However, two hours of English classes a week in public schools are far from enough, and students whose families are financially able will take extra tuition. In addition to supplementary subjects (mathematics, physics, chemistry, etc.), some people also sign up for sports activities. At that time, Vutha's English teacher was moved by his eagerness to learn, and was willing to help him make up his English at a price of 300 Cambodians per hour (equivalent to NT$2.25) per hour.
Even so, Vutha's parents could not afford it. Vutha Image Manipulation Service begged the teacher to let him pay the tuition fee on credit, so he studied for a year. After graduating from high school at the age of 17 in 2001, Vutha, as the eldest son, felt that he could no longer burden the family and it was time to leave home and stand on his own. So he moved to a relative's house in Kampong Thom Province, where he worked as a waiter in his relative's noodle shop. After working for a year, he was entrusted by his relatives to take care of an empty house in another village in 2002, and thus began his two-year housekeeping career. The 18-year-old was afraid to stay alone in the big empty house, so Vutha moved all his belongings to the kitchen hut outside the house. Next to the stove and pots and pans, there was his sleeping bed and mosquito net.
Of course, his favorite English book also moved in with him. Vutha spends all the time outside of the housework on English. Relatives gave him a meager salary as compensation. Although Vutha was often hungry with this money, he saved as much money as he could, and went to the store to buy rice and a copy of The Phnom Penh Post (The Phnom Penh Post, Cambodia's first English-language newspaper).