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WEBSITE DEVELOPMENT: BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN THE CAMBODIAN CHAM
MUSLIM COMMUNITY AND THE REST OF THE WORLD
Farina So1
Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), 66 Preah Sihanouk Blvd.,
P.O.Box 1110, Phnom Penh, CAMBODIA
1frnso@yahoo.com
ABSTRACT
Over three hundred mosques have been built across Cambodia since the
fall of the Democratic Kampuchea government and plans are currently
underway for the construction of more mosques. Despite the
increasing number of mosques, communication and information sharing
between the nation’s several hundred mosques is limited and
infrequent due to impediments such as poor roads, scarce economic
resources, low education, and limited access to media outlets. This
website seeks to alleviate these challenges by focusing on media
access- an arena that has yet to be addressed in the Cham community.
It will not only provide extensive information about the Cham Muslim
community on subjects such as Cham history, village origins, way of
life, religious teachings, and updated information on the Khmer
Rouge Tribunal, but will also be interactive in nature through the
use of blog posts. This project will be of great importance to
scholars, researchers, students, and other interested persons in the
Cham minority as it will offer accurate and well documented
articles. The overall goal of this project is to bring members of
Cham communities across the country closer to each other and to the
world and likewise educate the world about the Cham minority in
Cambodia.
Keywords: Democratic Kampuchea, Cham Muslim community, media
outlets, blog, Cambodia.
1.0 INTRODCUTION
In 2005, the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) organized
four large meetings with Cham Muslim leaders in Phnom Penh and in
other provinces regarding an oral
history project. Many participants at the meeting agreed upon the
idea of creating a website for the Cham Muslim community. Although
the issue of illiteracy was brought up, the participants remained
about website development. Both the leader of highest Islamic
Religious Council in Cambodia, Oknha Sos Kimry, and the leader of
the Cham Imam Sann, Oknha Knuor Kaitoam, supported this website
plan.
Although there are many means of communication from television to
radio to newspaper, an online website is the most efficient way to
transfer information to over 400 Cham villages across the country.
As the world becomes increasingly globalized, it is important for
Cham Muslims to have a part. Scholars, researchers and interested
groups can find information about Cham Muslim communities in
Cambodia through the convenience of the Internet.
After the fall of Democratic Kampuchea in 1979 (commonly referred to
the Khmer Rouge regime), many survivors returned to their hometowns
while some others decided to settle elsewhere. Cham Muslims have
migrated east and west of the country to seek better living and
employment opportunities. As they settled into a new area, a small
Cham community is formed. Each newly-built community usually
consists of 10 to 100 families. Step by step community members build
surao and mosques for worship. Today, there are over 500,000
Cham Muslims living in various communities throughout Cambodia. At
present, online communication is nearly nonexistent in Cham
villages. Furthermore, the outside world knows very little about the
Cham Muslim minority. This website will serve to not only connect
one Cham village to another, but it will provide a bridge between
Cham Muslims and the world.
1.1 Website Content
The website will be structured in the following manner:
1) Home
2) About the Website
-
Descriptions and statistical information regarding each Cham
village
-
Cham Culture, traditions and language
-
Excerpts from online news sources on domestic and foreign issues
including articles written by the Cham Muslim Oral History
project leader and members of the Cham Muslim community
-
Khmer Rouge Survivors' Stories
-
Family Tracing for those who seek to locate a missing family
member
-
Updated information on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
3) Blog (One or more blogs for interactive correspondence among
website visitors)
4) For bloggers. This section is open to bloggers who wish to share
links or contribute articles.
5) Comment under each article
6) Contact us
7) Sponsors
The content on the website will include general information as well
as scholarly research conducted on Cham Muslims. The website aims
to reach a wide audience and hopes to raise awareness about the Cham
Muslim community.
1.2 Objectives of the Project and Study
The overall goal of this project is to bring members of Cham Muslim
communities across the country closer to each other and to educate
the world about the Cham Muslim minority in Cambodia. The study
seeks to explore Cham Muslim attitudes on the proposed website,
Internet access, and perceived benefits for themselves and the
community. This study offers recommendations for website content
development.
