Category: Letters to Sombath

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (32)

On Sombath’s Birthday

My dearest Sombath,

Today, 17 February, marks your 73rd birthday. For the last 12 years, since your abduction in 2012, you have not celebrated your birthday at home with me and the rest of the family. But, every year whenever your birthday comes around, I feel a special tug at my heart, wishing that you are with me at home with your loved ones, as it should be like everyone else.

I can now only imagine that if you are here with us for your birthday, I would be either taking you out for a birthday meal with the family, or making something that you like, like “larb” fish and bamboo shoot soup. Your taste has always been simple, but you always like fresh foods from nature.

My dearest Sombath, now that you are not with us, I can only send you a birthday prayer, praying that wherever you are, you are still well. I can only send you hugs and blessings for happiness, good health and peace. My dearest Sombath, may you be well, may you be happy.

You are not only remembered today on your birthday. You are close to my heart everyday. In fact, with the passing of time, and as I get older, I hold you even closer to me in my heart and in my mind.

Sombath, I just want to let you know that I have set up the Sombath Somphone Memorial Fund (SSMF) to be managed by the Foundation established by your mentor, Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa. I set up the SSMF to specifically make sure that your passion for supporting education through youth and community engagement will go on.

The SSMF is set up to provide small grants to support young people from the Mekong sub-region who are working on innovative projects in their schools or communities for improvement of learning or livelihoods in their communities.

The SSMF has now completed its second year of operation, and the supported projects are really very creative and interesting, with most projects focusing on innovative and joyful learning for children from migrant or disadvantaged families, and engagement of schools and communities in environmental protection and reforestation, or small animal raising for income improvement and nutritional support to poor families, and so on. The success of these projects has validated your belief that people’s development must be rooted on analysis of their own problems, and solutions must come from people taking actions themselves.

In setting up the SSMF, I also hope that your legacy and ideas will be continued through the work of the younger generation in the region, and your memory be continued into the future.

Love you always, Shui Meng

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (31)

International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances

My dearest Sombath,

It’s been a while since I last wrote to you, but I thought it would be appropriate to let you know that the issue of your enforced disappearance is still very much in the minds of many people who care about human rights and social justice.

On 30 August, which marks the International Day of the Victims of Enforced Disappearances, I was invited to Bangkok, by a number of Human Rights Organizations, including Justice for Peace Foundation, Protection International, and Forum Asia, to mark this special day to remind everyone that many victims of enforced disappearances, and especially the wives, have continued to bear the pain, despair and uncertainty of their loved ones’ unjust abduction.

This year, the event was marked with a very powerful press briefing and meetings with the Diplomatic representatives based in Thailand. Victims, including myself, were invited to share our experiences, and the continued inability of the judicial systems to investigate the cases and bring the perpetrators to justice. Many victims spent years, like me, without ever knowing what happened to their loved ones.

However, despite the lack of resolution, the families, and especially the wives, have continued to struggle without ever losing hope that truth and justice will prevail one day and their loved ones would be returned to them.

At the event, tribute was paid to the disappeared with poems or songs, and offering of flowers to bless them and wish them well wherever they are.
I too dedicated my poem and prayers of hope to you and laid a white lotus for you.

Below is my poem to you:

As Dawn Breaks Every Morn

As dawn breaks every morn, my heart awakens with renewed yearning
Yearning for your return
As dawn breaks every morn, my pain of loss of you deepens
My fears for your safety and well-being heightens
Not knowing where you are, not knowing what you have to endure
The yearning, the pain, the fears, the uncertainty
Grows ever more with each passing day and each passing year
As dawn breaks every morn

As dawn breaks every morn
My anger against the injustice and unfairness of your disappearance grows
Why you, why me, why us? Why the countless victims
Left bereft, living in fear, living in despair!
As dawn breaks every morn
My despair gives way to fury,
Fury for the lack of answers, fury for the lack of justice and truth
As dawn breaks every morn

As dawn breaks every morn
I turn my fury to become the voice for the voiceless
Stop the injustice, end Enforced Disappearance everywhere, anywhere
Let justice and truth prevails
As dawn breaks every morn.

My dearest, I will always love you and wait for your return.

Come back Sombath, come back soon.

