Is she a Cham Muslim?
Is she a Cham Muslim?
I recently got an email from this lady I hung with an awful lot the last time I stayed in Cambodia. Now I keep thinking about her, but here's why:
This girl always wore a special head piece, which she never took off in public. It's sort of like a knitted hair holder that she puts on top. It covers her hair entirely. Quite a nice piece of fabric, actually. Also, this lady doesn't look Khmer or Viet at all. Her skin is pale, her eyes have basically no slant. She could be Iranian for all I know. Are we talking about a Cham here? Any old hands familiar with Cambodia's Muslim minority?
This girl always wore a special head piece, which she never took off in public. It's sort of like a knitted hair holder that she puts on top. It covers her hair entirely. Quite a nice piece of fabric, actually. Also, this lady doesn't look Khmer or Viet at all. Her skin is pale, her eyes have basically no slant. She could be Iranian for all I know. Are we talking about a Cham here? Any old hands familiar with Cambodia's Muslim minority?
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Could well be. But quite unusual that it never came up in conversation. Most will volunteer that information within the first few sentences of knowing them.
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Chams are ethnically the same as everybody else here and in the past have practiced a kind of laid back islam-lite.
Unfortunately, the fact that they come from fairly poor communities has allowed Arabists a way in and now the Chams are in receipt of vast sums of Saudi/Malay cash they've started buying into hardcore Islamo-Fascist ideas. It's very sad. Ten years ago, the Cham women would be wearing very simple, light silk knotted scarves that just covered the back of their heads. Now many of the are wearing Arab style hijabs or in some cases burkas so only the eyes are showing.
Unfortunately, the fact that they come from fairly poor communities has allowed Arabists a way in and now the Chams are in receipt of vast sums of Saudi/Malay cash they've started buying into hardcore Islamo-Fascist ideas. It's very sad. Ten years ago, the Cham women would be wearing very simple, light silk knotted scarves that just covered the back of their heads. Now many of the are wearing Arab style hijabs or in some cases burkas so only the eyes are showing.
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I recently spent some time with a khmer islam friend down in Kep.
They are incredibly relaxed muslims. I didn't see any of the men
wearing traditional head/body garb until right before they go to mosque,
stop by home and change first.
They are known to occasionally eat pork if at a guests house that is non Islam.
The ladies all had just the head scarf, some of them even just wrapping
the hair so their ears are exposed. I've always found it to be incredibly
beautiful.
Practical because of the climate?
Or more in keeping with a low profile?
They are incredibly relaxed muslims. I didn't see any of the men
wearing traditional head/body garb until right before they go to mosque,
stop by home and change first.
They are known to occasionally eat pork if at a guests house that is non Islam.
The ladies all had just the head scarf, some of them even just wrapping
the hair so their ears are exposed. I've always found it to be incredibly
beautiful.
Practical because of the climate?
Or more in keeping with a low profile?
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Chams are ethnically the same as everybody else here
With respect KIR I totally disagree with that statement.
The Cham people come from an Austronesian
line similar to the ethnic people of Taiwan and Micronesia.
I would say there is little intermarriage and limited interaction between the Khmer Cham and Khmer"buddhist" and as such they are two very different species.
Take a trip to a town such as Kampot and that is clear to see.[/quote]
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I hear what you're saying Stains, but my eyes certainly can't tell them apart. When I worked up in Battambang, the US Embassy was running a program up there to sponsor the education of local Chams (I think this is called the 'hearts and minds approach') so at times I had a classroom full of 50% Chams and 50% Khmers (who were in the main middle class Battambang Khmers being sponsored by the NGOs they worked for). I guarantee you'd not be able to tell then apart. The only way I could recognise the Chams was by their names (which are a bit different to Khmer names) and by the fact that they tended in general to be harder working and more diligent students than the Khmers. Plus they had impeccable manners, which is not something you can always say about middle class Khmers.
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I've seen them wearing full on Burkas in Pursat and also near to some Malaysian funded mosques along the river outside Battambang.Where have you seen some cham wearing burkas?!?! In the provinces all the chams I've ever seen wear a loose silk scarf but in the city a few wear more of a hijab.
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