This week’s Lift is about religion, something that is not only an integral part of Cambodia’s culture, but continues to have a close relationship with education in the Kingdom. Buddhism has long been an academic focus in Cambodia, with Pagodas serving as schools and monks serving as teachers. Moreover, foreign religions such as Christianity have made the education of Cambodians one of their priorities upon entering the country.

While we at Lift do not promote any religion in particular, we realise that for many of our readers, religion is a daily part of their lives and adherence to religious principles is a priority of many families and communities around Cambodia. Regardless of what religion you practice, there are valuable lessons to be learned in the teachings and scripture of various faiths, and freedom of religion is just as important as other freedoms that we have written about at Lift, such as the freedom of speech and expression.

Another new feature of Lift this week is our scholarship listings, which we hope will expand in the coming weeks. We realise that many of our readers have the desire to go beyond Cambodia in their academic career, and we hope that by sharing opportunities to study abroad, we will help you get there. As always, if you have ideas for Lift or want to contribute a story that you think our readers need to know about, please contact us at [email protected].