If asked who was/is the most famous singer in Cambodia, the answer would be
unequivocally, and maybe unanimously, Sin Sisamouth. Though he was tragically
taken from this world, his soul, spirit, and emotions are echoed in the legacy
of songs he had bequeathed us with, and for this reason, his life is eternal.
There exists various opinions with regard to the popularity incited by his songs. Some claim it is because of his unique voice that could sustain the highest and lowest pitch without changing or cracking. Some argue that is because the new generation has not yet produced a talent comparable to him while others think it's because songs composed for and sang by Sin Sisamouth were made possible by the help of good composers. A good song is one whose lyrics deal with the mundane, everyday situation, and for this reason, a good writer is a requirement. Furthermore, the singer must be able to put emotion into the lyrics, together with his voice and melody, all combined to touch the heart and soul of the people exposed to it. All of these characteristics were possessed by Sin Sisamouth, and expound the popularity his songs have enjoyed.
Due to the on-going war filled with much destruction, many talented and gifted people have vanished, a subsequent considerable loss of art and cultural resources the young generation encounters, have yet to rebuild or recover from. Not only that they have disappeared, but not much of their living years were known due to lack of records, another regretful fact. Presently, many are trying to revive their history as much as they can of these artists. These interests were provoked when Reasmey Kampuchea Newspaper Volume 1 No 3 devoted in their cultural page a brief history and works of Sin, Sisamouth. The article invoked many requests from readers both in and out of the country for the Khmer media to feature more biography and works of famous artists and movie stars.
This article will try to reconstruct the events occurring in the life of Sin, Sisamouth from a very young age to the time he was disappeared during the Khmer Rouge regime. The reconstruction will be given in chronological order about his life, love, work, and talent, is based on accounts given by witnesses whose names and addresses will be given at the end of the article.
There exists various opinions with regard to the popularity incited by his songs. Some claim it is because of his unique voice that could sustain the highest and lowest pitch without changing or cracking. Some argue that is because the new generation has not yet produced a talent comparable to him while others think it's because songs composed for and sang by Sin Sisamouth were made possible by the help of good composers. A good song is one whose lyrics deal with the mundane, everyday situation, and for this reason, a good writer is a requirement. Furthermore, the singer must be able to put emotion into the lyrics, together with his voice and melody, all combined to touch the heart and soul of the people exposed to it. All of these characteristics were possessed by Sin Sisamouth, and expound the popularity his songs have enjoyed.
Due to the on-going war filled with much destruction, many talented and gifted people have vanished, a subsequent considerable loss of art and cultural resources the young generation encounters, have yet to rebuild or recover from. Not only that they have disappeared, but not much of their living years were known due to lack of records, another regretful fact. Presently, many are trying to revive their history as much as they can of these artists. These interests were provoked when Reasmey Kampuchea Newspaper Volume 1 No 3 devoted in their cultural page a brief history and works of Sin, Sisamouth. The article invoked many requests from readers both in and out of the country for the Khmer media to feature more biography and works of famous artists and movie stars.
This article will try to reconstruct the events occurring in the life of Sin, Sisamouth from a very young age to the time he was disappeared during the Khmer Rouge regime. The reconstruction will be given in chronological order about his life, love, work, and talent, is based on accounts given by witnesses whose names and addresses will be given at the end of the article.
A Childhood of Sin
Sisamouth
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Sin Sisamouth was born in 1935, the year of
the Rooster, in Stung Treng Province, Cambodia, to the proud father Sin Leang
and mother Seb Bunlei who was a Lao-Chinese, normally recognized as Khmer
Stung Treng. If he were to live today he would be 61 years old. As the
youngest son, he also had a brother and two sisters. His father worked as a
the head of a prison in Battambang Province, and when he became a soldier
during the French Revolution, Sisamouth was around 6 or 7 years old. Later
when his dad died of disease, his mom remarried, and the union resulted in
two more children. Sin Sisamouth attended Central Province of Stung Treng
Elementary School when he was 5. The first spark of talent showed when he
began to take interests in learning to play guitar at the age of 6 or 7.
