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21 Dec 2000
Dear friends at KI, I share your concerns about Miss Ung's book: First they killed my father. Please allow me to say a few words before offering my additional comments in good details some time in the near future, when time allows. It was an exciting moment for me to see a young Cambodian woman who had a rare chance to be on ABC nightline. I got a copy of Miss Ung's book about a week later. My excitement ended when I finished reading the first few chapters. I was disappointed. I wondered how this book got to be highly publicized after all. But, I bit my tongue and hold all criticisms to myself. I thought that one of these days Miss Ung would realize her mistakes and would rectify them promptly. But that time has never come. Many people do not bother to even read this book and yet throw their support behind Miss Ung. I think that something should be done to make sure that the next Khmer generations will not be led to believe blindly in the many things that are wrongly said in Miss Ung's memoir. Many questions have come to my mind about the very unusual and abnormal patterns of thoughts and events described by Miss Ung. This makes me want to examine much deeper into Miss Ung's works. I urge all readers to read this book carefully. Do not let your emotion control you and forget to put your thinking cap on. Please check and distinguish between fact and fiction. I support your effort to seek clarification of Miss Ung's statements and to make sure that any false and resentful statements, whether they were intentional or not, will be corrected accordingly. Please keep up the good work. Happy holiday,
Timothy S. Chhim
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