Sopheap Chak is another urban woman with initiatives and ambitions. The 23-year-old, originally from Kampong Cham province, is a prominent human rights activist. When she talks about changes she believes in it's as if she's a new hopeful inspirational leader.

Sopheap Chak, with the computer notebook on her lap, at Cambodia's first Blogger Summit at Pannasastra University
Photo courtesy of David Sasaki

Sopheap holds two Bachelor degrees; one in International Relations from University of Cambodia; and the other one in Economics from Pannasastra University of Cambodia.

In just a few days Sopheap is leaving Cambodia to continue her study in Japan. The blogger is awarded to pursue Master Degree in International Relations at International University of Japan, where she will focus on International Peace Studies. Japanese Grant Aid Scholarship—JDS has made it possible for a number of Cambodian students to have academic research opportunities at Japanese higher educational institutions.

I communicated with gentle Sopheap via email, asking her some questions about her study, work, and blogging.

You are leaving Cambodia for Japan very soon, how do you feel at the moment?

Honestly, since I was a child, I wish to continue my higher education abroad, through scholarship program; and two countries that I want to visit most is the U.S. and Japan. Regardless this commitment and uncertainty of how to achieve this dream, I set plans by working hard on my study to get high grade point average (GPA) plus English language skills to be able to apply for any scholarships. It is very fortunate and excited as it is my first scholarship application and it seemed that my dream have come true. Also, I set plan B if I would had not passed. Finally, I got it and I will be leaving Cambodia for Japan on June the 30th, 2008. Yet, I feel that I mixed up with both exciting and challenging emotion for leaving my family, friends, and be ready to live in new environment.

Could you describe what have you done so far (both education and work)?

I started my first job as soon as I completed high school in 2002 to self-finance and to gain work experience in civil society. I worked for Cambodian Institute for Cooperation and Peace (CICP), a non profit organization working to conduct a series of conferences on social issues, such as democracy, election, poverty reduction, and in pursuit of research and publication. Two years later, I worked for University of Cambodia. I was also an Advocacy Officer at Cambodian Center for Human Rights (CCHR), a non-profit public benefit organization devoted to human rights and democracy. In my perspective, I strongly believe that peaceful civil society movement is a powerful instrument to advocate policy changes for social development. With regard to my educational background, I have a bachelor's degree in International Relations at the University of Cambodia, which I earned since 2006. At the same time, I hold another bachelor's degree from Pannasastra University of Cambodia, where I majored in Economics. Beside that, I initiated a voluntary youth network called Youth Network for Change, which has a mission to work closely with people in rural communities; the network hopes to equip disadvantaged Cambodian children and youth with practical knowledge, skills, and goals to empower their life decisions. I believe in a concept of “We all can make a change”.

How did you prepare yourself for this to be awarded?

Set a goal and seek how to achieve is my secret. As mentioned, I dream of continuing my master's degree study in abroad; Either Japan or the U.S. is my hopeful country. Therefore, I had set my own destination by paving the way to reach that goal at the same time. To study hard, to have English language skills improved, and to graduate my bachelor's degree with high GPA, so that I can be a prospect candidate for scholarship applications.

To access to scholarship information or any programs available to get familiar with the them, and to grab such opportunities is very crucial. We have to get opportunity instead of waiting for opportunity coming to us. Last but not least, confidence and commitment are the key to success.

Any thoughts and advices for younger Cambodians to prepare for such a significant advancement?

Put your desire into action. Simply put, everyone does have his/her own life destination, yet to what extend they want to achieve it or not is a question. Thus, keep up our desire and plan to achieve it.

Access to information and opportunity. We should catch up with latest news and updates so that we can be aware of social trends and we will be always ready for any upcoming opportunities. Like a slogan goes saying that “Before everything else, getting ready is a secret of success”.

Be socialized. No person can be isolated. It is not just getting to know each others, but we may need other’s help, in some case, or they can indirectly or directly impact our life.

Be confident and positive toward yourself and others.

Let's talk about blogging in Cambodia. When did you start blogging? Why?

I began to blog in May 2007. A friend of mine, Chantra Be, gave me a quick introduction to blogging when he promoted how to create and maintain blog during my youth network camping program. I was enthusiastically interested in the tool and found it useful as I like dialogue and debate on social topics, mainly to focus on politics and good governance. Of course, I have attempted to learn more from others, and through self-searching to have create my own blog; it is now online under title “Three Dimension of Life”.

