Press Release & News

Khmer New Year 2012 at Watt Khmer San Jose

2012-04-10T17:12:00.002-07:00

The Cambodian New Year Celebration

YEAR OF THE DRAGON

By the Calendar, The Cambodian New Year, year of DRAGON, will begin on Thursday the 12^th of April 2012

in the San Jose Cambodian Temple located at:

2751 MERVYN’S WAY, SAN JOSE, CA 95127 - (408) 770-9171

1)- Thursday, April 12^th, 2012 Beginning of the NEW YEAR

2)- Friday, April 13^th, 2012 This day is called MAHASANGRAN

3)- Saturday, April 14^th, 2012 This day is called VANABAT

4)- Sunday, April 15^th, 2012 This day is called LOEUNGSAK

1)- Thursday, April 12^th, 2012

8:00AM - 12:00AM Homage, taking precepts, offering food to Monks.

1:00PM - 4:00PM Mound up the sand.

4:00PM - 6:00PM Homage, taking precept & Parrida.

2)- Friday, April 13^th, 2012 (VANABAT)

8:00AM - 12:00AM Morning schedule as in Thursday.

1:30PM - 3:00PM Mound up the sand.

3)- Saturday, April 14^th, 2012

8:00AM - 12:00AM Morning schedule as in Thursday.

1:20PM - 4:00PM Resolving to be CHOLAMONICHITIYA.

Monks recite JAYANTO & Sprinkle Holy Water over the CHOLAMONICHETIYA

4)- Sunday, April 15^th, 2012

8:00AM - 12:00AM Schedule for the BUDDHISM.

1:00PM - 4:00PM Getting all participants & MONKS in front of Senasanack, homage to CHOLAMO….,

4:00PM - 6:00PM raising CHOLAM to be normal sand, Bathing the Buddha’s RELIC, Sprinkle Holy Water over the Monk’s hand and all old women-men, pardoning to the Three GEM, All Monks recite PAHOUTEVEAR and Bangsokaul for inaugurating THE NEW YEAR CELEBRATION.

TEMPLE’S WARNING: STRICTLY NO GAMBLING.

February 1^st, 2012

From the desk of The San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society.

Cambodian New Year Festival 2012 - San Jose, California

2012-03-18T16:06:00.004-07:00

The Cambodian-American community of Santa Clara County will celebrate its
27th Annual Cultural New Year,
Year of the Dragon,
on
Saturday, April 14th, 2012 (3pm to midnight)
at the
Unify Event Center
765 Story Road, San Jose, CA 95122
(Behind Walmart)

We will be sponsoring this event for a fun evening of excitement. The celebration of "Khmer New Year" is a symbol to remind us of our culture and heritage. The Cambodian New Year Festival showcases the richness of Cambodian life in our community. The treasured folk culture and history of Cambodia delight the senses in colorful display of art, music, and dance.

This year, Cambodian New Year Festival 2012 Committee lead by Miss Davy Chea and, will bring us two parts of events. Part-I will feature Khmer Classical Dance & Folk Dances and Traditional Games. Part-II, the social dance, will feature Angkorwat Band and Ms Pinaly.

For more information
Please contact Miss Davy Chea at 408.667.4015

For Posters

Download Khmer New Year 2012 Poster

Bay Area Cambodians seek justice in homeland

2011-11-20T15:32:00.000-08:00

By John Boudreau
jboudreau@mercurynews.com

Sophany Bay's three young children died in her arms, one after the other, during Cambodia's genocide. Sarem Neou lost her two daughters to starvation and disease; her mother was dragged to death by a horse after she was suspected of stealing food for one of the girls; and her husband died after learning of the horrific deaths of his children. Kelvin So's brother, a surgeon, was one of thousands of professionals executed by Khmer Rouge soldiers.

Collectively, the three survivors lost hundreds of relatives -- aunts, uncles, cousins, nieces, nephews -- during the reign of terror from 1975 to 1979 in Cambodia when an estimated 1.7 million people died, about a quarter of the small Southeast Asian country's population.

Sophany Bay, a survivor of the Khmer Rouge regime, holds a photograph of her daughter Lilavodey "Pomme" Bay, who was killed by the regime when she was six months old, in 1975, by an injection of an unknown substance, at the Wat Khemara Rangsey Temple, in San Jose, Calif. on November 12, 2011. Bay is returning to Cambodia to witness the second trial of Khmer Rouge leaders. (LiPo Ching/Mercury News). ( LiPo Ching )

Now Bay, So and Neou are among 45 Cambodian-Americans -- including six from the Bay Area -- who will get the opportunity to see justice done. When opening arguments start Monday in Phnom Penh in a trial of former Khmer Rouge leaders charged with crimes against humanity, Bay and Neou will be sitting in the gallery alongside other witnesses to genocide. They and the other Cambodian-Americans are being legally represented in the trial and might provide testimony.

"I want to see justice before I die," said Bay, 66, a San Jose mental health counselor. "I want to see those killers and ask them, 'Why? Why did they kill so many people? Who stood behind the killing fields?' Before I die, I want justice."

Leaders' second trial

The United Nations-backed tribunal, the second prosecution of Khmer Rouge leaders, is simultaneously a criminal and civil proceeding that could last more than two years. Its mandate is to try leaders responsible for the killing of hundreds of thousands of Cambodians. Civil claimants seek reparations, perhaps a permanent memorial in Cambodia, and the chance to face those who unleashed ineffable brutality on their lives.

The defendants in what the tribunal calls Case 002 are Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister; Khieu Samphan, a former head of state; and Nuon Chea, known as Brother Number Two. A fourth defendant, Ieng Thirith, 79, the former minister of social welfare and wife of Ieng Sary, suffers from dementia and last week was declared unfit to be tried and ordered freed from detention by the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. The regime's top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998. In the first trial, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the torture and death of at least 14,000 people in Tuol Sleng prison.

"I am very glad the international court is bringing those people to justice," said So, a 63-year-old Milpitas resident. "But it's late. They are old. Why should these people have had a better life?"

Some survivors are ignoring the tribunal, said Leakhena Nou, a medical sociologist at Cal State Long Beach who led an effort to document the stories of those in the United States. "It's a way of coping. It's also a very Buddhist, almost fatalistic response to something that is almost incomprehensible."

Mass executions

The Khmer Rouge took control in 1975 after the war in next-door Vietnam spread to Cambodia. Khmer Rouge leaders evacuated cities and banned modern technology to create an agrarian culture to purify the nation as a foundation for a new Communist society. This included killing countless Cambodians, particularly the educated.

When Khmer Rouge soldiers committed mass executions, they would play loud music to cover the screams of those being beaten to death, recalled Neou, a schoolteacher who was in Paris on a scholarship when Pol Pot took over the country April 17, 1975. Unable to bear the thought of her children and husband facing these horrors while she remained safe in France, Neou returned to her homeland in January 1976 and was placed in a work camp.

Those who survived did so because of luck, cunning, faith and a fierce drive to live, the survivors say.

