[02.05.2012]

Quran Reading Competition Shines Light on 10-Year Old Champion- Askadavi- Oleh Islamiyah Muhammad

Phnom Penh, Cambodia- The Quran competition that took place on February 5th in Phnom Penh, Cambodia recognizes a young champion by the name Askadavi Muhammad.

Sponsored by Malaysians, this Quran competition brought out dozens of contestants ranging from several years old up to late teens.

Askadavi, one of the youngest contestant took home first prize and the recognition for being one of the youngest to obtain such award for Qur'an recitation.

Listen to Islamiyah as she reports more on this story.

by Islamiyah Muhammad

[02.05.2012]

To Make A Living Forces A Few To Leave Home Months At A Time- Oleh Hasan Ahmad

Ha Noi, Vietnam- For many decades, Cham in Vietnam have been making a living by selling herbal medicines. They travel far away from home months at a time selling these herbal medicines to the Vietnamese in various city and towns.

Ahmad Hasen travels to Ha Noi, Vietnam to speak to several individuals sharing a single rented room while they struggle to earn income to bring back home to their families.

One man travels on average 4-5 months and makes about 20-30 million VND. He is so used to travelling away from home that now he doesn't miss home that much anymore and even said, "I come to work, why miss home?"

Listen to Ahmad as he reports more on this story.

by Ahmad Hasen

[02.05.2012]

International Seminar on Islam in Asia- oleh Islamiyah Muhammad

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia- Fifteen individuals representing several different countries in Asia came together for a Seminar On Islam in Asia. Various different topics were discussed associating to various different countries. Cambodia, in particular brought out the issue on Human Resources in Cambodia for the Muslims, which Miss Islamiyah touched base on.

Professor Muhamad Zain Musa, who organized the seminar also invited representatives from different countries such as Korea, Myanmar, Srilanka among many more. He also hopes to arrange another seminar next year.

Listen to Islamiyah as she reports more on this story.

by Islamiyah Muhamm

[01.15.2012]

The First in Ha Noi for A Halal Company- Oleh Ahmad Hasen

Ha Noi, Vietnam- Despite the fact that the Muslim population in Ha Noi is only but a handful, a Halal Company is still able to surface since 2010 to provide Halal food to the Muslims.

Abbas Mieu, who is originally from Phan Rang, established the first Halal Company and stressed the fact that Halal food in Ha Noi is difficult to find, therefore he felt the need to establish a company to provide and certify Halal food. Because there are not many Muslims in Ha Noi to collaborate and form a coaltion to form a Halal business, Abbas had to solicite the help of his family and friends to begin this greatly needed business.

Now, Vietnam has another official Halal Certification company.

Listen to Ahmad Hasen for more details as he interview Abbas Miew in Ha Noi city.

by Ahmad Hasen

[12.25.2011]

Update: Cham Raglai Receives a New Home- Oleh Ahmad Hasen

Suoi Gieng, Phan Rang, Vietnam- Mr. Ismael and his family have completed the construction of their new home in Suoi Gieng with the financial assistant from Cham people in Malaysia.

Mr. Ismael is orginally from Chau Doc, who married a Cham Raglai and resettled in Suoi Gieng many years ago. His family lived in a tiny mud house until one day he saught the assistance from Jamiyah Islamiyah on Ninh Thuan, Vietnam to help him with a new home. Jamiyah Islamiyah of Ninh Thuan reached out to the Cham abroad and collected enough donation to fully construct Mr. Ismael's home. The majority of the financial assistance comes from Cham in Malaysia, but some also come from other countries.

Watch the video to get Mr. Ismael's thoughts on getting a new home.

[12.17.2011]

Training: How To Obtain a Job- Oleh Rohany Isa

Phnom Penh, Cambodia- Cham University students took a training on how to successfully obtain a job, which is critical when graduates are competing all over the country to get a job.

Listen to Rohany on the full story.

by Rohany Isa

[12.04.2011]

Obtaining An Education In Thailand- Oleh Muslim Sulaiman

Jala, Thailand- Sakirin bin Abdulqadir is one of the many young Cham, who received an education abroad in countries such as Thailand, Malaysia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, etc. An increasing number of Cham nowadays are receiving high education, one of them being Sakirin. At the age of 25, he has graduated from I.P. University in Thailand and is now teaching in one of the schools there.

