DeeDee Khmer Cyberkid on the SPOT.

Along with all the talk about corruption and many other ills confronting the current Cambodian society, Cambodian youth is also the target of criticisms and accusations.

There are many reports that said that Cambodian youths are complacent, ignorant of Khmer history (especially the Khmer Rough Era), and too materialistic. Despite all these claims, I find the opposite with the Cambodian youth I meet. I’m often struck by the talent, enthusiasm, hard work, vision, and patriotism Cambodian youths have. Their sense of optimism for a better Cambodia and a better tomorrow are infectious. They display their patriotism and their pride of their culture on their sleeves. You can see this every time there is a karaoke machine near by or at a Khmer dance. Most of them will sing or dance when the chance arrive. They love their song and dance and, of course, Angkor Wat.

They are also the most vocal, speaking out against corruption, injustice, inequalities, and just about every issue facing the country. If anything good can be said about Cambodia at this time, in my opinion, it’s its’ youth.

It is about time law makers and government officials listen to them and start creating more opportunities and supports for them to grow, to become outstanding citizens and, most important of all, to involve them in all the processes in the development of Cambodia.

DeeDee (also known as Kalyan) is an example of one such Cambodian youth. She is a 16 years old student from Phnom Penh, Cambodia. She calls herself a Khmer cyber kid. She is a student at Preah Sisowath High School. DeeDee speaks excellent English and is a top student at her school.

I wanted to interview DeeDee after I read a post on her blog describing her experience with learning how to use the internet. You can read her experience in full (in her own words) on her blog. Here is an excerpt:

The first time I began to access myself to the internet was in 2001 (Since I was in primary school, grade 6). During that time, there wasn’t many ISP or internet café (Net shop); besides, the cost of service charge was also expensive ($1/hr or $0.80/hr). I still remember when I first stepped my feet in the 1st net shop I’ve walked in, named Pacific Internet (near N.U), the café agent there giggled to me that “Ooh…! Jom! Kids come to play internet!” I was just only 11 at that time.

As the time goes by, aside from using email, in 2002 I learned how to send greeting cards

Until now, I am still working with my blog and getting to know more about the whole society and the world via internet.

It’s been 5 years, 2001-2006, I’ve improved a lot in both spiritual and physical part.

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Below is an interview I did with DeeDee.

DeeDee School Girl Genius and Khmer Cyberkid

an Interview

by PR

Q: Where do you go to school? What grade are you in? What is your favorite class?

DeeDee: I study at Preah Sisowath High School. I’ll be in grade 12 in the new semester which will be opened in this October. Hmm… My favorite class is Math.

Q: What is your typical day like? How many hours of school/classes?

DeeDee: You read about my typical day by a text I’ve posted in my blog. In a day there are 9 ½ hours of school, including all public class, extra class and English class. I spend 4 hours a day for public school, 3 for extra classes that are math, physics and chemistry, 2 ½ hours for English class.

Q: What foreign language do you study? How many hours per day/week? Where do you study?

DeeDee: I study English. My class takes 2 ½ hours per day. I study only 2 days per week, Tuesday and Thursday at Australian Centre for Education (ACE). Well… it’s pretty easy to study English here in PP because there are lots of private English schools, enough teachers, especially, we have internet! Internet plays such an important role in English learning. Students can learn more through internet because there are many of English teaching web sites.

Q: How much does it cost per course/hour? Do you have Khmer or foreigner teacher?

DeeDee: For this question, I dare say it depends on the course or level or English school. For me, the school fee for one term is $180/45 hours. Yep! The class is pretty good. The study environment, the room, the quality, the program is quite good. For my class, there isn’t any Khmer teacher, I study with only one foreign teacher. I’ve been studying English for about 6 years.

Q: How about your friends, classmates? Many of them do the same thing as you?

DeeDee: This question is quite hard for me to answer. My friends and classmates do similar things, yet there are still several things we do differently because our everyday lifestyle are not the same and varied by families!

Q: Do you have a computer and/or internet at home? If you don’t, where do you go to get online?

DeeDee: I have a computer at home but it doesn’t access to the internet. Every time I wanna use internet, I usually go to the internet café (net shop).

Q: Is there anywhere you can go to check your email for free?

DeeDee: Yes, at the library (at my English school), but I am not allowed to check mail but to do web surfing for free.

Q: How many hours do you spend online per day/week? Is the internet there pretty fast? How much does it cost generally?

DeeDee: I often spend about 1 hour a day to online (except during the holiday break after exam) and usually 3 days a week. Oh yeah! The internet here is pretty fast but it depends. The speed varied from place to place. Some places that use 64kbps are not so fast. Others that use 128kbps or up to 512kbps, the internet run very fast because of the satisfying speed. The service charge for the internet usage here is generally 1500 riels per hour. It’s reasonable.

Q: How about your friends, classmates? Do many of them surf the net, chat online, or blog?

DeeDee: My friends, most of them are the cyber; they surf the net, use email, chat online and blog, too. In contrast, my classmates are different. Not many of them use the internet, surf the web, chat online or even blog! But only one of my classmate blog!

Q: What do you want to be in the future? Where do you plan to go to school? Do you want to go study abroad?

DeeDee: In the future, I wanna be a successful multimedia designer but this faculty is not available yet in Cambodia. Oh you ask me where? You know, the word “plan” and “want” is different! But if you ask me about the plan, I’d say that I plan to study in PP at RUPP. Of course I do! I really wanna get scholarship to study abroad like in de U.S, Australia, Singapore or Japan. (It’s funny eh! It’s just a dream!)

Q: How do you see yourself 10 years from now?

DeeDee: Well… I think in the next ten years, I’ll be an adult. I’ll have a well-paid job and be successful in my career. I’ll be a full-grown Khmer citizen who earns a good living. (Don’t mock at me! It’s just my imagination too!)

Q: What do you do in your spare time? Where do you like to go hang out in Phnom Penh? What do you like best about the PP? What do you like the least?

DeeDee: In my spare time, it’s now become habit, I like reading! (English story book about morals or life, newspapers (Int’l herald tribune, PP Post…) or writing something which is the idea that comes up to my head. The place that I like to go hang out in PP is the Public Park near independent monument which is the badminton battle field (the pitch) where people like to go exercise. The best I like about PP is that PP is the up-to-date city of modern stuffs, also the modern technology such as mobile phones and other electronic stuffs as well. However, I am not happy with the bad traffic during the rush hour. The cars park on both sides of small streets and some people just break the traffic rules; thus, it causes traffic jam and road accident!

Q: Would you like to travel? Where would you like to go?

DeeDee: Yep! I’d love to. I am pretty much like to go to the breathe-taking place which full of nature with waterfall, green trees and fresh air!

Q: Do you have any suggestion or advice for other Khmer kids?

DeeDee: I don’t have any advice because I am one of the Khmer kid too! But I do have some suggestions. I want all Khmer kids to be hard-working, do well at school, practice what is good that we’ve learned from school in the real life society! Learn more by ourselves, be up-to-date and attach to the world! Be a good person for ourselves, be a good child for our parents and family, be a good student for the teachers, be a good kid for the society, be a good citizen for Cambodia.

Q: What would you like to say to the people out there who are reading this?

DeeDee: I’m pleased and I’d like to say thanks to all readers who read this interview dialogue. If there are any unwilling mistakes or improper use of words, please don’t mind me. I’d like to apologize in advance to you all. Cheer!

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