Passing the Baton

• Author: Jeremiah Overman, Vina Salazar, and Gembong Nusantara
• Pages: 27-30

September 2018 | FINANCE & DEVELOPMENT 27

SOUTHEAST ASIA

PHOTO: ISTOCK / JAMIELAWTON

Passing

the Baton

With brighter prospects than their parents had, Southeast Asian

youth get ready to take on the world

Jeremiah Overman, Vina Salazar, and Gembong Nusantara

More than half of the population of Southeast Asia is under 30. Technology shapes the way

youth in the region live and work, even as they adapt it to their own unique circumstances.

In some ways, these young people will inherit a better world than their parents knew, with

higher income potential, increased access to education, and vast technological possibilities. ey'll also

face serious issues, such as the problem of climate change and challenges to openness and human rights.

e following prof‌iles of‌fer a glimpse at the lives of three young Southeast Asians as they pursue their

dreams of the future.

Bright lights, big city

Sreynith Hak is someth ing of an oddball. Her

friends from the villa ge where she grew up have

mostly all coupled up, some in arrange d marriages.

“I don’t judge them, because the y are happy.” But

that is not the life for her.

Hak, 25, moved to Phnom Penh eight years ago to

pursue a bachelor’s degree in media management. “I

like to hear people’s stories,” the freelance editor and

f‌ilm producer says. Cambod ia’s capital of‌fered her

much more opportunity than t he small town where

her parents and siblings stil l live. “I can see more of

the world; I can do what I want,” she says.

Hak is well educated, wh ich sets her apart from

many Cambodia n women in the labor force. In

2014, 84 percent of employed women 15 and older

had a primary school educ ation or less, compared

with 76 percent of employed men, according to the

Asian Development Bank ’s Promoting Women’s

Economic Empowerment in Cambodia.

As a freelancer, Hak ekes out a living, taking care

to set money aside from month to month in case her

Sreynith Hak (left) and her mother

on a visit back to her village.