"I don't know if I am strong or weak," said Neou, 71. "But I have a willpower."

The police inspector

So, whose position as a national police inspector should have led to his quick execution, was beaten with an ax handle during an interrogation by two soldiers who did not believe his claims of being a law student, which he had been. He finally confessed to being a police inspector, but used a formal term not understood by the soldiers, who most likely were illiterate. It saved his life.

Bay's husband, Sarit Bay, a military officer, was being trained in the United States when the Khmer Rouge charged through Phnom Penh, shooting off guns and ordering everyone out of the city and into the countryside. Sophany Bay, who had close ties to the deposed Lon Nol government, left with her three young children and few supplies. She spotted her sister-in-law, whose husband was a provincial governor, and other relatives but could not reach them because of the crush of people. She learned later they were all killed. Some were beaten to death and some, even small children, had their throats cut with palm tree branches.

With little food and no shelter from the rain, her infant daughter, nicknamed Pomme, fell severely ill. One day Bay carried her five miles to an infirmary, where a soldier injected a lethal substance into the baby's head.

"Instead of saving her, he killed her," she recalled, her body shaking at the memory.

Bay, also a schoolteacher, was forced to do hard labor for up to 13 hours a day. Her other two children were constantly interrogated and beaten by soldiers in futile attempts to get them to reveal the identity of their father. The boy, 6, died silently in her arms late one night, while her 5-year-old daughter "talked until the last minute," Bay said. "She asked me to go and look for my husband."

"They killed my whole family," she said. "Nobody is alive, only me and my husband."

Family wiped out

Neou, who now lives in Silver Spring, Md., didn't learn about the death of her family until after Vietnamese soldiers invaded Cambodia, ending the reign of the Khmer Rouge. She had emigrated to the United States, joining her brother in San Jose. One day a letter from a relative arrived, telling her that just about everyone in her family was dead.

"I jump up and down," she recalled of that fall day in 1980. "It seemed like my head was hitting the ceiling. I jumped and ran around the apartment. I scream and run around."

Even though they were deposed by Vietnamese forces in 1979, Khmer Rouge leaders remained free from prosecution for decades. Wrangling between the tribunal and the Cambodian government, which includes former members of the Khmer Rouge, has dampened enthusiasm for the trial among many Cambodians in the United States and Cambodia. Those with Khmer Rouge ties include Prime Minister Hun Sen, who was a low-ranking Khmer Rouge member decades ago before joining the government created by Vietnam while Cambodia was under Vietnamese military occupation.

More trials in doubt

The international prosecutor for the tribunal wants to bring at least two more cases against former leaders of the regime, but the Cambodian government, which has been accused of tampering with the process, has resisted. Observers say the government fears current political leaders could be affected.

"They see these four defendants as the ultimate defendants," said Nushin Sarkarati, an attorney with the San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, a nonprofit organization representing Cambodian-Americans before the tribunal. "Their argument is anyone else is not really a senior leader for the Khmer Rouge. This is an absurd notion."

Neou, undeterred, is ready to do what she can to implicate the former Khmer Rouge leaders. She said she was an eyewitness to the power once wielded by some of those now on trial. After she had returned to Phnom Penh from France, Neou saw Ieng and Khieu up close. Ieng showed up in a black car. "He came in a car like Al Capone's," she said. "He was happy."

Khieu was "dressed like Viet Cong" in the black pajama-like pants worn by Vietnamese Communist guerrillas as he addressed the new arrivals: "We wish for you to find happiness in this new society."

Contact John Boudreau at 408-278-3496.

GENOCIDE'S SURVIVORS

In America: Approximately 157,500 Cambodians resettled in the United States from 1975 to 1994, the vast majority as refugees. An estimated 12,000 live in the Bay Area. Many still suffer serious mental health problems from being tortured and witnessing killings of their family members.

Legal rights: In 2009, researcher Leakhena Nou, a medical sociologist at Cal State Long Beach, began documenting the stories of genocide survivors in the United States and founded the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia (www.asricjustice.org). She discovered that Cambodian-Americans had legal rights to offer testimony and have legal representation at the tribunal proceedings.

The lawyers: The San Francisco-based Center for Justice and Accountability, a nonprofit that specializes in seeking reparations from perpetrators of war crimes and human rights violations, is representing 45 Cambodian-Americans, including six from the Bay Area, in the second United Nations-backed Khmer Rouge genocide trial in Phnom Penh.

Mixed reaction: "A good number of Cambodian-Americans choose not to pay attention (to the tribunal)," said Daryn Reicherter, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine who treats many Cambodian émigrés in San Jose. "It's too upsetting. They don't want to reopen memories. And there are people who are totally involved and really hang on it and get updates from Cambodian news sources. I rarely get a perspective from someone who is in between."

Source: Staff reporting

CAMBODIA: TWENTY YEARS AFTER PEACE A SYMPOSIUM

2011-11-10T10:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Community Leader:

In collaboration with the Center for Southeast Asian Studies, the Human
Rights Center, The Institute for International Studies, and International and Area Studies, the Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies Program will be hosting a symposium at Berkeley on November 19, 2011 to mark the 20th anniversary of the Paris Peace Accords.

The symposium will look at present day Cambodia, 20 years after this historic agreement. It brings together key “history makers”, academics and researchers, policy analysts, and rights advocates to discuss critical issues facing present day Cambodia in four critical areas, namely law and democracy, economic development and human security, human rights, and the role of diasporas in peace and democracy building and national reconstruction.

We hope that you can join us in this important convening.

Sincerely,
Professor Khatharya Um
Conference Chair
University of California, Berkeley

----------####---------------

On October 23, 1991, a comprehensive political settlement, also known as the Paris Peace Agreement, was signed and endorsed by eighteen countries. It brought an end to the decade-long war in Cambodia, and paved the way for the 1993 UN endorsed elections in Cambodia.

The last two decades since the end of war have witnessed the nation's valiant post-genocide and post-war struggle to rebuild communities and institutions, economic liberalization and growth, a burgeoning civil society, and proliferation of rights discourse. They have also seen the resurgence of conflict, widening class disparity, and persisting challenge with key reforms, accountability and governance.

This convening marks the 20th anniversary of the Paris Agreement. It brings together key "history makers," academics and researchers, policy analysts, and rights advocates to discuss present day Cambodia, twenty years after the peace settlement. Topics include law and democracy, economic development and human security, human rights and transitional justice, and the role of diasporas in peace building and national reconstruction.

FEARURED SPEAKERS

Ambassador Richard Solomon
Ambassador Solomon is President of the United States Institute of Peace. He was Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs (1989-1992) during which time he negotiated the Cambodia peace treaty, the first United Nations "Permanent Five" peacemaking agreement. He previously served as a senior staff member of the National Security Council.

Dr. Surya Subedi
Professor Subedi is United Nations Special Rapporteur For Human Rights in Cambodia and a Member of the Advisory Group on Human Rights to the British Secretary of State For Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is Professor of Law at the University of Leeds.

