1210th Anniversar​y Of the Khmer Empire Celebratio​n, Seattle, Saturday, July 21, 2012

You Are Cordially Invited to the

1210th AnniversaryOf the Khmer Empire

And Pay Tribute to Our Ancestors

Saturday July 21st, 2012

Asian Resources Center

1025 S. King St., Seattle, WA 98104

Program

Morning:

9:00AM Guests Arrive

Exhibit of Khmer Culture and History – All day

10:00AM Religious Ceremony with Bangskol, Alms Offering &

Prayers for Cambodia

Guest Speaker: Kompha Seth, Executive Director,

National Cambodian American Organization, Chicago, IL

Afternoon:

1:00PM – 400PM: Open Public Forum

How Will Cambodia Survive the China's Challenge

Over the US Asia Pivot in the 21st Century?

Moderators: Kim Tung Yap, CAHRAD, Washington, DC &

Tithia Sum, KUC, Olympia, Washington

Evening:

5:00PM – 11:00PM: Gala Dinner

5:00PM: Registration – Social Hour

6:00PM: Opening Program – Dinner Served

Keynote: Mr. Marith Chhang, KAF Executive Vice President

8:00PM: Cultural Show

Keynote Speaker: Thuy Chanthourn, PhD, Archeologist

Royal Academy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

9:00PM – 11:00PM: Entertainment & Dancing

Live Music by White Lotus Band

Celebration Organized by the Khmer Alliance Foundation (KAF)

Contact: Marith Chhang @ (360)636 3989 kaf_usa@msn.com or

Van Sar @ (425)672 6725 van_sar@msn.com

Khmer New Year Celebration in Finland

On Saturday 14 April 2012, the Cambodian Friendship Association in Finland organized a Khmer New Year celebration in Helsinki, Finland. Erkki Tuomioja, Finland's Minister of Foreign Affairs, participated in the event and gave a 10 minutes speech to the guests.

Oakland's Cambodian community holds anti-violence march

A large group from the Cambodian community march through Oakland to speak up against community violence in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event also featured safety tips and a speech from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and other public officials. (Doug Duran/Staff)

A large group from the Cambodian community march down International Boulevard to speak up against community violence in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event also featured safety tips and a speech from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and other public officials. (Doug Duran/Staff)

Carlos Cordova, 17, left, and Mona Chhit, 19, both of Oakland, hold a large sign as they lead a march through Oakland to speak up against violence in the Cambodian community in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event also featured safety tips and a speech from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and other public officials. (Doug Duran/Staff)

Pysay Phinith, of Berkeley, left, Assistant Project Director for the Asian Community Mental Health Services, talks to Oakland Mayor Jean Quan before the start of the Cambodian community's march to speak up against community violence in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event also featured safety tips and a speech from Mayor Quan and other public officials. (Doug Duran/Staff)

Dancer Malena Rim. 14, of Oakland, left, gets some help with her outfit from Kong Kolap, of Oakland, for a blessing dance before the start of the Cambodian community's march to speak up against community violence in Oakland, Calif., on Saturday, March 31, 2012. The event also featured safety tips and a speech from Oakland Mayor Jean Quan and other public officials. (Doug Duran/Staff)

April 1, 2012
By Alan Lopez
Contra Costa Times (California, USA)

OAKLAND -- Almost 40 years after the Khmer Rouge unleashed a genocide in Cambodia, natives to that country in Oakland still feel the aftershocks.

Violence is plaguing the community of about 2,700, with shootings, robberies and thefts occurring weekly, say community organizers.

The problem of violence in the Cambodian community is exacerbated by mental health problems and a fear of speaking out, which affects refugees of the 1970s Cambodian genocide, said Talaya Sin, a research assistant with Cambodian Community Development Inc.

"I'm scared, to be honest," said Sin, whose extended family members have been the victims of violence. "It doesn't feel safe (in Oakland)."

The Oakland Cambodian Community March 4 Peace held Saturday was meant to bring Oakland Cambodians together and quell the violence.

