Sakhon Nhek: Using art to explore culture, life and spirituali​ty

Originally posted at http://khmerican.com/2012/09/06/1910/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRg_E9Ivj-0

Sakhon Nhek is a photographer, floral designer and artist. She was also born in the refugee camps of Thailand like many other Cambodian immigrants to America.

In this interview with Khmerican, she explains how photography helps her deal with her tumultuous past, overcome cultural barriers and explore her spirituality. She also shares four of her pieces: Kiwi Spine, Genesis, Trumpet and Noki.

For more information on Sakhon Nhek's work, visit her site: www.sakhondesign.com.

Cambodian Weed - ដំណាំត្រកួន របស់ពលរដ្ឋខ្មែរ នៅ រដ្ឋ តិចសាស់

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The invasive plant water spinach is banned in some states — and essential to Asian cooking. In a small village outside Houston, relocated Cambodians are growing and selling it across state lines, up North, out West, hoping to get rich.

Thursday, Sep 6 2012

By Terrence McCoy

Houston Press (Texas, USA)

In a small farming village hidden down dirt roads among shrubs and tall grass, everyone's sleeping, and the rain won't stop. It's early afternoon on a Tuesday near Rosharon, a small town south of Houston, and the downpour has canvassed the paths with deep crevices and pockmarks, making driving all but impossible. Not that anyone here would ever be driving at 2 p.m. Afternoon is when they sleep.

Afternoon is when the only sounds flitting across this intensely insular and homogeneous community of Cambodian farmers are the warbles of swamp frogs and the cackle of a smoldering trash fire. Mobile homes, their frames expanded with slabs of corrugated iron and long, slanting awnings, line the dirt roads. They look almost exactly how they would 9,000 miles away in Southeast Asia. "Little Cambodia," villagers call this place. But looming behind the rusting shacks is something you wouldn't find anywhere in Cambodia: dozens and dozens of greenhouses.

Perhaps 90 Cambodian families live here, but like so many other mysteries coursing through this village, no one's really sure how many there are. Some say 50. Some say 120. The Cambodians cringe at exactness. In a community completely dependent on cultivating and exporting a prohibited — and highly profitable — plant, ambiguity and secrecy are crucial to survival. You can't trust anyone, not the other villagers and especially not newcomers like Johnny Bopho. He and the other sharks moved to town around six years ago with big-city entrepreneurialism and a rapacious business plan to wring a fortune from what, by every measure, is just a weed. But a weed that has so consumed this village that it's all anyone seems to talk about, all anyone thinks about. It's omnipresent, heaped in large piles outside most homes, stuck to the ­bottoms of shoes, poking out of the mouth of a ­passerby.

Cambodian Republicans in Florida Prepare to Vote in November

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q-tJivOtkoY

Cambodian Voters in US Weigh Benefits of Presidential Candidates

Republican presidential candidate and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney campaign buttons are displayed ahead of the Republican National Convention in Tampa, Fla., on Aug. 26, 2012.

Issues that affect Cambodians in America are similar to those the rest of the people in the country.

31 August 2012

Sok Khemara, VOA Khmer

Democratic supporters are those who lean more toward the improvement of their circumstances in the US, he said, while Republican supporters tend to be more concerned with what is happening in Cambodia.

WASHINGTON DC - Cambodian-American voters say that as the US presidential election approaches, they are most interested in a president that will help them with community issues here and political issues back in Cambodia.

Presidential candidates Barrack Obama, a Democrat, and Mitt Romney, a Republican, are in a tightly contested race for the White House, with both sides campaigning hard before the Nov. 4 election.

Schanley Kuch, a Cambodian-American from Maryland, told VOA Khmer he will vote for a candidate who can better the living standards of Americans, but will also espouse the principles of human rights and democracy that will help Cambodians back home.

“For the Cambodian people, in my view, it’s a necessary obligation to decide whether we choose economic growth in the US or think about our homeland, which is under the restoration of human rights, freedom and democracy, which needs the support of a powerful country.”

A lost-and-found story with a great ending and a new beginning

Wednesday, August 29, 2012
By Bill Nemitz bnemitz@mainetoday.com
Kennebec Journal (Maine, USA)

Put yourself in 8-year-old Abbie Jacobson's place.