Mr. Brad Adams
Mr. Adams is Executive Director of Human Rights Watch's Asia Division. He worked in Cambodia for five years as the senior lawyer for the Cambodia field office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and legal advisor to the Cambodian parliament.

Ms. Heather Ryan
Ms. Ryan was the Monitor for the Khmer Rouge Tribunal with the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Mr. Joel Brinkley
Mr. Brinkley is Professor of Journalism at Stanford University and author of Cambodia's Curse. He was a New York Times reporter, editor and Pulitzer Prize winning foreign correspondent.

Ms. Devi Leiper O'Malley
Ms. Leiper O'Malley is Program Associate for Asia and Oceania for the Global Fund for Women and Founding Executive Council Member of the Devata Giving Circle.

Mr. Van Sar
Mr. Van Sar is a founding member of the Khmer Alliance Foundation

Mr. Tung Yap
Mr. Yap was President of Cambodian Americans for Human Rights and Democracy

Mr. Hann So
Mr. So is Founder of Khmer Conscience, and Co-founder of the Khmer Institute of Democracy, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

WHEN: November 19, 2011 -8:30a-5: 30p

WHERE: The Home Room, International House, 2299 Piedmont Avenue, Berkeley, CA

Co-Sponsored by: The University of California, Berkeley Asian American and Asian Diaspora Studies, Center For Southeast Asian Studies, Peace and Conflict Studies/International and Area Studies, Institute For International Studies, The Human Rights Center, The International House.

For more information, please contact Professor Khatharya Um at umk@berkeley.edu. This event is free to the public.

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro's Cambodia's Khmer Arts Ensemble will be performing at Cal Performances in Berkeley

2011-08-10T16:31:00.000-07:00

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro's
Cambodia's Khmer Arts Ensemble
will be performing at Cal Performances in Berkeley

on Sunday, October 2nd (3 pm).

Ticket prices range from $20 - $52 and
tickets are 1/2 price for youth under the age of 16. I am asking for
your assistance with information on how to inform the Cambodian
community in Northern California about this event.
Here is a link to our event web page:
http://www.calperfs.berkeley.edu/performances/2011-12/world-stage/cambodias-khmer-arts-ensemble.php

Please feel free to email or call using the contact information listed below.

Thank you,
Susan

-- Susan Pfeifer
Advertising/Promotions Manager
Cal Performances
UC Berkeley
101 Zellerbach Hall #4800
Berkeley, CA 94720-4800
Ph: 510.642.3499
Fax: 510.643.6715
Email: susanp@calperfs.berkeley.edu
Visit us on the web at: www.calperformances.net

Cambodian Survivors Seek Justice: Cases: 003 -004 - -San Jose Cambodian community awaits justice

2011-05-17T08:04:00.000-07:00

Message from Dr. Leakhena NOU, Ph.D
ASRIC is asking for your support to push for continued prosecutions of other potential KR defendants for cases 003-004. Please see link below and sign if you wish, and fyi you don't have to be Khmer/a survivor to sign the petition. We are simply asking for your support to help the survivors fight for justice they deserve.

"Cambodian Survivors Seek Justice"

San Jose Cambodian community awaits justice
One of the worst genocides of the 20th century happened in Cambodia, in the 1970s. The extremist Khmer Rouge party, led by Pol Pot tried to create a rural farming society, evacuating people from their homes and jobs in urban areas to the country, where many were killed by the government, starved, or were worked to death.
SOPHANY BAY: If I did not see justice, you know, it’s kind of like I kind of cannot close me eyes properly when I die.
SINA MEAS: Pain me to death. I cannot find my husband, I cannot find my son. So I do not care the judgment day, but for the sake of my community I want justice done for them.
KELVIN SO: I am so happy that this is the first time that my case have been accepted by the Phnom Penh tribunal.

Read more

Local Cambodian-Americans play active role in trial of Khmer Rouge leaders
Cambodia’s brutal Khmer Rouge government fell more than 30 years ago. The power behind the infamous “Killing Fields” killed as many as 2 million Cambodians through executions, starvation and disease....
Sophany Bay counsels Cambodian-Americans on mental health matters. In the 1970s, she was a teacher in Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, until the Khmer Rouge sent her to a forced labor camp in the countryside.

Read more

Petition Link:

Facebook Page link: (A quick way to send a link of the petition to all of your facebook friends by logging in and selecting the 'Share' option as well as the 'Like' button - I also suggest sending a personal message to all of your friends letting them know how important it is to sign this petition and share it with others as well)

---------------------------------------------------------------

Leakhena NOU, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Sociology
California State University, Long Beach
Department of Sociology, PSY-143
1250 Bellflower Blvd.
Long Beach, CA 90840-0906
Direct Office #: (562) 985-7439
Fax #: (562) 985-2090
E-mail: lnou@csulb.edu

Cambodian New Year Festival 2011 - San Jose, California

2011-03-30T15:22:00.000-07:00

The Cambodian-American community of Santa Clara County will celebrate its
26th Annual Cultural New Year,
Year of the Rabbit,
on
Saturday, April 9th, 2011 (5:30pm to midnight)
at the
Unify Event Center
765 Story Road, San Jose, CA 95122
(Behind Walmart)

We will be sponsoring this event for a fun evening of excitement. The celebration of "Khmer New Year" is a symbol to remind us of our culture and heritage. The Cambodian New Year Festival showcases the richness of Cambodian life in our community. The treasured folk culture and history of Cambodia delight the senses in colorful display of art, music, and dance.

This year, Cambodian New Year Festival 2011 Committee organized by Miss Davy Chea and, will bring us two parts of events. Part-I will feature Khmer Classical Dance & Folk Dances and Khmer School Children Play. Part-II, the social dance, will feature Seak Meas Band and Ms Vatana.

For more information
Please contact Miss Davy Chea at 408.667.4015

For Posters

Download Khmer New Year 2011 Poster in JPG | Poster in PDF

Khmer Rouge victims in U.S. to get their day in court

2011-02-27T05:28:00.000-08:00

By John Boudreau
jboudreau@mercurynews.com
Posted: 02/26/2011 09:27:41 PM PST

Many Cambodians have lived the lives of ghosts in Silicon Valley, not seen or heard from much, quietly tormented every day and every night with unbearable memories of the genocide that wiped out entire families -- parents, spouses, children, extended relatives.

Now, finally, some of them will have their day in international court. When the second trial of alleged perpetrators of the Khmer Rouge genocide begins in a few months, members of the Cambodian community in the United States will be represented by attorneys at the proceedings.

On Saturday, about 50 members of Silicon Valley's 10,000 strong Cambodian community gathered at the Wat Khemara Rangsey Buddhist temple in East San Jose to hear about the upcoming trial of four senior Khmer Rouge leaders charged in connection with the deaths of 1.7 million people from execution, torture, starvation and disease from 1975 to 1979.

