by Davy SOK
 |
| Photo from www.last.fm |
Ros Sereysothea was among the greatest female singer
in Cambodia. She was born in 1948 in a small village in Battambang. She was
very charming and had a very powerful voice that could make people easy to fall
for her. In her childhood, she grew up in a very poor family. Her family could
not afford to send her to school that is why she did not even know how to read
and write Khmer.
In her early teens, she and her family started to perform
traditional band in order to earn money for their living. Serey Seng and Sothea
were vocal while the rest of her family played the music. Her family had been
struggling for living so, she needed to perform daily throughout small village
in Battambang.
From day to day, her band had been known over the province, and her audience has recognized her by "Serey-Sothea" naming the band after its two featured signers. Then, they moved to Phnom Penh to make more money and gain popularity. After performing for free in the spot light at the local clubs, both of them were hired by one of the clubs to be their regular singers without any connection. At that time, Sothea quickly became successful, and her popularity increased over the crowds in the city. The songs she sang made the audience breathless, and had her first hit is "Steung Khieu" during 1967.
During the late 1960s to 1970s, King Norodom Sihanouk awarded her with the title "Preah Reach Ny Som Leng Meas" after she starred in a few films, and produced some amazing music, classics, in many genres. Even though she was very famous, she was not happy with her personal life. In the late 60s, she got married to a Muslim singer, Sous Mat. Her husband did not want her to sing for others. This made her feel painful. Then she decided to divorce him in the early 70s.
Tiv Heng whose hometown was at Kompong Speu described Sothea's life during her horrible years. In 1977, Sothea was very sad when Pol Pot forced her to marry with one of their assistants. As a result, they both always had conflict with each other. He was very jealous with Sothea when she performed the song for other people. When Sothea arrived home, he hit her. There was domestic violence almost all the time in their family until this news was known by people at work site. Then the district leader started to do the investigation. People thought, "It was because of her husband that Sothea and her family were killed."
"Some people saw that Sothea and her family had been sent to the new town by riding on a cow cart to Jeum Sankae. People were very happy for that, but they never saw people who were sent out to a new town comeback. In fact, I believed that they were all sent to be killed instead at Tro Phaung Phlong. We have specific information about Ros Sereysothear's death coming from her serving sister, and she claimed to know the news about Sothea that she was seriously sick and could not eat anything in Phnom Penh Hospital”, Tiv Heng said.
From day to day, her band had been known over the province, and her audience has recognized her by "Serey-Sothea" naming the band after its two featured signers. Then, they moved to Phnom Penh to make more money and gain popularity. After performing for free in the spot light at the local clubs, both of them were hired by one of the clubs to be their regular singers without any connection. At that time, Sothea quickly became successful, and her popularity increased over the crowds in the city. The songs she sang made the audience breathless, and had her first hit is "Steung Khieu" during 1967.
During the late 1960s to 1970s, King Norodom Sihanouk awarded her with the title "Preah Reach Ny Som Leng Meas" after she starred in a few films, and produced some amazing music, classics, in many genres. Even though she was very famous, she was not happy with her personal life. In the late 60s, she got married to a Muslim singer, Sous Mat. Her husband did not want her to sing for others. This made her feel painful. Then she decided to divorce him in the early 70s.
Tiv Heng whose hometown was at Kompong Speu described Sothea's life during her horrible years. In 1977, Sothea was very sad when Pol Pot forced her to marry with one of their assistants. As a result, they both always had conflict with each other. He was very jealous with Sothea when she performed the song for other people. When Sothea arrived home, he hit her. There was domestic violence almost all the time in their family until this news was known by people at work site. Then the district leader started to do the investigation. People thought, "It was because of her husband that Sothea and her family were killed."
"Some people saw that Sothea and her family had been sent to the new town by riding on a cow cart to Jeum Sankae. People were very happy for that, but they never saw people who were sent out to a new town comeback. In fact, I believed that they were all sent to be killed instead at Tro Phaung Phlong. We have specific information about Ros Sereysothear's death coming from her serving sister, and she claimed to know the news about Sothea that she was seriously sick and could not eat anything in Phnom Penh Hospital”, Tiv Heng said.
Ros Sereysothea died in Phnom Penh just few weeks
before the Vietnamese invasion.
Reference:http://khmermusic.thecolerranch.com/rossereysothea.htm
[Accessed on June 19, 2012]
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