Local Cambodians share survival stories in upcoming exhibit

Young girls perform a Khmer dance at the More Than a Party event at the Lynn Museum Friday. (Item Photo / Angela Owens)

By Amber Parcher
The Daily Item (Lynn, Massachusetts, USA)

LYNN - Sixteen-year-old Jimson Thach knew his parents came to America from their homeland of Cambodia in the 1980s. But beyond that, he said he didn't know much about their life before America.

"They don't really talk about it," he said.

An exhibit coming to the Lynn Museum next month detailing the stories of thousands of Cambodian refugees could change all of that.

Thach's parents, and most of the other middle-aged Cambodians living in Lynn, fled to America from a brutal genocide that killed an estimated 2 million people, said Kirirath Saing, the Southeast Asian Liason for Lynn's mayor.

New councilors in Lynn, Lowell a milestone for Cambodian community

Hong L. Net was sworn in this week as a Lynn city councilor. Net is believed to be one of the first Cambodian-American councilors in the nation. (Yoon S. Byun/Globe Staff)

January 5, 2012
By John Laidler
Boston Globe Correspondent (Massachusetts, USA)

When Hong L. Net and Vesna Nuon took their oaths as city councilors this week, it marked the official start of their tenures as municipal officials but also a defining moment for the region’s Cambodian-American community.

Net, who won a Lynn City Council seat last November, and Nuon, who earned a seat on the Lowell City Council, are believed to be the second and third Cambodian-Americans in the country to be elected to city councils.

Rithy Uong, whose election to the Lowell City Council in 1999 made him the first, said he is not aware of any other Cambodian-Americans nationally who have won council seats.

Although still elated at their electoral wins, Net and Nuon - both Cambodian natives - are looking ahead to their new role as leaders of their adopted cities.

When did Cambodians outside and inside the country turn into Vietnamese slaves?"

Cambodian fare steps up a notch

January 1, 2012
STEVEN A. ROSENBERG
Boston Globe (Massachusetts, USA)

Apsara Angkor Restaurant

• 877 Western Ave., Lynn
• 781-477-6045
• Open Monday through Thursday, 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. ; Friday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to midnight
• Credit cards accepted
• Accessible to the handicapped

For years, the Cambodian restaurant Mittapheap, just blocks away from Lynn’s General Electric plant on Western Avenue, served as an oasis to Cambodian natives and adventurous Americans who wanted home-cooked Cambodian fare without driving to Boston.

Enter Sokhoeun Chea, who lives a few blocks from the restaurant and was a regular at Mittapheap in between his management jobs at a department store and a night club. Chea, who is 48, survived the Killing Fields in Cambodia, and lived in refugee camps in Thailand and the Philippines before arriving in Revere. There, he persuaded school officials to allow him to go to high school - and despite being 20 and sitting in a classroom for the first time in his life, he learned how to read, write, and speak English.

“This is my second life in America. This is my heaven,’’ explained Chea on a chilly evening last week in Lynn. Chea purchased the restaurant property on Dec. 1, and since then he has tinkered with Mittapheap’s extensive, formerly 50-page menu - slimming down some of the repetitive offerings, such as meat-based soups - while sitting with customers and conducting his own research. He says his management experience has taught him that the customer comes first and is always right.

Khmer Folk dance "Robam Trot" by Cambodian Culture and Arts Council

Khmer Folk dance "Robam Trot" performs by Cambodian Culture and Arts Council. Recorded during Cambodian Arts & Culture Exhibition, November 19, 2011 in Cambodia Town Long Beach, California.

Program description: Robam Trot is performed at New Year to rid the people and land of all bad luck accumulated during the previous year. It has been performed since ancient times in Cambodia's provinces of Siem Reap and Battambang. Trot dancers dress in brightly colored costumes and go from house to house collection money and offerings from the community for the local temple. Hand drums and poles with bells attached to provide rhythm for the dance. The elaborate dance has several characters, including a Hunter, Oxen, Giant, and Witch who attempt to kill a deer while Peacock try to protect it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uTL4sMefZ_c

Khmer Folk dance "Robam Kaine" performs by Cambodian Fine Art Heritage

Khmer Folk dance "Robam Kaine" performs by Cambodian Fine Art Heritage Relief Foundation. Recorded during Cambodian Arts & Culture Exhibition, November 19, 2011 in Cambodia Town Long Beach, California.

