At a family meeting in 1999, his uncles plan to sell flooded forest land to a Vietnamese logging company. Young Vireak interrupts, speaking in polished Khmer: “ពូៗ ដីនេះដូចពស់ចឹក... កាលណាលក់ ពស់នោះនឹងត្រឡប់មកខាំគ្រួសារយើងវិញ” (“Uncles, this land is like a snake bite… once sold, that snake will return to bite our family.”)