Phan Si Leng is from Cambodia. She has three lovely children and a loving husband who often creates romantic surprises in their daily life. When it comes to her eleven years of happy marriage, she said, “It’s really not easy to marry a Taiwanese husband and apply to come to Taiwan because of Cambodia’s policy. It’s definitely a true love that goes through all the toils to be a Taiwanese daughter-in-law marrying from Cambodia now.
Phan Si Leng’s wedding in Cambodia.
Phan Si Len’s Chinese proficiency can put many Taiwanese into shame. She is working at the National Immigration Agency of New Taipei City Service Center as a Cambodian interpreter and serves as a Cambodian teacher in several elementary schools. She also assists in translating all sorts of Cambodian documents for Taiwanese enterprises. Despite not being a Chinese descent, Phan Si Leng has quite an experience at learning Chinese back then.
Phan Si Leng takes her children back to hometown Cambodia.
She learned Chinese with a Chinese aunt who knew Chinese in the village at the age of eight. When she was sixteen years old, she went to work at a shoe factory. Then, she found out that the Chinese aunt came from Fujian in the early years. Though she learned traditional Chinese writing, her speaking was Hokkien that sounded like Taiwanese. At that time, her salary was $35 U.S dollars per month as a factory operator. Phan Si Len understood the importance of Chinese; therefore, she would go to the Buddhist hall that was founded by a Taiwanese religious group located in Cambodia to learn Chinese and computers after work. After four years of learning, Phan Si Len had an amazing improvement in Chinese listening, speaking, reading, and writing. Plus she knew Hokkien. Phan Si Len then successfully went to a Taiwanese factory working as an interpreter where her salary was ten times more than before and met her husband Li Jyun Yan.
Phan Si Leng always actively participates in the speeches that are promoting Cambodian culture.
Phan Si Len has actively participated in all kinds of activities and courses held by the immigrant service center to adapt to life in Taiwan as soon as possible for settling down after marriage. As long as the activities welcome children, Phan Si Len will always participate including Chinese courses for immigrants, interpreter training lessons, cooking courses, cultural studies, and so on. Phan Si Len likes to call herself a senior immigrant compared to others because he has been in Taiwan for eleven years. In recent years, she has been invited to give speeches to share her experiences.
Through her sharings, new immigrant sisters would be able to adjust themselves as fresh off the boat, and reduce the fear and discomfort. Phan Si Len tracks down more than three thousand Cambodian immigrants who live in Taiwan through social media.
Phan Si Len is so eager that she has positively connected them into a group. Therefore, they can share their lives in Taiwan and help those with poor Chinese to solve all kinds of problems they have encountered in Taiwan. Phan Si Len becomes a generally acknowledged most heartwarming Mrs. know-it-all in the Taiwan Cambodian community in the past few years.
Phan Si Leng serves as an interpreter for the court and immigrant agency.
Acting as an interpreter in the immigrant service center while servicing as a translater for the enterprises and teacher for Cambodian had already made Phan Si Len busy enough. Plus her two young children, she had too much on her plate. Five years ago, Phan Si Len conceived her third child who was not “in the plan.” The discomfort during the pregnancy had Phan Si Len quit her translating work in the enterprises which came with a decent salary. Phan Si Len started to wonder what kinds of jobs could earn money at home so that she could take care of her family at the same time while sharing her husband’s burden and their family expenses.
Phan Si Leng makes a Cambodian teaching videos to assist her teaching.
Phan Si Len is quite active on social media. At first, she discovered the newly beginning “micro-business” to sell some children’s clothing and supplies in the group. She had no idea she would close the deals in an instant. Later, she had been requested to ask her husband who often travels between Cambodia and Taiwan to bring some Cambodian food for Cambodian sisters who have been in Taiwan for many years due to their homesick. Under this opportunity, Phan Si Len has started to explore how to run a micro-business and created a Facebook club called “A Mother of Three Find a Cambodia.” She also runs an online shopping platform and fumbles the ways to live-stream. Phan Si Len focuses on selling Cambodian clothing, handicrafts, cultural and creative merchandise, and seasonings to make her micro-business more creative. She provides a commission sale platform for Cambodian cuisine made by Cambodians who live in Taiwan. After running “A Mother of Three Find a Cambodia” for four years, it has earned a good reputation. Phan Si Len is confident in front of the camera and she has drawn many fans every time she live-streams. It has attracted many Taiwanese audiences who aren’t familiar with Cambodia to place an order while watching Phan Si Len introducing the products in the traditional Cambodian clothing.
Phan Si Leng introduces Cambodian culture in drama to everyone.
Phan Si Len can take care of her family and children because of her micro-business that she started during her pregnancy of an unpredicted third-born. She has learned many valuable experiences in her four years of running the micro-business. Phan Si Len is happy to share her experiences with her immigrant sisters so that those who cannot go out to work can also make use of the Internet to explore human connections and begin a career while taking care of their families.
Phan Si Leng writes spring couplets in Cambodian.
Phan Si Len’s slash life is getting busier and busier now. Despite looking after her family and children make her busy, she insists on interpreting for the immigrant service center and the court. Knowing the importance of education and cultural inheritance, she persists in commuting to several elementary schools located in Taipei City and New Taipei City per week to teach Cambodian. Other than that, Phan Si Len is always ardently participated in the events that were held by the immigrant agency or women’s council. Sometimes, she would bring Cambodian products to set up a stand to promote cultural exchange. She will give speeches twice to third times a month on average and perform Cambodian dance when it is asked. She even conducts as an assistant for several international humane medical treatments. As long as Phan Si Leng can help, she always devotes herself.
Phan Si Leng has touched many people with her enthusiasm and helped a lot of immigrant sisters who are once lost. She supports and encourages them to find the motivation to continue their lives in Taiwan. By promoting her Facebook club, “Cambodia and Taiwan Cultural Promotion by A Mother of Three” along with on-site activities and live streams, she manages to let many Taiwanese people learn about Cambodian culture. She even creates new opportunities for the immigrant sisters to learn while taking care of their families and engaging micro-business by giving speeches, teaching, and lecturing to share her journey. What’s next? It’s believable that Phan Si Leng’s slash career will only get better.
For more information please follow, “Cambodia and Taiwan Cultural Promotion by A Mother of Three,” “A Mother of Three Find a Cambodia.”
