DPA
Phnom Penh - The organizers of a beauty pageant for female Cambodian landmine victims Monday called on the government to reverse its last-minute decision to prevent the contest from going ahead.
The government Sunday announced that it would call for the cancellation of the 'Miss Landmine' pageant, just days before the contest was to be launched in Phnom Penh.
The Ministry of Social Affairs said in a letter to organizers that the pageant should be cancelled because it threatened the 'honor of disabled people, especially women'.
Morten Traavik, the pageant's director, said despite meetings between organizers and ministry officials Monday morning, it 'looked like the government will maintain its position'.
'There is a lot of speculation about why this has happened, especially now there are increased restrictions on free speech in Cambodia,' he said. 'I was very surprised by this decision and obviously I wouldn't have started the process organizing the event if I hadn't had the input of government.'
It was unclear whether the pageant could go ahead without the ministry's approval, he said.
Twenty landmine victims from around the country entered the pageant, which until Sunday had the support of the government and a range of anti-landmine groups.
A photo exhibition in Phnom Penh on Friday was to be followed by an internet voting campaign to select the winner, who would have been awarded prize money and a prosthetic limb at crowning ceremony in December.
The first 'Miss Landmine' pageant held in Angola in 2007 drew criticism from women's rights and disability groups, who called it exploitative and insensitive to war victims.
But Traavik, a Norwegian national, said the event aimed at 'empowering victims' and helping them to recover from trauma.
'The women involved are very disappointed,' he said.
Hundreds of Cambodians are killed or maimed by landmines and other unexploded ordinance left over from wars and civil conflicts that raged from the 1970s to the early 1990s.
The government Sunday announced that it would call for the cancellation of the 'Miss Landmine' pageant, just days before the contest was to be launched in Phnom Penh.
The Ministry of Social Affairs said in a letter to organizers that the pageant should be cancelled because it threatened the 'honor of disabled people, especially women'.
Morten Traavik, the pageant's director, said despite meetings between organizers and ministry officials Monday morning, it 'looked like the government will maintain its position'.
'There is a lot of speculation about why this has happened, especially now there are increased restrictions on free speech in Cambodia,' he said. 'I was very surprised by this decision and obviously I wouldn't have started the process organizing the event if I hadn't had the input of government.'
It was unclear whether the pageant could go ahead without the ministry's approval, he said.
Twenty landmine victims from around the country entered the pageant, which until Sunday had the support of the government and a range of anti-landmine groups.
A photo exhibition in Phnom Penh on Friday was to be followed by an internet voting campaign to select the winner, who would have been awarded prize money and a prosthetic limb at crowning ceremony in December.
The first 'Miss Landmine' pageant held in Angola in 2007 drew criticism from women's rights and disability groups, who called it exploitative and insensitive to war victims.
But Traavik, a Norwegian national, said the event aimed at 'empowering victims' and helping them to recover from trauma.
'The women involved are very disappointed,' he said.
Hundreds of Cambodians are killed or maimed by landmines and other unexploded ordinance left over from wars and civil conflicts that raged from the 1970s to the early 1990s.
11 comments:
The world does not want to see this; Cambodia does not want to expose this kind of show to the world. Thus, let's keep it that way.
PPU
You are pretty crazy- the world doesn't want to see, but why the world produce these kind of mines and explosives.
4:51 PM
If you found landmine(s), please open the case (s) -- you'll be surprised to learn who were the culprits behind those parts.
PPU
The world want to see beautiful women with nice body,good legs, nice boobs,good ass etc...and not the handicap one.So cancellation of the event is the right thing to do.
this contest and its director are high on intention but short on taste and dignity for the mine victims.
i guess cambodian gov't see it differently. they don't support such "mockery" of disabled persons. to them, they ofter ask what is so pretty about being disabled or hadicapped? that's where they get their opinion from! there is nothing beautiful about being handicapped in khmer thinking. they say there are other ways to empower or uplift these landmine victims, however beauty pageant is not one of them. that's why, cambodia would prefer the organizers do it in thailand or vietnam or anywhere else for a change; they say stop picking on cambodia for this location! cambodia doesn't like it nor do we want it in cambodia! they say get lost from cambodia with this cruel and rude behavior of making fun of landmine victims! they say don't do it in cambodia as cambodia don't support it at all!
I prefer to see beautiful women than a transsexual mutant PPU
yes, to cambodian, uplift and empower the disabled persons is by giving them financial support like building home for them, and giving them food and clothing, etc..., but not making fun of them like this pageant. it means nothing for them! sorry, cambodia don't think like you!
There it goes again ... Communist People's Party .
I don't want to say that they are stupid but , why in the world did they elect a one eye guy to lead the way ? One eye and two eyes which one can see better ?
Do like I do - don't give a shit about ah PPU. End of story!
5:42 a.m.
Apparently, you did not honor what you have told all the commenters in this site to simply ignore me -- it was your primary aim -- yet you have responded to my comment. Again, if you did not read my comment (s), we won't have this conversation.
PPU
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