"For our clients, who have waited so long for this, it can be overwhelming to revisit the past," said Andrea Evans, legal director at the Center for Justice and Accountability, a San Francisco human rights legal group that will represent scores of Cambodians living in the U.S. before the United Nations-backed tribunal.

Sophany Bay, a 65-year-old San Jose counselor, is providing written testimony.

"For more than three decades, I waited to see justice," she said in a statement to the international court. "We are getting old. We want to see justice before we die."

The reason, Bay said Saturday, is that the nightmares never stop.

"I lost all my family," said Bay, whose three children died. One of them, a baby girl named Pom, died after a Khmer Rouge soldier injected something into her head.

"I don't have any siblings," she said. "I don't have any nephews. They killed my whole family."

Bay said she hasn't dreamed in the present ever since. All her dreams, she said, are of the past horrors in her homeland.

The once-powerful Khmer Rouge leaders who will stand before the tribunal as early as June are now in their late 70s and mid-80s. The complex trial could last as long as two to three years.

The defendants are Ieng Sary, who was foreign minister; his wife, Ieng Thirith, minister of social welfare; Khieu Samphan, head of state; and Nuon Chea, known as Brother No 2. The top leader, Pol Pot, died in 1998. In the earlier trial, Kaing Guek Eav, known as Duch, was sentenced to 19 years in prison for the torture and death of at least 14,000 people in the Tuol Sleng prison in the capital of Phnom Penh.

The regime took control in 1975 after the war in next-door Vietnam spread to Cambodia. Khmer Rouge leaders believed they could create a utopian communist society by purging the country of intellectuals, business leaders, government officials and anyone else considered a threat to their revolution.

Approximately 157,500 Cambodians resettled in the U.S. from 1975 to 1994, the vast majority as refugees. Many still suffer serious mental health problems as a result of experiencing torture and witnessing killings of their family members.

In 2009, researcher Leakhena Nou, a medical sociologist at Cal State Long Beach, began documenting the stories of genocide survivors in the United States. She discovered that Cambodian-Americans, like their countrymen, could offer testimony and have legal representation at the tribunal proceedings.

During her research, she discovered that many Cambodians in America experienced the same symptoms of young people living in Cambodia.

"I found the same hopelessness, helplessness and lack of trust in themselves, family and government leaders," Nou said.

Nou's research is deeply personal. Her family escaped the reign of terror because her father, a Cambodian military officer who had been living in Thailand with his family when the Khmer Rouge took over, sensed grave danger when he and others were asked to return. Those who answered the call were executed immediately upon their return or taken to prison and tortured to death.

"The instinct my dad had saved our lives," she said.

The process of retelling stories can, at least in the short run, cause substantial emotional trauma for survivors, said Dr. Daryn Reicherter, an assistant clinical professor of psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine who treats many Cambodian emigres in San Jose.

"They had this rough patch," he said. But, Reicherter added, "Not one of them had a regret" about their decision to retell their experiences in excruciating detail.

Cambodian New Year Festival 2010 - San Jose, California

2010-04-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

The Cambodian-American community of Santa Clara County will celebrate its

25th Annual Cultural New Year,
year of the Tiger,
on
Saturday, April 10th, 2010 (5:30pm to midnight)
at the
Santa Clara County Fairgounds
Pavilion Hall - 344 Tully Rd. San Jose, CA 95111.

We will be sponsoring this event for a fun evening of excitement. The celebration of "Khmer New Year" is a symbol to remind us of our culture and heritage. The Cambodian New Year Festival showcases the richness of Cambodian life in our community. The treasured folk culture and history of Cambodia delight the senses in colorful display of art, music, and dance.

This year, Cambodian New Year Festival 2010 Committee chaired by Miss Davy Chea and Miss Kara Uy, will bring us two parts of events. Part-I will feature Khmer Classical Dance & Folk Dances and Khmer School Children Play. Part-II, the social dance, will feature Starland Band, Ms Molyna, and Guest Singer Miss Laura Mam. Miss Laura Mam was the former student of Cambodian Cultural Dance Group of San Jose.

Cambodian Community of San Jose
Participating Groups serving the Cambodian community lend resources and volunteers to organize the the New Year event, including: The San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc.| Cambodian American Resources Agency | Santa Clara County Cambodian Women's Association | Cambodian School | Cambodian Cultural Dance Group of San Jose | Active Community Members.

For more information
Please contact Miss Davy Chea at 408.667.4015 or Miss Kara Uy at 408.628.3898

For Posters

Download JPG | JPG in Zip (High Resolution) | PDF (low resolution)

Darith S. Khay - New Office Location: 200 Jose Figueres, Suite 315, San Jose, CA 95116

2009-11-23T21:08:00.000-08:00

Dear Community:

You may already know that San Jose has only one Cambodian family medical clinic named “Darith S. Khay, MD - Family Practice Clinic”. Starting November 1, 2009 the clinic has moved to a new location at the address below. The new office is located inside a building behind the Regional Medical Center.

Darith S. Khay, MD
200 Jose Figueres, Suite 315
San Jose, CA 95116
Telephone: (408) 280-0884

Through the years Dr. Khay has given back to the community he serves and has been a stable supporter of local community events such as the annual Khmer New Year Festival (KNYF). He is also a big supporter of the Cambodian Language School and the Cambodian Cultural Dance Troupe and had donated generously to these programs. Thank you Dr. Khay!

CARA

School Fights Language Loss in US

2009-09-09T12:08:00.000-07:00

School Fights Language Loss in US

By Nuch Sarita, VOA Khmer
Original report from Washington
07 September 2009

Buddhist monks and educators in San Jose, Calif., have noted a growing concern in Khmer communities regarding the loss of the Khmer language in the US and the linkage it offers to Cambodian culture and traditions.

A community of Cambodian volunteers has been running the Cambodian Literacy School of San Jose for 20 years to prevent this.

The school aims to bring Cambodian children back to their cultural roots and encourage them towards education and better communication with their parents, through language lessons and cultural programs.

Kas Thon, a senior teacher and adviser, has helped transform the Khmer Literacy School with a new structure. He said the projects are now designed to provide services that bridge the intergenerational gap between Cambodian parents and their children.

“Since early 1989, we have been serving hundreds of Cambodian and non-Cambodian students, aged 7 to late twenties, throughout the county of Santa Clara. When we first started, we had 300 students, and we did not have enough rooms for them. We opened another location. Parents, with continuous support, kept bringing children to classes regularly.”

The program begins with speaking and listening activities based on experiences with which children are familiar. Reading is introduced through simple stories that feature familiar situations. Exploring words and letters leads to the beginnings of writing.

The school is run by a team of Cambodian teachers, parents and volunteers and offers free literacy classes every Saturday, from 10 am to noon for children, and 10 am to 1 pm for adults. The school is located at the Tull Community Branch Library and at the Khmer Buddhist Temple of Khemara Rangsey in San Jose.

Srey Tha came to the US in 1989 at the age of 16. She did not know how to read or write Khmer when she lived in Cambodia. Srey Tha now brings her 17-year-old daughter to the Khmer Literacy School every Saturday, and she has learned to read and write herself.

