National Day of Remembrance
| National Day of Remembrance | |
|---|---|
| Khmer name | ទិវាជាតិនៃការចងចាំ |
| Also known as | Day of Remembrance; Day of Anger; Day of Tying Anger; Tivea Cheate nei kar Changcham |
| Practice type | Commemoration |
| Usual occasion | May 20 |
| Subjects | History & Remembrance |
| Next | May 20, 2027 (National Day of Remembrance) |
The National Day of Remembrance (ទិវាជាតិនៃការចងចាំ, Tivea Cheate nei kar Changcham) is Cambodia's annual day, on May 20, for remembering the victims of the Khmer Rouge regime of 1975 to 1979.[1][2] The regime killed an estimated 1.7 million people, about a quarter of the population, through execution, starvation, forced labor and torture.[2]
The date
May 20 recalls the day in 1973 when the Khmer Rouge began forcing people into cooperatives and abolishing private property in the areas they held, a policy they imposed across the country in 1976.[3] Collectivization was followed by forced labor, starvation, accusations and executions, and the date is taken as the start of killing on a national scale.[3]
History
The day was first held in 1984 under the People's Republic of Kampuchea as the "Day of Hatred", also translated "Day of Anger" (ទិវាចងកំហឹង, "Day of Tying Anger").[1] It was directed against the Khmer Rouge leadership and also against the government's political opponents of the time.[1] Commemorations paused during the United Nations transitional period of the early 1990s and resumed later in the decade.[1]
The observance was renamed the Day of Remembrance, and in 2013 the Council of Ministers designated it the National Day of Remembrance at the request of the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, the Khmer Rouge tribunal.[3] It was briefly a public holiday and is no longer on the list of public holidays, though it is still observed.[1][4]
Observance
The main ceremony is held at Choeung Ek, south of Phnom Penh, where about 2,000 people gathered in 2025.[2] Commemorations include Buddhist ceremonies, speeches, and re-enactments of the Khmer Rouge period by students of the Royal University of Fine Arts.[1][2] Researchers at the Documentation Center of Cambodia describe the day as part of remembrance, education and reconciliation for survivors.[3]
In the 1980s the song "Oh! Phnom Penh", written by Mam Bunnarai on his return to the city, was played over loudspeakers and became an unofficial hymn of the day.[1]
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 Wikipedia, National Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Euronews, Cambodia commemorates victims of Khmer Rouge genocide on its 50th anniversary (May 20, 2025)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Phnom Penh Post, May 20: recalling pain and resolving to prevent future genocides (May 19, 2025)
- ↑ Cambodianess, Cambodia has 22 public holidays in 2027 (September 2026)