Program description: Robam Kaine is a Khmer folk dance usually performed during the Cambodian New Year in April. It is one of featuring courtship rituals. The dance's name comes from the wind instrument used by the young men, known as "Kaine". This dance is originated from the Cambodian province of Steung Treng. The musicians and the blossom adorning the instrument create a romantic atmosphere which the men hope the young women will find irresistible and fall in love with them.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wYxaynjqtRo

The Cambodian Family Celebrates 30 years of Community Service

Originally posted at http://khmerican.com/2011/11/18/the-cambodian-family-celebrates-30-years-of-community-service/

By Sophin Zoe Pruong-McCreery

Santa Ana, CA – “The Lotus rises from the dark depths of muddy water, reaches toward the light, and becomes a beautiful flower.” Like the triumphant flower, The Cambodian Family, which found its roots in an impoverished area of Santa Ana, has risen to become an exemplary multi-ethnic human services agency promoting social health in Orange County. On November 10, 2011, over 300 attendees celebrated the 30-year anniversary of this non-profit community service organization.

Sundaram Rama, Executive Director of The Cambodian Family, delivers a closing statement to end the evening.

In 1981, a group of Cambodian refugees who had survived the “killing fields” of civil war and genocide, resettled in the Minnie Street neighborhood of Eastside Santa Ana, an area historically known for high crime rates, gang activity, and illegal drugs. Amidst the urban flotsam, a faithful few envisioned a better future for themselves in their adopted country, leading to the formation of The Cambodian Family agency. They pooled their resources to rent a modest one-bedroom apartment where volunteers could teach English to new arrivals and provide various resettlement services such as meeting basic needs and document translation. The Cambodian Family developed support workshops to help refugees overcome their recent trauma, learn new skills, and move forward with their lives. Since then, The Cambodian Family expanded to include youth programming and health services benefiting uprooted people from places such as Cambodia, Latin America,Vietnam, Iran, Ethiopia, Russia and more.

The evening’s program included awards and recognition of honorees for their work with The Cambodian Family such as Rifka Hirsch, the agency’s former Executive Director of 25 years. Under her leadership, the agency has provided job assistance to several thousand low income residents, helped over 100 youths attend college, and helped hundreds to access heath care. In her tenure, The Cambodian Family, offered Employment Services, English as a Second Language (ESL) Classes, Community Health Services, Kinder Readiness Program, Childcare, and Cambodian Language and Heritage Classes. Moreover, it was Rifka Hirsch who oversaw the establishment of the Youth Program, an essential component of The Cambodian Family.

Summary of the Paris Peace Agreement Commemorat​ion Gathering by KYAA in Calgary, Alberta, Canada

Khmer Youth Association of Alberta
7011 Ogden Road SE
Calgary, AB, T2C 1B5
Phone: 403-455-8294
Email: info@khmeryouth.cambodianview.com

October 23, 2011

Dear members and participants

First of all, I would like to sincerely express my deep gratitude and thanks for your volunteering and attending on the commemoration of 20th Anniversary of Paris Peace Agreement. It is a very successful gathering day. We are very proud on this collective effort to make us more aware and knowledgeable on this day. This 20th Anniversary gathering is mainly expecting to achieve education for our youths, adults, seniors and main stream local people. As a result, every one has learnt a lot from this day. Other goals for us is to ensure that community members have been aware of this day, the United Nations and the government of Canada have persistently paid attention with the current Cambodian government to abide by the stipulations it has signed with the international communities in making this Peace Agreement successful. Among rigorous issues in Cambodia, the need for the genuine democracy of pluralism, the enforcement of the rule of law, the judiciary independence, the sustainable development and the independence of Khmer Rouge Tribunal are imperative for engagement from all signatory countries.

