Hun Sen's rule by order: "Spoiled youngsters" [most of whom are sons on high-ranking CPP officials] had to be dealt with Hun Sen's personal order

'Spoiled youngsters' become govt target

Monday, 13 July 2009
Khuon Leakhana
The Phnom Penh Post

Officials say new disciplinary measures will help address the problem of juvenile delinquency.

FOLLOWING a directive issued last month by Prime Minister Hun Sen, the government has launched a crackdown on juvenile delinquency that will target "spoiled youngsters" in a bid to maintain social order, an Interior Ministry official said Sunday.

According to a list of disciplinary measures to be posted in towns across the country, young people will be more closely monitored and could face more serious charges if caught engaging in crimes.

"We have just begun to gradually implement the disciplinary measures after the prime minister called for action against spoiled youngsters,"

Ministry of Interior spokesman Khieu Sopheak told the Post Sunday, referring to a directive on June 24 ordering ministries and law enforcement officials to crack down on "gangster activity".

'Big brothers' disciplined
"We see that nowadays young people's acts are sometimes entangled with crime and the destruction of culture and tradition," Khieu Sopheak said.

"If we do not have any measures to cope with [young people], our society will definitely become chaotic, and children of the next generation will imitate such a lack of discipline."

Khieu Sopheak said most of the young people that the ministry has picked up so far were "big brothers" associated with criminal gangs.

"In the past, we have gathered thousands of young people who were acting immorally and causing trouble to society. Having gone through rehabilitation, some young people are sent back to their parents.... However, in some serious cases, they are sent to the court," he said.

The new disciplinary measures are being tested in pilot programmes in the country's more densely populated areas, though Khieu Sopheak said it would likely be taken to small villages.

"We thought delinquency only happened in the cities, but now this culture of immorality has become widespread."

Him Yun, vice president of the Khmer Youth Association, told the Post Sunday that he welcomed measures to control delinquency, but he warned authorities not to use the directive as a front for their own bullying.

"While we approve measures to cope with problematic youngsters, local authorities should implement measures effectively," Him Yun said.

Cambodia's PM takes on boy racers

A 2008 Lexus belonging to one of the young hoodlums overturned in the street of Phnom Penh on 30 October 2007 due to street drag racing (Photo: Sralanh Khmer)

Sunday, 11 November 2007
By Guy De Launey
BBC News, Phnom Penh

Cambodia's prime minister has promised to resign if he cannot stop the children of the rich from misbehaving.

Hun Sen says he is tired of young men causing chaos on the streets of the capital, Phnom Penh, by racing their expensive cars and motorbikes.

He has ordered the police to detain parents if they come to collect their errant sons from custody.

If they are government or military officials they will be sacked. If not, Hun Sen says he will quit himself.

It is not just that Phnom Penh's traffic is getting worse. The quality of it is changing too.

Just a few years ago the streets were dominated by old Toyota Camrys and barely-functioning Daelim motorbikes - cast-offs from the United States and South Korea.

Impromptu racetrack

These days you are more likely to be forced into the gutter by a giant Hummer SUV, Mercedes S-Class, or at the very least a high-performance motorbike. And many of the drivers are little more than teenagers.

They are enjoying the benefits of Cambodia's rapid economic growth - thanks to their wealthy parents. But the only thing the rich kids are earning is a reputation for anti-social behaviour.

Come the late afternoon, groups of them turn public roads near the riverside into an impromptu racetrack. There have been a number of serious crashes - and some drivers have threatened local journalists for reporting on their antics.

The tuk-tuk drivers who look for passengers along the racers' route are fed up with the speed merchants.

"They don't drive slowly, they drive very fast. So it's very dangerous. The police are not here... they're never afraid of the police," one driver said.

Prime Minister Hun Sen is not the only one to notice that many of the boy-racers are related to government and military officials.