2.0 METHODOLOGY
Questionnaires were distributed to Cham students and villagers and
interviews were conducted with Cham Muslim community members across
the country. Most of the respondents are familiar with DC-Cam and
some have even attended DC-Cam events including trips to the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). Moreover,
some have given us their hand-written stories about their
experiences under the Khmer Rouge regime. In total, 130 people of
various backgrounds (sellers, motor taxi drivers, businessmen, civil
servants, workers, and students) were selected to participate in
this study.
Two villages have been selected as pilot sites for this project. The
villages are located on the outskirts of Phnom Penh (about 8
kilometers away) and each contains
approximately 1000 families. Many children in these villages go to
school. Some Cham students who attend school in these villages, but
are originally from other provinces, were also selected to
participate in the study.
Survey questions are divided into two parts: the first part concerns
demographical information of the respondent (gender, age, education,
income, occupation, and village size) and second consist of 15
questions regarding opinions about the proposed website. Eight
questions that are most revealing of the study’s finding and their
results are listed below.
2.1 Demographic Information of Survey Respondents
Participants represent various age groups. About 53.8% (or 70
people) of those in this study are between 40-60 years of age. The
other participants, 46.2% (or 60 people) are young adults and
students. Females comprised 42.3% (or 55) of respondents.
Below in information which describes the background of respondents:
Number of villages: 2
Number of Families in the villages: 2000
Total Populations: 5000
Average monthly income: $30
Highest level of education: year 4 of bachelor’s degree program
Lowest level of education: grade 3
Average level of education of respondent: grade 7
3.0 SUMMARY OF RESULTS
Below are
the results to eight questions from the survey.
Question 1: Do you want to have Cham Muslim website?
69.2% I strongly want the website (46.2% from students and young
adults, 23.1% from the 40-60 group)
30.1% I want the website (30.1% from the 40-60 group)
0% I somewhat want the website
0% I don't want the website
Based on question 1, the majority of respondents, 69.2% (or 90 out
of 130 respondents) strongly want a website developed for the Cham
Muslim community. Those in the older age group, between 40-60 years
old, also express the desire for a website, although about half of
this group strongly wants it. No respondents said that they did not
want a website developed for the Cham Muslim community.
Question 2: Which language do you prefer the website use?
61.5% I prefer Khmer (all from the 40-60 age group)
30.1% I prefer both Khmer and English (from students and young
adults)
7.7% I prefer English (from students and young adults)
6.2% I prefer Cham language (50% of the 6.2% are from the student
and young adults group)
1.5% I prefer both Cham and Khmer (all from the 40-60 age group)
It is clear that the majority of those between 40-60 years of age
would prefer that the website be in Khmer (the national language)
while the majority of student would prefer both Khmer and English
for the website. A small percentage would like the website to be in
Cham and an even smaller portion prefer both Cham and Khmer.
Question 3: Which content do you want on the website? (Check all
that apply)
100% About the Website
-
Descriptions and statistical information regarding each Cham
village
-
Cham Culture, traditions and language
-
Excerpts from online news sources on domestic and foreign
issues including articles written by the Cham Muslim Oral
History project leader and members of the Cham Muslim
community
-
Khmer Rouge Survivors' Stories
-
Family Tracing for those who seek to locate a missing family
member
-
Updated information on the Khmer Rouge Tribunal
90% Home
90% Contact us
90% Sponsors
80% Blog (One or more blogs for interactive correspondence among
website visitors)
70% Comment under each article
50% For bloggers. This section is open to bloggers who wish to
share links or contribute articles.
Fig. 1: Content for the Website
All respondents want the “About the Website” section to be on the
website while the sections, “Home,” “Contact Us,” and “Sponsors”
follow closely behind with 90%. While only 50% of the respondents
said that they wanted the “For Bloggers” section to be a part of the
website, a majority of them (80%) favor blogs where users can post
comments and replies.
Question 4: Number of people who know how to
use the Internet
92.3% Do not know how to use the Internet
3.8% Do know how to use the Internet, 15-29 years old
2.3% Do know how to use the Internet, 30-49 years old
0.8% Do know how to use the Internet, below 15 years old
The number of people who do not know how to use Internet is the
largest group, 92.3% (or 120
respondents). Only 5 respondents or 3.8% between 15-29 years old
answered that they know how to use the Internet, followed by 2.3% or
3 respondents between the ages of 30-49. The youngest respondents,
below age 15, make up the smallest percentage, 0.8%, of
internet users. Overall, there are only 10 out of the 130
respondents who know how to use the internet; all of them are
students.
