Em Satya was born 1952 in Takeo, Cambodia. Em Satya studied at the Royal University of Fine Arts during the Lon Nol government (1973-1974). After the Khmer Rouge era Em developed his style working as an illustrator. His name appears on many comic books from the late 1980s, but he is perhaps better known as "Nono," the pseudonym under which he drew caricatures and political cartoons for newspapers in the 1990s.