A Change of Guard

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Thursday 5 April 2012

Royal lends voice to returnees


Princess Soma Norodom hosted the ‘Champtions of Change, too’ gala, sharing her own experience as a refugee in the US. Photo by Chhim sreyneang

By Diana Montaño
Wednesday, 04 April 2012
Phnom Penh Post

An eclectic mix of artists, NGO workers, former gang members and Cambodian royalty filled Java Café to capacity on Monday night for a dinner and awards ceremony aimed at raising awareness about the US government’s ongoing deportation of Cambodian refugees.

Princess Soma Norodom, the niece of King Norodom Sihoni, was the night’s host.

Norodom, who grew up in Long Beach, California, after her family fled to the US following the Khmer Rouge takeover, expressed her solidarity with those deported from the US.

“I’m here because I am Cambodian-American. I know what it was like to be a refugee in the US,” said the Princess when asked why she felt compelled to speak on the issue.

The majority of deportees arriving in Cambodia committed crimes in the past, often in their teens, which deemed them deportable, according to the local non-profit Returnee Integration Support Center.

“People have to understand that when we were there, we were kids,” said Soma Norodom. “You go through this period of isolation, you go through an identity crisis, so you get into gangs, you drink, you do drugs ... That is how some of [the returnees] got into trouble.”

The “Champions of Change, too” gala, billed as a black tie affair, was organized by Phnom Penh-based multimedia collaborative Studio Revolt to counter a “Champions of Change” dinner taking place at the White House later this week.

Studio Revolt’s video My Asian Americana, which tells the story of Cambodian returnees or “Exiled Americans” and criticizes US deportation policies, was chosen as a finalist in a contest organised by the White House’s Asian American and Pacific Islander Initiative.

However, it was excluded from the final winners’ list last month despite having garnered the most votes from online viewers, according to the filmmakers, who say the exclusion is a reflection of the Obama Administration’s avoidance of the issue.

White House officials did not respond to requests for comment on the contest.

Dinner was followed by an awards ceremony honouring My Asian Americana’s cast and crew, and by testimonies from returnees themselves.

“It’s history repeating itself,” returnee Sokha Chhim told the crowd, “Our parents got sent to a country they never knew and had to start their lives there, and we’re getting sent back to a country we never knew, and have to start our lives here.”

Despite the heavy political tone, the event was intimate and festive and included performances by Sokha Chhim, who is well known in Phnom Penh’s hip-hop scene as DJ Dolla, and spoken word poet Khosal Kiev, also a returnee.

“You can feel the creativity in the air,” said Anida Yoeu Ali, My Asian Americana’s director, who took advantage of the opportunity to announce a new artistic endeavour for the coming year entitled “Generation Return”, which will feature work by artists belonging to the Cambodian diaspora.

In attendance were about 30 returnees, as well as various members of Phnom Penh’s arts community, including representatives of Meta House, Romeet Gallery and Khmer Arts.

Princess Soma Norodom’s cousins, Nikko and Bijou Sisowath, were also present.

“Tonight we honoured My Asian Americana because the White House did not honour it even though it won the public vote,” said Soma Norodom. “We have to voice our opinion. The issue of deportations is a very big issue.”
To contact the reporter on this story: Diana Montaño at ppp.lifestyle@gmail.com

8 comments:

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
Anonymous said...

who is she? claiming to be royal family, sucked, sucked,

grew up in Long beach, never heard, never seem her,, former gang member,,
shit,,, shit..

i was living in Long beach as well
never heard , never seem her,,,
another faked ,, royal family wanted to be.. get lose soma norodom,,(princess) shit,,

Anonymous said...

Who's in the right mind wanted to be related to Sdach Sinorook !!? to me this Sdach of communism is the worse of all among many communism out there,she is probably related Barack Obama too.lol...ha..ha..ask her..

Anonymous said...

Long lost gal wanted publicity? you think so...oh,whatta. hect!...let her be!....if I were her I will distance myself from this Sdach of Chin (Sdach Sinorook) whom residents of Beijing China,welcome to the family of "shame"if its true your grandfather was the father of Communism in Cambodia and creator of this illbreed society called P.pott/Cpp today,are you proud of your grandfather!!!!?

Anonymous said...

This lady is a damn Joke!!!! I really can't believe she's standing tall and being proud of who she is and what background she came from, for crying out loud your family is the reason why US CAMBODIANS are suffering with pain n headache, this is why so many have been killed!! This lady is a disgrace to Cambodians! If you want to do something that us Cambodians will be proud of STOP THE DAMN DEPORTATION!!!! crimes commented in the past and got served already now lead us to this bull shit deportation!! Go do us a favor and useful talk to your grandfather and make it STOP!!!! .

Anonymous said...

Most of us sure have experiences and have gone on the wrong ways. We can only learn from this mistake to rebuild our humanism level of personality.
Nothing wrong for the princess Sonoma to help our Khmer brother and sisters. They are not bad or good, but they are our brother/sisters.
When we love our people, we just let the princess does her job.

Anonymous said...

I agree! We should appreciated whats she trying to help our people folks....As you all knew that King Sihanouk had too many mistress and many many wife...

Anonymous said...

I've read a story about Princess Norodom Soma. She is a daughter of Norodom Vatvani whose father is a cousin of Sihanouk.Prince Vatvani was an air force pilot during the Sihanouk regime and also during the Lon Nol regime. He escaped to America in the 1970s, after the Khmer Rouge takeover of Cambodia.

I'm proud of what Norodom Soma is trying to do for the Cambodian-American deportees. With her support, the issue of deportation would gain publicity that would send a message to the U.S government that deportation is not a good thing for both the U.S and the deportees.

Her family and she have gone through hard time during the escape from Cambodia and their time in America, but she managed to obtain a bachelor of journalism and a master degree in mass communication from American universities. Her sister, Norodom Seda, graduated from UC Davis, in Davis, California, in Political Science and Spanish, and received her Juris Doctor from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco.

Now she is a radio show host with Pannasastra University in Cambodia where she is trying to obtain a professorship to teach at that university. See, she is giving up a good life in America and is doing a good job for Cambodia to help Khmers.

Read more here:

http://somanorodom.wordpress.com/2010/07/30/a-royal-welcome-from-royalty/
http://www.puc.edu.kh/newss/puc_radio_talkshow/soma_biography.html