Nuv Lon

“Having a family is considered better off, you know, rather than living alone. But nobody forced me. They listened to my reason. I told them not to worry about me, that I can take care of myself. I’m not afraid of anything.“

Nuv Lon

Interview with Nuv Lon

What is your name?

Nuv Lon.

How old are you?

I’m 75 years old. 

Do you know what month you were born? 

I don’t remember which month. I think I was born in the 9th of September, I think. 

 Which year were you born?

Not really sure. We use the moon calendar. It changes from year to year the moon calendar compared to the lunar calendar. But they told us about the end of the rainy season, so around September, October. 

My parents died by illness because they were already old. We can say old age. About 90 years old. When the Pol Pot came into power, my mother died in Preah Tor here. There is a grave Yes, it’s in Koh Mien. My father diez in Koh Mien? It’s in a Lake. During Pol Pot. They were evacuated together to Koh Mien near Batambong. My father died over there and my mother came back here and died in the village. It was during Pol Pot that my father died, but my mother died after. They separated.

Were you separated from your sister and your parents [during the Khmer Rouge]? 

Yes, we were separated during Pol Pot. My father didn’t come back. We were in Sraimarois and my father was in Koh Mien. The Vietnamese evacuated us and I met my mom on the way back. I found my mom I Kohkrolor when we were evacuated from a different area but then joined the same road. 

Did you choose the place to live after? 

No. The government said that where you came from, you should go back to your hometown. So, they didn’t have the children. I always wanted to come back to my hometown. Never thought about living in the city at all. 

What is your favorite thing to eat? 

When I was young, I was very busy. I could only eat meat and vegetables. But when I grew up, I couldn’t eat meat and vegetables. I could only eat fish and fish sauce and meat. I also like to eat different types of soups. When she was young, she changed to food like dried fish, fermented soybeans like her sister. 

Why didn’t you ever get married? 

I never we wanted kids. I never fell in love. That’s how I feel. Some people fell in love with me, and I told them to wait three years. But I didn’t want to get married. I was worried about domestic violence. I had seen other families just being violent. And I was afraid of getting hurt. I didn’t want to have a family. I didn’t want to have kids. 

Was anyone upset that she didn’t want to get married? Did anyone say anything to you? 

No one. I didn’t want to get married. My parents were not upset. My family neither– my uncles and aunties. But they first wanted me to have a family because they wanted me to be better off. Having a family is considered better off, you know, rather than living alone. But nobody forced me. No one forced me. They listened to my reason. I told them not to worry about me, that I can take care of myself. I’m not afraid of anything. I’m not afraid of anything. 

I had a lot of crushes. You know, since I was 10 years old. A lot of crushes fell in love with me but I didn’t want to. Even during the regime, I said no– I did not want to get married. I said no to the comrades. Different regions had different rules. So my region was nicer. So they were less strict than the other regions. So I wouldn’t get killed and I was not afraid at all to say no. 

I worked normally. They gave us food to eat. They told me to go to work and I went to work. I worked for two hours a day. I worked a little, I worked for two hours. I built a dam around here and a road leading to Phnom Penh. In the morning I had to weave the sash for the roof, for the wall because we have a wheat roof made of grass, long grass that we would weave into a panel. We would build a house from that, and I had to do it in the morning around 1 or 2 o’clock. I had to build the dam in the middle of the day.

They tried to match me, but I wouldn’t marry. I denied and spent three days working with less food. That was the punishment. Because I denied. But after three days they forgot about it. They listened to my reason.

What happens in the village when someone dies? Are they cremated? 

When somebody dies, we cremate the body. If the family can afford, they build a stupa and preserve the ashes in the stupa and add the pagoda. You get a piece of land on the pagoda ground and you build a stupa. We have a stupa from relatives’ family, we have two pagodas, one right here and one down a little bit further. My family also keeps the ashes.

Do you remember your grandma?

Her name was Ye Bun. My grandmother was Ta Chum. 

My grandma was walking with a curve on her hand holding a stick. But my grandpa was walking straight, very fast.

 Do you remember a time when you were happy?

When she was 15 years old. I was going out with my parents because as a girl I was not allowed to go out by myself. I went out with my parents to ceremonies or celebrations. I went to the garden near the water reservoir near Angkor.

Are you Buddhist? 

Yes, I am a a Buddhist.

What do you think happens when you die?

 I believe in God. I believe that if we do good deeds, we will get the good results. If we do good deeds, it will not be difficult to get the good results. I believe in merit and karma. If you have a lot of great merit, you will be born again. If you have a lot of karma, you will not be born again. 

Do you want to be born again as something specific? 

I want to be born as a good person. I want to be born as a good person. 

What is on your mind right now? What are your day-today worries? 

I don’t have any worries. I only worry about the family.

Do have a favorite color? 

Dark color. Purple, dark purple. 

What time of day do you like?

I like sitting time. I like sitting time and the evening because it’s cooler.

What do you do? 

I cook. Sometimes I cook. I dream a lot about winning the lottery.

Are you friends with your sister? 

Maybe once a month we are upset with each other. Disappointment, just some disappointment. Saying like some bad words to each other. We get upset and don’t talk. But the next day we talk again. We used to be 12 siblings. Now there are 3 of us. My sister lives next door. Mostly all my siblings died from sickness, very young. Around their 20’s. Only 3 men and the rest were all sisters. 9 sisters. Seven died in the time of Revolution. I am number eight. 

What do you want young people to know? 

I want the young people to know what they think. Ok. Teach them to be smart. Children must go for education. And also teach them to recognize their families. Respect family. 

Nuv Lon

Tonle Sap, Cambodia