Norng Chan Phal: The Mystery Of The Boy At S-21

Norng Chan Phal's life journey is a story of family, love and the struggle to survive and rebuild life after the Khmer Rouge genocide. It is also a story of separation between a young boy, his siblings and their parents. Norng Chan Phal witnessed the day his mother was taken away from him at S-21. He saw her being tortured and beaten and yet as a boy he could not help or had the mental capacity to comprehend what was happening to her. He remembered it vividly and tells the story as laid out in this book.

This book is also a story of resilience and Cambodia's early effort in piecing together a broken society in all sectors. One of the least known aspects of such efforts was establishing a network of orphanages to shelter, feed and educate lost children and those whose parents had been killed. Norng Chan Phal was save from S-21. As an orphan his survival and upbringing was the responsibility of the state. However, even with the most elaborate caring system, a child can never feel the love of his lost parents.