Khmer Fireworks
01-Jun-2008
The oncoming rainy season sends another blast of tropical rain hurtling down. Huddling under the house, some shadowy figures are handling coals, some gunpowder, and some cement papers. These people are the traditional Korng Pesey firework makers.
About 37 km from Phnom Penh, in the Veal commune of Takeo province, is Prey Sdech village. A multitude of small signboards attached to trees can mean only one thing; a firework sale. Crouched together under the tiled house to avoid the rain, Mr. Som Kim and his family work feverishly. The family has been making fireworks since 1993 and Mr. Kim says, “this is the last day to make fireworks because the rainy season is coming.”
Talking in a relaxed manner as he demonstrates how to make fireworks, he explains; “I have to stop making fireworks when the rainy season arrives in June as during that period there isn’t enough daylight to dry my fireworks properly. And I begin to make them again from early October.”
Although during the rainy season new fireworks are not produced, there are still enough of them in storage to supply the customer’s needs. Making fireworks is their main business but to avoid family hardship Mr. Kim and his family have to switch to farming to support themselves. “The rain,” he adds, “doesn’t mean that I don’t have fireworks to sell during the wet season. But it does mean I can’t make new fireworks because the weather is always gloomy. It’s just not possible to make them.”
Prey Sdech villagers’ skill as firework makers stretches back to the time of their ancestors. The Chief of Veal commune, Mr. Oum Ponn, said there are at least 30 families in the village working in this business who have drawn their experience from the days of old.
Mr Doun Hak was unable to go to school as he was too busy learning to make fireworks to help support his family. A backstreet alchemist since 1998, he said, “No one taught me how to make fireworks. I can do it because my grand father showed me. There is no school that teaches firework making, we just have to look to our elders for the knowledge.”
Prey Sdech villagers make fireworks by techniques passed down by their ancestors. “In my age, I didn’t have teachers to teach me. My grand father learnt during Sang Kum Reas Neyum (1953-1970) so maybe he was taught the dark arts by a Chinese person as they have previous experience and traditions in gunpowder.”
The fireworks must be prepared in an orderly, precise manner. “A lot of the other firework makers don’t dare to make these ones because they are extremely dangerous,” Mr. Hak chuckled. A moment of carelessness can be catastrophic if the components are incorrectly concocted.
An entire family of Chams were completely obliterated in 2003 when they incorrectly mixed hazardous chemicals trying to create fireworks. Some families stopped the dangerous trade immediately after and left their province to find a job in Phnom Penh.
Painstakingly crafting another banger, Mr. Kim says “the best fireworks are produced when there is enough sunlight.”
To make a cracking firework, a lot of materials are needed including sulfur, gram, coal and gunpowder. If the fireworks are designed to explode sparklingly into different colors, they have to be mixed with gold and silver paint.
Mr. Kim explains how to make a firework: A cement sack is made into a coconut shell then dried in the sun. The gunpowder and other chemicals are laid out to dry for a day. When all of these materials are sufficiently dry, they are mixed together and tied strongly with many layers of the cement bag. The tighter and thicker they are tied, the better they explode when fired into the sky. After the tying is finished, they have to be dried again in the sun for over a day before they can be detonated. It can take a painstaking and nerve racking hour to mix the chemicals correctly.
The fireworks range from 60mm in size all the way to 250mm. The cost can be anything from 2 USD to 100USD per firework.
Most fireworks are fired at night in traditional ceremonies such as Bun Banchos Khan Seima [the silk cutting ceremony], Ka Thin ceremony, Khmer New Year, and other official ceremonies. Most fireworks are sold during Khmer New Year and from January till April. This is the major time for ceremonies. In this time Mr. Kim can sell thousands of fireworks. The 250 mm mortar is especially popular during the Silk cutting ceremony.
A comparison cannot be made between the hand made fireworks for the local market and those imported from foreign countries. The imported ones are produced with complex technology and are controlled by computers. They have to meet stringent international standards. “Our fireworks are made following our ancestors,” Mr. Kim shrugs.
Along side middle aged people, young boys and girls are busy making fireworks under the house. “I don’t need to hire workers to make fireworks,” Mr. Kim says, “I can use my own family members.” Each person can make 60 fireworks per day and they are sold from the family home to clients and customers.
All along national road No. 2 to Kampong Speu and Takeo, there are local firework makers. The villagers restarted their ancient art straight after the Khmer Rouge regime collapsed and their skills are still burning bright today.
May Titthara
Photos by Heng Chivoan
