Ea Borey, 21, fourth-year student at University of Puthisastra

“As a half-Chinese, it’s important that I help my mother prepare the house for the holiday – cook, clean, and decorate. These are all simple activities, but I look forward to them. It also makes me happy to know that I can reduce my mother’s stress by helping out. During Chinese New Year, I get to see all of my family and we sit around to look back on the past year. It’s important to strengthen my relationship with my relatives – it’s what I really need.”

Khan Samrith, 17, year-11 student at Sisovat High School

“I think that on Chinese New Year, all families should come together and celebrate. During this time, I’ll be helping my mother with the housework, especially cooking. Also, I may spend a bit of the holiday reading books and reviewing my lessons. Some people might think that spending the holiday doing housework and schoolwork is too old-fashioned, but for me it’s a wonderful and sweet way to spend my free-time.”

Leng Morakot, 18, first-year student at Human Resources University

“On the upcoming occasion, young adults will do a bunch of different things – from having a huge party to just playing cards with friends. For me, as a teenager, I’ll be spending the holiday helping my mother with the housework. I’ll also catch up on my school assignments and review lessons at home. During the first evening of Chinese New Year, I’ll probably go to the river side to release stress and get refreshed after studying for weeks.”

Sam Sanstar, 18, second-year student at Royal University of Phnom Penh

“Chinese New Year is coming soon, but I have no plans yet of where I’ll go and what I’ll do. However, I’m pretty sure that I’ll be spending most of my time with my family because it’s always enjoyable to chit-chat with my relatives. Most of the time, my relatives will ask me to play cards or go for a nice walk together. This year, I have to make sure to save some time to review my lessons and get some work done, since I have an exam right after the holiday.”

Yin Soklay, 19, second-year Student at Institute of Foreign Languages

“During Chinese New Year, I always spend my time enjoying different activities with family. Sometimes, we’ll even go to a resort for rest and relaxation. But this year, I’ll be spending a lot of time going over my lessons since I have to sit for exams as soon as the holiday is over. Also, this holiday, I’m going to spend time learning how to drive a car.”