Bun Rany's watchdog can't stop Hun Sen from singing: "Even If She is Someone Else's Wife, That's OK"

Left to right: Hun Sen, Actress Pisith Pilika who was assassinated, Bun Rany Hun Sen

Cambodia blacklists home-wrecking songs: media

TOKYO, March 17 (Reuters Life!) - Cambodian entertainment watchdogs have blacklisted three songs, arguing that they could encourage women to pursue other women's husbands, a Japanese news agency reported on Monday.

The Khmer Arts Association and the Cambodian Television Association said the songs -- "If I Can't be Your First Wife, Can I be Your Second?", "I Love Another's Husband" and "May I Have a Piece of Your Heart?" -- were demeaning to women, Kyodo news agency said in a dispatch.

"The songs are meant to put down women and their dignity," Kyodo quoted Ieng Sithol, president of the Khmer Arts Association, as saying. "As lovers of the arts, artists should act properly or we will be criticized by the public."

Artists are banned from singing the songs at concerts, on radio or television. Kyodo said the decision had upset some fans who felt that it unfairly targeted female singers.

Similar songs sung by men, such as "How beautiful! Whose Wife is She?" and "Even If She is Someone Else's Wife, That's OK" can still be performed freely.

(Reporting by Sophie Hardach; Editing by Sanjeev Miglani)

Cambodia bans 'adulterous' songs from karaoke bars

Saturday, 1 March 2008
By Andrew Buncombe, Asia Correspondent
The Independent (UK)

The karaoke bars of Phnom Penh are well known for very often being nothing more than fronts for brothels. They are the places where men from Cambodia, Thailand and further afield pay for sex with women who are often just girls.

But in the latest peculiar edict from a government purportedly keen to crack down on such vice, Cambodia has outlawed the public playing of songs that encourage "infidelity".

The titles of the first three songs to be banned leave little to the imagination. "If I Can't be First Can I be Second", "Love Another's Husband" and "May I Have a Piece of Your Heart Too", were all written to be sung by women looking to entice men who may be married. Having banished the songs from the thousands of karaoke bars across the country, the authorities are now seeking other similar tunes that may be deemed unsuitable.

"We are searching for other songs which might affect people's honour, especially that of women," Kep Chuktema, the governor of Phnom Penh, told a local Khmer language newspaper. Cambodia is outwardly a conservative culture, but the country's karaoke bars are notorious and have often been the focus of efforts by campaigners to act against child trafficking and prostitution. The campaign group End Child Prostitution, Abuse and Trafficking in Cambodia (Ecpat Cambodia) estimates that a third of sex workers in the country are children. The group says that in recent years there has been a surge "in the number of commercial sex centres in Cambodia, and increasing exploitation and abuse of children in the sex trade".

Against this backdrop, in September 2006 the Cambodian government introduced the controversial "monogamy law" which carries a punishment of a 1m riels, (£125), fine and a year in jail for anyone found guilty of adultery. But many believe the introduction of the law may have been politically motivated. One of the first people the authorities tried to prosecute was the opposition politician Prince Norodom Ranariddh, who was trying to divorce his wife after having long lived with a classical dancer. The case against the prince, who now spends most of his timein Malaysia, eventually stalled. Indeed, since the introduction of the law there has only been one successful prosecution, that of Khek Ravy, a cousin of Prince Ranariddh, who was fined 1m riels after his wife brought a case against him under the new legislation. The court was apparently lenient and took into account the fact that Mr Ravy had applied for a divorce 18 months earlier, but it had not yet been granted because of wrangling over division of the couple's finances.

One official told the Koh Santepheap newspaper: "People can still play the songs in private. I don't think music has much to do with it, but it is an official request that has to be followed."

"Big Sister" Bun Rany gets the upper hand in deciding what songs Cambodians can or can't listen to

Cambodia bans songs deemed to incite marital infidelity

Thu, 28 Feb 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - The titles of the three songs banned from public broadcast for inciting infidelity say it all, according to Cambodian government and cultural officials, local media reported Thursday. The offending songs:

• If I Can't Be First Can I Be Second?,
• Love Another's Husband and
• May I Have a Piece of Your Heart Too?

have been banished from the nation's thousands of karaoke restaurants, Khmer-language Koh Santepheap reported.

"We are searching for other songs which affect people's honour, especially that of women," the paper quoted Phnom Penh governor Kep Chuktema as saying.

The three songs are all written to be sung by women, but pop music analysts said Thursday they are relatively obscure tunes.

The ban is a further step by the government to crack down on unfaithfulness and "uphold cultural values."

Cambodia passed a controversial monogamy law in September 2006 which would see adulterers punished by up to 250 dollars in fines and a year in jail, though only one case has so far gone to court.

Although an outwardly conservative culture, the practice of keeping second wives, or mistresses, remains common, and many karaoke girls seek out "sweethearts" to supplement their earnings.

"People can still play the songs in private - this is only a public ban," one official said on condition of anonymity. "I don't think music has much to do with it, but it's an official request."

Chumteav Thom Bun Rany's vice squad hits again

Chumteav Bun Rany asks for a review of entertainment clubs

Monday, February 04, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Chumteav Bun Rany Hun Sen, wife of Prime minister Hun Sen, called on the authority of the City of Phnom Penh, as well as other provincial and municipal authorities, to review night entertainment clubs which affect security and social order, as well as the national culture and custom. The Rasmei Kampuchea newspaper reported that Chumteav Bun Rany Hun Sen also called for a ban of the song “Som Bes Daung Muoy Chamnek” (Give me a portion of your heart) on TV stations, and an improvement on the wearing of extremely sexy clothes. Bun Rany made this request during a meeting of the national committee for the raising of the social moral conduct, the value of Cambodian women and Cambodian families, which took place on 31 January. Bun Rany requested the city authority to review the more than 100 nightclubs and to put under its grasp those nightclubs where incidents occur nonstop. She also requested the ministry of culture and the ministry of information to review the clothes worn by singers when they perform on scene, because these singers wear too revealing clothes, she also requested a ban on the song “Som Bes Daung Muoy Chamnek” because the lyrics in this song do not provide a good education to Cambodian women.