Three Notable Individuals Nominated for Smart’s Good Citizen Award

Three Notable Individuals Nominated for Smart’s Good Citizen Award

Smart Good Citizen Award, part of Smart Axiata’s Rise Together campaign, has seen three notable nominees- among others, but only one will stand to win a $10,000 prize.

One of them is popular Indy singer and long-distance runner Uon Pathom, who goes by the name of Sai. He is nominated by Ly Tola, who admires his effort in charity works.

“[I nominated Mr. Sai] because his noble activity will be an example for youths to show how the social activities, even small or big, are important,” Tola said.

“It is a hope for the next generation, especially children, as they all will have an equal chance to grow, to be healthy and to become a good next youth generation.”

As of January 1, Sai, 30, has already completed 2,220 kilometers as part of his 2,391 km charity run across the country and is expected to finish his long-distance marathon on 10 January.

“For me, I am happy when my colleague’s good deeds and mine are recognised by other people,” he said. “We are running across the country to raise funds for Angkor Hospital for children, which is a socially responsible activity.”

Meanwhile, EL Mat, another nominee for the model citizen award, got into the limelight for his hard work he displayed in assisting the Muslim community.

“I nominated him [El Mat] because he offers [voluntary] services to the villagers without expecting anything in return, not even a salary.” said KHAUB Hassan, who nominated El Mat. “I am very impressed with how hard he works.”

Despite not being rich, El Mat said, he wanted to help the people in his village to have a better life using his ideas and kind heart.

“If I am chosen as the winner, I will do two things,” he said. “First, I will not keep the cash prize for myself. I will use a large portion of the money to help the poor, orphans, and the elderly people.”

(L) Uk Yuth, a teacher from Kratie, and El Mat, offers his voluntary services to the villagers. Supplied
Another popular nominee is Uk Yuth, a teacher from Kratie, who is nominated by five nominators. One of them, Sun Hokchakriya, said Yuth deserves the award for his devotion to helping underprivileged children learn English language.

UK Yuth, who is also a coordinator of a community-based organisation, Khmer Association for Development of Countryside in Kratie said he and his team decided to create a free-of-charge English language learning programme to help provide the skill and opportunity to the children from poor family

“If I have a chance to win the prize of Smart Good citizen, I will use the money to develop our schools and children,” Yuth added.

The organisers plan to shortlist ten nominees who will then appear at an award ceremony. A winner will be decided upon by a panel of three judges. The names of the judges will be unveiled in the early part of this year.

The Good Citizen Award initiative aims to highlight the selflessness of ordinary Cambodians in their interactions with friends, neighbours and others in their community.