Currently there are approximately eighty Cham students studying in Thailand of which seventy are male and ten female. All the students are paying out of pocket for their studies including tuition, food and boarding. For a few exemplary students the wealthy families in Jala gives them financial donation.

Sakirin completed five years of school and has been working right out of school for the past two years.

Listen to Muslim Man for more details of this story.

by Muslim Man

[12.04.2011]

Cham Language Researcher- Oleh Salamah Kieu

Kyoto, Japan- Nathan Badenoch is an Associate Professor, who currently lives and work in Kyoto, Japan. His passion for understanding Southeast Asian laguages brought him to BangsaCham Radio where he tries to undersand how the Cham people use their language and the different ways they preserve their language, which is one of the objectives of BangsaCham Radio. Although his research on the Cham language has just started, he has a few observations such as, the Cham language is absolutely necessary among the Cham people and there is a need to strengthen it because it is not strong like it used to be. Mr. Badenoch also stated, "the Cham people are some of the most confident bilingual people I've met."

"There is a lot of concerns regarding the written language..... you can strengthen the written language but if the spoken language starts to deteriorate, then you really have problems." This saying by Mr. Badenoch allow us to see the importance of the Cham spoken language, espcecially in modern times. Nowadays, Cham are scattered all over the world and are somewhat disconnected from each others. As a result the Cham developed different words and accents that are different from each others. In an effort to bring understanding to the different spoken Cham accents, BangsaCham Radio gathers staff to work and collect news in different Cham regions to bring all the different spoken Cham accents to one place.

His exposure to and interest in different languages brought Mr. Badenoch to learn and become multilingual in many languages including Cantonese, Lao and Khmer and also a little bit of Cham. When asked whether he can say i'm going to sleep because I'm tired in Cham, Mr. Badenoch was able to say "hulin naw dih," which is half of the sentence, and that is still admirable.

Listen to the interview by Salamah Kieu for more details.

by Salamah Kieu- Interview in English

[10.30.2011]

Cham Raglai Receives A New Home- oleh Kasmuri Thanh

Xu Chien, Du Long District, Ninh Thuan Province, Vietnam- Mr. Ismael is a middle age man who traveled from Chau Doc to Du Long District, Ninh Thuan province in his earlier years and married a Cham Raglai who then accepted and adopted Islam. He now has two grown daughters and a baby daughter. His housing condition needed some attention and he reached out to Cham from outside countries to assist him to rebuild his home.

In an effort to make his dreams come true, Jamiyah Islam of Ninh Thuan, Vietnam assisted in the collection of donation from Malaysia and was able to begin the construction of Mr. Ismael's new home. The construction is more than fifty percent completed and requires additional funding to complete the home. His only hope now is to look forward to the Cham from abroad to assist him as much as they can so that he and his family can go from a small mud home to a more livable place.

[10.30.2011]

Khmers Travel to Malaysia to Find A Better Life, Adopt Islam- Oleh Muslim Man

Pahang Province, Malaysia- Phounarub, also known as Adam bin Abdullah is a Khmer who moved to Malaysia and adopts Islam. Originally from Bontirmienchi, Cambodia, he, his wife who is originally from Prey Veang, and his child, currently reside in Pakan, Pahang Province, Malaysia along with many other Khmers who adopted Islam. Some individuals have started at the same time as him and others have started before him.

The government of Malaysia has recognized these individuals and has given them appropriate immigration documents to reside in Malaysia legally. In addition, the government has given each individual 500 RM to cleanse themselves by getting circumcised and start their lives as Muslims in Malaysia.

Currently Adam and his fellow Khmers are studying in a school taught by a Cham teacher on the basics of Islam, which include learning Alif-Baa-Ta. There are a total of 50 Khmer students and among them, 30 are females and 25 are male. Students age ranges from 25 to 50 years old and the average age among them is a little more than 30 years old.

by Muslim Man- Interview in Khmer with Cham introduction

[10.23.2011]

Flooding Water Still Remain and is Causing More Problems- Oleh Rohini Isa

Phnom Penh, Cambodia- The flooding that is causing problems in the South East Asia region continues to make lives difficult for the Cham in Cambodia. The rising water is staying longer than it should this year for many parts of Cambodia. Some of the villages, which have been greatly affected by this problem includes, Chruy Chongva, Prey Veang and Croch Chmar.

by Rohini Isa

Related story: Flooding Water Chased Away Sleeping Students In The Middle of the Night- Oleh Sanyah Mohamat

by Sanyah Mohamat