Question 5: Why do you use the Internet? (Open-ended question)
80% Homework assignments for school
70% Check email
40% Entertainment and/or chatting
30% Seeking job opportunities
20% Other
The 10 respondents who know how to use the Internet provided
different reasons for their Internet usage. Most of the respondents
use the Internet for their school assignments. Although it would
appear that all students use the Internet to check email, only 70%
answered that they do. Four of the 10 students said that they use
the Internet for entertainment purposes such as online chatting.
Question 6: How many Internet stations are near your village?
88.5% One, but half a kilometer away from my village
(46.2% are from students, 42.3% from the 40-60 group)
11.5% None (from the 40-60 age group)
0% Two
0% More than two
According to the response, 88.5% of respondents or 115 out of 130
respondents said there is only one Internet station located about
half a kilometer from their village. Only 11.5% said that there are
no Internet stations located near their village and none claim that
there is more than one.
Question 7: Is the Cham Muslim website important?
69.2% Yes, it is very important
21.5% Yes, it is important
1.5% No, it is not important
Both students and villagers the Cham Muslim website is very
important for them with 69.23% (or 90 respondents). While 28
respondents, or 21.54%, said it is “important” to them. There were
two respondents (1.5%) who do not think the website is important
which is reasonable considering that a majority of the respondents
do not know how to use the Internet.
Question 8: What is your opinion of the website? (open-ended
question)
96.2% Provide information to the Cham Muslim community members
(60% from student group, 40% from the 40-60 age group)
93.3% Provide opportunities for villagers, particularly young
adults to obtain knowledge (50% from students, 50% from the 40-60
group)
76.9% Bring Cham Muslim communities closer together (55% from
students, 45% from the 40-60 group)
30.8% Allow outsiders to know about the Cham Muslim community (50%
from students, and 50% from the 40-60 group)
30.8% Concern about pornographic material on the website (70% from
the 40-60 group, 30% from students)
The answers from respondents have been grouped into five categories.
The overwhelming majority (96.2%) believe that the website will
provide information for Cham Muslims and 93.3% believe that the
website will provide opportunities for villagers to increase their
knowledge. A majority also said that it would help to bring Cham
Muslims close together. A lesser amount of people said that the
website would allow outsiders to know about the Cham Muslim
community. Some respondents expressed concern about Internet porn.
Final Comments
100% I want the website to be created very soon
84.61% I want to learn how to use the Internet
76.92% I want to use the Internet free of charge
53.83% Website must be for educational purposes and
contain no pornographic material
46.15% I want to have a future comments section, but only
moderate comments
23.07% No comment
All respondents requested that the website to be launched very soon.
Similarly, 84.61% or 110 of the respondents want an expert to
assist/guide them with the website because they don't know how use
the Internet. They also raised issues regarding the money and time
needed to access the Internet and thus would appreciate Internet
usage being free of charge (76.9% of all respondents). More than
half (53.8%) requested that the website contain educational material
only and not pornographic material. About 46.2% would like to have
comments section. Thirty respondents (23.07%) did not write any
comments on the survey.
4.0 CONCLUSIONS
According to the survey results, DC-Cam’s proposal for a Cham Muslim
community website should be accepted by many people in Cham
community because nearly 100% of the respondents (both young and
old) would like to see the website launched in the very near future.
This website can become a valuable source of information for the
Cham Muslim community. In addition to its educational value, it can
also strengthen Cham identity help solidify the Cham Muslim
community. Furthermore, this website can help Cham Muslims connect
with other people from different parts of the world.
The two villages surveyed for the study are located on the outskirts
of Phnom Penh, not too far from at least one Internet station.
These two villages were believed to provide an unbiased sample of
the population of Cham Muslims in the whole country. It is difficult
to assume that two villagers surveyed are representative of the 400
Cham villages in Cambodia. However, this study reveals strong
support and interest in the website which in the least, shows that
there are villages which overwhelmingly want a website created
soon. These two villages contain students from other villages and
even neighboring provinces and thus would be good locations to gauge
opinions about the website.
Most of respondent are satisfied with our proposed contents.