Shui Meng

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (30)

My dearest Sombath

Today is 17 February, and once again it’s your birthday. You would be 72 years old today. In the past you never wanted to celebrate your birthday, but I would remember, and each year I would cook something special that you liked and wewould have a nice quiet dinner with members of the family. Now, I can only silently send you blessings for your birthday and wish you good health,happiness, and peace wherever you may.

Even though you have been missing for more than 11 years now, never a day passes that I do not think of you and still hope you will come back to me and the family.

Today I want to tell you the action I have taken to make sure that your memory and legacy can continue to live on even after I am gone, and will no longer be there to remind people of your enforced disappearance in 2012.

I have established a Memorial Fund in your name – the “Sombath Somphone Memorial Fund”. This Fund was officially launched in May 2023. It will be managed by the Sathirakoses-Nagapradipa Foundation (SNF), a Thai non-profit foundation, under which SEM (Spirit in Education Movement) and INEB (International Network for Engaged Buddhists) operate. Both SEM and INEB are founded by Ajarn Sulak Sivaraksa, your mentor and Thailand’s most respected social justice activist and leading thinker of Engaged Buddhism.

The Sombath Somphone Memorial Fund’s goal is to continue your vision and mission to give opportunities to children and young people, especially those who lack opportunities and who want to improve themselves to work for the greater benefit of society in a holistic, sustainable, and balanced way with nature and the environment. The ultimate goal of the Fund is to develop the greater wellbeing (happiness) of the self and society as a whole.

The Sombath Memorial Fund will provide small grants of up to US$3,000.00 each to support:

  • Education – To provide full or partial scholarships, especially to marginalized children and young people seeking to complete their education in schools or colleges.
  • Community projects – To provide small grants to active young adults (up to 35 years of age) to initiate start-up work or activities for youth in community education or development.
  • To support organizations providing education or humanitarian relief to at risk children and families.

The Fund will target recipients, especially marginalized children, actively and socially engaged young adults, and at risk children and families in need of emergency support and humanitarian assistance from countries in the Mekong Sub-Region (Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, Vietnam) and the southwest region of China.

These groups and countries are those you have paid most attention to and have worked with in the past.

Financial support for the Fund has come mostly from family and friends and NGOswhich support your work and your development vision. Interest in the Fund has grown rapidly with many friends and supporters, and from people who have not met you but have heard about your work and your enforced disappearance. They have generously made donations to the Fund.

In 2023, the Sombath Somphone Memorial Fund received 61 applications from which 11 applicants from Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam were selected by the Fund Committee to receive awards to support their projects. All the awardees have completed their projects, and last week they have presented results of their projects to the Fund’s Committee.

Sombath, if you have heard their presentations, you would have been so proud of what these young people have done and achieved with the small grants provided to support their work. Many worked under very difficult and challenging situations, especially the awardees from Myanmar and Vietnam, but all demonstrated real commitment and real passion for their work. Most of the awardees have worked in teams and used very creative and innovative approaches to gain support and participation from the communities to reach the objectives they set out to achieve. Their work truly reflect some the principles and values you promoted in your own community-based development work.

Last week, the Fund Committee called for applications for the Sombath Somphone Memorial for 2024. We hope this year the Fund will once more be able to support some worthwhile projects spearheaded by young people who want to make a real change to the communities and societies, just as you have done through your own life and work.

So my dearest Sombath, your legacy lives on even though you have been so unjustly taken away from me and our family and community. Those who committed this ignoble crime against you might have been able silence you, but they could never wipe out your legacy which will live on through the work of the Sombath Somphone Memorial Fund.

My dearest Sombath, I hope this will give you some solace on this your birthday and be comforted by the fact that you are still held up as a model for many young people in the region and beyond.

For myself, my birthday wish to you is that wherever you are, you will be
blessed with another year of good health, happiness and peace.

Love you always, Shui Meng

 

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (29)

Meditation training for school children.

My dearest Sombath,

Today is Father’s Day. Many people are sending messages of love and appreciation to their Fathers and Grandfathers. So, I too want to wish you a very happy Father’s Day.

