Many Cambodians fear or find it hard to accept deportees like Kay Kay, who were initially expected to bring a crime wave with them to the country.
'Depending on their jobs, some of them (deportees) still face stigma,' says Ong Klung, head of the Returnee Integration Support Programme. 'Some find it hard to function.' Taing Phoeuk, director of Korsang, an HIV education organisation which is staffed by many deportees, says the vast majority are not involved in any criminal behaviour.
For his part, Kay Kay says his students inspire him to live well, although there is also irony in the attention he has had from founding Tiny Toones.
When he gave a performance at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Hong Kong last year, Kay Kay danced in front of former US president Bill Clinton - the man who passed the law which banished him. He also could not accompany his students as they went on a performance tour of the US early this year.
Kay Kay says he is slowly being accepted into Cambodian society now and hopes he will be completely welcome someday.
As he and his fellow deportees integrate in the country, they have helped entrench hip hop culture in Cambodia. Videos, advertisements and club performances are now taking on an increasingly American urban style.
Saray Sarom, 23, a former street kid who now teaches breakdancing at Tiny Toones, believes it can further help the impoverished country.
'It has completely changed my perspective about life,' he says. 'I feel hopeful when I see that I can teach other disadvantaged kids something valuable and see that they progress like me.'
'Depending on their jobs, some of them (deportees) still face stigma,' says Ong Klung, head of the Returnee Integration Support Programme. 'Some find it hard to function.' Taing Phoeuk, director of Korsang, an HIV education organisation which is staffed by many deportees, says the vast majority are not involved in any criminal behaviour.
For his part, Kay Kay says his students inspire him to live well, although there is also irony in the attention he has had from founding Tiny Toones.
When he gave a performance at a Clinton Global Initiative meeting in Hong Kong last year, Kay Kay danced in front of former US president Bill Clinton - the man who passed the law which banished him. He also could not accompany his students as they went on a performance tour of the US early this year.
Kay Kay says he is slowly being accepted into Cambodian society now and hopes he will be completely welcome someday.
As he and his fellow deportees integrate in the country, they have helped entrench hip hop culture in Cambodia. Videos, advertisements and club performances are now taking on an increasingly American urban style.
Saray Sarom, 23, a former street kid who now teaches breakdancing at Tiny Toones, believes it can further help the impoverished country.
'It has completely changed my perspective about life,' he says. 'I feel hopeful when I see that I can teach other disadvantaged kids something valuable and see that they progress like me.'
1 comment:
I believe that whatever they are doing could help to benefit the life of Cambodia. Everyone needs a second chances, not all returnees will want to live the life of a criminal. Most are still ignorance about them because they haven had a chance to get to know them from the inside, not just their appearance. Best Sam
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