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Tea Banh (R) and Hem Heng (L) (Photo: Sam Borin, RFA)According to Wikipedia, Tea Banh is of Sino--Thai descent, His father named Tea Toek, a Thai-Chinese, and his mother Nou Pengchend, a Thai descendant.
Tea Banh joined the Pchum Ben celebration with Cambodian-Americans
21 September 2009
By Sam Borin
Radio Free Asia
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy
Click here to read the article in Khmer
About 1,000 Cambodian expats, especially those who live around Washington DC, celebrated the last day of the Pchum Ben festival in a ceremony where a high-ranking Hun Xen’s regime official joined in.
In his participation in the Pchum Ben celebration with Cambodian Buddhists at the Puthikaram Pagoda, Washington DC, Tea Banh, the Cambodian vice-PM and minister of Defense, expressed his emotion to see the similarities of the various [religious] buildings and the Pchum Ben celebration activities held by various Cambodian Buddhist followers from various states around Washington DC, USA.
Tea Banh who was accompanied by Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to the US, joined with more than 1,000 Cambodians to celebrate the last day of Pchum Ben.
During the celebration, Tea Banh told reporters that he is happy to join in this national celebration. “It’s very good, it’s extremely good, even if they left the country, but we still preserve our good national customs, this is a good thing for our people. I am very proud for our people, even they live far away, they still maintain their traditions very well. It’s very similar, the ornaments [on the temple] are also similar, the rituals are exactly the same. I am moved to see that we maintain our [customs]. Nobody can detract the beliefs that we have and we still maintain them very well,” Tea Banh said.
Layman Koy Moeun, who is also the vice-president of the pagoda, said about the Pchum Ben celebration: “In the last two days, the pagoda is completely crowded. The situation is the same on both days: Saturday and Sunday, up until now. The Cambodian ambassador in Washington DC and 9 delegate members from Cambodia came along, they gathered at the pagoda to celebrate the festivals with us and me as the layman here. They donated money to monks and to support the pagoda.”
Like other Buddhist followes, Tea Banh [a former communist Khmer Rouge soldier] and Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to the US, joined in the religious celebration to commemorate the last day of the Pchum Ben traditional festival.
Tea Banh is currently visiting Washington DC. According to his schedule, Tea Banh will meet Adam West, the Cambodia Desk Officer of the US Department of State, and James Steinberg, the US Deputy Secretary of State. In the afternoon, Tea Banh will meet with Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense, and General [Kelly K.] McKeague, the Chief of Staff of the National Guard Bureau, and General Craig McKinley. He will also participate in the 2009 and 2010 US Quadrennial Defense Review meeting.
In his participation in the Pchum Ben celebration with Cambodian Buddhists at the Puthikaram Pagoda, Washington DC, Tea Banh, the Cambodian vice-PM and minister of Defense, expressed his emotion to see the similarities of the various [religious] buildings and the Pchum Ben celebration activities held by various Cambodian Buddhist followers from various states around Washington DC, USA.
Tea Banh who was accompanied by Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to the US, joined with more than 1,000 Cambodians to celebrate the last day of Pchum Ben.
During the celebration, Tea Banh told reporters that he is happy to join in this national celebration. “It’s very good, it’s extremely good, even if they left the country, but we still preserve our good national customs, this is a good thing for our people. I am very proud for our people, even they live far away, they still maintain their traditions very well. It’s very similar, the ornaments [on the temple] are also similar, the rituals are exactly the same. I am moved to see that we maintain our [customs]. Nobody can detract the beliefs that we have and we still maintain them very well,” Tea Banh said.
Layman Koy Moeun, who is also the vice-president of the pagoda, said about the Pchum Ben celebration: “In the last two days, the pagoda is completely crowded. The situation is the same on both days: Saturday and Sunday, up until now. The Cambodian ambassador in Washington DC and 9 delegate members from Cambodia came along, they gathered at the pagoda to celebrate the festivals with us and me as the layman here. They donated money to monks and to support the pagoda.”
Like other Buddhist followes, Tea Banh [a former communist Khmer Rouge soldier] and Hem Heng, the Cambodian ambassador to the US, joined in the religious celebration to commemorate the last day of the Pchum Ben traditional festival.
Tea Banh is currently visiting Washington DC. According to his schedule, Tea Banh will meet Adam West, the Cambodia Desk Officer of the US Department of State, and James Steinberg, the US Deputy Secretary of State. In the afternoon, Tea Banh will meet with Robert Gates, the US Secretary of Defense, and General [Kelly K.] McKeague, the Chief of Staff of the National Guard Bureau, and General Craig McKinley. He will also participate in the 2009 and 2010 US Quadrennial Defense Review meeting.
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