The girl with 'too much fire': surviving the Khmer Rouge, part 1
Separated from her family and trained as a child soldier, Loung Ung's defiant spirit helped her survive Pol Pot’s regime, which killed nearly a quarter of Cambodia’s population.
In the Chinese tradition of Loung Ung's mother, the element of fire was dangerous in a daughter: too bold, too defiant, too difficult to control. But when the Khmer Rouge seized power in April 1975, that fire became Loung's greatest strength.
Under Pol Pot's pursuit of a communist agrarian utopia, nearly a quarter of Cambodia's population died through execution, famine and disease. Forced into the countryside to do hard labour, Loung's family struggled to survive. As their world was torn apart, Loung's mother made a heartbreaking decision in order for her children to have the chance to live.
Loung has written three memoirs: First They Killed My Father, Lucky Child and Lulu in the Sky.
Presenter: Asya Fouks
Producer: Emily Naylor
Get in touch: outlook@bbc.com or WhatsApp +44 330 678 2707
(Photo: Loung Ung with her six siblings and mother in 1974. Credit: Loung Ung)
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