Barking Up The Wrong Tree

Sat, Mar 1, 2008
Op-Ed by Chanda Chhay

In its latest attempt to curb social vices, the Cambodian government has recently moved to ban songs it deemed immoral and enticing adulterous behaviors. The move reminded me of the People’s Republic of Kampuchea, when it took a similar action in the 1980’s to ban two songs entitled:

1. My Clay Water Jar was Broken “Baek KaOm Oun Heuy”
2. Cleaning the Ear Canal “Tbar Tro-cheak”

It is really sad to see that, after all these years of struggling to bring freedom to their country, the Cambodian leaders keep crawling back into the claws of Communist dictums. For a government which has enshrined freedom of expression in its Constitution, this kind of action is not only ridiculously dumb but also stupid. So, what’s next? Moving to destroy all the Apsara’s images on the wall of Angkor Wat because the carvers revealed too much nakedness of the woman’s body?

Let me remind you, if I may, Mr. and Mrs. Cambodian leaders, that love is an affair of the heart which is driven by biology and governed by the law of nature. You don’t have to be a genius in biology to understand what the law of nature is regarding the issue of adulterous behaviors. All you need to do is ask yourselves: Have you ever had the urges to commit sins? It is a no-brainer that the answer to this question is YES, no matter who you are. Only liars would answer NO!

Adulterous behaviors have been living in human minds since the day we were conceived on the face of this earth. They will not disappear no matter what we try to do. We can move to ban all the “immoral” songs and closed down all the karaoke bars and brothels in Cambodia. The problems with adultery will never go away, period! In order to successfully deal with the problems of vices, it is wise to remember that virtue does not come from the suppression of vice; it comes from the human will to overcome the temptation of vice. In this case, banning those “immoral” songs is not only constitutionally wrong but also a waste of time and resources. What the government should do is to educate the public that the songs were just the expressions of human feelings and creativities—nothing wrong with them. But adultery is wrong! As a matter of fact, the Cambodian government has already recognized that adultery is wrong. It even passed laws to prosecute people who committed it.

So, stop barking up the wrong tree! And for liberty’s sake, please use the law, not censorship!!

Chanda Chhay
Washington, D.C.

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."