What do you like most about blogging?

From a perspective of a Cambodian, Cambodia's democracy is still young with restricted freedom of expression and media control; I do feel that blog is one of the most exciting and innovative technological tools to exercise the right to expression as well as other fundamental rights. We can share news, express our opinions, communicate with other fellow bloggers for any campaign purposes through blog. It's a great tool in use even in a situation that other means of communications are restricted.

What do you blog about mostly?

My blog is “Three Dimensions of LIfe”, focuses on politics, economy, and social arena, topics crucial in every people everyday life. Mostly I post my opinion analysis on politics, economics, and social-cultural issues in order to express my idea as well as to get other comments on those issues.

What is your most memorable blogging experience?

The first comment from my friend on my blog post makes me to understand that people are communicating with me. Also, other people have written something related to or about me on their blogs, and I feel I got introduced to people to the outside world. In Cambodia Blogger Summit in September 2007, I was invited to be moderator to discuss “Gender and Blogging”. It sounded a little funny for me to be invited at that time since I have just created my personal blog, and that I possess little technical knowledge of blogging, and that I was asked to join with other skillful bloggers.

What do you think about blogging/bloggers in Cambodia?

There is an increasing number of people, both men and women, blogging and creating more networks for bloggers to get to know each others through blog or online community. It is a remarkably positive trend for gender equity since men are considered to dominate in many aspects of life, especially in Information Technology works. Also, the more they interact and keep informed about world events, the higher self-esteem and development they obtain.

Through technology and blogging I think Cambodia has integrated with the world, or the world can now be seen, at least virtually, as a global village. Let me raise a Burma case as an example. I think there would be impossible for a global mobilization for freeing Burma from rights abuse earlier without new technologies such as blog, the Internet, or cellphone. Then, we could see people from different nations had a mutual commitment wearing red color shirt and standing silently in front of Burmese Embassy in their respective countries. Another interesting case is a recent Pakistan political situation that I have learned the news of Mrs. Buddho’s killing from radio, TV, and commentaries on blogs. Thanks to the new technology inventors.

What are your favorite blogs?

http://www.vuthasurf.com/
http://ki-media.blogspot.com/
http://beth.typepad.com/

As a blogger, what's your dream?

I do hope that there will be no restriction on blog or online communication as it plays influential roles in advocating for change in attitudes and sharing information as well as to build more networks. Bloggers will use blog in useful ways, not for only her/himself, but her/his communities as a whole. Let's use blog for change and development!

In Cambodia, the 31 year-old Santel presently works at Phnom Penh International Airport for he likes terminal and pace of busy people.

Born in Kratie, the first province overtaken by Khmer Rouge forces, Santel, in recent years, writes mostly about literature and history. Much known as Khmerbird, he's a prolific writer who has gained attentions from visitors to his Weblog for his short stories, written in local language, Khmer. In 2005, Santel won the 2nd prize of the Nou Hach Literary awards for his 25-pages short story ‘Katouch'.

“Khmerbird is not simply a pen name, but it's also a freedom symbol for me. I dream of becoming a Cambodian independent writer, wrote Santel.”

from right: Santel Phin (much known as ‘Khmerbird')

Here's my email interview with Santel. He discusses how uses Weblog to publish his love fictions and to connect with his readers.

Is Khmerbird your pen name or nickname?

Khmerbird is not simply a pen name, but it's also a freedom symbol for me. I dream of becoming a Cambodian independent writer. I found Khmerbird would be the only pen name that I could use in all my writing. If people really want to find out who I am, there's always a way. I have my personal profile at http://khmerbird.com, so people can find out who really I am.

When did you start blogging? Why?

I started blogging a few years ago, maybe since 2006. The first reason is to publish my writings and share my interest in literature, books, movies, and music on the Web. When you got passion in anything particular, you always want to share it with the rest of the world; I guess I am not the only one. I also start to know people, especially bloggers in Cambodia. It's always fun to share our daily life activities. So you might find many other topics more than my writings at khmerbird.com.

What do you like most about blogging?

A blog, when comparing to the old day, is a diary. So when something comes to your mind, you blog about it. What I like most about blog is that we share information: news, events, party or anything else with our friends as well as other bloggers. They can always come around and find something new whenever they have time.

