First They Killed Our Father by Loung UngThe writer is the survivor of the war in Cambodia back in 1975 – at that time, Singapore was already progressing. She was from a middle-class family before the war. On the first few days of the war, it was terrible for every one of them. They had to walk for long distances under scorching sunlight. People who refused to obey and leave would be killed on the spot. Slowly, the supply of their food got lower and lower.
In order for his second brother to stay alive, her parents and a neighbour decided to get their daughter to marry his son. As his oldest brother was 18 at that time, so he was too old to stay with the family. Together, he, his second brother and sister-in-law were sent to a camp - to work.
Since they received very little food and got to work for 12-14 hours per day so many were starved to death. Due to the lack of food, some resorted to stealing food. They could either be killed or forced to work on landmines field – they did not draw out any map on this so your next step could cause you to lose your legs, arms or life if being caught or reported by anyone.
Her oldest sister was being sent away to a camp to work.
Some time after that, a girl went to their hut to tell them that her oldest sister wanted to see them at the hospital. She was dying as she had food poisoning. Later, her parents went to see her but realised she had already passed away and could not find body.
Few months after that, her father was brought away. The soldiers came and told them that they needed him to work on something and would be back on the next day. They all knew it was a lie.
The rest of the family stayed together. Sometimes, in an overnight time, the entire family of their neighbour could disappear. Then, her mother decided to send her, her older sister and brother away so that not all would die together when one was being caught.
More than one year later, her mother and youngest sister were being taken away – of course being killed.
They used weapons such as hammers, riffles to kill the victims. Among all, I think using hammers is the cruelest method. They would use it to knock against the skull of the victims.
Read the rest of the story yourself if you are interested.
We are seriously lucky to be able to live in such peaceful country without any wars or riots. With this, we lead our life normally. We should not take things for granted.
I think this is a really nice book. I was really shocked at how a war is like though I studied history in lower secondary – I hardly paid attention in class so I know almost nothing anyway. My heart goes to them when knowing that they worked for long hours and received little food and the way how they were being tortured. The writer and her family were actually a happy family but were being forced to be split out as a result of the war. Needless to say, it must be a terrible feeling and there was not a day to smile from their heart. They could not trust anyone other than their own family. Of course, some people committed suicide.