Out of several dozen memoirs written by survivors of the Khmer Rouge era, only seven of the authors self-identified as Chinese Khmers. Despite considerable trauma, the authors of these stories rebuilt their lives in America, benefiting from the resilience developed during the reign of the Khmer Rouge as well as from the hard work and intense focus on education often associated with Cambodians of Chinese descent.

Many Chinese Cambodians immigrated to the United States as refugees in subsequent years, and several have documented their experiences in Democratic Kampuchea, giving scholars new insights to the regime that destroyed millions of lives. Ironically the commercial skills that made Chinese Khmers so vulnerable also helped to ensure their survival during the Khmer Rouge era. Chinese Cambodians brokered transactions between villagers in the camps, established prices of various commodities through direct negotiation, and sold their valuables for rice and other goods to feed their families.

For much of the twentieth century, Chinese had been 'the language of trade and bargaining' (4) in Cambodia, and the Sino-Khmer community used their highly developed financial skills to benefit from the secret exchanges of the labor camps during the Khmer Rouge era. (3) As in much of Southeast Asia, people of Chinese descent were targeted by the Khmer Rouge, primarily because of their perceived economic status. (2) Already considered suspect by the regime because of their skin color, foreign language, and participation in capitalist enterprises, Chinese Khmers became a significant part of the barter economy of Democratic Kampuchea. Prominent among the illegal traders were Chinese Cambodians, who bartered for goods on the black market in order to sustain their families during one of the darkest periods in modern history.

Nevertheless, many Cambodians flouted these laws and created underground markets in labor camps all over the country using substitute currencies. When the Khmer Rouge took control of Cambodia in 1975, the fanatical communist regime abolished all currencies and markets, presuming that the 'vestiges of capitalism (and inequality) would not survive without money in circulation.' (1) Anyone who possessed or traded currency would be beaten or executed for a single violation of the new edict.

Stay Alive, My Son by David P. Chandler