Ing Kanthaphavy, CPP minister of Woman Affairs and former F'pec defector
One of the Apsara images from reahu.net that received the ire of Ing KanthaphavyWebsite displaying half nude Apsaras to be shut down
Thursday, December 19, 2008
Everyday.com.kh
Translated from Khmer by Socheata
The ministry of Woman Affairs is planning to shut down a website displaying images of half-nude Apsaras (KI-Media Note: The “reahu.net” website is based in the US where Cambodian gov’t has no jurisdiction whatsoever) created by a Cambodian-American artist. Ms. Ing Kanthaphaby, the minister of Woman Affairs, raised the issue of the negative impact brought by this website on Khmer culture. She told The Phnom Penh Post that “Right now, we are preparing to shut down this website.” Van Sophat, Licadho liaison deputy director, said that this website should be shut down because it attracts too much attention from Cambodian youths. He said that these images are actually modeled after Apsara sculptures, but they are too realistic just like actual human flesh. Chuch Phoeung, the secretary of state of the ministry of Culture and Fine Arts, indicated that his ministry has no reaction to these images: “This is the freedom of the artist who drew the human body. If you visit European museums, you will see these types of drawings in the majority of museums.”
