Mong Yen's love of nature dates back to a very happy childhood in his native Cambodia. Very active and curious, he spent countless hours exploring the jungles "at the back door" of his family home just outside Phnom Penh. At that time he also discovered the fun of drawing cartoon figures and landscapes. The Khmer Rouge take-over of Cambodia in 1975 forced the Yen family to flee the country.

For the next several years, this refugee family underwent considerable hardship and deprivation. Nevertheless, his parents managed to send Mong to an art school for youth while they were living in Vietnam. Here he learned the basic skills of charcoal drawing and oil painting. Mong was one of the first among his family to settle in Canada. In 1980 he came to Toronto and from there, several years later, to the University of Ottawa, where he earned a Bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering. He moved to British Columbia in 1992. He worked as a roof-truss designer in the Vancouver area for six years. Now he spends most of his time sketching outdoors and painting at home.

Mong has taken art courses at Langara College, the Vancouver Academy of Arts and the Federation of Canadian Artists. His most cherished subject matter is landscapes. His detailed paintings exude serenity and quietude. Mong lives with his wife and their two sons in Vancouver.