Sokcheng Seang, the blogger who whispers in young people’s ears
The Cambodian self-entrepreneur behind the Wapatoa website has created an original media model where young people talk to other young people. For the ‘Mekong Media Initiative’, she set helped put a group of budding bloggers on the map and focused on infographics.
Profiled by Éléonore Sok.
At just 25 years old, Sokcheng Seang, co-founder of the Wapatoa website, has created her own space in the Cambodian media world. The young woman, with high cheekbones and a smile framed by strands of bleached hair, grew up in a family that did not read. “I've always loved reading, even though there were only two storybooks in my house, which means I know them by heart!” she says, laughing.
When her family left the coastal town of Sihanoukville for the capital, the young girl finally quenched her thirst for reading by devouring copies of Korean or Chinese novels sold around schools. The arrival of the internet ignited her curiosity.
“When I got my first smartphone, I frantically searched for answers to my questions. That is where I discovered blogging”, she says. Sokcheng created Miss Cheng’s corner in 2013, a blog in her image: witty, sensitive and quirky. “Blogging was a way for me to continue to share the useful things I was learning.” Having graduated in English and Business in 2018, she embarked on her entrepreneurial adventure that same year, following her meeting with Alix Feschotte, a French expatriate passionate about digital.
Personal development as a weapon
Together, they founded Wapatoa (“culture” in Khmer), a bilingual Khmer and English website to encourage 16-25 year-olds to “think about the problems of everyday life”. The design is meticulously thought out: colourful design, bottom-to-top navigation to scroll like on Facebook so that users find their bearings, in a country where many have a smartphone but no computer. The various sections offer content on health, education, careers, finance, the arts in innovative formats: articles, podcasts, videos, comic strips.
“We're not dealing with social or political issues, but in a sense, personal development is also political, subtly political”, she adds, wisely. Above all, Sokcheng wants to emphasise critical thinking, benevolence and environmental awareness.
“Individuals who are better informed at more at ease with themselves make a better world,” is her maxim.
In a short time, Wapatoa has gained 35,000 loyal users and had three million views on Facebook in 2020. The small team shares a building in central Phnom Penh with other start-ups; a beehive where young people take the time to sit down around dishes prepared by a home cook, and affirm their love of power naps.
“It's important to create an exciting, stimulating environment where people can grow”, enthuses the entrepreneur. That’s what she’s aiming for with the adventure that is the Mekong Media Initiative. Mekong: Sustainable News.
A space where you can ‘sit down to reflect’
Wapatoa's collaboration with CFI is made up of two components. The first: the creation of infographics, for example on the dengue virus or on waste management. “This is the most popular format because it is accessible, there is little text and it allows us to stand out because here, it is innovative”, she explains. The second component focuses on training a group of young bloggers. It’s a project launched in partnership with the group of citizen and environmental initiatives Young Eco Ambassador, created five years ago.
“Together, we selected ten people for a six-month training course. After an initial month of meetings with local environmental stakeholders, the team attended intensive sessions of five mornings per week”, she explains. Sokcheng took on the task of teaching research and writing skills, and Young Eco Ambassador opened its extensive address book to apprentice reporters. “Above all, I act as a role model to them; by showing them what I do, I encourage them to develop personal writing, to give their opinion”, she says.
The keys to its success with young people: “I avoid judging them, telling them what's right and wrong like adults do. I distil my point of view and it goes from there”, she notes. The team has made two field trips, to a floating village in Tonlé Sap lake and to an island in the Mekong river, which provided the inspiration for articles on molluscs, the giant catfish (a symbol of Khmer identity), which is endangered, or protected fish nesting areas. “I am surprised by how much the interns have invested in this. Young Eco Ambassador created the ‘Dek Kheut’ Facebook page (“Sit down and reflect”), where they shared the content produced and became contributors.”