Eam Chhay teaching his daughter while selling guava on Preah Sihanouk Blvd in the capital’s Prampi Makara district. Heng Chivoan
Eam Chhay and his two young daughters are often seen selling guava on the sidewalk of Wat Mohamantrey in Phnom Penh’s 7 Makara district. Recently, his older daughter, four-year-old Thai Srey Rim, amazed netizens who saw online photos of her beautiful handwritten Khmer consonants and vowels.
Although Srey Rim has yet to start school, and him with little education, as a result of impoverished living conditions, Eam Chhay is the sole driver behind her writing and reading talent. Undeterred by his shortcoming, he is determined to teach her to memorise consonants and vowels, and train her to write beautifully.
Chhay briefly shared that he was from Kandal province but moved to Phnom Penh in the 1980s. He rarely returned to his hometown because he had no land there. With his ex-wife who passed away ten years ago, he had five children who are now living in different places.
“I then remarried and have three daughters now. Srey Rim is our eldest daughter while our second daughter is two-years-old, and the third one is only four-months-old.”
The 60-year-old guava seller used to live with his eldest son, from his first marriage, in a rented room. When he first came to Phnom Penh, Chhay sold firewood on a train carriage for about eight years. After that, he moved to another rented room, and changed his job to selling cauliflower on the street, and later to selling guava.
He recalled an incident when he was briefly taken to Prey Speu Social Affairs Centre for disobeying a police order on the street. After leaving the centre, he got a bicycle to carry the cauliflowers instead. Now, he sells 20 to 30kg of guava a day. Chhay starts work at 8am and finishes no later than 8pm. He can be seen selling guava at a few places including the sidewalks near Wat Mohamatrey, Orussey Market and Santhor Mok traffic light.
“Sometimes the guavas are sold quickly, so I can go home by 3pm or 4pm but at times I stay out a bit longer to try to sell as much as I can. Even though it’s tiring, it is fine because it’s much easier than selling firewood on the train carriage,” he said.
He takes his two older daughters with him to work to ease his wife’s burden of looking after the children. “Because my youngest daughter is only four-months-old, she stays with her mother, who is not well after delivering three kids via C-section.”
During these trips, he takes the opportunity of the time in between guava selling to teach Srey Rim to write. “My daughter hasn’t started attending school yet, so I teach her instead. I only have a little education, so spelling is a challenge for me. Last time, I learned only a little at the pagoda. For English, I know how to recite the alphabet from A to Z and count from 1 to 20. So, I teach her based on what I know, and hope that when my daughter starts attending school she will learn more.”
Asked how his daughter wrote so beautifully, he said he instructed her to write one letter at a time on the board. He told her to memorise all the consonants and vowels and taught her to spell letter by letter.
“I only started teaching Srey Rim five months ago but when I realised that she could remember quickly, I regretted not having started earlier as she has been following me since the time she hadn’t started speaking yet.
“In the past five months, Srey Rim has learnt to read 50 to 60 per cent because when I ask her to write some words, she is able to remember and write well.
“For instance, when I asked her if she can write the word ‘boy or girl’, she replied that this word uses consonants and vowels. She wrote it all by herself. I did not have to tell her, which means she knows how to spell,” said the proud father.
He asserted that he has never beaten or used harsh language while teaching her, only politely encouraging her to learn.
“I am committed to teach my three daughters so that they will be able to read and write before attending school.”
Granted, teaching Srey Yim is challenging because of his shortcomings, but Chhay said he always makes sure he explains well and guides her accordingly.
He added, “I always tell my children that we [him and his wife] have no education, that’s why we are sitting and selling like this. I urge them to study hard and be able to sit and work at ABA Bank. I try to explain to them about the comfortable life they can have if they study well.”
Currently, a few people have come to support him, including some who have promised to help his daughter complete her education in school, which has made him very happy.
“I am so grateful. I would like to thank everyone who has helped my family and I,” Chhay said.
