Meas Soksophea

Meas Soksophea was born on January 29, 1984, in Kampong Speu province to a father named Meas Sarim, a former director of the Kampong Speu Provincial Department of Industry, and a mother and Sok Vilun, a former employee of the Department of Industry. Meas Soksophea has three siblings and she is the second child in the family. The eldest son in the family, Meas Sokratanak, is also a songwriter. He is the general manager of Town Production and the youngest son, Meas Sok Vannak, is a military officer. In 1990, Meas Soksophea's family decided to move from Kampong Speu province to live in Kandal province's Kien Svay district for a while. When her father suddenly died, the burden of providing for the family fell on his children. Meas Soksophea and her brother decided to sing at various weddings, usually paid with a small salary, until 2000 when Cambodia experienced the biggest flood in the country. The flood severely affected the Cambodian economy, with a loss of approximately $161 million and affected about 750,000 people.[1] Due to the severe financial crisis, Sok Sophea decided to drop out of high school in the 10th grade, and moved for the second time, leaving Kandal province to Phnom Penh in 2002, and continued to sing in various restaurants and entertainment centers in Phnom Penh until she was offered to join Reaksmey Stung Sangke Productions in 2004.[2]

During 2014, Huawei, a Chinese multinational technology corporation headquartered in Shenzhen, China, officially selected Meas Sok Sophea as its Goodwill Ambassador and Brand Ambassador of the smartphone company (Huawei Cambodia).[7]

During 2015, Meas Soksophea and Kim Hyung-jun were named Goodwill Ambassadors of the Korean humanitarian organization W-Foundation and KOTRA Phnom Penh on June 30, 2015, through a Healthcare Improvement Project (HIP), which focuses on providing health care and education programs to Cambodian workers working in garment factories.[8]

During 2014, Sok Sophea participated in a forest protection program with community members in the Aural area in Kampong Speu province and aided in arranging for tree reforestation. Sok Sophea greeted and shook hands with villagers and monks in the Oral Mountains, also known as Phnom Aural, in Trapeang Chor District Kampong Speu, where mass deforestation had devastated the ecosystem. Named the "10,000 Trees", the project began with the support of the Ministry of Environment of Cambodia and local communities.[9]