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      Cambodian-American Pageant
 
 

Mrs. Rattany Hort
Director of Cambodian-American Pageant

I welcome you to Miss Cambodian-American Pageant of beauty, elegance, culture and talent. The focus of this pageant is to share our culture, knowledge, strengths, friendship and beauty. We wish to inspire hope and motivation to those who participate and support this event.

We have been blessed with continual encouragement and support from the Cambodian-American community and the New Year Planning Committee. The judges were nominated and appointed by the New Year Planning Committee based on their outstanding reputation for community service and leadership. We sincerely appreciate their acceptance of the vital responsibility to select the best candidate to represent our community.

The Miss Cambodian-American Pageant Committee is composed of dedicated individuals who have worked hard to make our pageant a success. It is because of their generosity in sharing their skills, talents, and time that we have been able to carry on the pageant this year.

On behalf of the Miss Cambodian-American Pageant Committee, I would like to thank the New Year Planning Committee, business organizations, and those involved, especially the beautiful and courageous contestants and their families for their time, dedication, goodwill and commitment to the success of this year’s pageant.
 

   MISS CAMBODIAN-AMERICAN 2001
 

MISS CAMBODIAN-AMERICAN 2001
ALEXANDRA LIM
Alameda, California, U.S.A.
Height: 5’4”
 

RY BOEUN
San Jose, CA

HOEUM CHOEUN
Novato, CA

ELISA KIM
San Lorenzo, CA

RATANA KIM
San Jose, CA

ALEXANDRA LIM Alameda, CA

KUNTHEA SOK
San Jose, CA

SOPHY SOM
San Jose, CA

CHEATRA TEK Modesto, CA

NANCY TEK Modesto, CA

  
 

JUDGES OF 2001

This year the judges are nominated and appointed by CARA's Board of Directors. The judges are selected based on their dedicated community service work, cultural expertise, and leadership. We sincerely appreciate their acceptance of the responsibility to select the best candidate to represent our community

SOPHANY BAY was a former teacher in Phnom Penh, Cambodia since 1965.   Ms. Bay worked as a Cambodian mental health counselor at AACI in San Jose, CA from 1988 to 1994.   More recently, she worked as a Cambodian community organizer at AACI from 1998 to 2000 and as an instructor of literacy class for citizenship program at AACI from 1998 to 2000.   Currently, Ms. Bay is a Cambodian mental health counselor at Gardner Agency in San Jose, CA.

SAMBATH BOUN graduated from San Jose State University with BS in Accounting in 1990. In 1991, he started his own business for Bookkeeping and Tax Services. He had worked for Lockheed Martin for Seven years as the accounting Supervisor and several start-up companies as the accounting manager. He is currently working on his MBA and will be completed in 2002. As of now, he employs with Lucent Technology as the Accounts Payable Manager. Mr. Boun is very active in the Cambodian community. He was the former President of Cambodian Student Association (SJSU) and Cambodian New Year Committee in San Jose, CA.

SISOKHOM CHAN arrived in the United States in 1975.   She is married with two beautiful children and is a parent volunteer at their schools. She is committed to the Cambodian community and is involved in efforts to maintain and pass on the richness of Cambodian cultural values to our children and the rest of the society. She served as treasurer of the Cambodian Women’s Association from 1982 – 1987 and was a model for the 1983 New Years celebration and the International Fashion Show, which she helped to organize.   Ms. Chan was instrumental in obtaining corporate sponsorship for this celebration through her employer PAI subcontract to NASA Ames Research Center.  

SAVOUTH CHEA graduated from the University of Hawaii with a B.A. in Business Administration in 1999.   Mr. Chea co-founded and was a former President of the Cambodian Students of Aloha (CSAloha).   He helped to organize cultural events for the Cambodian community in Hawaii.   In addition, he worked with the Cambodian Class of Honolulu to help mainstream Cambodian-American children while maintaining the Cambodian language and culture.   Mr. Chea is a Sun’s Certified System Administrator and currently works at Yahoo Inc.

DE DEAN is a proud father of two beautiful children.   He was born in Cambodia and arrived in the U.S. in 1980.   He married Savary Dean (his beloved wife) in Oregon in 1982, then they moved to California in 1986.   Currently he lives in San Jose with his family. He has worked at General Electric for 15 years. He likes to help out with many of the Cambodian activities. He is a big supporter of his wife’s involvement in the Cambodian community. Every Cambodian New Year he’s always there for her 100%. In his free time he enjoys studying various subjects.  

