This is the book’s first direct mention of “ethnic cleansing.” By using this term, Pa is putting a name to what the government is really doing under the guise of social engineering: scapegoating Cambodia’s problems onto non-ethnic Khmers and trying to rid the country of minority groups. Ma’s Chinese heritage—a source of pride and beauty in Phnom Penh—continues to be a dangerous burden under the genocidal Khmer Rouge. Loung again approaches this new information from a child’s perspective, cutting the Angkar’s grandiose plans down to size with her own lack of understanding. Rubbing dirt on herself does not change who…