Sombath, you have been such a well-respected and beloved father/uncle figure to so many young people in Laos. Many of them who have been associated with the youth development programs you initiated in PADETC remember you so well. You have made such a great contribution to their growing-up years. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (29)”

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (28)


My dearest Sombath,

Yesterday, 17 February, was your birthday. Every time when your birthday comes along, I always miss you even more. I started to write this letter to you, but I could not finish it because it was too painful. It’s been 10 years that you have not been able to spend your birthday with me and your family, and we still don’t know where you are and how you have been this past 10 years.

Even when you were with us, you yourself never remember your birthday, but I will always remember it. Each year on your birthday, I would cook something for you for dinner. In the early days of our marriage, I would try to cook something special, like a roast beef or a good steak. While you were always appreciative and happy with whatever was served up to you, I later realized that what you really liked was something more simple. So later on, I would always try to make what you really liked for your birthday meal, like grilled Mekong fish, wild mushroom soup, and some local vegetables. You told me that simple Lao dishes always reminded you of the food you grew up with, and whenever you had something like a local fish, fresh herbs and wild vegetables, it would always warm your heart and remind you of home.

Sombath, you are truly a man deeply rooted in the land of your birth, and it was much later that I began to truly understand that it was this deep love for the land of your birth that motivated you to devote your time and energy to ensure that your development and education work was always centered around promoting and protecting the best that Laos has to offer – its bio-diversity, and its cultural and spiritual heritage and values.

You told me that many development specialists including the government planners, in the rush to develop the country, often overlooked the special endowments found in the country, and only focused on the drawbacks as factors of under-development. Indeed, you recognized that there were many real challenges that should be addressed to improve the lives and situation of poor Lao people, such as improvement of access and quality of the health and education systems and production processes. However, you also often lamented many of the development solutions proposed by outside specialists were based on imported ideas and strategies, rather than tested local solutions. You, on the other hand believed that Laos, the country and its people, have so much potential, and these potentials were often overlooked because of lack of analytical understanding of the local conditions and practices. That was why you always based your development approaches on the local communities’ own experience and aspirations, rather than on some top-down plans drawn up by external specialists.

A close friend who worked with you in many development areas and appreciated your approaches wrote this about your work to mark the 10th anniversary of your enforced disappearance, which I find really pays tribute to your work. And this is what she wrote:

Sombath, more than ever right

Every day of the last ten years has proved Sombath right. The world witnesses ecological, social and economic crisis. Climate change causes unprecedented disasters, and ecosystem destruction opens the door to pandemic. Younger generations are increasingly worried about their future.

Sombath has been leading the way by practicing sustainable living, calling for radical changes in production and consumption models, exploring alternative development for his country, and investing in young people.

In Laos, the few too coward to engage in a debate, too weak to question themselves, too greedy to curb their enrichment, too scared to face a growing movement, and those few with too much power disappeared Sombath. But they cannot prevent planted seeds to grow.

Sombath continues to live in each of us who had the privilege to know him, each of us he shared his wisdom with, each of us who crossed path with him on his farm, or in a conference room. And Sombath will continue to shine far beyond, as time increasingly proves him right.

I am blessed I met Sombath, I am happy we became friends, I am grateful for all I learnt from him. On our family farm in Indonesia, by following his footsteps toward a sustainable living, we pay tribute to Sombath, to his humanity, to his kindness and to his humility.

Anne-Sophie, a friend

My dearest Sombath, on this your birthday, I want you to be happy and to know that you are still so well remembered by your friends and all those whose lives you have touched. For me, I wish you, wherever you are, another year of good health, happiness and peace.

Love you always, Shui Meng

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (27)

At Wat Pa Nakhounnoi with friends to remember
the 10th anniversary of the Disappearance of Sombath

My dearest Sombath,

December 15 2022 marks the 10th anniversary of your abduction by the police in front of a police post on Thadeau Road. Every day for 10 long years, when I drive by that fateful police post each time I go home, I cannot but re-live how you have been stopped by the police and how you have been taken away never to be seen again. I also relive how I have begged and appealed to the Lao authorities to give me information as to what happened, why you have been taken, where have you been taken, and to investigate the case and return you safely to me and the family.

