Scope

Our culture. Our communities. Our stories.

KhmerConnection is a community-maintained guide to Khmer community life and cultural memory. It connects people with organizations, creative works, living traditions, heritage and first-person stories. A listing does not imply endorsement, affiliation, funding or permission to reproduce.

What belongs here

An entry needs a clear connection to Khmer communities, language, cultural continuity or community memory, in Cambodia or the diaspora, and identifiable sources for its facts. Attributed firsthand knowledge is welcome for family preparations, memories and oral histories. Partial entries are welcome when they separate known facts from uncertainty.

Organizations: temples, community associations, cultural businesses, schools, advocacy, arts and aid groups, studios, publishers, scholarships, grants and fellowships, with a traceable public presence or documented history. Historical and inactive organizations are welcome; a dead website alone does not show that one has closed. A business belongs when its products, work or history carry Khmer culture or community memory, not simply because an owner is Cambodian. Aid entries describe their programs, with headquarters, operating locations and the places served kept as separate facts.
Creative works: books, films, music and recordings with a substantive Khmer connection. A work is distinct from a particular recording, edition or release when that matters.
Living traditions: religious and cultural practices, festivals, foodways, language practices and knowledge passed between generations. A practice such as Pchum Ben is distinct from a temple that observes it and from one year's event.
Food: Dish pages explain a dish and link to Recipe pages. A family's preparation may carry paired surnames or a family label of the family's choosing, which names a preparation and does not identify a household, with a short note on what sets it apart.
Heritage: sites, archaeological and cultural objects, community landmarks, collections and preservation resources. An institution is distinct from the place or objects it manages, and disputed history or custody is attributed.
Places: provinces, cities, towns, villages, neighborhoods, rivers, lakes and mountains where Khmer communities live or that carry their history, described through that life and history rather than as a general guide. A city abroad belongs only when the place itself carries Khmer life, such as a Cambodia Town; being home to Cambodians is not enough. Practical guidance for travel to Cambodia (entry rules, official sites and fees) is in scope when it comes from official sources, with the date each fact was checked; the site does not list commercial visa, booking or tour services.
Nature: animals and plants tied to Khmer life, such as the Mekong's Irrawaddy dolphins or the sugar palm, described through their place in Cambodia and its culture rather than as general natural history.
History overviews: periods and movements that shaped Khmer communities, such as the Khmer Rouge years, told as sourced history with each disputed figure credited to its source. An overview links to the pages for the people, places and works it mentions rather than retelling them.
First-person stories: oral histories and interviews, with credits, context and access links.
Learning resources: materials that teach Khmer language and cultural knowledge, with provider and access details.

People

People and ensembles appear on the pages of their work as creators, narrators, founders, contributors and family sources. Standalone personal biographies are not accepted. Three kinds of page are about a person:

Creators: authors, filmmakers, musicians, tradition bearers, master practitioners, chefs, craftspeople, scholars and oral historians with at least one cited work already on this site, such as a book, film, release, recipe, tradition, collection, publication or recording. The page introduces the creator, lists their works and links to the sources that document them. It describes work, role and recognition in the site's neutral voice, never advertises, and carries no family details or private contact information.
Actors, models and content creators: they may also qualify through the evidence for their role. Every role needs a Khmer connection in the work itself (Khmer language, culture, community or the Cambodian market; Cambodian heritage alone is not enough), two independent sources, at least one not from the person, their agency or a paid press release, and at least one dated credit. Follower counts are context, never evidence. Each role a person holds needs its own evidence; other work can be described in the page text.
- Actor: a credited role in a released Khmer-language, Cambodian-produced or Cambodian-themed film, series or stage production, confirmed by a festival, distributor, broadcaster or press source, not by IMDb alone.
- Model: a national Cambodian pageant win or placement, representing Cambodia at an international pageant, or a credit for a Khmer brand or designer, Cambodian fashion week or a campaign aimed at the Cambodian market, confirmed by the organizer, brand or press.
- Content creator: at least 12 months of sustained content about Khmer culture, language, food or diaspora life, plus outside recognition such as press coverage, a booking by a Khmer organization or an institutional collaboration.
Figures of Khmer history: people who are no longer living, such as the kings of Angkor, when inscriptions, records or scholarship document their public role. The page describes that role and the sites, works and traditions linked to it, not a private life.

Evidence and privacy

Cite official records, reliable reporting, archives, catalogs or identified firsthand contributors. Separate published evidence, family knowledge and uncertainty, attribute disputed claims, and never invent dates, ingredients, histories or origins.
Family names and stories appear only with permission, and a private birth or maiden name is never required.
A dish may have several regional connections; its geography follows the evidence, not an assumed single origin.
Public availability does not grant the right to republish: link to a recording, photograph, book or recipe unless a permission or license allows a copy.

Online communities and publications

Informal and online-first groups count as organizations when they have a distinct identity, a source and a useful connection to Khmer community life; incorporation, a street address and a website are not required. A group is classified by its main work, and its platform is a way to reach it. Routine announcements belong on the organization's page, and discussion groups with the community.

A Publication is a named, continuing editorial project (a magazine, newsletter, podcast, video series, journal or social editorial feed) with a substantive Khmer connection in its content, audience or role in community life, not an account with Khmer in its name. A regional publication can qualify without being exclusively Khmer, and a journal's peer review or academic status is a separate sourced claim.

The publication, its publisher, its channels and its individual works stay separate, with no invented publisher and no second record for each platform. An organization's ordinary newsletter is a section of its page unless it has its own editorial identity.
A podcast with several episodes is a Publication, not a Collection; Collection is for archival and oral-history holdings.
A Publication counts as a cited work for a creator page; a guest or subscriber is not its author.
Information from administrators is attributed. Private posts, member lists and private contact details are never published, and hidden or sensitive groups are listed only with an administrator's agreement. A listing does not vouch for a group's activity, safety, moderation, availability or editorial accuracy.

Boundaries

KhmerConnection is not a general business listing, a political campaign platform, a genealogy database or a file host. Political-party promotion, unsupported allegations, private contact information shared without permission and copied protected works are out of scope. Government-linked and religious institutions, and reporting and commentary, are described neutrally when their work fits this scope; inclusion is not endorsement.

See KhmerConnection:How to Contribute for writing guidance and KhmerConnection:Page starters for page outlines.