(VOVworld) - Journalist Tran Van Ky is deputy head of the Khmer ethnic language program of the Voice of Vietnam’s Mekong River delta Bureau. Ky was one of the founders of the Khmer program 23 years ago and ever since he has been pursuing his work as a translator and announcer with great passion and love. He was commended as one of VOV’s most outstanding journalists on the occasion of Vietnam’s Revolutionary Press Day on June 21^st. Le Phuong reports

The Khmer language program is an important information channel of VOV to disseminate Party guidelines and State policies to Khmer communities in the Mekong river delta and Vietnamese communities in Cambodia and northeast of Thailand. Ky said his work as a journalist, a translator and an announcer requires precision to serve an audience of 1.3 million listeners. Ky said he set strict rules for himself to make Khmer and its peculiarities understandable to listeners: “As an editor and translator, I intended to help my colleagues at first for one or two years only. Languages develop along with science and technology and so does the Khmer language. Therefore, we must translate accurately to make our programs easy to understand. Besides, as VOV is a national radio station, our program also targets the overseas audience so our programs must be understandable to everyone.”

Ky began to work at VOV’s Bureau in Ho Chi Minh city in 1990.When his Khmer language program moved to Can Tho city, he also came along because of his love for the work. Khmer is almost Ky’s mother tongue as he was born in Cambodia’s capital Phnom Penh and he studied primary and secondary school there. In 1976, when Tran Van Ky was 20 years old, his family returned to Vietnam where he became a translator at a school of politics for Cambodian officials. Journalist Pham Duy Hung, Director of VOV’s Bureau in the Mekong River Delta talks about Ky: “Tran Van Ky is an experienced translator with a great passion for his work. He has been helping editors of the Khmer program a lot in terms of language and information accuracy. He has also helped to train young editors and translators in social awareness and journalism.”

Ky said he is thankful to his soul mate who has managed to do all housework and take care of their family when he is away from home: “My wife understands me and sympathizes with my work. She always prepares food for the whole week so that I don’t have to go to the market.”

Ky said time passes so quickly that he has almost forgotten he has been working at VOV for 23 years and that he has been away from home for 10 years now: “I will continue my work here until I retire in a couple of years. I will try my best to pass my knowledge on to my younger colleagues because our Khmer section is considered the forerunner of all Khmer language programs in other provinces and they have learned a lot from us.”

Journalist Ky has been described by his colleagues as guardian of Khmer language translations. The collection of bus tickets between Can Tho and Ho Chi Minh city Ky has kept has become an impressive calendar of his life.

Le Phuong