Although their knowledge or understanding of the website is limited,
they gave us many good ideas about what they believed to be
important for the website. Respondents are aware that the website
will provide a great deal of information about their village and
other Cham Muslim villages as well as information about the rest of
the world. The results show young adults will be able to use the
website for multiple purposes; most of them use it for their
studies. As Internet usage in Cambodia continues to rise, there is
no doubt that students in general will be expected to have greater
skills and knowledge in researching online Internet sources. Early
computer knowledge can provide them with increased job opportunities
in the future. We must also take great care to watch over the young
when they use the Internet as the ease of accessing pornographic
material on the Internet remains a problem.
4.1 Challenges Associated with the Project
There are several challenges associate with the website project.
Illiteracy in the older population might create difficulties in
interacting with other website visitors from different countries,
let alone Cambodian users. The majority of Cambodians are poor and
rural and people from the two villages in this study are no
different. Due to time, money, and technological know-how, some
members in the village will not be able to access the website
despite their interest in the website. There is also concern by
older members of the Cham community that children will use the
Internet to view pornographic material. They recognize however,
that increased technological skills and knowledge about the Cham
community are important benefits of this website project.
4.2 Recommendations to Improve the Website Project
The Website will be both in Khmer and English. The
survey shows that a majority of the respondents would like the
website to be in Khmer and considering the limited knowledge of
English among the population surveyed, Khmer will be the dominant
language of the website. However, given the rise of English
speakers in Cambodia (mostly among the young), the desire to
encourage English learning, and to make the website accessible to
foreign scholars, students, and other interested persons, the
website will be in both languages. In addition, where necessary the
Cham language should also be included in the website since some
respondents expressed an interest in this.
Volunteers are needed to assist with this project.
Volunteers will play a crucial role in this project.
We will select two volunteers from each village, once a student and
another is an elder, for a total of four volunteers. We will also
select one student and elder from mosques located throughout
Cambodia when this project grows larger. Two more volunteers are
needed to work at the DC-Cam office to assist with updating
information on the website and other technical matters. It is
expected that we will be able to select quality volunteers given the
increasing number of students majoring in English and computer
science across universities in Cambodia including the Cambodian
Islamic Youth Association. The volunteers will be in charge of
routine activities such as checking the website, printing out
important news for community members, meeting with the youth and
encouraging the use of the website, reporting to the project leader
at DC-Cam’s office, and collaborating with an elder in the village.
The two will worked closely together, especially when it comes to
content building such as writing articles.
Role of the Cham Oral History Project Team Leader.
The Cham
Oral History Project leader will monitor the project from her desk
at DC-Cam and will routinely travel to villages as part of other
project activities. She will conduct meetings with volunteers and
community members to discuss issues regarding the website. People
will be encouraged to think of the website as an important source of
information about their community and the Cham community at large.
They can also learn about the events that are taking place around
the world. It is hoped that as more Internet stations are opening
up, increased competition will lead to lower prices for the
consumer. This will allow more Cham Muslims to gain Internet
access. The team lead will help provide assistance to newcomers on
how to browse the website, access its content, and post comments on
blogs.
Content should be updated regularly and technical assistance is
needed to create a blog.
A volunteer at DC-Cam will be in charge for editing and updating the
content of the website upon receiving comments from villagers and
the project’s team leader. Content that is expected to be regularly
updated include Khmer Rouge tribunal news and photographs. This
volunteer will also be in charge of the technical aspects of the
project such as the creation of blogs and posting links to other
related websites. This person will also ensure that the language
used in posting comments is respectful and considerate. Once the
website has launched, it will immediately be open for use by
students, the elderly, researchers, and the general public.
REFERENCES
Documentation Center of Cambodia, 2005. Oral History
project, DC-Cam. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of
Cambodia.
Pentelovitch, Norman; Kathryin Simon and Sok-Kheang Ly. July 2007.
The Outreach Preferences of Rural Cambodians Regarding the
Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Phnom Penh,
Cambodia: Documentation Center of Cambodia.
So, Farina. June 2005. Education for Cham Muslim Women in
Cambodia. Phnom Penh, Cambodia: Documentation Center of
Cambodia.
http://www.globalvoicesonline.org/ (viewed on
October 20, 2007) |
