Grant will help save Cambodian musical heritage in Modesto

DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com - Mao Roth, 57, plays a skor, Chhip Chhoun, 65,on the khhem, Muy Kim, 77, plays the tror. Chhoun and The Bridge, have won $40,000 grant to present free performances at the center.

DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com - The Bridge Community Center. Chhip Chhoun and The Bridge, have won $40,000 grant to present free performances at the center.

DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com - Chhip Chhoun, 65, holding a khhem, Muy Kim, 77, with the tror and Mao Roth, 57, with a skor, the instruments they play. Chhoun and The Bridge, have won $40,000 grant to present free performances at the center.

DEBBIE NODA/dnoda@modbee.com - Mao Roth, 57, plays a skor, Chhip Chhoun, 65,on the khhem. Chhoun and The Bridge, have won $40,000 grant to present free performances at the center.

Cambodian musicians in Modesto are determined not to let their musical traditions fade away.

Saturday, Oct. 15, 2011
By Lisa Millegan Renner
lrenner@modbee.com
Modesto Bee (California, USA)

They applied for and won a $40,000 grant from the Creative Work Fund to teach their art to youth.

Chhip Chhoun, 65, and other skilled performers will give free biweekly concerts beginning in January at The Bridge Community Center, a nonprofit facility in west Modesto that provides services to the Cambodian community. Some of the money will go to purchase traditional instruments for young people.

Speaking with the aid of an interpreter, Chhoun said he was happy to have the funding to help preserve an important cultural practice.

This year alone, four skilled Cambodian musicians in town have died, said Mao Roth, the interpreter, who works at The Bridge.

Cambodians heartened by community's support

October 30, 2008
By Catherina Nou
Modesto Bee (California, USA)

Peaceful persistence prevailed as the Stanislaus County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved the Wat Cambodian Buddhist Society's plans to build a new place of prayer. The decision Sept. 30 overturned an earlier rejection by the Planning Commission.

The unfortunate Planning Commission decision ended up doing more good than harm. This series of events represents more than just a victory for the supporters of this project; it represented a unification of one community and an alliance of unlikely friends. Moreover, it represents a rarely seen level of civic engagement by a minority community in Modesto.

As a Cambodian American woman growing up in Modesto, I have observed the city's cultural complacency and its overindulgence in monochromatic leaders. This characterization is not mine alone, but is shared by many present and past residents.

The blame for this lack of cultural awareness and ethnically diverse leadership does not rest entirely with elected city and county officials. Rather, it is also the burden of those who do not engage civically in their community, whether this happens in the form of voting, putting up a lawn sign or sharing an idea with a local policy-maker.

With the election Tuesday, citizens and residents alike must make the effort to improve the community they live in and not remain complacent with the decisions made from the top. They are elected to serve us and we must become empowered to fulfill this civic obligation.

This is why I was so inspired to see the Cambodian community, young and old, exercising their rights as citizens by filling the chambers of the Board of Supervisors and voicing their opinions.

One by one, leaders and community members from different religious sects and communities of color spoke at this momentous and significant meeting. Momentous because, though the Cambodian community did not actively solicit their help, these individuals and organizations were compelled to speak against the injustice inflicted on their neighbors and fellow community members. Significant because of the solidarity of strangers who were all advocating for a common cause.

In the hearts and minds of the Cambodian refugee community who fled for safety in this nation, the decision renewed their faith in democracy and the meaning of the words of the pledge of allegiance recited that morning, "one nation, under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all."

Nou, a former Modesto resident, is a policy advocate. She can be reached at columns@modbee.com.

Proposal For Modesto [Cambodian] Buddhist Temple Approved

Complex Planned In West Area

October 1, 2008
The Associated Press

MODESTO, Calif. -- Stanislaus County supervisors have approved a proposal for a Buddhist temple outside of Modesto.

Supervisors voted Tuesday to give the green light to the Wat Cambodian Church to build the complex west of Modesto.

The approval comes after the county's Planning Commission turned down plans for the complex because of concerns about traffic and other issues.