Within the Asian country lie many cultures, beliefs, religions and much more. For example, the Cambodians and the Filipinos. Cambodia is located in southeastern Asia, bordering the gulf of Thailand, between Thailand, Vietnam, and Laos. The Philippines is located in Southeastern Asia, archipelago between the Philippine Sea and the South China Sea, east of Vietnam. Both countries have many differences and similarities.
In the Cambodian culture there are many beliefs. A lot of Cambodians believe in superstition, an irrational belief arising from ignorance or fear.
One of the major superstitions of the Cambodian culture is Spirits of our ancestors. Folk tales explain and describe how and why a spirit cant hurt you but they can discipline you, for example the flying head. The flying head only disciplines people when they are afraid and alone in the woods. Also when two people split a pole means that they would go their different ways and split their friendship.
In the Filipino culture there are also many beliefs.
Superstition and ghosts are also a main belief in the Philippines. One of the known folktale ghost story is called the Aswang. The name translates to “To be detached from one part of the body. This creature flies around at night sucking blood and attacking animals and people. It is said that during the horizon, the Aswang takes on the appearance of a dog, whose front legs are longer than the back legs.
Most of the Cambodians believe in the religion Buddhism. They would take daily walks to the temple to light incenses, bring food for their deceased family member or monks.
May 15th is a major holiday in the Cambodian culture, the day when their holy god they worship in the name of Buddha was born, the day he was enlightened, and the day he died. The way Cambodians greet a Buddha or monk is that they would put their palms together and bow for their respect. Cambodian New Year is also a major Cambodian holiday. Its a celebration or more like a festival with food stands to clothing.
Most of the Filipinos take their belief for their religion to the extreme. The main religion in the Philippines is Catholic, Christian or other forms of religion. People would hang themselves on a cross just like Jesus did just because they believe in their religion strongly. They would usually attend church on Sundays, they would sing, and listen to the pastor read from the bible.
The two countries also do have some similarities. One example for a similarity is that both cultures sometimes eat with their hands. Another example is that they both have similar superstition beliefs and folktales, just different stories. When you arrive at either a Filipino or Cambodian house you would have to take off your shoes. Finally both cultures take respect seriously, you have to bow to your elders and bless them or they bless you.
Within the Asian country lie many cultures, beliefs, religions and much more. Cambodians are very superstitious and believe in mostly Buddhism. Filipinos are also very superstitious but have different folktales and most Filipinos are Christian, Catholic, or some other type of religion. Both countries also have a lot of similarities in their cultures; they both respect their elders and take respect seriously.
Works Cited
Sampson, Andrew. Online interview. 15 Feb. 2008.
The Differences between Cambodian and American Culture
Around the world, there are many countries, and each country has their own tradition, civilization, culture so on and so forth. When I think of Cambodia and UAS, they are not exactly the same. Even though USA has influenced some conditions of culture to Cambodia, these two countries differ in family structures, religion, and school perceptions reflect the differences between Cambodian and American culture. The majority of Cambodia, family is the foundation of Khmer social structure.
The nuclear family has strong ties to extended family including cousins, aunts, uncles, and grandparents. Moreover, adult children are expected to live at home until marriage. Children are brought up as an integral part of the family unit and are expected to contribute to the overall welfare of the entire family. In contrast to Cambodian culture, American, the family unit is very divers, but generally it tends to be small, and other relatives may live in different parts of the country.
Another point is that adult children are encouraged to leave the nuclear family and become independence before marriage. Unlike Cambodia, in USA, children are not expected to contribute the welfare of the whole family. Cambodia and UAS also differ in religion. As we know, Buddhism is the majority religion in Cambodia. As a result, in 1989, the government declared that Buddhism was the main religion. The belief in Buddhist principles and teaching often dominate daily life.
Plus, upon the death of close relative, family members, including children, they may wear white to express their mourning. In addition, some children may wear a black scarf on their heads when they express their mourning for a mother or father. In contrast to Cambodia, American, Protestantism is the majority religion. Religion does not interfere with teaching in the public school setting. In addition, death of the close relative or family members is generally limited a week for mourning, especially special clothing to mark mourning is not worn outside the traditional service.
The last interesting point of my essay is focusing on the school perceptions. In Cambodia, students have not tendency to seek help from their teacher when they do not understand something in the classroom because they have the culture or habit of being shy. Moreover, Cambodian parents regard teachers and administrations as authority figures and will defer to them when there are dilemmas situation. In contrast to our country about the school perceptions, in school of USA, children will ask for help from teacher when they need it.
On the other hand, in USA, parents are expected to go to school for a variety of reasons such as volunteer activities at school and school committee meeting. Indeed, depending on my realizing, because of cultural differences, between Cambodian and American culture we cannot say which one is good or bad and right or wrong. As we know, no two countries have everything 100 percent the same; especially culture always has some kinds of differences. Therefore, I’m very happy to know the diverse points of culture, and I feel very proud to be a part of the world.
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