Kalyanee Mam & The World in Thai Sand
“As Singapore dredges sand out from beneath Cambodia’s mangrove forests, an ecosystem, a communal way of life, and one woman’s relationship to her beloved home are faced with the threat of erasure. This 15-minute short movie by the award-winning filmmaker Mam Kalyanee touches upon the beauty of this stunning part of coastal Cambodia, the destructive dredging it suffered from for close to a decade, and the greed and stupidity that lies behind it in the form of Singapore's relentless 'land expansion' program.” (Lost World, Mother Nature Cambodia on YouTube)
Last week, amidst our time hosting French high school students from Collegé Saint Martin, the GIP program hosted Ms. Kalyanee Mam to discuss and show her 2018 short film Lost World, which addresses the impact of sand dredging for export sale (often to Singapore) on coastal communities in Thailand – specifically the home of Vy Phalla in a mangrove fishing/sea harvesting community being slowly eaten alive by the sand inustry.
Despite what feels like access to every event, everywhere, happening all the time, (i.e. the internet) like many others in the room, I had never previously heard of any event even remotely similar to the dredging of sand in Thailand that Mam spoke to us about for this GIP event. Not only was Lost World a educational, powerful, and visually striking film project to watch, but Mam was also an intimate and animated speaker, encouraging reflection on our relationship with land through her introduction and Q/A. This event was a very engaging way to look at the impacts of climate change and environmental destruction on a micro-scale; the contrast between a mega-industrial, highly commercial, and starkly sanitized center of Singapore and the small cities/ fishing and mangrove communities focused on in this area of Thailand show that when we focus on rapid industrial development for what might seem to be the big picture, this big picture actually frames those in positions of relative power – in this case, cities with wealth and international influence – and leaves out the destruction that is happening to perhaps communities that are marginalized, but unquestionable in their scale and value.
I was also intrigued to listen to explanations of feelings of powerlessness that come at this time, a feeling which seems to thread together many people from all types of countries. Not only is this how myself and many members of our own community feel, but even many of the sightseers and residents of Singapore either were not aware of the large exploitation of physical land, or noted that they did not know what they could do with that information. While powerlessness is a terrifying feeling, the fact that it binds us this way does give me much hope, as reflected in Mam’s weaving of the many aspects of her globetrotting life. In the spirit of our theme “Ubuntu”, I hope that stories like that of Lost World continue to shed light on systems of oppression and ecological destruction not to bring despair, but rather to inspire unity and revolutionary change across the globe.
" The beauty of the mangrove forest
Rivals the palace gardens.
It's a place where pure love grows.
The more I gaze,
The more I crave to see.
A true and rare beauty is revealed to me.
The ocean leans forward,
Embracing the mangrove forest.
Stunning and exquisite –
A golden paradise. "