You're walking into Sam's Club in Scarborough when you spot something unusual on the ground.

It's a small, green money purse. Scattered around it are several $100 bills. Inside the purse, you find several pieces of heirloom gold jewelry, a debit card and a large wad of $100 bills rolled up tightly and secured with a rubber band.

Your first thought?

While you ponder that one, here's Abbie's: "We need to find who dropped it," recalled the soon-to-be third-grader from Scarborough this week. "Because I wouldn't want to lose all that money and have someone take it. It was a lot of money!"

Now put yourself in Ra Rim's place. You came to Maine from Cambodia just less than two years ago. You speak no English and are about to travel back to your homeland to visit relatives when your savings for the journey -- $4,202, to be exact -- vanish during a day of last-minute errands.

"I felt like I was going to faint," said Ra in Cambodian while her daughter, Chansatha Meas, translated. "I felt like there was no hope I would ever get it back."

Cambodian Community Day Sees Campaigners for Presidential Candidates

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQnS0P-y2ko

Khmer Rouge refugee a rare ‘Miss Cambodia’

Phanith Sovann, the Cambodian-American who will compete in an international beauty contest next year. Photograph: supplied

Wednesday, 22 August 2012
Seth Kimsoeurn
The Phnom Penh Post

A Cambodian-American singer who was nearly killed as a child by the Khmer Rouge will be the first Miss Cambodia to compete in an international beauty pageant since 2006.

Phanith Sovann has been selected as an entrant in next year’s Queen of the Universe 2013, an annual beauty contest in California.

Sovann, born in a refugee camp in Kao-I-Dang, Thailand in 1989 to young parents who, orphaned by the Khmer Rouge, escaped to the border, said her family was lucky to have survived.

They were forced to run and hide from Thai soldiers who raided the camps periodically, forcing refugees who did not have permits back to the killing fields of Cambodia.

“My mother always said that my family almost died many times,” she said.

Somaly Hay escaped political oppression - and now helps those left behind

Somaly Hay uses the proceeds from her business, Somaly Hay & Co. on Golden Street in New London, to help villagers in her native Cambodia. (Tim Cook photo)

08/15/2012
By Julianne Hanckel
TheDay.com (Connecticut)

Somaly Hay & Co. is an unassuming storefront on Golden Street in New London. Step inside and you’ll quickly discover that it’s more than a cornucopia of jewel-toned colors, one-of-a-kind pieces and handmade crafts. It’s also a jewelry lover’s paradise.

With gold, silver, pearl and precious stone jewelry and layers upon layers of hand sewn silk and cotton dresses, pants and scarves, one could easily get lost in the store’s featured Cambodian collections, but the real treat is the shop’s owner, Somaly Hay.

Get her talking and her sincerity and sense of humor flow; traits that also shine in her deeply-rooted passion for helping others who are trying to help themselves. But underneath her vibrant personality is a scarred heart.

At 53, she is a survivor of one of the worst mass killings in the 20th century.

Khmerican interviews actor Francois Chau

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BkLiMl0lKgA

François Chau has appeared in Lost, Grey's Anatomy, 24, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II and dozens of other films, television shows and plays. He was also born in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Khmerican interviews this Cambodian-American actor on his early life, what drew him to acting, and how Hollywood has changed for Asian-Americans over the past 30 years.

To see some of the episodes and movies mentioned in this video, go here: http://khmr.cn/francois-chau.

Cambodian Teav Mam Discovers her Destiny

07 July 2012
Sacramento Bee (California, USA)

 Carly Wagner, 16, has her hair colored and styled by Teav Mam. Mam who survived the Khmer Rouge killing fields and abusive relationships in Stockton says hairstyling saved her life. She is currently mentoring five Cambodian girls rescued from sex trafficking in Cambodia. To the left are flowers she sells that the girls made. "I just want them to have some fun spending money," said Teav. Her cherry blossom mural reminds her of the beauty in life.

Teav Mam, right, is hugged by Carly Wagner, 16, after coloring and styling her hair in her salon in Folsom. She is mentoring five Cambodian girls rescued from sex trafficking. In her salon she sells hand made jewelry and flowers the girls have made. Mam hopes to raise $10,000 to go to Cambodia this summer to start the "Growing Hope" beauty school. The plan is to train 20 girls at a time to cut hair. "I also want to meet their parents to see what I'm dealing with," she said.

