Felix Bardez was the only French official killed on duty
during the French Protectorate. Being French myself and living in Cambodia, I
wanted to know more about this event. First, as the protectorate lasted 90
years from 1863 to 1953, I found a bit surprising that only one French civil
servant got killed. As the French were occupying the country, the
number of casualties could have been more important, due to the discontentment
of Khmer people. Some people say that he was collecting taxes which were the
highest in Indochina, and of course unpopular, and got killed for that. I am
not convinced this reason is enough. Some others argue that he collected the
taxes in Krang Laav during the Khmer New Year but again, even though these celebration are important, that doesn’t seem,
according to me, enough to kill him. Even if these first two reasons have certainly to be taken into consideration in the fate of Resident Bardez on April 18th 1925, there
are two details that have done the difference. Monsieur Bardez was, after 15
years in Cambodia, nearly speaking no Khmer at all, which could be the sign of a
poor understanding of Khmer people and Khmer culture. Moreover, he was
arrogant, ostentatious, and highly ambitious. These three qualities are known
from some testimonies during the trial that followed his death. So according to
me, he got disrespectful and exasperated the inhabitants of that little village
near Kompong Chhnang, who killed him. This opinion is shared by David Chandler,
an historian specialist of Cambodia. It is always interesting to learn more
about history.
(These 3 children on the photo are posing in Wat Phnom in front of the
statue of King Sisowath who was the Cambodian Monarch in 1925)