I was born in the mid of 1940’s in Kompong Cham, a northern province of Cambodia which was situated in the southeast Asia. Cambodia was ruled by France for about 80 years. Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam were once called Indochina.
We were a family of nine children which consisted of four boys and five girls. I was number three on the girl side and number five in the family. My father was immigrated to Cambodia from China around the 1930’s. He married my mother who was born in Cambodia and lived in Kompong Cham. She was Chinese Cambodian.
My mother who had asthma did not breastfeed her children. She hired five nannies at one time to take care of the younger children. My nanny was hired when I was ten month old and lived with us for many years. The other four nannies took care of my younger siblings.
My father owned a fishing equipment company which was very successful. Our family lived quite comfortably at that time.
My mother passed away when I was ten years old and my youngest sister was six month old. My father never got remarried. Although my oldest brother helped him running the business, my dad was so busy and didn’t have much time to spend with his children. He asked his sister who was a widower to move in and help in the household. We were lucky as my aunt was very nice and took good care of us. As each nanny was already assigned to each kid individually, my aunt focused more on running the household. There were cooks and servants to help her in the kitchen and did other household chores.
In the morning, my nanny took me to an elementary school by bike and picked me up in the afternoon. She was the only nanny who stayed with our family for many years.
My oldest brother got married in early 1960’s and his wife became head of the household with the assistance of my aunt. My sister-in- law is the cousin of Richard, my husband to be.
I grew up with four languages at the same time. I communicated with my father in Chinese, my nanny in Vietnamese, half of my siblings in Cambodian called Khmer language, and my teachers in French.
All high schools in Cambodia followed French curriculum set by the Ministry of Education. All subjects in high school were taught in French language and the majority of teachers came form France. Students must complete thirteen years of school. In high school, they must pass the three exams to receive the high school diploma called Baccalauréat 2. The exams were taking after grade 9 called Diplôme, grade 11: Baccalauréat 1, and grade 12: Baccalauréat II. School was not mandatory and was not a priority, especially for the girls. Some children started school at the age of eight or ten depending of the decision of the parents.
During my study in high school, there was no guidance from parents nor the teachers. There were no counselors in the school system. I was self motivated and did everything on my own. I was determined to go as far as I could to get a higher education. I studied hard and got excellent grades. Students from all the provinces must go to the capital (Phnom Penh) taking the three nationwide exams consisted of two parts: written and oral. Students spent about ten days in the capital waiting for the result of their exam. The written tests were graded by the teachers from other provinces and so was the oral part. Among 56 students from my hometown taking Baccalauréat 1 exam (grade 11) in Phnom Penh, only eight students including me (the only girl) passed the exam. Students who failed the exam, had to take it a second time in September. If they failed again, they must repeat grade 11 and took the exam in the following year. They could repeat the class for two more years, otherwise they must drop the public school and went to a private school. As I passed Baccalauréat I, I moved up to grade 12 which was called “Classe Terminale” in French. I received my Baccalauréat II exam at the end of my senior year.
There was only one high school in my hometown. It was called “Lycée Sihanouk”. There were about three thousands students in my high school from grade 6 to 12. Students from all the small towns around Kompong Cham came to attend this high school. They had to pass the “concours” to be able to attend the grade 6 in this high school.
After completing the high school program, two students, a boy and a girl should be nominated to receive an award from King Sihanouk for their excellence in school. I was one of the two students who was chosen by the school principal.
There was no college nor university in my hometown. I went to study at Faculté des Sciences in the capital which was situated about 150 miles South of my hometown. I left Kompong Cham to Phnom Penh in September 1966. My father rent an apartment for me to study in Phnom Penh. My aunt, my nanny, and my two younger brothers came along to the capital to stay with me while I studied in the university. My two young brothers studied in a private Chinese high school. My aunt and nanny took care of everything. In my second year in college, I hired two young girls who came from the country side as my maids. They both were 15 years old and never went to school. I hired them just to help out their parents financially. No special job for them. They lived with us to help my aunt and did some house chores.
I completed four year courses and met all the credit requirement. I received a diploma “License es Science”. During my fourth year in the university, I took some courses in Education to earn a degree in Secondary Education at the “Institut de Pédagogie du Seconde Cycle”.
In June 1970, it was the first graduation at Université Des Sciences” in Cambodia. Students received a diploma called “ License es Science” which was equivalent to a Bachelor Degree. There were fifteen graduates which comprised of seven girls including myself and eight boys.
Dating was not allowed at that time for girls who were not attending school. Marriage must be arranged by the parents. It was uncommon for girls who were at school and dating. However, there were few girls in high school who dated boys secretly. I was approached by some boys to get a relationship during my study in high school and college, but they were turned down. My goal was to finish school and got my college degree.
Towards the end of my fourth year in college, I was introduced to Richard by a sister of my oldest brother’s wife who was Richard’s cousin. Richard was at his fourth year at Institute of Technology. He graduated with a Bachelor Degree in Mining. We dated for six months under a surveillance of a chaperone. We got married in June 1970, a week after our college graduation.
Other siblings:
As of December 2019:
-
My older brother lived in Kompong Cham helping my dad in business. He had three children: one girl and two boys. As of to date, they live in Paris, France.
-
My two older sisters went to Chinese school in Cambodia, but continued their education in China.
-
My oldest sister (#1) who lived in Beijing got married and moved to Hong Kong with her husband . She has two children: one girl and one boy. They still live in Hong Kong.
-
My older sister (#2) had a hard time living under the communist regime. She returned to Cambodia in 1968, got married in 1970 and had one daughter. Her whole family died during the Khmer Rouge era in 1974.
-
My younger sister (#4) finished high school, got married in January 1970 and lived in Kompong Cham. Her husband was a high school teacher. They had two kids: one boy and one girl. They all died in 1973 during the Khmer Rouge regime.
-
My two younger brothers (#3 and #4) who stayed with me in Phnom Penh returned home after finishing high school. Both got married a couple years later. Both families live in Paris, France. My younger brother (#3) passed away in 2013 in Paris, France.
-
My youngest brother (#5) left Cambodia for the United States in 1973. He got married and has two children. They live in San Francisco.
-
My youngest sister (#5) lives in Paris with her husband and her son.