Teav Mam whose legs are scarred from wild dogs in Cambodia snuggles with her dog Puka. "I was afraid of dogs until a friend gave me Puka and now I love dogs," said Mam who brings her dog to work with her every day. Mam who was abused and ran away when her father wanted to force her into an arranged marriage said she was homeless and had joined a gang in the past. "I even considered suicide," she said. Now a successful hairstylist she is mentoring five Cambodian girls rescued from sex trafficking and her dream is to open a non-profit beauty school for other former sex trafficking victims in Cambodia.

Teav Mam who was bitten by wild dogs in Cambodia was given a gift of Puka, her dog, that changed her view of dogs. "I love dogs now," she said as she took a break with Puka who accompanies her to her salon in Folsom every day. Now a successful hairstylist Mam is mentoring five Cambodian girls rescued from sex trafficking.

Introducing Lidi Chea of Providence

Published at http://khmr.cn/lidi-chea

“I think that we should start examining the struggles and shortcomings of our culture and community,” says Lidi Chea, of Providence, Rhode Island. “We can’t prosper as a people if we continue to neglect certain stories.”

Her list is formidable. It includes Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the dichotomy of gender roles, intergenerational barriers, and the ostracization of homosexual and transgender community members. She believes Khmerican can generate dialogue and understanding about these issues.

In fact, as a young girl who was a member of the 1.5 generation, born in Cambodia but raised in America, Chea had little connection to the Cambodian American community, and little desire for any. It seemed patriarchal and extremely conservative, and she mostly saw the negative stereotypes, such as domestic violence, gang involvement, and gambling/alcohol addiction.

Cambodian Organizations Join Together for ‘Healthy Community’ Plan

The crowd is watching a traditional dance during the Cambodian Culture Festival at MacArthur Park, Long Beach, California. (Photo: VOA Khmer)

Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Cheang Sophinarath, VOA Khmer | Long Beach, California

“Within LA County, there are 88 cities and about 40,000 to 60,000 Cambodians, but we only have about 4,000 of them registered to vote.”

Five organizations in Southern California have joined into an umbrella group in an effort to better address the needs of Cambodian-Americans in the city of Long Beach.

The United Cambodian Community, the Khmer Parents Association, Khmer Girls in Action, the Cambodian Association of America, and Families in Good Health will meet frequently to discuss a “healthy community” initiative in the state.

Members met last week to discuss potential development projects.

Cambodian Program Manager Ushers New Wing at Health Center

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRY7Mm6xj7s

Lowell Health Center Opens New Wing

Bun Savleak, a patient, said she has been getting treatment here since 2004. (Photo: by Pin Sisovann)

Tuesday, 08 May 2012
Lowell, Massachusetts | Pin Sisovann, VOA Khmer

“More than 90 percent of our staff volunteered and chipped in from their paychecks to raise funds.”

The Lowell Community Health Center is expanding. It opened a new section of its Metta Health Center last month and has plans for a larger expansion in a new building later this year. It’s a huge expansion for the health center, which serves many of Lowell’s Cambodian population.

Both efforts are part of an expansion effort aided by Pov Sonith, a program manager at the center, and volunteer contributions from staff members.

“Funds were not only raised from the Cambodian community, but also from other places,” Pov Sonith told VOA Khmer. “More than 90 percent of our staff volunteered and chipped in from their paychecks to raise funds.”

Capturing Disconnection in Cambodia-America

Pete Pin is a Cambodian-American documentary photographer based in New York. (Photo: Courtesy of Peter Pin)

Tuesday, 08 May 2012
Brian Calvert, VOA Khmer | New York

"But I am culturally displaced. I exist in this vacuum of identity, where I don’t know what it means to be either fully American or Cambodian."

Pete Pin is a Cambodian-American documentary photographer based in New York. He is currently at work on a long term project to chronicle the lives of Cambodians in America. But Pin says the project, called “Displaced,” is also an exploration of psychological disconnection and the legacy of the Khmer Rouge.

The thirty-year-old photographer is searching for his heritage amid the Cambodian enclaves of America. Along the way, he is documenting dislocation. Most recently that has been in the Bronx, New York City.

