’s presence in their lives. Generally young adults like to be independent from their parents, and love to stay by their own. Majority of young adults think in a mature way. They plan about their future life and career, and set up some goals. The same is happening with Tayib and Rachel. There is a difference though, that is Tayib is involved seriously in developing career as he thinks he can acquire secured future for himself and also to his family, but Rachel is much worried about personal relations, love and caring towards each other. The young adult must develop intimate relationships with others. Not resolving this conflict leaves the young adult feeling isolated. The young adult must be willing to be open and committed to another individual. (Erikson).

Globalisation and business enterprise Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words - 2

Globalisation and business enterprise - Essay Example ANZ has on offer a wide range of financial related products and also services. The bank has a global presence. The bank has branches in Asia, United Kingdom, Europe, the Pacific region, and also in the United States. It is considered as one among world’s 100 largest banking organizations. Global recession is said to be a period of time when global economy slows down considerably. In the recent times, the world economy entered into recession since the year of 2008. Due to crisis occurring because of sub-prime scenario the trade of both goods and assets decreased throughout the world. Business cycle related correlation had increased during the sub-prime crisis. Due to this trade of goods as well as GDP relative financial openness also increased. But the needed change in allocation of this goods and trade was not properly correlated with the shifting of the business cycle synchronization. Due to this scenario through out the world the global economic has seen a severe decline and for this reason the world’s financial situation has been affected in almost every sector (Imbs, 2009). ANZ National Bank in New Zealand has an omnipotent presence in the lives of people of the country. It has touched their lives through a wide range of scenario. It is one of the highest profit and asset making companies of the country. They have around 9,000 employees in the bank through out the country. The bank is a financial source for home loans. It also generates Gross Domestic Product (GDP) for the country’s economy. It has associated itself with charitable events and also other events of sponsorship (ANZ National Bank Limited, 2010). In the present day, globalization has changed the way business is done. It has made business organizations to think of global trade and potential of growth in the overseas market. It is considered that global trade has a possibility of changing the standard of living of people by improving

Difference Between Network Administration and System Administration Essay

Difference Between Network Administration and System Administration - Essay Example An organization needs to distinguish between both the disciplines in order to run their business effectively. However, both these jobs are considered as same by the majority of business organizations. Normally, a large size firm hires both the network and system administrators while small size business organizations hire only the system administrators and give them the additional charge to manage the tasks which come under the job of network administration (Burgess, Principles of Network and System Administration, 2nd Edition, 2004, p. 1; Morgan, 2012). Before differentiating both these terms it is necessary to understand the functions of both the jobs. Basically, a system administrator performs their tasks while keeping in mind the interest of users, with the intention that they can make use of the system in order to carry out their tasks. On the other hand, a system administrator should not just make provision for one or two self-interested needs, but as well assist the organizatio n in attaining the organizational goals. At some point, it is expected that advancements in technology might cause to be system administration to some extent an easier job (one of totally resource administration) but, currently, system administration is not believed to be an administrative task; on the other hand it is a tremendously challenging engineer’s task. In fact, this job involves dealing with software, hardware, diagnosis, user support, repair and prevention. Thus, system administrators must have knowledge of a bit of everything, no matter skills are administrative, technical and socio-psychological (Burgess, Principles of Network and System Administration, 2nd Edition, 2004, p. 1). As discussed above, both the terms system administration and network administration exist independently and are utilized both commonly and disconnectedly by business organizations and by researchers. Basically, the system administration is the term used customarily by mainframe and Unix e ngineers to explain the management of computers no matter they are connected to a network or not. According to the viewpoint of this community, network administration refers to the administration of network infrastructure devices such as switches and routers. In addition, both the system and network administration are more and more demanding for the reason that the complexity of computer systems is increasing continually. It can be better understood with an example, a single PC at present, running Windows NT, and connected to a network, reached the level of complexity that mainframe computers had ten years ago. Thus, organizations are at the present required to think about systems not just computers (Burgess, 2004, p. 1). Moreover, the system administration does not only involve installing operating systems but it involves planning and designing a well-organized and resourceful community of computers with the intention that actual users can be able to get their jobs done. Some of th e responsibilities of system administrator involve: (Burgess, 2004, p. 4) Planning for a network which is logical and well-organized Deploying large numbers of computers which can be with no trouble upgraded afterward Selecting what services will be required Planning and deploying