What do you blog mostly about?

I like reading books and watching movies; beside my short stories, I share my views on new films and new books, not to mention photos from my trip and party. I blog mostly about everything; anything that matters to me I'd blog about it.

What is your most memorable blogging experience?

When I want to move my blog on wordpress.com to a new web host server. It was a nightmare. I could no longer stay on wordpress.com, there's no freedom; when your blog grows up, the room becomes too small. But when you have your own self-hosted WordPress blog, you start from scratch. You are on your own. I spent a lot of time to launch khmerbird.com; it took two weeks of delay, the site was completely down. Yet I'm not satisfied with the current version. I want to have a section for Cambodia related news; I might need to set up customized news feeds and display them on my blog sidebar.

What do you think about blogging/bloggers in Cambodia?

Blog is a basic platform to share information. In the last couple of years, a lot of new Cambodian bloggers (also known as Cloggers in Cambodia) are joining, and it's a positive way of keeping in touch among Cambodian people. There are many young talented people using their blog to discuss all issues, from social problems to personal stuff. It's a way to express idea. And it's good to see Cambodian people starting to express their ideas.

What are your favorite blogs?

Blogs I usually visit are:
http://kalyankeo.blogspot.com/
http://www.xwanna.com/
http://jinja.apsara.org/
http://tharum.info/
http://ijajaja.com/
http://boran.wordpress.com/
http://naraths.wordpress.com/
http://naryphing.wordpress.com/
http://www.khmerlyrics.com/

As a blogger, what's your dream?

I want my blog more sophisticated to provide more useful information to visitors from around the world, and to have it as a new Cambodia face. My dream is to have more visitors, 1000 visitors per day.

You're an engineer by education and profession, but you also write short story. What inspires you?

There's always something disturbing me. Everyday I see a traffic policeman takes money from a truck driver or a motor driver when I'm on my way to my office. At hospital I see doctors and staff only take care of patients who give them money; school teachers sell candy to schoolchildren in class to get extra money… I usually write about something that disturbs me. So what I have in my story is recreation of those things and change them to a different way. Sometimes I shock people in an insane way (in a dramatic way), so that after people read my story I could give them a flash of light, making them to see what they don't really see or care about.

Among all your short stories, what's your favorite one? And why?

I like my latest short story, ‘Malai - Story of my secret lover'. It is a well-organized short story, comparing to the previous ones. The story title is a touching one, and it is very difficult to find a simple way to describe it. It's an insane story. How could a virgin girl come to you and give you her virginity without asking?

So I began to find way to tell the story. The first draft has only 4 pages. People who read the first draft will throw the papers into the bin. It's a trash. It's insane and not realistic. I always work hard when I write the story because I want it realistic. I kept working on the first draft as I started adding things, creating the events, and inviting more characters. There had been a lot of changes from the first draft to the final one. The story is still the same, but everything started to make sense to people. And I paid attentions to arrange the conversation, so that people know who is speaking, and what are the character modes, not to mention their reactions when they're talking. I've never paid such attention in my previous works.

I like the story when every character in the story got their reason and responsibility for what they are doing, and in this one, I have tried my best. And I've learned so much when I was writing this story. I hope people will love to read it.

One of the earlier proposals was to create an OPEC-style group or a rice cartel in the region: Organization of Rice Exporting Countries or OREC. This idea has been dropped already. The Philippine government was alarmed over this plan. Filipino blogger, Philippines Without Borders, explains why the plan is counterproductive:

“Those countries on the Mekong like Thailand and Vietnam just cannot store rice forever. Unlike oil, rice deteriorates in just a few months of storage in the warehouse. And the Thais and the Vietnamese could eat only so much rice. In fact, forming Orec is counterproductive for these rice exporters. When they hoard their own rice, local prices decline, thus hurting their own farmers. If they want to benefit from the current situation, it’s in their best interest to sell rice and not hoard it.”

Many are still worried over the economic impact of the strong cyclone which hit Myanmar early this month. Rice prices had quadrupled inside Myanmar and hunger is expected to worsen. Golden Colour Revolution writes:

“The Irrawaddy division is agriculturally the most essential division for Burmese people and it produced one third of the rice production for 57 millions people. After the typhoon Nagris, the whole delta area’s rice production lands are flooded with salt water. Farmers can’t grow rice on salted land and there are no farmers left to produce rice for the country and the most important agricultural sector of the country has been destroyed. In the beginning of every June of the year, Burmese farmers usually prepare to grow their paddy plants in the farming area of the country to feed 57 million mouths. But this year, the rice production will drastically decline because of the typhoon.”

