By Pichayada Promchertchoo

PHNOM PENH: Not many people can remember when they first heard the word “architecture”. But for Hun Chansan, the memory is vivid. It was a late night in the dormitory of Singapore’s East View Secondary School, back in 1998. The then 19-year-old Cambodian was painting aimlessly at his desk when his language teacher introduced a word that would change his life.

“Mr Ong told me I had a lot of patience and creativity and that I should study architecture in college. That was the first time I heard the word,” Chansan said with a smile. “It sounded really good – very professional and big. And that’s how it all started.”

Fast-forward to today, and Chansan has finished his high school studies in Singapore, obtained two degrees in fine arts and architecture from Boston in the United States and taught at two universities in his homeland. From a Cambodian boy with no clear purpose, who could barely speak English or Mandarin, he is now a budding architect, comfortably trilingual and the proud owner of a thriving architecture start-up in central Phnom Penh, Re-Edge.

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/asiapacific/asia-s-future-cities-give-phnom-penh-a-new-face-young-cambodian/3581886.html?cid=twtcna