“I have come to this school for more than four years,” she said. “Now I can read and write Khmer. I want my daughter to speak and read Khmer and learn Khmer culture and traditions.”

Sambun Boun, a volunteer teacher, said his class has three different levels. Some students can read and write, some can only spell words, and others have just begun.

“I want the students to make more progress in learning Khmer,” he said. “We, the teachers, will have a program to meet the parents of students. We will explain to them that they to be involved; they can make a difference. If children see the mother and father reading and writing Khmer on a daily basis, they tend to do that, too.”

Many Cambodian children transition to using English and attain only limited skills in Khmer, becoming less interested in traditional activities. Many children and young adults are beginning to lose their mother tongue.

Meanwhile, generational differences and conflict in language use often develop in the homes, as children use English and their parents and grandparents speak Khmer, diminishing their ability to communicate with each other

====Orignal Document====
Cambodian School on Voa 09082009

Cambodian Living Arts + The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation

2009-07-24T10:25:00.000-07:00

For immediate release.
Contact: Matthew Bogosian / 718-749-7775 / matthew@vanderbiltrepublic.org

A team of American artists will spend this October in Cambodia working to rebuild Cambodia’s art and culture by documenting the country’s cultural resurrection in partnership with Cambodian Living Arts.

New York City, July 16, 2009.

Between 1975 and 1979, Pol Pot and his Khmer Rouge effectively replaced Cambodia’s two thousand year old artistic history with one of genocide and death. In this massively coordinated effort to return to a flattened “Year Zero”, approximately 2 million Cambodians, or 25% of its population, died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge. In a merciless attempt to march backwards in history, nearly 90% of the country’s artists were executed.

Luckily, a twelve-year-old flute player named Arn Chorn escaped from the brutal regime and found sanctuary in the arms of an American missionary named Peter Pond, who later adopted him. Arn Chorn-Pond returned to Cambodia as an adult in 2001 with the inspiring goal of piecing together what was left of Cambodia’s culture. He found 16 surviving music legends and created the Cambodian Living Arts (CLA) program around them. The CLA’s mission is to pass Cambodia’s musical traditions on to younger generations; after starting with nothing, the program now supports nearly 300 students, and is growing.

“I hope Cambodia can become a center for arts and culture,” Chorn-Pond said. “When visitors come to Cambodia, we won’t be known for the killing fields. We want the world to know us for our arts and culture, like in ancient Angkor times. Our arts will be the international signature of our country.”

Arn Chorn-Pond and Cambodian Living Arts have partnered with The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation (VRF) to emphatically broadcast Cambodia’s coming cultural rebirth to the world. Founded by acclaimed portrait photographer George Del Barrio and his representative, Matthew Bogosian, the VRF is an arts and culture non-profit devoted to increasing public awareness of critical arts, cultural, and human rights organizations. The VRF mobilizes the talent and experience of the photographic industry’s most diverse and talented working creatives.
To purposefully document and promote the CLA’s mission, The VRF will send George Del Barrio (www.superbiate.com) to Cambodia to photograph all the living Cambodian Master performers, bringing to this important human story a style of portraiture that has been called “iconic”, “moving”, and “deeply human”. Del Barrio will work closely to realize this ambitious vision with creative director Dwayne Shaw—an accomplished industry veteran and former creative director for Universal/Motown records, Vibe Magazine, and Time, Inc. This crew - with Columbian, African-American, Cuban and Armenian heritages - understands cultural conflict firsthand and is fully prepared to devote their collective talents to help the CLA. “To meet these masters who have persevered and are trying to preserve their culture speaks directly to me as an African-American. It takes courage”, said Shaw. To emphasize the reality of this Cambodian st ruggle, Del Barrio’s trademark combination of a Sinar view camera with 4” x 5” Kodak sheet film will be indispensable. The resulting work will be reproduced on a large scale and at a level of quality now unfamiliar to contemporary audiences. Traveling exhibitions, events, seminars, and a feature-length film will result from this concerted effort.

Chorn-Pond thinks the VRF is the perfect organization to help the CLA reintroduce Cambodia’s legendary art and culture to the larger world. “I’m very excited that The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation is going to Cambodia, to photograph [the] Masters,” he said. “To show the world. And to bring…their story to light.”

DriveIn Studios, Calumet Photographic, Root Capture, St. Lawrence University, The Public House and Brooklyn Brewery are providing support for the project, but the Vanderbilt Republic Foundation is looking for further donations to make this project a reality. To get involved, visit www.vanderbiltrepublic.org or call Matthew Bogosian at (718) 749-7775. For more information about Cambodian Living Arts, visit www.cambodianlivingarts.org.

2009 Wat Khmer San Jose Election Results

2009-06-29T10:19:00.000-07:00

Voting result for position of organization's PRESIDENT:

Phoeurth Sin............. 31 votes
Perom Uch................... 5 votes
Houth Chan................20 votes
Candidate Declined..... 0 votes
Van Chek .........58 votes

By a simple majority rule, "Van Chek" candidate 5, won the election and will have the authority to serve as PRESIDENT of San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society inc. (Wat Khmer San Jose) for the next 3 years starting July 28, 2009.

Photos - Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival

2009-05-11T22:41:00.000-07:00

Photos - Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival

Cambodian New Year 2009 Committee would like to share with you the photos of the Event. Photos selected to post on CARAWEB.ORG are based on the photos' quality and position. More photos

The New Year Event turned out more number of attendance in 2009. The committee received lots of feedback to improve the plan/preparation for the next year. Feel free to email your feedback to davy.chea @ caraweb.org or kara.uy @ caraweb.org

Committee is looking ahead to host Community Picnic. Date/Place will be announced later.

More photos

Friendly Meeting with Dr. Leakhena Nou: "Participating in the Ongoing Khmer Rouge Tribunal"

2009-04-28T19:32:00.000-07:00

Dear Community,

You are cordially invited to friendly meet with Dr. Leakhena Nou, Medical Sociologist and Professor of Sociology at California State University, Long Beach.

When: Saturday, May 2, 2009 @ 4pm - 6pm
Where: Wat Khemara Rangsey - 1594 Cunningham Ave. San Jose, Ca 95122

Dr. Nou will share with our community about actively participating in the ongoing Khmer Rouge Tribunal (formally recognized as the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia- ECCC). As survivors of the Khmer Rouge one could file complaints or act as civil parties in the procedural justice to try senior KR defendants for war crimes against humanity. The ECCC have made little effort to include the Cambodian diaspora in the procedural process, and for this reason Dr. Nou is spearheading the Cambodian Diaspora Victims’ Participation Project to ensure that voices from exiled survivors are not overlooked in the ECCC trial proceedings.

The project is organized under the auspices of her organization – the Applied Social Research Institute of Cambodia (ASRIC) in partnership with the Asian Pacific American Institute (A/P/A) @ New York University.