“There’s a very amazing sense of community in the Bronx, but you see it in people’s homes, and you see it isolated in certain areas,” he said on a recent afternoon at a Cambodian temple in the Bronx.

Isolation is a recurring theme in Pin’s photographs -- from California, where he grew up, to Philadelphia, New York and other corners of America. In his images are scars, fleeting glances, backs turned, a figure glimpsed through a gossamer curtain. In many of them is a sense of stark disconnection.

Being Khmerican

May 2, 2012
By Ana Knauf
The Internatio​nal Examiner
Published at http://www.iexaminer.org/community/being-khmerican/

To donate toward the site’s incorporation efforts to become an official company, make a PayPal donation via donate@khmerican.com.

“I am a product of war and my family is a product of the killing fields,” said Phatry Derek Pan, referring to the sites where thousands of Cambodians were massacred.

Pan was born in a refugee camp in Thailand shortly after the fall of the Khmer Rouge, the Cambodian political group that ruled the country during the late 1970s and served as forerunners of the Cambodian genocide.

Though his life began in a state of turmoil and tragedy, Pan is tired of the “one-dimensional” American association between Cambodians and the atrocities committed in his home country.

In response, he came up with the idea of a blog. In deciding to make the website an active force in Cambodian American culture, Pan saw two options: either start a nonprofit organization to foster U.S.-Cambodia relations, or develop a news agency. He chose the latter.

Long Beach New Year, Without a Parade

The crowd is watching a traditional dance during the Cambodian Culture Festival at MacArthur Park, Long Beach, California. (Photo: Cheang Sophinarath)

Tuesday, 10 April 2012
Cheang Sophinarath, VOA Khmer | Long Beach, California

“It’s sad and disappointing not to have a parade.”

Every year since 2005, Khmer New Year was celebrated with a parade on the first Sunday of April along Anaheim Street in Long Beach, Calif.

This year, however, that harbinger of the new year was suspended, due to financial difficulties. A cultural festival was held instead on April 1, to usher in the Year of the Dragon.

“There was financial support from people in the community, but it wasn’t enough,” said Steve Meng, president of the Cambodian Coordinating Council, which typically organizes the parade.

A parade can cost up to $40,000 and brings in tens of thousands of people from across California and the country.

Compilation of Khmer New Year Celebrations in the US

Khmerican has compiled a master list of Khmer New Year Events in the US:

Map and event calendar can be found at: http://khmerican.com/events/

Officer Involved Late-Night Shootout [involving Cambodian-American Chomrean Meas]

Shot Stockton Officer Out Of Surgery

March 22, 2012
Sharokina Shams/KCRA

STOCKTON, Calif. (KCRA) -- In a news conference Thursday morning, the Stockton Police Department identified the teen who died after a shootout with officers.

He is 19-year-old Chomrean Meas, originally from Cambodia, Police Chief Eric Jones said.

The shooting also injured an officer. Keith Barry, who has been with Stockton police since 2004, was struck once in his lower abdomen, Jones said.

Barry is in "stable but guarded" condition at a hospital after he had surgery, Jones said. His wound is considered serious, the chief added.

Occupy Long Beach Sets Sights on Signal Hill, Rallies to Save [Cambodian-American] Family From Foreclosure

Occupy Long Beach is taking on the cause of Rachel New and her family who are in danger of losing their home in Signal Hill.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hk7J-D-rFoU

2012-03-08
Everything Long Beach

Rachel New and her family—two young daughters, disabled mother, a disabled aunt, and brothers—are threatened with eviction from her home in Signal Hill despite trying for over a year to negotiate a loan modification with her bank.

Rachel came to this country as an immigrant from the killing fields of Cambodia, where she was beaten and starved and saw people shot. She worked hard, graduated from CSU-LB, where she has worked for over 17 years. By the time her dream home was completed, it was underwater.

Rachel and her husband are now separated and he is unable to pay child support, so she is trying to maintain the household on only her income. She took a second job, and her brothers contribute what they can.

Last year, she began to negotiate a mortgage modification. The loan was transferred to a number of banks, each one asking for the same documentation. The mortgage ended with Wells Fargo. Rachel called the bank almost daily. On the morning of September 28, 2011, Rachel was once more told the modification was “pending.” That afternoon she received notice that the modification was denied. The next day, the bank sold the property to itself for half of what Rachel owed.