Rithy Thul: Reflections on TEDxPhnom Penh

It is exciting to see so many young social entrepreneurs rising to meet the challenges in the country, but even more exciting to see everyone at this event smile and fill with emotion in response to the speakers. TEDx itself has changed so many people’s perspectives on sharing and working collaboratively, which is important to societies all over the world.

It means so much to me to see that many Cambodians hungry to learn and be able to understand what TEDxPhnomPenh was all about.
My favorite speaker at the conference was Phloeun Prim. When he talked about his mom and the place he was born, it took effort not to cry. Instead I cried inside, because I missed my parents too. I also think his talk on art made many of us think about how we can get more involved with the art community, one of the main parts of Cambodian culture.
I am happy that the upcoming generation is made of confident citizens who are proud to be Cambodian. I hope that people will gather more often to undertake the challenge of developing themselves and sharing through events like TEDxPhnomPenh. I hope that Cambodians who are in power support this type of event in the future.