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The Destiny from Birth
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The child, Sin Sisamouth, was a
kind kid full of emotion that easily had the sympathy for others. He liked
kind people with soft and sweet voice. He also loved his brothers and
sisters. Reticent in nature, he visited temple and talked with monks in his
spare time. Subsequently he learned Phalli from the monks and knew Buddhist's
scripture, Thoar, since he was young. Besides his interest in music, he
enjoyed reading books. For sports, he liked playing soccer and flying kites.
His favorite foods range from waterless soup with meat to fried eggs without
much care for vegetables.
Academically,
he was a good student who was well liked by both teachers and classmates. Hi
musical talents started to bud while he was in school, and often, he would be
asked to perform at school functions. By the time he was around 15-16, he had
passed elementary or "Certificat D'etude Primaire". At this time,
he had an option of either joining the work force or pursuing further
education to strengthen his skills. He opted for a career in medical field,
and moved to Phnom Penh for that purpose in 1950-51.
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Samouth as a Teenager
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During his years in medical
school, he resided with his uncle in Phnom Penh. The decision to join this
profession was his alone, and was not at all due to the pressure or
persistence from his parents. Needless to say, his parents were very much
supportive of their son's choice. But unfortunately, when they heard of his
voice through the radio, they weren't too happy about it. Even with the
rigorous demands of medical school, Sin Sisamouth still managed to find time
to learn how to sing and compose songs. With the support of friends with
similar skills and interests, he become well-known within the school in less
than a year as a poetic kid with great musical skills and singing talent.
During school year, he
rarely went out places due to the fact that he lived with his uncle and the
amount of money that he received from his parents was very little just enough
to spend on school supplies. Therefore, he spent most of the time researching
songs and learning how to sing by himself. His good natural voice made people
around him interested in his talent. Even though, while he was in school, he
was frequently asked to sing in many special ceremonies.
Due to the popularity
his voice had received, he was asked to the join the National Radio as its
regular singer when Cambodia received its independence from France in 1953.
Meanwhile, he continued his study in medical field in Pheah Ketokmala
hospital.
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His Marriage
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According to different Newspaper
sources, Sin Sisamouth was never known to have a clear, love relationship.
Because he was full of ambitions and was dedicated to his career and his
hobbies, i.e., singing and composing music, he didn't have time for romance.
Reportedly, most of the relationships were friendly ones. After finishing his
medical school, his married his cousin, Keo Thorng Gnut, through the
arrangement of his parents and elders. This union produced 4 children. After
the Khmer Rouge reign, only a daughter and who sons survived, while a son was
perished.
Sin Sisamouth's pubic
life become very well-known. But fame has its prices. His private life
deteriorated as a consequence due to the pressures of his career demanded and
also the temptations that his voice attracted. With regard to the relationship
with his wife, one of his sons, Sin Chaya, commented that no woman in this
world who had the strongest emotion, i.e. love, could withstand these prices.
At the age of 30, his wife become a nun.
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The Talent of Sin Sisamouth in the
Art of Singing and Composing
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When Sin Sisamouth’s songs were
played on the radio, not only was his priceless voice on display, but his
other remarkable talents as well. His first talent was the art of composing
music for his songs. Samouth would use the Mandolin to search for rhythms to
songs he was thinking of composing, and only later did he match lyrics to
these rhythms. His songs were usually of a sentimental nature, presenting in
musical form the longings, pains and pleasures of romantic endeavors. His
genius for words enabled his lyrics to arouse the emotions of all those who
listened to his songs.
Samouth’s talent in writing lyrics was a result of hard
work as well as natural genius. He was known to have utilized up to three
different dictionaries in searching for just the right word in the Khmer,
Sanskrit or Pali language to include in his songs. When he wrote, Samouth put
forth everything he knew into writing a song. If a certain part of a song was
not just right, he would consult his dictionaries to find words which would
better convey the precise meaning or feeling he wanted to convey. This
meticulous attention to detail resulted in song lyrics which projected
exactly what Samouth intended--which is another reason for the immense
popularity of his songs.
