Merry Christmas From Cambodia

So it's Christmas Day in Cambodia where the main religion is Theravada Buddhism.

Buddhist religious practice co-exists easily with those of the Muslim Cham people and with the wide assortment of Christian Churches across the country that Buddhism clearly owns: there are more than 4500 temples here. (For such a poor country, this is an enormous story of recovery. All were abandoned during the Khmer Rouge years; many were destroyed or used as animal pens, the monks killed or scattered abroad.)

In the Cambodian uplands ethnic minority groups practice their ancient animism (aspects of religious belief and practice they share with most Cambodians, fear and reverence of forest spirits, for example). Christian missionaries are working assiduously in places like Ratanakiri and Mondulkiri to aid, teach and, of course, to convert. Read More!

But Christmas Day is not a state holiday in Cambodia. Local kids did not wake up this morning eager to see what Santa brought. They are in school. Banks and government offices are open and most people are completely oblivious of the fact that Santa Claus is still working the rooftops and chimmneys in the Christmas Eve west.

The commercial aspects of  "Christmas Spirit" have made some headway in the larger urban settings of Phnom Penh and Siem Reap. For some businesses this is an identifiable period in which to push products through holiday promotions. In the picture above, the English wording does not mention Christmas at all, though the gifts and decorated tree hint at some aspects of it (to the informed). On the other side, the French word Noël is spelled out in Khmer.

Though you will not find Christmas trees in the homes of Cambodians, there are gift exchanges, especially between teenagers. They have a kind of romantic, Valentine Day's flavor, and attest to how these more educated and affluent young Cambodians have appropriated Christmas Day to their own purposes. And no where on the business side (except in restaurants, bars and hotels frequented by foreigners) nor among the gift exchanges is there anything about the Christmas story as we know it in the west.

So maybe it is not Christmas Day here at all. Just another day in Cambodia. A very, very pleasant one. Sunny with a scatter of clouds. A light cool wind that springs up now and again.

When Santa is done on the other side of the earth, where it is still Christmas Eve, and where people are said to pay a lot of attention to the Christmas story, perhaps he can take a break here!

He deserves it, and he could really relax because almost no one would recognize him!