But Sombath, after 10 long years, I still have no answers as to what happened to you. All I have are the grainy footages caught on the police CCTV camera of how you were abducted – each frame showing clear evidence as to what happened to you on that fateful evening. That incriminating evidence remains in the public consciousness. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (27)”

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Dear Sombath…from S.Y. Chin (5)

Dear Sombath,

I am deeply aware that 15 December 2022 marks the tenth year since any of us have heard from you. Your enforced disappearance 10 days before Christmas – a season for peace and joy – deepens the hurt caused by your absence from the development community. During the past decade; our respect for your work, which is driven by your noble principles, innovative ideas and selfless objectives, has grown.

Many of us have read the splendid book, “Silencing of a Laotian Son,” by Dr. Ng Shui Meng and discovered personal aspects of your life we had not known previously. We did not know that your commitment to Laos began early in your youth. You were offered a Green Card which would have allowed you to stay on in Hawaii after your graduation to enjoy the ease of a career in the USA – however, you turned it down and chose to return to serve your country and fellow Laotians. You were the only student to make this choice among your classmates.

As Christmas 2022 approaches followed by the New Year of 2023, we are acutely aware that December has long ceased to be peaceful or joyous for your family and colleagues.

Your name, good work and well-being continue to be discussed within the development community. The past decade has not faded nor silenced this discussion.

S.Y. Chin

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (26)

My dearest Sombath, today is 17 February, your birthday. This year is also the Year of the Tiger.  Since you are also born in the Year of the Tiger, it means that you have reached your 6th cycle according to the Lunar calendar, therefore marking your 72nd year on earth.

Reaching the 6th cycle of your life is an especially auspicious occasion. If you are with us today, we would be celebrating this day with all your friends and family. Unfortunately you are not with us.

I know that you do not care much about celebrating birthdays or any other day in the calendar.  But today is special. So I know you will allow us to fuss over you a bit. Unfortunately, you are not with us and we still don’t know where you are. However, regardless of where you are, I together with everyone in the family would be sending you our special wishes and prayers on this auspicious day. We are all praying and wishing that you will remain strong and healthy physically and emotionally, and wherever you are, you will be surrounded by people who would take good care of you. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (26)”

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Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (25)

My dearest Sombath,

Today is Christmas Eve and I am in Singapore where I will be celebrating Christmas with my family. In the past, you and I also often came back to Singapore to celebrate Christmas and New Year with my family. But now it’s only me!

Sombath, to mark the ninth anniversary of your disappearance, I went to Bangkok to launch a book I wrote about you. It is called, “Silencing of a Laotian Son –the Life, Work and Enforced Disappearance of Sombath Somphone”.  The book launch took place on 14 December at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Thailand (FCCT) and it was very well attended.  Many people are still concerned about you and they are still outraged that after 9 years the Lao authorities still did not provide any information of the investigation of your abduction. It was clear to all that such withholding of information of your whereabouts is a cover-up. Continue reading “Dear Sombath…from Shui Meng (25)”

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Dear Shui-Meng…from Anne-Sophie Gindroz (5)

Dear Shui-Meng,

Another year has passed. We do not forget. We do not need an anniversary to remember.

I think of you and Sombath every single day. Let me tell you why.

When I first met Sombath, I was impressed by his calm and wisdom. His talk was soft and powerful. Then I got to know Sombath on his farm. I realised that not only was he practising sustainable living, but that his strength was rooted into his love for nature. A bright intellectual and a passionate farmer. He had built a coherent vision and developed concrete actions. He has been sharing his knowledge consistently, investing in young generations.  At the time, I did not know how deep his imprint would be.

Today, I know that I would not have had the courage to make certain decisions, would I not have met Sombath. From a role model I admired at first in a diffuse way, Sombath guided our steps when setting-up an organic farm here in Indonesia, and he gave me the confidence to engage in a more sustainable way of living. Sombath and his beautiful thinking now continue clearly to inspire our engagement with the community and our willingness to operate as an open learning space. To me, Sombath is more present than ever, through the daily practice of what I have learnt from him. And his vision about a harmonised cohabitation with a generous nature proves increasingly relevant in our world, threatened by greed and destruction.

Another year has passed. Sombath is being remembered, not just for this sad anniversary. Sombath is remembered every day, and will continue to be, by the many people he has inspired and continues to inspire for the better.

Dear Shui-Meng, you and Somath are in our hearts. Today and every day to come.

With love, Anne-Sophie