Cambodian Community Kicks Off ‘Year of Horse’

Cambodian-born Marsida Yin, 14, sat on a straw floor-mat with her hands clasped together, praying in silence with her family and about 100 other people for their ancestors and gods Saturday morning to mark the start of the Cambodian New Year, the Year of the Horse.

Four Buddhist monks, clad in saffron robes, chanted for more than an hour with prayers and blessings for the people in a community center amphitheater serving as a temple for the service. They sat cross-legged on a raised stage area surrounded by dishes of rice, fruit and vegetables given to them by the worshipers as offerings.

They chanted for prosperity. They told their listeners to take care of their parents and grandparents and to treat them with respect and love. The monks also thanked the people for the food and wished them well with their goals.

The Cambodian New Year, which is celebrated over a period of three days, Friday through today, is symbolic, said Rifka Harsch, executive director of The Cambodian Family, a nonprofit, community-based organization.

“It’s a time for renewal,” she said. “It’s a time for all the bad to be forgotten and a time when all the work is finished. It’s spiritual and social.”

Outside the ceremony, more people piled rice into four large bowls, one for each monk. Candles were also set into a separate bowl of rice to represent the dead. After taking off their shoes to show respect, every person spooning rice into the bowls said a prayer for their ancestors.

Many of the women in attendance wore traditional native gowns called samput phamuong and lace or light-colored blouses called auv paks with scarfs called krama .

Some people like to come dressed formally, but what matters is the acknowledgment of the new year, said Marsida Yin of Westminster, who wore a white and black modern dress.

“We come here to say our thanks,” Marsida said. “We come here and think of our ancestors, relatives and the dead. We are all part of this big family of Cambodians who come into this country.”

Marsida said she enjoys such gatherings because they bring the Cambodian community together.

“This celebration gives us a chance to get to know one another,” she said. “It’s really important for us who do not want to lose our heritage. We want to remember it.”

The celebration, which attracted more than 400 people, was sponsored by The Cambodian Family and the Orange County Cambodian Buddhist Organization.

Outside, about 50 children kept busy with games, balloon-tossing and tug-of-war contests organized by the Cambodian Student Assn. of Cal State Fullerton.

“According to our custom, (on) this day our people in our country are free from harvesting and collecting crops. This is the free season. At this time, if somebody committed a crime, the government will release prisoners or reduce their sentence,” said Sophon Chhoeng, president of the Cambodian Buddhist Organization.

“The people believe this is a special time to be free. They also think the new year will chase the bad away,” he said. “It starts a new life of forgiveness.”

Jumping excitedly after placing third in the balloon-tossing contest, 12-year-old Phann Choy said he liked celebrating the Cambodian New Year because for him it meant plenty of dancing later.

For 21-year-old Somnea Ngann, who came with six family members, the celebration was a significant cultural gathering.

“I think this kind of event is great because there are so many cultures here in America,” said Ngann of Orange. “This is tradition and it reinforces the culture for the children.”

Claudia Scanlan, a teacher for The Cambodian Family, said she took her husband and two boys to the center so they can learn from the Cambodian culture.

“You have Anglos here, Vietnamese and Cambodians here,” said Scanlan, who lives in Laguna Beach. “It’s wonderful to maintain their culture as we mainstream them into our (American) culture.”

After the monks ate, hundreds of Cambodians who gathered at the Corbin Community Center and the Southwest Senior Center had their lunch and watched children perform traditional folk dances and some modern American rap dancing as well.

Chea Lim, organizer of The Cambodian Family Dance Group, said he wanted to have the children contribute to the event to help preserve the culture.

“I personally got involved with the kids because I wanted them to have a good influence. At the same time, we want them to be cultured and to see both cultures,” he said.

Vitthara Tan, a 20-year-old junior at Cal State Fullerton, said he believed it is a time for all Cambodians to come together.

“In a spiritual and religious way, we celebrate it,” he said. “But, it’s not all purely serious. We want everybody to enjoy it and have parties.”

Inside a large community center room, between breaks from a live band performance, children of the family dance group performed traditional dances called the bopha lokay and the chhay yam.

With the games finally over, Phann Choy finally got his opportunity to dance when he led three other boys as they boogied, jumped and kicked to their own rap song. After a round of cheers from the audience, the boys, clad in bright-colored pants and blue T-shirts with black and silver vests, came back out with two more boys to perform more dance movements in unison for the crowd.

Backstage, after their performance, the boys admitted not knowing much about the tradition of the new year but said it didn’t matter that much.

They were there for the fun, they said.