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New Podcast Drop Today!

I’m excited for you guys to hear this conversation with Vanny Whitchelo of the @khmervoices Podcast. This was such a fun and educational conversation about pursuing your curiosity, building community, and seeing where that curiosity can take you.

Two Khmer podcasters coming together, exchanging ideas, sharing experiences, and learning from one another. I asked @khmervoices to be a guest because I knew there was so much we could learn from her journey and experience, and she definitely delivered.

In this clip, Vanny shares a powerful message about building community and how you don’t need to be an expert to get started—you just need to be willing to take that first step.

There are so many great takeaways throughout this episode, and as a special treat, she even drops a few familiar names. @peterheang604 @thefakesilong @sotheara @khmer_renaissance @reankhmer_org @cheakrisna @jaychanmuzik

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Chopped it up with @sotheara of @khmer_renaissance, one of the most important platforms on the 🇰🇭 diaspora. We ate some if our fav Khmer comfort foods, the nom pang fried chicken is next level and some of the best babaw cheam chrouk I ever had in my Cambodian life. Thanks for featuring me and everyone go support @nagacafekhmerstfood there’s no reason why they should be empty 🫶🏾

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Some Khmer art and objects I've collected since I was a kid.

Growing up in Long Beach, I always saw Khmer art and objects adorning Khmer diaspora homes: statues of Sovann Macha and Hanuman, old photos of the Cambodian countryside, and, of course, the obnoxiously large yet beautiful painting of Angkor Wat.

These were some of the first things I was exposed to, and they shaped my taste and, ultimately, who I am today.

Starting around middle school, I began collecting Khmer art and objects with no real reason in mind, other than feeling like I needed to have them and keep them for as long as I could.

I always told myself that when I had kids of my own, I wanted these objects around so they could absorb them passively, and maybe one day they would spark conversations about who we are as Khmer people. Now that I have a daughter, I can start doing that.

That's still true. But I've also come to realize that collecting these items since I was a preteen was a visceral response: an urge to preserve whatever fragments of our culture we had left, knowing that so much of it was destroyed during the genocide. Not realizing that this was a precursor to the work I'm doing today with Khmer Renaissance.

Some of these objects carry that history directly. Slide 6 is a Krong Reap mask that my mother-in-law kept safe through the Khmer Rouge. The first slide is an incredibly rare apsara poster printed in 1984. Some were gifts. Some are photos I took myself. Many of them have deep personal meaning.

I'm proud of this collection and of what it holds for our community.

Maybe one day I can showcase it in an exhibit. For now, this is a digital exhibit and an archive.

Keep walking, koun Khmer.
#KhmerRenaissance

Original Vintage Print of HRH Norodom Buppha Devi. She was pivotal of preserving ancient Khmer Robam post-KR, and even taught survivors the art in refugee camps.

Copies of film captures of, “The Killing Fields.” Gifted to me by @stamplibrary.kh.

Chef Nite Yun’s (@nite_nite_nite) debut cooking book following her Netflix special. Yesterday was actually her one year anniversary of releasing this book btw.

Bottom left: Photo gifted to me by @thekhmercollective.

Middle: Apsara

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This one was for the culture 🇰🇭

Progress shots on @sotheara full shin tattoo. I went with client pics on this one but will take more pics once we do our final touch up pass.

I’m also running a $500 special promo on full-day sessions for the Fall season. Now through November. DM for details.

Done @skindesigntattoos_oc
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#orangecounty #khmer #orangecountytattoo #garuda #oc

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Stay flexin’ in your complexion. We’re all cut from the same cloth.
🇰🇭♥️✨

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Today, Chinese descendents all across Cambodia are celebrating 端午节 (Dragonboat Festival) which is also known as Saen Nom Chang (សែននំចាំង) or “Sacrifice Day”, sometimes “Baked Cakes Day”.

As always, my relatives in Cambodia on Facebook & many others in the Khmer Chinese groups I follow are giving offerings to their home altars. Similar to the other Khmer Gat Chen (Chinese Cambodian) holidays I have written about, keep in mind that although this celebration has Chinese origins, the way it is celebrated back home in Srok Khmer today has a distinct Khmer Gat Chen style that would not be found in mainland China or even the Khmer diaspora outside of Cambodia.

This holiday displays our hybrid beliefs, left behind by both our Khmer & Chinese ancestors alike - an example of regligous & cultural syncretism.

While I personally don’t celebrate this one, Saen Nom Chang is a day in which Khmer Gat Chen people show respect to the higher spirits & offer them sweet cakes, fruits & make their wishes. If you’d like to learn more, I’ll link the post I wrote a few years ago about this holiday in my Story. Happy Dragon Boat Festival to everyone!

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On a seemingly normal Friday evening in Long Beach/Signal Hill, two well-loved internet bongs (one makes us laugh with her tongue-in-cheek humor and the other puts a modern spin on music from the golden era) hosted a meet and greet at Ten Mile Brewing. I got invited to join and document with the vibes.

The beautiful thing about this event in particular— it turned out to be so much more than a meet and greet for them both. It turned into a meet and greet for everyone in attendance. Long Beach is without a doubt, the homecoming experience for Koun Khmer in America. You’ll just so happen to meet cool people doing cool things and walk away with a new family member or three.

Fostering and building relationships in our diasporic community has been quite easy and accessible thanks to the digital world that we live in. But I hope we never lose the art of building meaningful connections in-person, even on a seemingly normal Friday evening.

Thank you @vtecdagreat + @khmergirldidi for bringing the gang together! @tinmanlbc for the music @laomama123 for the grub and @tenmilebrewing for hosting. Truly memorable night.

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Thank you for some of the best moments of my life these last five years. I never thought I would be in the position that I am in to play a small role in the continuation of our culture.

Wanted to share this message with you all. Stay tuned throughout the next few months for some special announcements.

Instrumental Credits
“black hanuman” by ទ្រអ៊ូ instrumental

Keep walking, koun Khmer.

With love,
Bong Sotheara

#KhmerRenaissance

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Today is សែនឆេងម៉េង - (Chinese: 清明节, English: Tomb Sweeping Day)

Saen Chheng Meng is not Khmer —but a Chinese holiday observed all over Cambodia by Khmer Gat Chen descendants. If you are active on Cambodian FB, you may have seen dozens of families (maybe even your own), flocking to graveyards.

On this holiday, Chinese Cambodians make Saen (food/drink/gift offerings) for the dead. The main ritual is to clean & decorate & their loved one’s tomb. They lay out a spread of food items & light Joss Sticks (incense).

It can be confusing for a lot of 2nd/3rd generation descendants. I often get questions in my DMs such as “is Ching Ming/Chheng Meng even Khmer?” but like I mentioned back during Hungry Ghost Festival, the realization for some is that: if their family observes Chinese holidays, they’re most likely Khmer Gat Chen. Why I point this out is because most Khmers (who practice Theravada Buddhism) ask their children to cremate their corpse & place their ashes into a small urn that has a chedey (stupa) looking lid.

(Caption continued in the captions) 👇🏽

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LINK IN BIO. @sotheara is the spearhead of the @khmer_renaissance We spoke about the history of the Cambodian diaspora and the great things he's doing with his page @khmer_renaissance Enjoy!

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All smiles 🤓🇰🇭 2026 Khmer New Years Festivities ❤️

And btw these Kathieu tacos from @shadyjerky was crazyyyy 🔥🔥🔥

#Khmmunity

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May the festivities begin 💞🇰🇭

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