By Mr. Thach Ngoc Thach “The Year of PIG”(2551BE) The New Year is a time of reflection, joy and happiness! As we look back in 2006, we should count our many blessings and celebrate our solidarity; friendships and relationships with love ones, with peace loving people around the globe. It has been a year for building a great foundation that Khmer-Krom people have hoped and dreamed of. 2006 was a year of action, a year of communication and a step forward and also the beginning of our nonviolence struggle within the international law. The Hague 29/09/06 to 01/10/06 Symposium – International law and Self-determination was our utmost challenge with great pride and we did it with success from our heart. During the New Year celebration, it is a time of great hope, a time to look forward to the future and follow new dreams. In the upcoming year, the year of PIG, we, KKF, will continue our duty with a great progressive plan to fight for the right of our people. We know that the Vietnamese government has failed in its duty as a member of UN. We know that the Vietnamese communist government has failed and never respected the Human Rights treaties that they have signed. What they do is only lip policies, services and a rainbow color of propaganda. The KKF will continue to travel across the globe and meet many more Khmer-Krom and Khmer people and will be there to listen to their concerns and share their hopes and dreams for the future. We hope to share with our people the KKF vision for our people; a vision that makes Human Rights a top priority; a vision for non-violent struggle. One that will allow united we stand and a universal support for the 21st century; visions for a society where human being can live with a peaceful and prosperity so that all Khmer-Krom can live up to their full potential, hopes and dreams of achieving self-determination. There is much work to be done in the coming year, but by working together we can build the organization, KKF, to represent our suffering Khmer-Krom back home and raise their voice sand issues to international standard. 2007 is the year of our KKF main priority focusing inside Kampuchea Krom. We will invest more time in communication, support and especially education to educate our people of their right as a people to access fundamental freedoms and rights as defined in the international law. We would like to thank to our human rights activists and supporter for their times, financial support and for their initiatives in organizing countless activities. Thank you to those who advised ideal strategies on how to run KKF with great pride and much hope. We would like to thank our friends who never give up on their support including the UNPO, TRP, Hawaii Human Rights Institution and especially our true and dedicated friends, Dr. Cooper, Ms. Rebecca and Mr. Kok. We would like to thank to our people around the globe Khmer-Krom, Khmer alike who have truth us on the international conference in The Hague last year. Finally, we would like to thank our monks, people inland who have sacrificed their lives, their loved one and never once lost their faith on us. We will continue to work for them, to represent them with all of our hearts. In light of the Khmer New Year, on behalf of the Khmers Kampuchea-Krom Federation, we would like to extend the following wishes: May the year of PIG bring hope! May our lord Buddha bless us with hope and health. May our ancestor remain our angel of our roadmap. May our good heart remain one and our minds remain pure. May our lord Buddha guides our wisdom. “Our hope, our dream will never change while our life is suffering” Thach N Thach