Samouth’s most famous talent was
his incredible singing ability. He was endowed with a heavenly voice that was
neither too harsh nor too husky--it was always the perfect pitch. When he
sang, each word he crooned was always clear and distinct. He would pronounce
each word he sang precisely as it was written, without the slightest
deviation from its proper pronunciation.
Samouth’s sweet, tender voice
gained him a reputation which made him the most popular singer of his time.
His fame and success led His Royal Majesty Treyany to ask him to work for the
king’s band, which he did until 1970. He performed not only modern songs with
his band, but ancient, traditional music such as Sak Krova, Mahori, Ayai,
Chapei, Yekea, and Basak as well. During his time, the popularity and
prestige of Samouth’s voice was such that he was considered by far the best
singer in the nation--no one came close to even being considered second best.
In fact, other singers at the time were simply ranked third, forth, etc.,
bypassing the number two ranking altogether.
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Sin Sisamouth was a person with a
firm personality who was known to be very serious about his work. Kruoch
Polin, a publisher of song and music books, stated that Samouth was a person
who kept his word. He would always deliver what he promised. At home, Samouth
was known to be a quiet man. Some people observed that sometimes he would not
speak more than ten words in an entire day. When he was not performing,
Samouth would lock himself in his room and dedicate his time to writing more
songs. His failure to socialize with his neighbors contributed to a
reputation for being elitist and haughty.
As his popularity increased,
Samouth was in such high demand that he devoted himself to mostly performing
songs composed by others. He initially picked songs written by Pov Sipho,
Svay Som Eur, and Ma Laopi, but he would also occasionally sing songs
composed by Mae Bunn, a close friend of his, and Has Salorn. Between 1970 and
1975, he almost exclusively sang songs written by Voy Ho. Regardless of who
had written the songs, Samouth always managed to make them popular.
When he was not working, Samouth
would still devote time to writing songs which depicted his life experiences
or the experiences of his friends. He also possessed the unique ability to
compose songs based on requests from his audience to express their personal
experiences and sentiments in musical form.
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His Interests
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Samouth was generally considered
to be a very serious person. He neither spoke nor joked around needlessly. He
behaved in this serious manner with his wife as well as with friends and
strangers. When he spoke, he spoke about business. Similar to other musicians
and singers, he had several friends in the ministry’s band. His friends at
the beginning of his career were songwriters such as Mao Saret, Seang Dee,
and Sous Mat. His very close friends were Mae Bunn, in whom Samouth had the
utmost trust, and Siv Sunn
Sin Sisamouth was a avid fan of
cock-fighting, so much so that he himself raised fighting birds. In his spare
time, he would play betting games with some of his friends. He exercised
regularly as well by lifting weights every morning. His other interests
included reading books at the library and watching French movies at the Luch
or Prom Bayon movie theatre. At night, after he finished performing, Samouth
would meet with friends to eat rice porridge. He allegedly had contracts with
three different restaurants in Phnom Penh in which he was paid 1500 Riels to
sing two or three songs--quite a lot of money considering a bowl of noodles
cost a mere 5 Riels at the time. He usually sang at Kbal Thmor Bar, Neak Bagn
Teak Bar, and a bar currently located next to the Interior Ministry.
Samouth was not a picky eater. He
generally prefered to eat Lao food. When he ate Khmer food, he liked to eat
Pror-huk and Phork Tpul Trey. Under no circumstances did he drink wine or
soft drinks, eat chili peppers, or smoke cigarettes. According to Seang
Vanthy, Samouth delighted in those who were considered the new generation of
singers in his time. He always freely gave them advice and reminded them to
take care of their voices. His affable, caring attitude thus won him favor
among his contemporaries.
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Despite his prodigious talents, Sin Sisamouth made only a
moderate income from singing. Although not quite wealthy, his success did
eventually enable him to trade in his sky blue Volkswagen for a blue Mercedes
220D. Overall however, he lived a fairly simple life and committed a lot of
time and effort into his work. He recorded albums for Chann Chaya and Heng
Heng recording companies and wrote songs for movies produced by other
production companies.
