HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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MARCH2015
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ILLUSTRATIONSBYLUCI GUTIÉRREZ
19
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NEWS AND NOTES FROM AROUND THE WORLD
At Wat Preah Prom Rath, there
are two satellitedishes on the temple
roof and a big-screen television in
the communal dining room. “They
used to eat in silence.Now theywant
action kung fu movies fromHong
Kong,”Pranang says. “There are just
toomany distractions.”
Pranang admits tohavingdifficulty
accepting thenewfoundworldlinessof
his young charges,buthe tries tokeep
an openmind. “One can still pursue
the path to enlightenment while liv-
ing in themodernworld,”he says. “It
is just harder with somuch access to
pornography.”
—JAMESDORSEY
I
nmanyways, theWat PreahProm
Rathmonastery in theCambodian
cityofSiemReap isa typicalBuddhist
holy site. Founded around 500 years
ago, it bristles with golden statuary
and tapering pagodas, its manicured
garden practically screaming inner
peace. The tranquility is quickly
shattered, however, by a roar echoing
through the grounds: “Goooaaal!”
Bout Pranang, the monk who
oversees themonastery and its 50 or
so initiates, shakes his head and casts
a withering gaze toward a group of
shaven-headed teenagers wrapped
in saffron robes, who are gathered
around a laptop watching a soccer
match. “That was awesome,” says
novicemonkThom Sav as the boys
high-five. The elderly monk rolls
his eyes.
But then, Pranang has had to get
used to this sort of thing. In recent
years, Internet use has become
widespreadat temples acrossCambo-
dia.It is common to seemonks toting
iPads and smartphones.Many have
their own Facebook pages.To deny
young initiatesmediaaccess,as every-
one here understands, would likely
lead to a severe drop in the number
ofmonks.
cambodia
TheSoundofOneHandTexting
AtanoldBuddhist temple, piety lurches into the21st century