Cold War Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

Cold War - Essay Example It is called Cold War because the relations were icy at the least and never reached boiling point to bring on a shooting war. It is also 'cold' because each try to undermine each other's political power. There were several zones where potentially both were at loggerheads and where another WW III could have ensued had hotter heads prevailed. In West Berlin, Russia blockaded this US,UK and France-controlled zone with a wall that made the latter construe that they were intentionally entrapped. A dtente ensued when US did a massive airlifting of supplies instead of using force. In the Iron Curtain, Stalin convinced these Slav and Balkan countries to accept communism as form of government because Russia needed them as buffer states against Germany but the Allies construed this as an intense its brand of government. In Greece and Turkey, Russia frowned upon when there the Truman Doctrine was applied i.e. US provided funds and massive aid so that both may be able to resist communist attempts to subjugate them. In Western Europe, the US came up with the Marshall Plan, which was a multi-billion aid program to reconstruct the almost bankrupt nations ravaged by WW II. Russia reacted with consternation because that would make it difficult for them to foment dissension and discontent. Then the NATO, composed of USA, Britain, Canada and Western Europe including West Germany was established for the purpose of mutually securing themselves from possible communist military aggression. Despite the overweening tension and intensified hostilities, no full-scale war emanated. And this was because USA had invented the atomic bomb and displayed how it can resolve conflicts with dire consequences. It is because of the development of these atomic and hydrogen bombs, missiles and other arsenals of war and because of the complexity of plans involved in upsetting the rival that espionage became a necessary tool to outwit the rival. As early as the 1920's, USSR through its NKVD and OGPU intelligence agents, had already penetrated the State and the War Departments and other government agencies by recruiting left-leaning Americans, foreign-born Americans and Russians as spies to obtain classified and confidential secrets and transmit3 them to Moscow as microfilms or as encrypted cables. Then, the interest of the Russian spy ring was the industrial and military secrets of USA and the first target for infiltration was the FAECT(Federation of Architects, Engineers, Chemists and Technicians) and with satisfying results (Usdin 28). In one case, it was discovered that espionage had reached the top echelon of the State Department with Alger Hiss, one of its top officials caught flatfooted when Time Magazine editor Whittaker Chambers, himself a confessed Soviet agent, showed and testified that Hiss passed on to him a microfilm of State Department documents. Even the film industry was not spared as the HUAC (House Un-American Activities Committee), alarmed by the trend of left-leaning films, interrogated directors

Democritus Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Democritus - Assignment Example Atoms and void alone exist in reality.† The Democritus theory of reality posits that atoms consist of an indivisible number of units. Additionally, atoms have different shapes and sizes but lack quality. The only qualities of an atom include solidity and impenetrability. Atoms are infinite in number thus they move in the void. The concept of the void is very interesting because it has attracted mixed interpretations. According to Parmenides, there is no reality of space. On the other hand, Pythagoreans acknowledged the idea that the void keeps units apart. However, they noted that the void was the atmospheric air. Democritus’ theory of reality affirms that space is not real and that it does not exist. In fact, the theory posits that â€Å"what is not† is real just like â€Å"what is.† Space or void is as real as the body. One important point about the Democritus theory of reality is that space or void is not corporeal. The other major point of the Democritus theory of reality is that there is no place for immortality. According to the philosophy of atomism, the life of an animal or a human being only exists when atoms exist and operate collectively in the form of a body. It implies that the destruction of the body ultimately results in the destruction of the soul. For this reason, the soul cannot survive when the body has been destroyed. The reason is that the destruction of the body results in the atoms getting scattered. Democritus cautions that atoms do not cease to be because no atom can neither come into being nor pass away. Instead, atoms cannot survive individually because they become inert when they are separated from each other. In relation to the idea of atomism and soul, the Democritus theory of reality posits that animals and humans are not different from other composite bodies. The popular belief is that humans are different from rocks because humans can move and think. However, Democritus posits that thinking is a