For Detail:

/Leakhena_Nou/ASRIC_CDVPP_Bay_Area_Community.pdf

/Leakhena_Nou/About-ASRIC.pdf

/Leakhena_Nou/Final-ASRIC-APA- Cambodian Diaspora Project Sp 2009.pdf

Best regards,
Chanthoeun To

Cambodian Community of San Jose
Cambodian American Resource Agency
Wat Khmer San Jose (San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc.)
Wat Khmer Krom Khemara Rangsey
Santa Clara Cambodian Women Association
And Active community members

##############################

Below is a listing of news coverage of her outreach/workshops recently held in southern, CA.

Survivors tell of Khmer Rouge genocide

LONG BEACH: Testimony being collected may be used in tribunals of regime officials.
By Greg Mellen Staff Writer

Posted: 03/27/2009 09:59:53 PM PDT
http://www.presstelegram.com/

Cambodians seek justice

By Greg Mellen Staff Writer
Posted: 03/23/2009 10:00:29 PM PDT

http://www.presstelegram.com/search/ci_11981705?IADID=Search-www.presstelegram.com-www.presstelegram.com
Khmer Rouge survivors give voice to their 'silent suffering'
http://www.latimes.com/

Recently on Forum:

Wed, Feb 18, 2009 -- 10:00 AM
http://www.kqed.org/

From the Killing Fields to the Courtroom / Terry Tempest Williams
Thirty years ago, the Khmer Rouge regime oversaw the torture and genocide of at least 1.7 million Cambodians. As the first in a series of war crimes tribunals begins this week, we discuss the impact of the Khmer Rouge on the Cambodian people and the significance of the proceedings. In the second half hour, we talk with Terry Tempest Williams about her latest book, "Finding Beauty in a Broken World." In the book, Williams finds inspiration in the study of mosaics -- a pursuit which takes her from Ravenna, Italy to Bryce Canyon, Utah.
Host: Michael Krasny
Guests:

Leakhena Nou, assistant professor of sociology at California State University, Long Beach (first half hour)

Beth Van Schaack, associate professor of law at Santa Clara University and legal adviser to The Documentation Centre of Cambodia (first half hour)

Patrick Vinck, director of the Berkeley-Tulane Initiative on Vulnerable Populations at the Human Rights Center at UC Berkeley (first half hour)

Year of the Ox - Celebration and Cultural Ceremonies at Watt Khemara Rangsey, San Jose California

2009-04-16T19:28:00.000-07:00

Year of the Ox - Celebration and Cultural Ceremonies at Watt Khemara Rangsey, San Jose California

Saturday, April 18, 2009
Slonaker Elementary School (in front of Wat Khemara Rangsey)
1601 Cunningham Ave, San Jose, CA 95122

Last Saturday, the cultural and social event of Cambodian New Year 2553 B.E. was a big hit. Thanks to the committee leaders, our Co-Chairs, Miss Kara Uy and Miss. Davy Chea. More than thousand of local community across the Bay Area attended the evening. The New Year committee introduced a new show called, Khmer Singing Contest, and it drove the contestants' family and friends to show the support. With the Khmer Cultural dances, the Cambodian Cultural Dance Group blasted with its creative performance called, Polynesian Dance. Our special guests, San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed and Mrs. Reed told the committee PR, Mr. Perom Uch that, they were amazed to see the big number of local community gathering. They were very thrilled to listen to our Keynote Speaker, Mr. Kelvin So. With the Starland Band, Samphet Khieu and Miss Molyna rocked the night with the big crowds.

While hundreds attended Wat Khmer San Jose (the San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc.), Year of the Ox - Celebration and Cultural Ceremonies is still happening for Cambodian Community of San Jose Bay Area in this week till the weekend. The Venerables and members of Watt Khemara Rangsey would like to invite you and your family to celebrate the Cambodian New Year at Watt Khemara Rangsey.

On Saturday, April 18, the New Year Celebration will be held at Slonaker Elementary School (in front of Wat Khemara Rangsey) 1601 Cunningham Ave, San Jose, CA 95122. This day is the main celebration day of our New Year. The agenda for our New Year is as follows:

From 8:30a.m. - 11:00a.m. - Buddhist ceremony.
11:00a.m. - 11:30a.m. - Speeches by Special Guest Speakers.
11:30a.m. - 12:30p.m. - Cambodian Classical Dances
12:30p.m. - 1:30p.m. - Lunch
1:30p.m. - 2:00p.m. - Parade to welcome New Year Angles
3:00p.m. - 8:30p.m. - Social Dances accompanied by Live Band Music (Free Admission)

Happy Cambodian New Year 2009!

Cambodian New Year 2009 Committee
Cambodian Community of San Jose: The San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (Wat Khmer San Jose), Watt Khemara Rangsey (Khmer Krom), Santa Clara County Cambodian Women’s Association, Cambodian American Resource Agency, San Jose Cambodian Cultural Dance Troupe, Cambodian Language School.

http://www.caraweb.org
http://www.WatKhmerSanJose.org
http://www.unitedkhmerkrom.org/

Cambodian-Americans Celebrate Cultural New Year in Grand Style on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at Napredak Hall, San Jose, California

2009-04-10T09:56:00.000-07:00

Cambodian-Americans Celebrate Cultural New Year in Grand Style on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at Napredak Hall, San Jose, California

Year of Ox, the culture event will Feature Special Guest San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Keynote Speaker Mr. Kelvin So, Khmer Singing Contest Hosted by Samphet Khieu, Classical Skit/Fashion Show, Cultural Dance Performances, and Followed by Social Dance Accompanied by Miss Molyna and Mr. Samphet Khieu.

SAN JOSE, California. (April 10, 2009) – The Cambodian-American community of Santa Clara County will celebrate its 25th annual cultural New Year, year of the OX, on Saturday, April 11th, 2009 at the Napredak Hall, 770 Montague Expy, San Jose, 95131 from 6:00PM to midnight.

This year, the cultural ceremonies (DAY TIME FESTIVITIES) will be held at Wat Khmer San Jose, the San Jose Cambodia Buddhist Society, Inc. The day long community celebration will begin at 9:00 AM and lasts for several days with Buddhist monks in saffron robes chanting and performing the New Year’s Blessing ceremony. These daytime festivities provide an opportunity for everyone to participate in the rich cultural heritage of the Khmer people who have made a new home in this country. In addition, there will also be a host of vendors displaying their arts and crafts and other Cambodian-related products.

The evening cultural program (ONE EVENING FESTIVITIES) begins at 6:00 PM and will feature several performances of Khmer classical ballet and folk dance, classical and folk music, as well as modern performances. This year will also highlight, Khmer Singing Contest, special guest San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Keynote Speaker Mr. Kelvin So who is the role model of being very active in community, and a Classical Skit/Fashion Show.

Most importantly, the celebration of "Khmer New Year” is a symbol to remind us of our culture and heritage. The Cambodian New Year Festival showcases the richness of Cambodian life in our community. The treasured folk culture and history of Cambodia delight the senses in colorful display of art, music, and dance.