Even though his dedication to
music was absolute and his talents were in high demand, Samouth only
accumulated a modest income for someone so famous. Although he was the most
popular singer of his time, he made just enough to provide for his family. By
no means could he afford what would be considered an opulent lifestyle. Since
his hard work and vast musical talents only enabled him to earn a moderate
income, Samouth forbade his children from walking the same path as he. He
explained to his son Chaya that the singing profession was not valued; and,
even though his children had shown signs of talent in the field, Samouth
never encouraged, much less taught, his children about the art of music and
singing.
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No one has
collected enough data to ascertain the number of songs Samouth sang. He
recorded a huge amount of songs--according to his son Chaya, the number
roughly corresponds to the number of days Samouth was famous.
Kruorch
Bunly, a publisher of song and music books, stated that, from 1972 to 1973,
he published a song book called "A Collection of Sentimental Songs"
which contained 500 songs exclusively sung by Sin Sisamouth. This book
contained only songs Samouth sold to one particular production company. Until
1972, however, he had sold songs to several production companies, and sources
indicate that he actually sold thousands of songs. Kruorch Bunly also asserts
that before the fall of Cambodia to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, Samouth just
finished recording about a thousand more songs. Only recently have those
songs been released.
It is
difficult to rank Sin Sisamouth’s songs due to their diversity in meaning and
uniqueness. According to critiques which have been written, not only were
many of Samouth’s songs of excellent quality, but not one was reported to be
of poor quality. He would even improved other people’s songs when he sang
them. He was very diligent with his songs, which gave them their unique
qualities. Samouth would only sing songs by select writers and perform with
certain bands. He would not sing with bands which were new or in which he did
not have confidence.
Many of
Samouth’s works still sound good on the radio and in cassette tapes copied
from the original. In fact, the copies are openly sold in various market.
Some production companies have made new recordings of Samouth’s old songs
using new singers and new bands with modern equipment. Although many
listeners like the modern music in the new recordings, they acknowledge that
the voices of the new singers can not and do not compare with that of Sin
Sisamouth. Thus, the new versions of Samouth’s songs could not compete with
the popularity of the originals--prompting production companies to search for
old recordings made by Heng Heng and Chann Chaya Productions and record them
onto Compact Discs. From 70 to 100 percent of the sound quality could be
saved.
One of the
companies which has worked to restore and record original Sin Sisamouth songs
onto CD is Reasmey Phean Meas. The producer, Sam Sovandeth, was informed by
an aunt that old recordings had been placed in an archive in Singapore. He
researched and found about 2000 old songs duplicated and stored in the
archive. Among the recordings found included songs sung by Sin Sisamouth,
Suos Mat, Im Sung Serng, Meas Samorn, Ta Saluort, Ros Serey Sothear, Pen Ron,
Huoy Meas, etc. Regrettably, about 70% of the songs found were completely
defective and could not be reproduced. Sam Sovandeth selected the ones of
good quality and, using new technology, reproduced them onto CD, thereby
preserving these works for future generations of listeners.
Today,
many Sin Sisamouth fans criticize companies which reproduce his songs and the
songs of other singers of his generation. They argue that the producers
unjustifiably profit off the voices of these deceased singers and note that
the producers fail to request permission from or give royalties to the
singers’ families. These critics also suggest that the Cambodian government
and organizations which work to preserve Khmer art should benefit from the sale
of these songs. Instead, commercial producers, rather than government art
preservation agencies or the families of these singers, reap the financial
rewards of these singers’ talents.
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According
to a close friend of Samouth’s, quite a few of his songs expressed emotional
reactions to events which happened to him. Other songs were written at
friends’ requests, to remember occurrences in their lives. The song Oudom
Dueng Chet, for instance, was an expression of Samouth’s deep feelings of
regret during a period of time when his wife had temporarily left him. Ohn
Chea Tevy Duorng Chet, on the other hand, is a song which tells of Samouth’s
secret love for a woman who possessed a higher social status than he.
Min
Baj Ray Rab Brab Teat Te was an international song which Samouth modified
to express his feelings for a woman with whom he had had a romantic
relationship. In the song, Samouth chastises the woman for her insincerity
and dishonesty. Sluk
Chaee ("Leaf") was a song of General Saksut Sakorn, sung by Sin
Sisamouth, and later became popular as the song Somroung Chung Kal, sung by
Has Salorn.