Governments are advising their constituents to reduce consumption of rice. A Malaysian blogger responds by insisting that anti-corruption efforts should be the focus of politicians:

“Now, we are facing food crisis we were told eat less rice. Fine, we can go for bread, however the price of flour also hiked. The price of noodle also hiked. What else we can eat? When the price of petrol hiked, we were told to change our live style. What else? Should we sit down and think, where the tax money goes? Should it be spent like this? Please, work hard on anti-corruption. My heart is heavy now, really heavy. I can imagine how hard my family members struggling for living. What should we do? Sit down and wait? Please, wake up. Work hard on anti-corruption.”

The Daily Brunei Resources reviews the food self-sufficiency plan of Brunei. Cafe Salemba proposes an overhaul of Indonesia’s agricultural policies:

“So when we come up using public resources to develop the agriculture revitalization program, are we speaking the same language for large scale commercial agriculture? Are we ready to give up the idyllic view of a small plot land owner peasantry for a large scale industry and see a transformation from myriad small peasant landowners class to become waged farmers working in a handful large scale agroindustrial companies?”

Youthful Insight enumerates the measures which can benefit Indonesian farmers:

“Indonesia’s agricultural industry is rife with asymmetric information. Rice distributors, wholesalers, and exporters, usually city folk with access to urban market prices and world market price data, have always seemed to have the upper hand over the rice farmers, rural folk who do not enjoy the same access to information. As a result, farmers suffer from a weaker bargaining position, causing them to undersell their rice almost every time. Government institutions need to step up and take the responsibility of insuring informational symmetry. If necessary, government officials from the Ministry of Agriculture should give farmers weekly updates on prices, as well as giving them institutionalized protection from distributors and middlemen who seek to exploit.”

Lao Voices tackles the land use problem in Laos:

“Many rice fields that covered the mountainous North of Laos are gone. They are steadily being replaced by rubber trees. The Chinese are coming to Laos and they need their rubber products for their galloping economy.”

Doing Business in Vietnam Seminar notes the quality of rice in Vietnam’s supermarkets is deteriorating:

“With rice as the main staple of nutrition in the diets of many Vietnamese families, the quality and price of rice is currently becoming a major problem for them. As prices are rising, it is becoming more and more difficult for supermarkets to provide high quality rice at a price that citizens can afford. To curb this problem, quality is decreasing rapidly so that prices can remain stable for purchasers.”

Mon Casiple hints that unscrupulous individuals are illegally profiteering from the rice problem in the Philippines:

“The price of rice is shooting through the roof. Yet, the mystery tales from the farmers are that the middlemen are not buying in extraordinary quantities in these times of an alleged demand market. The inescapable conclusion is that the same somebody or somebodies already had the supply before it happened–probably through technical smuggling or direct smuggling. They are now reaping the superprofits. These acts, particularly of government people, are simply treason.”

Bikoy, student leader from the Philippines, provides an action plan for the agricultural sector. Filipino Lawyer Marichu Lambino thinks it’s extraordinary for the Philippine president to literally sit at the preliminary investigation of alleged rice hoarders at the Department of Justice. The Explainer dissects the rising pork prices in the market. Professor Danton Remoto: How to survive as a nouveau poor in the Philippines.

The cost of fertilizer is getting more expensive in Cambodia. As a result of rising food prices, police and dog owners claim cases of dognapping are up in many parts of Cambodia. Perhaps dog meat is delicious and cheap for some Cambodians.

KI Media headline: Cambodia sees Opportunity in Rising Food Prices. Im Sokthy believes Cambodian farmers should be encouraged to venture in other small businesses to generate additional income. My Longkang thinks padi farming in Malaysia should be subsidized.

Thailand Crisis reports that the Thai government’s intervention in the rice crisis will cost 42 billion Thai Baht. The blogger is also not surprised that the consumer confidence index is down in Thailand.

Singabloodypore reports that more and more free meals are given today to help the poor residents of wealthy Singapore. A Xeno Boy in Sg adds that the queue for free food is getting longer. The number of people going to the malls is also lower this year in Singapore.