The cultural diversity in the Bay Area makes it one of the best places to live in the world. Cambodian-Americans are certainly significant pieces of that cultural tapestry. The preservation of the Cambodian culture is, therefore, vital. It is paramount not only to the collective community, but also to the Cambodian community, and the individual Cambodians themselves.

This is a time for joy, unity and friendship for the whole community and we would like to wish you a peaceful new year. Let's hope that next year will bring us a step closer to where we wanted to be and what we wished to achieve. This event will not be successful without the help of volunteers and sponsors.

About Cambodian New Year 2009 Committee:
This year the Cambodian community in Santa Clara County, in collaboration with the San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society (Wat Khmer San Jose ), the Santa Clara Cambodian Women Association, the Cambodian American Resource Agency, Cambodian Dance Troupe of San Jose, Cambodian School, and active community members, including volunteers and performers.

Miss Davy Chea - Co-Chair, Miss Kara Uy - Co-Chair,

Bilands Dy, Chamroen Yean, Channary Bill, Chanthoeun To, Charya Burt, Chhavy Nou, Colin Bill, Dara Kas (Yap), Freedman Ouk, Heng Sao, Jennifer Chan, Judi L Boun, Julie Dean, Kas Thon, Kelvin So, Keo Sarun, Kim Sreang Say, Kouern Seu, Layso Lor, Lee Anne C. Uch, Lena Y. Meas, Leslie Kim, Lillian Phannthay, Mony Khieu, Nepar Pen, Oulisany Chea, Perom Uch, Phalarine Yauy, Phillip Lim, Poev Halverson, Raline Von-Beulow, Ryan Robertson, Sambo Ouch, Sambun Boun, Sameth Lor, Savary Dean, Sivind Tep, Sokna Sar, Sokun Boun, Solida Chan, Sopheap Ngar, Sophy Saing, Sothy Prom, Sovandy Hang, Sucheali So, Tahry Ros, Thana Robertson, Thida Chhit, Vinita Kylin, Vuthy Meas

http://www.caraweb.org
http://www.WatKhmerSanJose.org

Year of the Ox - 2009 at San Jose Bay Area

2009-04-07T21:55:00.000-07:00

KHMER NEW YEAR is one of the major celebrations in Cambodian culture. It is based on
the lunar calendar, and is celebrated in mid-April. In San Jose Bay Area, the same ceremonies and activities are planned for and participated in. Even thousands of miles away from the land they were born in, Cambodians continue to honor and preserve their cultural heritage by sharing it with their children and new friends.

Cultural Ceremonies at Wat Khmer San Jose
the San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. 840 Merveyn's Way, San Jose, Ca 95127.
When: Saturday, April 11th through Thursday, April 16th

The Buddhist monks and committee of Wat Khmer San Jose would like to invite you and your family to join Cambodian New Year (http://www.WatKhmerSanJose.org).

Cultural Event at Nepredak Hall - 770 Montague Expy, San Jose, 95131
Cambodian New Year Festival 2009 Committee
Chaired by Miss. Kara Uy & Miss Davy Chea
Cambodian Community of San Jose: San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc., Santa Clara County Cambodian Women’s Association, Cambodian American Resource Agency, San Jose Cambodian Cultural Dance Troupe, Cambodian Language School - http://www.caraweb.org/new_year/2009/
When: Saturday, April 11th @ 6pm - Midnight

KNY09 - Miss Molyna & Mr. Samphet Khieu

2009-04-05T12:20:00.000-07:00

Cambodian New Year Festival 2009
Social Dance featuring:
Miss Molyna & Mr. Samphet Khieu

Cambodian New Year Festival Committee of San Jose Bay Area has been promoting many Khmer singers from unknown status to the most popular ones including: Im Sreypoeuv, Meas Somaly, Bopha Lor, Chaum Chorvin, Keo Pichchenda, and many more. This coming event, Davy and I would like to introduce you the new ones: Miss Molyna & Mr. Samphet Khieu.
>> If you are unable to view image, please click here <<
For more information:
Karay Uy, Co-Chair: kara.uy @ caraweb.org
Davy Chea, Co-Chair: davy.chea @ caraweb.org

>> Homepage of Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival << >> Khmer Singing Contest << >> Official Poster of Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival <<

Submit a registration form - DO YOU THINK YOU CAN SING?

2009-03-27T18:23:00.000-07:00

Submit a Registration Form

The Annual Cambodian New Year Celebration is the perfect occasion to showcase your talent to your friends, family and community.

HURRY, SPACE IS LIMITED! REGISTER TO AUDITION!
The deadline is fast approaching and we will be selecting the finalists soon.

To participate in the singing contest, interested contestants must submit a registration form and be available to audition before the show. If you are unable to download the forms, please contact us directly to give us your information via the telephone.

The Khmer Singing Contest - Do you think you can sing?

2009-03-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

The 2009 Khmer New Year Committee proudly presents

"THE KHMER SINGING CONTEST"

To be held on April 11, 2009 concurrently with the Cambodian New Year Celebration!

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN SING?
The Annual Cambodian New Year Celebration is the perfect occasion to showcase your talent to your friends, family and community.

HURRY, SPACE IS LIMITED! REGISTER TO AUDITION!
The deadline is fast approaching and we will be selecting the finalists soon.

To participate in the singing contest, interested contestants must submit a registration form and be available to audition before the show. If you are unable to download the forms, please contact us directly to give us your information via the telephone.

After each contestant’s performance, a panel of judges will evaluate based on vocal ability, stage presence/confidence, and other musical factors. Public/Audience participation is also encouraged.

The first place winner will be awarded with the GRAND PRIZE (Cash and other monetary value), be featured on Caraweb.org and other community websites, and an invitation to perform live during the social dance with our featured entertainers; Molyna and Samphet Khiev, accompanied by Starland Band.

So what are you waiting for? REGISTER TO AUDITION!

For further details on entry guidelines, terms and conditions or for further information visit the website http://www.caraweb.org/
Or contact the Chairpersons: Kara Uy (408) 628-3898
Davy Chea (408) 667-4015

Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival - San Jose Bay Area

2009-03-17T13:35:00.000-07:00

Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Napradak Hall

More Information: www.caraweb.org
View larger poster
Download large size of poster (8.5MB Zip file)
Homepage of Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival

Cambodian New Year Festival 2009 Committee

2009-02-19T17:00:00.000-08:00

Dear Community,

Everyone seems very busy and very cautious at the moment of the economic downturn. Even with our valuable time and very tight spare time, the local community of Santa Clara, in collaboration with the San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, the Santa Clara Cambodian Women Association, the Cambodian American Resource Agency and active community members, still enables to form Cambodian New Year Festival 2009 (CNYF-09) committee in preparing and planning for the celebration of the coming "Year of The Ox 2553 B.E."

