For the first time since compact discs and cassettes were introduced in Cambodia, an album with songs in the minority language of Cham Muslims has been launched, a record executive said Monday.
Since the album by male Cham singer Valaty was released in February, it has sold 1,000 cassettes, said Hak Arifin, director of the Champa Entertainment company. A small number of the albums, which sell for $0.63 for cassettes and $1.50 for a CD, have been exported to the US.
“We do this to preserve the Cham language,” Hak Arifin said. “This is the first time to produce the song [in Cham]. Nobody used to produce and write these songs before.”
The songs’ titles describe the beauty of Cham women, the preservation of Cham traditions, Cham fishermen and the Chrang Chamres Commune in Russei Keo district.
“The songs are about educating people in a religious way. No politics is involved. A little love is mixed in the songs. The melody is the same as Khmer music,” Hak Arifin said.
There are about 1 million Chams in Cambodia, with only half of them speaking the Cham language, Hak Arifin said.
Som Sokun, director of the Cinema and Culture Diffusion department at the Ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, said on Monday that although he was not aware of the album, he welcomed the preservation of Cham language. He said the songs should also be listened to by Khmers.
“I don’t have anything against it because people can learn the languages of each other,” Som Sokum said on Monday.
A second volume of music by Valaty will be comprised of 10 songs and will be released at the end of April.