Asian population surges in Austin [Texas]

Lena Chhom, 28, at MT Supermarket in Austin, is originally from Cambodia. She moved to Austin from Minnesota three years ago looking for better job opportunities

Growing numbers linked to jobs, community appeal

Friday, May 6, 2011
By Juan Castillo
AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF

When Channy Soeur came to Austin from Cambodia, there were maybe two or three Chinese restaurants in the city. Tops. And if you wanted Vietnamese, you could forget delivery the closest restaurant was in Houston.

That was 1977. Today there are 75 Vietnamese restaurants in Austin, nearly 200 Chinese eateries, 92 sushi joints and 63 Thai restaurants, according to a tally by Urbanspoon.com.

Pho may not yet be on par with Tex-Mex tacos or smoked brisket, but Asian food is "so normal (now), which means we have come a long way in terms of acceptance," says Soeur, the CEO of an Austin-based engineering firm and head of the statewide Network of Asian American Organizations, also based here.

Announcing Miss Cambodia Canada 2011

L’APCQ a le plaisir de vous informer que les votes de Miss Cambodgienne Canada 2011 pour la catégorie « Choix du public » débutent dès ce soir (10 mars 2011). Vous êtes invités à voter pour votre candidate coup de coeur. La gagnante de ce sondage sera couronnée « Miss Cambodgienne Canada 2011 – Choix du public » le 9 avril 2011 prochain, lors de la soirée du Nouvel An khmer organisée par l’APCQ. Veuillez noter que cette catégorie est totalement indépendante des 3 finalistes: le « Choix du public » peut faire partie des 3 finalistes, tout comme il peut ne pas faire partie des finalistes. Être gagnante de ce concours n’assure pas une place parmi les 3 finalistes. Cliquez ici pour plus d'information.

The APCQ has the pleasure to inform you that votes for the Miss Cambodia Canada 2011 « Public’s Choice » category begin this evening (March 10th 2011). You are invited to vote for your favorite candidate. The winner of this poll will be crowned « Miss Cambodia Canada 2011 – Public’s choice » on April 9th 2011, during the Khmer New Year organized by the APCQ. Please note that this category is totally independant from the 3 finalists: the « Public’s Choice » can be among the 3 finalists, or could as well not be part of the 3 finalists. Winning this poll does not guarantee a place among the 3 finalists. Click here for additional information.

SRP Rhode Island's Khmer New Year Celebration Announcement

Buddhist Funeral Service for Wat Dhammikaram's late abbot Ven. Nikamadhammo Mey Ros

Buddhist Funeral Service for Wat Dhammikaram's late abbot Ven. Nikamadhammo Mey Ros

Click here to watch the video of the event

Cremation for Wat Samakki Dhammikaram’s late abbot Ven. Samvarasilo Long Mean

Wat Samakki Dhammikaram’s late abbot Ven. Samvarasilo Long Mean cremated

Templenews TV, Sunday January 23, 2011

The late Ven. Samvarasilo Long Mean, age 92, was cremated on Saturday the 3rd Waning Moon of Phussa, Year of the Tiger, BE2554, January 22, AD2010 at Greenwood Cemetery, Brooklyn, New York city, New York, United States of America.

Click here to view the slideshow of the event

Welcome Dinner for Opposition Leader Sam Rainsy's Visit to Australia

On 27 November 2010, 400 people attended a dinner to welcome the visit of opposition leader Sam Rainsy's visit to Sydney, Australia. Each of the guests paid $35 to attend this welcoming event.

Cambodian community in Italy supports the Demonstration in Paris on 24 October 2010

Click on the article in Khmer to zoom in

Pchum Ben Celebration at Khmer Krom Buddhist Temple in Stoney Creek, Ontario, Canada

Click on the announcement in Khmer and English to zoom in

Kan Ben Ceremony at Wat Preah Buddha Raingsey Temple in Philadelphia