On behalf of the local community, I would like to congratulate Ms. Kara Uy and Ms. Davy Chea for accepting the nomination and voluntarily taking the role of the Chairwomen of CNYF-09 committee. Co-Chairs, Ms. Uy and Ms. Chea with their team, have been preparing their plan quietly and actively since December of 2008. Lots of progress have been made and will be announced soon. If you would like to join the team, please contact our Co-Chairs, kara.uy @ caraweb.org or davy.chea @ caraweb.org

This year, CNYF-09 will be celebrated on Saturday, April 11th, 2009. The morning program, Cultural Ceremony, will be celebrated at the San Jose Cambodian Buddhist Society, Inc. (Wat Khmer San Jose). The evening program will be at the Napradak Hall, 770 Montague Expy, San Jose, 95131 and features:

Khmer Talent Show
Fashion Show
Cultural Performance
Social Dance

More update will be on http://www.caraweb.org/press

Wat Khmer San Jose
Under the leadership of Mr. Van Chek, President of Wat Khmer San Jose, the team of the temple renovation have been making their efforts to project that the temple should be ready by April for Cambodian New Year. Also, this is to inform local community that the new URL of the website is changed to http://www.WatKhmerSanJose.org More updated is on the way.

Cambodia New Year Festival 2009 Committee
Ms. Kara Uy - Co-Chair
Ms. Davy Chea - Co-Chair
Phillip Lim, Kelvin So, Van Chek, Channary Bill, Sovandy Heng, Thana Kong, Tahry Ros, Nepar Penn, Bun So, Paul Tun, Layso Lor, Sameth Lor, Perom Uch, Franliny Khuon, Jennifer Chan, Peter Chan, Chamroeun Yean, Vinita Kylin, Leslie Kim, Savary Dean, Raline Von-Below, Chanthoeun To, and many more.

Ms. Davy Chea, Co-Chair
Ms. Chea joined CARA in August of 1999. She has also been a part of the dance troupe as a volunteer dancer. She comes from a long history of community service taking after her father who worked with Wat Khmer San Jose until 1998. She was the former President, former Vice President, and former Treasurer of the Independence High School Cambodian Club. She was rewarded with, "CARA Award" for her outstanding work in the community.

Ms. Kara Uy, Co-Chair
Ms. Uy is an active volunteer to organizations that believe in positive change, including acting as a board of director for Santa Clara County Cambodian Women's Association. One of her greatest attributes is her dedication to the community. For almost a decade, she has been a Domestic Violence Family Advocate at Asian American's for Community Involvement. Kara’s creative endeavors include photography, music, writing and entrepreneurialism.

Best regards,
Chanthoeun To

Acknowledge the grants and contributions

2009-01-22T17:46:00.000-08:00

December 31, 2008

For calendar year 2008, CARA would like to acknowledge the grants and contributions from the following grant makers and individuals, without whom our arts program would not have been possible.

Arts Council Silicon Valley - Community Arts Fund
www.artscouncil.org

Arts Council Silicon Valley – Applied Materials Excellence in the Arts
www.artscouncil.org

Arts Council Silicon Valley - Arts Choice
www.artscouncil.org

City of San Jose - Office of Cultural Affairs
www.sanjoseculture.org

The Farrington Historical Foundation
www.farringtonfoundation.org

Bank of America - Local Heroes Award Beneficiary
www.bankofamerica.com/foundation

Mrs. Leslie Kim & Mr. Pancho Chang’s Family

CARA also wishes to acknowledge the support of volunteering staff and parents/guardians for both the language instruction and the cultural dance programs. Thank you.

Board of Directors, CARA

Local Heroes Winner, Mrs. Savary Dean

2009-01-22T17:40:00.001-08:00

Congratulations to
Mrs. Savary Dean
Bank of America’s "2008 Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Awards"
Local Heroes Winner!

Mrs. Savary Dean, Instructor- has donated her time and talents as a Khmer dance instructor to the Cambodian children of San Jose for the past 10 years. In her own words, "It is very improtant to continue our Cambodian culture and spirit to the next generation. It is my pleasure to pass my Khmer dance knowledge to teach our children." Mrs. Dean was trained as a young girl at the University of Fine Arts in Phnom Penh before the Khmer Rouge era. When she was luckily returned to Phnom Penh after the 4 dreadful years she went back to the Fine Arts university. A short time later she joined her family in a journey to the U.S. in 1982. She is residing with her husband and 2 wonderful children in San Jose.

Press Release & News

Khmer New Year 2012 at Watt Khmer San Jose

Cambodian New Year Festival 2012 - San Jose, California

Bay Area Cambodians seek justice in homeland

CAMBODIA: TWENTY YEARS AFTER PEACE A SYMPOSIUM

Sophiline Cheam Shapiro's Cambodia's Khmer Arts Ensemble will be performing at Cal Performances in Berkeley

Cambodian Survivors Seek Justice: Cases: 003 -004 - -San Jose Cambodian community awaits justice

Cambodian New Year Festival 2011 - San Jose, California

Khmer Rouge victims in U.S. to get their day in court

Cambodian New Year Festival 2010 - San Jose, California

Darith S. Khay - New Office Location: 200 Jose Figueres, Suite 315, San Jose, CA 95116

School Fights Language Loss in US

School Fights Language Loss in US

Cambodian Living Arts + The Vanderbilt Republic Foundation

2009 Wat Khmer San Jose Election Results

Photos - Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival

Photos - Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival

More photos

Friendly Meeting with Dr. Leakhena Nou: "Participating in the Ongoing Khmer Rouge Tribunal"

Year of the Ox - Celebration and Cultural Ceremonies at Watt Khemara Rangsey, San Jose California

Year of the Ox - Celebration and Cultural Ceremonies at Watt Khemara Rangsey, San Jose California

Cambodian-Americans Celebrate Cultural New Year in Grand Style on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at Napredak Hall, San Jose, California

Cambodian-Americans Celebrate Cultural New Year in Grand Style on Saturday, April 11, 2009 at Napredak Hall, San Jose, California

Year of the Ox - 2009 at San Jose Bay Area

KNY09 - Miss Molyna & Mr. Samphet Khieu

Cambodian New Year Festival 2009Social Dance featuring:Miss Molyna & Mr. Samphet Khieu

Submit a registration form - DO YOU THINK YOU CAN SING?

Submit a Registration Form

The Khmer Singing Contest - Do you think you can sing?

"THE KHMER SINGING CONTEST"

Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival - San Jose Bay Area

Cambodian New Year 2009 FestivalSaturday, April 11, 2009Napradak Hall

Cambodian New Year Festival 2009 Committee

Acknowledge the grants and contributions

Local Heroes Winner, Mrs. Savary Dean

Congratulations to Mrs. Savary DeanBank of America’s "2008 Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Awards"Local Heroes Winner!

Cambodian New Year Festival 2009
Social Dance featuring:
Miss Molyna & Mr. Samphet Khieu

Cambodian New Year 2009 Festival
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Napradak Hall

Congratulations to
Mrs. Savary Dean
Bank of America’s "2008 Neighborhood Excellence Initiative Awards"
Local Heroes Winner!