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The Khmer Culture

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As we already know, all the countries among the world have their own cultures. Cambodia officially known as Kingdom of Cambodia and once known as Khmer empire, is a country located in the southern portion of the Peninsula in Southeast Asia. Cambodian culture and tradition have had a rich varied history dating back many centuries. Cambodians have been raised to respect their culture and are very traditional in their way of life such as Khmer Greeting, Khmer wedding, and Khmer traditional dance. The greetings between Cambodians, which also represent a sign of respect and politeness is an important part of the Khmer culture. The way they practice is dependent on the relationship between people. There are five different ways of greeting, which known as “Sampeah.” First of all, the traditional greeting to friends who have the same age is a bow combined with a bringing of the hand together at chest level. On the other hand, Cambodians greet their bosses or older person or higher-ranking people by place their both hands at the mouth level. To greet their parents or grandparents or teacher, they place their both hands at the nose level and bring it up to eyebrows level when they greet the king or monks. Last of all, they place their both hands at forehead level when they pray to God or sacred statues. We can conclude that, the higher their hands raise and the lower bow is the more respect is shown. Although Sampeah is a form of greeting, it is also a common way to apologize or say thanks as well. The next important Khmer culture is traditional wedding. The wedding consists of multiple ceremonies, which is last three night and three days. It begins with the groom and his family visiting the bride’s home with the gift as the dowry. Next, families and friends are greeting each other and they exchange the wedding ring. Some traditional song is playing during this ceremony then, the next step is the Tea ceremony, which bride and groom offer

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