Chap Chamrouen Tola, 34, has devoted much of her life so far to classical Khmer dance and as a result she’s performed on all six of the fully inhabited continents – if there is a theatre in Antarctica the manager should get in touch – in addition to being a dance teacher at the Secondary School of Fine Arts. She also works as a choreographer for the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts and teaches her own classes independently both in the Kingdom and abroad. For example, Tola travels to Paris, France a few times per year to teach classical…
Author: Raksmey Hong
Walker Hedgepath had yet to visit the Kingdom when he became fascinated by Cambodia, its people, language and culture. While studying for a bachelor’s degree in the US, he got to know Cambodians at university and became interested in learning the Khmer language. “Hello, my name is Walker. I am 26 years old and American. I have been learning Khmer for three years with the Be Like Khmer Language School in Siem Reap town and another half a year at university in the US. “I have been interested in learning Khmer since studying for a bachelor’s degree in the US.…
Victor Ang, a renowned Singaporean artist – one of the top 20 finalists in the 2017 AAC awards – has led a group of his female contemporaries as they hold a group exhibition at the Hyatt Regency in Phnom Penh. Victor held solo exhibitions in Phnom Penh in 2014 and Siem Reap in 2018. This time, Victor is bringing along 25 Singaporean women artists. The Seeking Wonder Through Art exhibition aims at sharing art with Cambodia – the Kingdom of Wonder, according to Victor, who studied Chinese floral brush painting, calligraphy and seal carving under renowned artists in 1980s. The…
In addition to Sala website that makes it easy for high school graduates to find a university to study at as well as providing updates for what scholarships are available, the Sala App has now been developed to give another option. Both have been developed by a group of graduate IT students. Students in high school or those graduating from 12th grade can find information on university subjects and scholarships on the convenient app. Song Meily, a student asked Sala App founder Sok Leap for advice on the subject and university she wanted to study at. He was happy to…
Duong Sophavy, a local entrepreneur who started out as a wholesale trader and an owner of a Khmer-Thai tour agency, among other businesses in Cambodia and Thailand, is now turning her energies to the mobile home market as they are increasingly being used at resorts, plantations and as bungalows. It seems that Cambodians tend to want this kind of rustic simplicity now while relaxing. They want to go back towards nature – just not all the way back. Tents or sleeping outdoors, though definitely “back to nature” just don’t seem to have anywhere near the broad appeal. “It is about…
Neak Sophal, known for her distinctive photographic style – which regularly employs performative portraiture to illustrate the social realities of Cambodian women, the working class, and marginalised communities – will hold her latest exhibition at FT Gallery from 17 September 2022. Treasure introduces a new body of work consisting of 24 portraits and a video which document the lives and perseverance of farming families from three provinces in Cambodia. The artist would not reveal which provinces she had worked in. “Treasure sounds valuable, everybody looks forward to having it, but at the same time in Khmer it means something which…
When he was an agriculture student and learning about all of the potential crops for each province, Bo Sopheak noticed that passion fruit from Mondulkiri province were somehow different from any other source he’d come across. He said that passion fruit is available from almost every province of Cambodia and you can tell where they are from once you’re experienced enough because even passion fruit from Kampot – famous for its nutritious soil – are different from passion fruit in Mondulkiri, in that they taste less sweet in the coastal provinces and very sweet in the eastern provinces. That is…
Saing Sokchea, founder of the NGO Advanced Centre for Empowerment (ACE), was born and raised in Kampong Thom, but in the late 1990s and early 2000s he migrated to Phnom Penh to pursue his studies because there were no higher education opportunities available in his home province. Sokchea lived in a dormitory when he was in Phnom Penh, but finding suitable accommodations at that time was a big challenge, especially for disadvantaged youths whose family members all lived in one of the more remote provinces away from the capital, according to Chean Toing Ain, also known as JC, managing director…
A wooden house with a zinc roof stands on pillars black like charcoal, everyday items hang on beams, with a wooden boat tied to the stilts, as if floodwaters were just receding. The house is two stories high and L-shaped, the first floor surrounded by plants growing in Styrofoam pots. Signs of habitation are everywhere – a washing tub, cooking pots, a water jar, buckets, baskets for drying fish. Clothes hang drying on washing lines. At first glance, it looks like a stilted house found in the floating villages around the Tonle Sap Lake that are a popular tourist draw.…
The Rabbit School – an NGO that has provided education and vocational training for children and young adults with physical and mental disabilities in Cambodia since 1997 – has opened a new building equipped with a digital library in Phnom Penh. The building, designed for kids with intellectual disabilities and autism, is located in Tuol Kork Primary School in Tuol Kork district. It is one of 70 across the country being targeted by a joint partnership programme to educate out of school children (OOSC) in Cambodia, led by the France-based NGO Aide et Action (AEA) under the auspices of Educate…