Our Faces, Our Stories - Stockland

Lengky TongMy life has changedMy name is LengkyTong and I was bornin Phnom Penh in1992. I have a brotherand sister. I can speak two languages– Khmer and English. Ihad been living in Cambodia forseventeen years until my familydecided to migrate to Australia in2009 to start a new life.My life started with a miraculousevent when I was only threeyears old. I was playing in thegarage while my uncle was reversingthe car. I was hit by thecar and fell to the ground. I wascrying, but he couldn’t hear meuntil he completely reversed outof the garage. When he realisedhe hit me, I was seriously injured.My parents took me to the hospitaland the doctor told them thatI could have died if I didn’t getthere in time.My secondary education beganin 2005, in Cambodia. After fouryears, my parents decided tomove me to another school thathad better facilities.The new school was very expensiveand my parents had to workvery hard to afford the fees. Mydad found a job as a courier topay for my schooling.In 2009, when I was 17 yearsold, my family moved to Australiato start a new life so that I couldreceive a better education andlive in a better environment. Weare very happy to start our newlives here, knowing Australia hasa good culture and lifestyle, butit has been hard to adjust to ournew lives in this new country.I think the most challenging thingwhen I arrived in Australia wasthe language barrier. When I firststarted at Fairfield High School, Ifound it hard to learn because Idid not know much English. I feltlucky to make some friends andwe helped each other to learn.Another good thing is that wehave some family who alreadylived in Australia, and they havehelped us settle in. They havehelped me find to a part timejob, so I can help my parents paysome expenses.One thing I have noticed is thatpeople in Australia seem to workmore than in Cambodia. My fatheris working more than he everhas. When we lived in Cambodia,my dad ran the house andmost of the time he was at home.My house in Cambodia was verylarge; we had five bedrooms anda backyard garden. We grew lotsof fruits such as mangoes andbananas. We had plenty of roomfor chickens, ducks, fish and adog. My dad would take us forpicnics on the weekend, but nowit’s hard to spend time togetherbecause I work part-time on theweekend.At the end of the day, eventhough it was hard at the beginningto start our new lives in thisnew country, I am sure we willhave a better life and future here,than the country I came from. Iwill always miss Cambodia andwill try and visit home every year.18