Last week, Lift brought you a discussion of professional life after school. If you missed it, please access it on our website: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/LIFT/

For this week’s theme, Lift raises the question of the influx of foreign culture, and the effect it’s having on Cambodia’s youth.  We also take a different perspective, chronicling how pagodas remain popular places for male students from the provinces to stay while they pursue their education in the capital.

From ancient times, the kingdom of Cambodia has harboured a rich culture or its own, still practised and respected by people nationwide.  However, due to the increased infiltration of foreign media, foreign culture is saturating the youth of Cambodia, from movies to songs, clothes and even hairstyles.  Lift investigates the issue from all angles (pages 3 and 10).

Still, how can we reconcile this with the fact that, even with accelerating development, students pursuing their education in Phnom Penh still prefer to stay in a pagoda rather than staying with their relatives or renting a room with friends?  A Lift reporter discusses the daily life of these pagoda boys, and the rules for staying at a pagoda (pages 4-5).

Alongside this issue, we also explore how some students in the provinces are pursuing the arts, especially in the case of the Bassac opera house and Yike musical theatre.  In addition, read    up on what leads people to get in touch with the arts (pages 6-7).

That, and lots more, in this week’s edition of Lift.  Enjoy!