Rubuta ci gaba don wannan sakin layi - An haifi Chhang a ranar 22 ga Janairu 1961 a Gundumar Tuol Kouk, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Shi ne ƙarami a cikin yara tara. Mahaifinsa dillalin lu'ulu'u ne. A ranar 17 ga Afrilu, 1975, ranar faduwar Phnom Penh, Chhang ya kasance shi kadai a gida, kuma an raba shi da danginsa a cikin kwashewar Khmer Rouge da aka ba da umarnin birni. Ya yi tafiya zuwa lardin Takeo, da sanin cewa ƙauyen mahaifiyarsa yana wani wuri a kusa da Phnom Chisor. Mazauna ƙauyen sun ba shi mafaka har zuwa zuwan mahaifiyarsa, ba tare da faɗakar da shugaban ƙauyen Khmer Rouge ba game da kasancewar sa, amma bayan zuwan mahaifiyarsa, an tura shi da danginsa zuwa sansanin aiki a arewa maso yammacin ƙasar, a cikin abin da yake a yau lardin Banteay Meanchey. Bayan mamayewar Vietnamese na Kambodiya
, ya koma Phnom Penh, amma sai, a kan mahaifiyarsa, ya gudu daga Cambodia kuma ya shiga cikin Thailand. Ya zauna a sansanin 'yan gudun hijirar Khao-I-Dang har tsawon shekaru har zuwa 1985 lokacin da aka zaba shi don sake komawa Amurka, kuma bayan da ya zauna a wani sansanin da ke cikin Philippines, ya isa Amurka a 1986.