Cambodian Art - LAKORN NIYEAY " ល្ខោននិយាយ''

A Khmer stage play that was very popular around sixty years ago is showing its own uniqueness once again in the new era, basically in Phnom Penh city. 

 

LAKORN NIYEAY is the art of the story performance/drama played on the stage. It focuses on the meaning as well as the tenor of the poetic conversation used by characters in the play. The story like “ThavKe JetJao,” “Vong Trokuol Komsot,” and “Moranakpheap Chamleak,” were the famous LAKORN NIYEY performances of all the time. 

LAKORN NIYEAY authors need to write the story based on Khmer Poem Literature which mean it must be good in both grammatical used and language used. Each foot that the actors use in the conversation of the play always carries the meaning or hint behind that the audiences need to think and evaluate while enjoying the show. More than that, the actors need to have the special talent in acting as well as in using poetic tone so that the play can sense the audiences well.    

LAKORN NIYEAY was created in the colonial period in Cambodia, during the year 1944 and 1945. At first, all the stories of the play were originated for French which then translated and prepared in according to the stage-play format. The plays were first performed for the ruling class and then the civilian in both city and provinces. As the popularity gained, the number of the LAKORN NIYEAY artists and stories, both translated from French and wrote by the Cambodian authors, also increased.

Unfortunately, LAKORN NIYEAY was disappeared during the period of KHMER ROUGE, and after the war end, the popularity lost. The loss of the specialized artists as well as the documents of LAKORN NIYEAY made this kind of art forgotten.
 

Currently, a small group of LAKORN NIYEAY artist of Royal University of Fine Arts (RUFA) is finding the ways to show the public about this kind of play by performing the stories in some social events. However, the activity and the support of LAKORN NIYEAY in the society today is still very limited since we can find this play in some part of the Phnom Penh city only.

Neck Pain Relief during travel

When we are on a long travel either on plane, bus, or train, we often get the neck pain which is a barrier to enjoy our trip, and sometimes the pain can lead to headache as well. So what should we do to handle this annoying neck pain real quick? 

Here are 5 simple stretches and self-massage steps for neck pain relief:

Step1: keep our shoulders and body straight and stay still. Bring our chin down to our chest for about 6-10 seconds then bring it back up like we are looking at the ceiling for the same period of time. Repeat it multiple times.

Step 2: keep our body and shoulder still just like the first step then move our ear to the right side about 45 degree for 6-10 seconds and repeat the same way to the left side. And do it 3-4 times.

Step 3:  Just put our right hand at the back of our right shoulder, and another hand on the head then turn our head to the left about 45 degree. Then pull the head down slowly. Hold it for 6-10 second, take a deep breath and relax. Repeat the same thing to another side and do it multiple times.

Step4: Trying to massage the back of the neck by using our hands to do circle compression on the area up to down twice times. Then move the hands to the shoulders, slowly press or doing circle compression on the muscle area that is hurt. This tip can release the tightness from our muscle and tension from our neck so good.

Step5: Use our left hand to grab the elbow of the other side then pull our arm to the left toward our chest. Hold it for 10 second, and repeat it on the other side.

These five steps will make us feel that the head is lighter than before, the tension on the neck is gone, and the pain on the neck and shoulders is released.

However, we need to know that the reason why we get this pain is because our body is tired or it has not moved actively since we are on the way and the seat space is small. So, it is really recommended to do simple movement as much as possible and get some nap to rest our body. In addition, as we travel in a long way, we should have a neck pillow because it can help to support our neck especially when we are taking our nap, and it can also prevent our neck from getting pain. And if we don’t have neck pillow, we can use our rolled shirt or tower as a temporary neck pillow as well. Good luck.  

Dawn view from Indonesia