The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sport, commemorated a genocide education memorial and distributed copies of the textbook A History of Democratic Kampuchea (1975-1979) to 500 students in Malai High School, Malai district, Banteay Meanchey province on May 10, 2013. The commemoration and textbook distribution are parts of DC-Cam's multi-stage Genocide Education Project which aims to bridge the gap in teaching the history of the Cambodian genocide and community awareness on the Khmer Rouge (KR) atrocities between April 1975 and January 1979. The memorial features two statements that call attention to the horrors of the period and the importance of remembrance, education, and peace. The statements are inscribed on iron, and they are displayed in a prominent location for students, educators, and the community’s attention.

Malai district stands out as a critical site for Cambodia’s history and struggle with post-conflict justice, memory, and reconciliation. Malai was a KR stronghold for seventeen years (1979 to 1996), and together with Pailin, it became one of the KR four headquarters throughout the 1980s and mid-1990s. Backed by two KR military divisions, Malai and Pailin headquarters were effectively under the control of Ieng Sary, former Democratic Kampuchea (DK) Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister. It was second to Anlong Veng stronghold under Ta Mok, former DK Secretary of the Southwest zone. In 1996, after tense negotiations with the Royal Government of Cambodia, Ieng Sary led all armed forces and civilians in Malai and Pailin in a mass defection. Since then, Malai has transformed itself from a battlefield to a farming district, where the population has been working to reconstruct their life and well-being after a long protracted war and uncertain life.