Death of ex King Norodom Sihanouk marks the end of a chapter in Cambodia’s history

PHNOM PENH— Despite its retirement from political life for almost a decade, the portrait of Norodom Sihanouk, the revered former king, can be seen all over the Kingdom of Cambodia. His death in Beijing this Monday marks the end of a chapter in the country’s history. Norodom Sihanouk had been a towering figure in Cambodian politics through a half-century of independence struggle, then war, genocide and rebirth of the Kingdom. The former King was born in 1922 and would have turned 90 on October 31^st.

His death id a great loss to Cambodia,’’ Prince Sisowath Thomico, a royal family member who also was Sihanouk’s assistant said, adding that Sihanouk had dedicated his life ‘‘for the sake of his entire nation, country and for the Cambodian people.’’

Sihanouk’s successor, Norodom Sihamoni, flew with Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen to Beijing on Monday to retrieve the body, said Col. Chhay Bunna, a senior police officer in charge of security at Phnom Penh’s international airport.

State flags flew at half-staff, and Cambodian government spokesman Khieu Kanharith said an official funeral will be held once the former king’s body is repatriated. In January, Sihanouk requested that he be cremated in the Cambodian and Buddhist tradition, asking that his ashes be put in an urn, preferably made of gold, and placed in a stupa at the country’s Royal Palace.

Sihanouk’s historical importance is not to be denied as the former King drove its Kingdom through some of its brightest but also darkest hours. His historical legacy is however more dubious. A versatile personality, Sihanouk made movies, painted, composed music, fielded a palace soccer team and led his own jazz band. His large appetite extended to fast cars, food and women. He married at least five times — some say six — and fathered 14 children.

In the sixties, as the height of his power, the then Prince Sihanouk brought a kind of golden age to the Kingdom, modernizing the country and giving again a national pride.

His biggest legacy is in fact in terms of culture: revival of classical dance under the conduct of his eldest daughter, Princess Norodom Buppha Devi, encouragement of the film industry –the Prince was then a fervent cinema-lover- and the creation of an architecture movement. “New Khmer Architecture” redefined construction at the time, blending harmoniously khmer traditional motives with a modern approach to tropical architecture. Tours are still today conducted in Phnom Penh to admire this architecture by NGO Khmer Architecture Tours (KA-Tours) looking at the National Stadium, various universities or Chaktomuk Theatre along Sisowath Quay.

Prince Sihanouk helped also modernize the infrastructure of the Kingdom. A network of national highways was completed linking Phnom Penh to major cities such as Siem Reap, Battambang and Kratie; a dense network of airports were built all over the country while the Prince established the first Cambodian national carrier Royal Air Cambodge (1956-1971) in which Air France owned 60% of the shares.

Former Prince Sihanouk also invented modern tourism in the country by developing beach destinations. A former retreat for French during the colonial time, the city of Kep, located 170 km away from Phnom Pennh was renovated into a beautiful seaside resort in 1960s during then-Prince Norodom Sihanouk’s Sangkum Reastr Niyum regime.

On the coast, the Prince decided to construct a deep-sea port. The construction of the port from 1955 to 1960 was mostly funded by France while the road to Phnom Penh, Route 4, was funded by the USA. Named Sihanoukville in honour of its Prince, the new port town reached its zenith in the 1960s due to the success of the port. Tourism was booming symbolized by the luxurious “ Independence Hotel” on the Independence Beach in Sihanoukville, and its villas on the Ochheuteal Beach.

The ruler failed to keep Cambodia at peace, despite trying to play alliances once with China, once with the USA, once with France.  In 1970, a U.S.-backed coup sent the prince to Beijing for years of exile. Politics took over with Prince Sihanouk then coming on terms with Khmer Rouge rebels to regain his throne. 

When the Khmer Rouge seized power in 1975 and Sihanouk returned home, he was then detained with his family in the Royal Palace during most of the cruel four-year reign of the ultra-radical Maoist regime. With Vietnamese moving into Cambodia, Sihanouk was freed and left in exile to Beijing and North Korea. His best recent achievement is to have helped negotiating a peace accord between various political factions and help Cambodia returning to peace and lately to a relative prosperity. He became King again in September 1994 to finally retreat from active political life in 2004 when he stepped down in favour of his younger son, current King Norodom Sihamoni.

Sourced: traveldailynews