What Do People in Cambodia Think About Halloween?

PHNOM PENH (Khmer Times) – Near midnight tonight, a first quarter moon will illuminate the empty streets and alleys of the capital. Hours earlier, hobgoblins, pirates and princesses – largely expats – will have started scampering, from party to party. Cambodia has its own September-October Pchum Ben festival, when the gates of Hell briefly open, allowing ancestral ghost spirits to slip out and walk the earth for a few days. But, Halloween, or All Hallows’ Eve, is a celebration that fermented long ago in the faraway cauldron of the pagan Celtic world. Now, flying on the batwings of globalization, Halloween has landed in Cambodia. What do Cambodians think of this import? As with much of Cambodia’s fast-changing society, there is a half-generation gap: Sin Danit, 12, student: “Halloween is about ghost stories. Some people wear make-up to make themselves look ugly, and they wear pumpkins on their head. I saw it on TV and on Facebook. But I didn’t know that it is this Friday.” Ben Soklin, 30, bank employee: “I saw it on Facebook. But I didn’t understand what the pictures meant.” Kea Sreypich, 24, bank employee: “I don’t know what it is, but I heard about it when I studied English.” Van Nak, 32, tuk-tuk driver: “I only saw it on TV, but I don’t know the date. It’s not a custom in Cambodia. It’s a Western custom. Christmas is more famous than Halloween in Cambodia. Most Cambodian people know about Christmas.” Mork Chandeth, 27, traffic policeman: “Maybe if they celebrate Halloween, they should ask permission from the authorities because some people might be scared, because they don’t know what it is, and we want to protect people. If it’s a big celebration, they should ask permission from the Phnom Penh municipality.”