Cham Churb
Reul Tgnai Lich was written by Voy Ho when he was in love with Dara Chourm
Chann. Samouth personally plays the mandolin in this song, which can be
clearly heard before he begins singing the first stanza.
Chamreang
Et Preang Tuk is a song written by Pov Sipho, a friend of Samouth’s, to
describe an incident where he serendipitously met a woman at a restaurant.
This song was performed in a movie of the same title starring Chea Yutthorn,
Vicharadany and Ros Serey Sothear. The movie was produced by Sin Sisamouth
himself and played at the Haem Chaet Theater.
Pael
Reathrey is a work of the king of Cambodia, recounting his visits to
France and Hong Kong. Samouth sings this song with Keo Setha. Samouth himself
brought back about 25 songs from his travels such as Sdab Snour Teak Pleang, Lea
Hei Paris, Antoniata, Mareny, Munde, Viyoleta, and Reathrey Nov Hong Kong.
Regardless of whether he was in Cambodia or elsewhere, Samouth always
possessed the ability to immortalize his experiences in song.
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After the
coup d’état against Cambodia’s royal government on March 18, 1970, Sin
Sisamouth broke away from the king’s band and moved to Office No. 5 in the
Chief Command Ministry of the new Khmer Republic. He worked in Office No. 5
for one year and joined the Ministry Band with the rank of Lieutenant. He had
risen to the rank of Captain in the military by the time the Khmer Rouge took
over the country. When the Khmer Rouge entered Phnom Penh on April 17, 1975,
along with the millions of other residents, Samouth was forced to leave the
city.
Samouth
left Phnom Penh along National Route No. 1 with his second wife, a dancer in
the royal ballet. He first wife and two children chose to travel along Ta
Khmao Route to La-ang Prek Touch. According to Searng Vanthy, they met at Wat
Champa along National Route No. 1 with Has Salorn, Bich Soloen and
Vicharadany, the movie star. Samouth’s relatives suggested he continues his
journey to section 22, but he refused due to the fact that his wife was
having a second child.
One
evening, Sin Sisamouth decided to ask Has Salorn to go back to Phnom Penh
with him and work for the Khmer Rouge government, then known as Democratic
Kampuchea. Has Salorn disagreed with the plan and refused to go. Samouth
decided he would travel back to Phnom Penh anyhow. Due to health problems and
his wife’s pregnancy however, he was unable to continue the trip. The
information we uncovered ended the story of Sin Sisamouth here.
There are
many rumors concerning Sin Sisamouth’s death. It is not known for certain
that he died at the hands of the Khmer Rouge, but some people propose that
the Khmer Rouge may have killed him along the road between Wat Champa and
Phnom Penh, since most Cambodians who tried to return to Phnom Penh were
killed. Only industry workers who possessed skills useful to the Khmer Rouge
were spared; but when they outlived their usefulness, they too were
butchered. Before the Khmer Rouge killed him, some people claim Samouth
requested he be allowed to sing a song. He expressed himself as sincerely as
possible through his music, but the Khmer Rouge soldiers were unmoved, and,
after he finished singing, they killed him anyhow.
Other
people claim that Samouth died in Siem Reap, Kompong Cham, or Preah Vihear
province. Some people even believe that he was killed in Tuol Sleng prison.
Although his family and relatives are uncertain as to what really happened to
Samouth, they are certain of one thing--that he has passed away. If he were
alive, they argue, he would contact them no matter where he was now residing.
Of Sin Sisamouth’s three living
children, only one has decided to make singing a profession. Sin Chaya,
Samouth’s son, is currently a singer for the Cambodian Radio. He himself
admits, however, that his singing cannot compare to that of his talented father.
The only thing Sin Chaya claims to have inherited from Samouth was the desire
and destiny to be a professional singer.
Sin
Sisamouth has left Khmers everywhere a legacy of glorious songs expressing an
enormous range of sentiments. The man with the golden voice lives on in the
hearts of all those who continue to listen to, appreciate, and admire his
music.
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