Fact Check: Photo Showing Sin Sisamuth Playing Guitar Altered
Although the famous Cambodian male singer, Sin Sisamuth, already passed away during Khmer Rouge regime, however, his reputation is still ingrained in the hearts of all young and old Cambodians.
Meanwhile, a viral photo showing him playing guitar was posted recently on Facebook platform and even published by some local news media. However, after checking and verifying with the original photo, it proves that the photo posted was altered.
This is about our investigation over this photo.
Social Media Claim
On August 23, 2021, a Facebook page called “Da Pleng” recently posted a photo showing an influential and highly prolific Cambodian singer-songwriter from the 1950s to the 1970s, Sin Sisamuth, playing guitar. This photo above may be believed by some Facebook users that this is a real photo since it was reacted with mixed comments and shared by many users.
The following snapshot captured from Facebook post translated in English as “Grandpa's ability is Full 1. Musicians who play a lot of instruments 2. Singers 3. Know how to write music 4. Write lyrics Singing 5. Favorable by nature”.
Similarly, according to another local news media website called “Dara News” has published a news story along with a photo of a famous Cambodian male singer, Sin Sisamuth playing guitar. This has been published on May 23, 2018.
Below is a screenshot captured from the news website with a title “Let’s come and listen to a brief history of the Golden Voice Emperor, Sin Sisamuth”.
Dara News Report | Archived Link
Fact Check
Fact Crescendo Cambodia had started to check and verify this photo directly by running a Google Reverse Image search, which brought us to the sources containing the following original photos.
An exact photo has been first found on “Wikimedia Commons” which was uploaded on March 31, 2013. This original photo does not show how the Cambodian Golden Voice, Sin Sisamuth, playing guitar at all, but a white man sitting and playing instead.
A below screenshot shows a white man playing with a caption stated as “Man playing bass guitar, black and white”.
Wikimedia Commons Link | Archived Link
Recently, some news media websites and even Facebook users also spread and shared a photo of the Golden Voice Queen of the Kingdom of Cambodia in the past, Ms. Ros Sereysothea, Ms. Pen Ron and Ms. Houy Meas walking down the street. That photo has misled many users as well.
A screenshot below captured from the Fact Crescendo Cambodia website, about the similar cases of altering a photo of Afghan students to be Cambodian top female singers on August 30, 2021.
Fact Crescendo Cambodia Report | Archived Link
Who is Sin Sisamuth?
Sin Sisamuth was a well-known Cambodian songwriter and singer during the 1950s and 1970s. He was nicknamed the "Golden Voice Emperor". He was born on August 23, 1932, and died on May 18, 1976, during the Khmer Rouge regime. The music produced by Sin Sisamuth, and his contemporaries had become popular throughout the country; in 1965, Sisamouth's song "Champa Battambang" was the first content played on Khmer Republic Television.
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Conclusion
Fact Crescendo Cambodia found out that the photo, posted by the above users is inaccurate. This photo was altered before posting on the social media platform. This photo factually does not show Sin Sisamuth playing guitar at all.
