3rd Day: Norwich

Located in the Eastern England, Norwich was our next destination after London. Norwich was also the first venue for Master Kong Nay and Savy’s show. With 127,600 residents, Norwich is the fourth most densely populated local authority district within the Eastern Region.

We arrived here night before to find this little city so lovely and laid back. Through a friend, Dickie had found a British family who agreed to let us stay in their apartment for the next three days. The apartment locates right in the city center. Stores, restaurants and shopping centers are all just a stone’s throw away — which made our life pretty easy.

Our Thursday schedule was pretty packed. We had one live interview that noon with BBC Radio Norfolk, a rehearsal and sound check in the afternoon and most important of all our first show that night.

INTERVIEW WITH RADIO NORFOLK

BBC Norwich Headquarter

Master Kong Nay and his wife Tat Chhen waiting for the interview

The Lunch Hour Show with David Clayton

Everyone was in a big smile after the successful interview.

INAUGURATING SHOW

Our inaugurating show went very well. For a first night and in a small town like Norwich, a house of 30 audience wasn’t bad at all. Among those came were two Cambodian ladies, Sophy and Soveacha, who had married to English men and had moved here a while back. A Siem Reap native, Sophy came to England in 2002. Together with her husband, she now runs an Asian grocery store called Oriental Express in Norwich Market. Soveacha, originally from Phnom Penh, came to England fifteen years ago after falling in love with a British UN peacekeeper. She is now pursuing her BBA at Norwich CIty College and is working part-time in a small company here in Norwich.

Our show began at 7:30 pm with a 50-minute screening of The Flute Player, a PBS documentary about the life and work Cambodian Living Arts Founder Arn Chorn-Pond, who faced the dark shadows of his war-torn past as he fought to save Cambodia’s once outlawed traditional music from extinction. An extraordinary story of survival, this documentary received very positive responses from the audience.

Following the documentary came the most important part of the show — a live performance by Master Kong Nay and Savy. This one-hour presentation included four songs from Master Kong Nay, one song from Savy, a Q&A session and a duet by the two. As an MC and interpreter, I was so pleased with how the show went. I’ve never been happier and more proud. The sweet and powerful voice of the Chapei, Kong Nay and Savy swept everybody off their feet. The audience just didn’t seem to have enough. Viva Khmer art and pride!!

Master Kong Nay and Savy in action

With some of the audience at the end of the show. Sophy and Soveacha are the second and third ladies from the left.