MALA IENG was the 1st Runner Up in the 1960 Miss Svay Rieng Province Beauty Pageant.   Ms. Ieng is the Founder and President of the Khmer Women Alliance Foundation (KWAF).   Ms. Ieng was the Co-Founder of the Cambodian student association of Minnesota and Founder of the United Cambodian Association of Minnesota (UCAM).   She also served as a volunteer for several non-profit organizations such as Southeast Asia Resource Action Center (SEARAC), U.S. Commission on Civil Rights, and the Cambodian National Development Organization (CANDO).    

VINANNDA SAM-ATH graduated from U.C. Riverside with a B.A. in Biology.   Ms. Sam-Ath grew up in Portland, Oregon, where she began volunteering for the Cambodian New Year celebration as a classical dancer at the age of six.   She continues to help out with the New Year celebration after her family moved to California as a behind-the-scenes volunteer--helping to prepare the young dancers for their performances. However, what makes her really happy is the fact that the Cambodian communities come together every year to celebrate this special day.   She is extremely proud of the younger generation who are stepping up to continue this tradition.   Currently, she is pursuing a certificate in Microsoft Certified System Engineer.

 

   MISS CAMBODIAN-AMERICAN 2000
 

MISS CAMBODIAN-AMERICAN 2000
SARAH CHEA
San Jose, California, U.S.A.
Height: 5’3”
 

JUDGES OF 2000
 

RUSS COHN is the Chairman of Brigade Solutions, Inc.
Prior to founding Brigade, Mr. Cohn was a management consultant with Paris-based Gemini Consulting, now part of CAP Gemini. There he helped global telecommunications firms reinvent customer service. He has completed turnaround engagements for the leading telecommunications carriers of Australia, South Africa, Europe, and the US. Prior to Gemini, Mr. Cohn served on the research staff of Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in Japan. Mr. Cohn holds BS and MS degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

RODGER E. CRYER, Ph.D., is a bilingual teacher at Los Arboles School. Dr. Cryer was a Principal at McKinley Neighborhood Year Round School and G. W. Hellyer Year Round Elementary School. Dr. Cryer received his Ph.D. from Columbia Pacific University in Counseling Psychology, MA from Leland Standford Jr. University in Educational Administration, and BA from San Diego State University in Fine Arts and Social Science. His special interests include multi-cultural and environmental issues. He speaks Gujarati fluently.

DAVE JONES is the Director of Training and Documentation Department at IKOS Systems. In his own words, Mr. Jones is a “US citizen by birth, a Californian by heritage, a Unitarian by intellect, teacher by profession, internationalist by inclination, reader by compulsion, writer by instinct”. His education and background led him to a profession in the Electronic Design Automation industry. During the last 16 years, Mr. Jones has sponsored Cambodians to the US and involved with the Cambodian community.

SAM KEO is married and has three children. A resident of San Jose, Mr. Keo came to the United States in March 1983. Mr. Keo was born in Kandal Province and grew up in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. He managed to finish junior high school before the Khmer Rouge took over in 1975. When he was a refugee in Khao I Dang Camp, Thailand, Mr. Keo worked with the International Red Cross and American Embassy. He earned a BSEE Degree from California State University of Pomona in 1999. Mr. Keo has worked in the broadband technology, semiconductor lasers, and optoelectronics for the past 15 years.

VICTORIA V. LIM is the founder and president of the Santa Clara Valley Cambodian Women’s Association (SCVCWA). Ms. Lim also serves as a board member for Services and Immigration Rights and Education Network (SIREN). Through the collective efforts of SCVCWA’s members, the RFC funded the SKILLED program (Supporting Khmer In Language and Life Education) which addresses the cultural and educational challenges of the Cambodian-American community. Furthermore, Ms. Lim is a family advocate’s supervisor for RFC. Ms. Lim was nominated for the Women of Achievement Awards. In addition, Ms. Lim acts as a liaison, researcher, grant writer, fund-raiser, and a valuable resource person for all Cambodian-Americans.

HOLLY TE is a member of the California State Bar and currently works in the securities regulations with E*Trade Securities, Inc. Ms. Te obtained her BA from UCLA, attended graduate school at Cornell University, and obtained her JD from UC Hastings College of the Law.