Cham Writing Founders Under Malay, Arabic

Cham script (Photo: Wikipedia)

By Pich Samnang, VOA Khmer
Original report from Phnom Penh
13 January 2010

Bhann Tes carefully opened a thick holy book, whose pages have turned brown with age. He fetched a small notebook from a shelf and began writing, copying the work line by line.

“These are Cham scripts, which look like Khmer Pali scripts,” the 76-year-old Muslim said recently, sounding out the religious texts in his single-room him in Samaki Meanchey district, Kampong Chhnang province. “I try to copy the scripts so that they will stay on after I pass away.”

Despite the efforts of men like Bhann Tes, researchers say Cham scripts are likely to disappear in the next few decades if they continue to be ignored as they are now.

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