Six months after Prime Minister Hun Sen warned that the nation’s values were being eroded by the short skirts worn by female singers, the nation’s television stations say they are complying with his demand for a cultural return to modesty.
Speaking on National Culture Day last April, Hun Sen banned “sexy” attire from TV programs, citing the damage being done to Cambodian culture by mini-skirted singers.
Initially ignored by television stations, the hemline issue was raised again last month by Hun Sen when he complained that television starlets had replaced their teeny skirts with equally offensive skin-tight styles.
Sternly warned to ban the morals-destroying miniskirt or face sacking, television station managers said last week they have changed their ways.
And the new style may even spark a hot trend in modest fashion, said one television manager.
Thun Sakol, entertainment producer for TV5, said the clothes censorship has not posed a major problem for his station. Singers wearing long dresses could be spurring a new fashion trend, he said.
“Long dresses are a new fashion for now,” he said, adding that it is the quality of a performer’s voice and not her visual appeal that viewers must think about now.
At TV3—the station singled out by Hun Sen last month as the worst offender—the long skirts and hiding curves rule is forcing managers to change their music programming.
“We now have to choose songs that match with long skirts,” said TV3’s production manager Fai Sam Ang.
Hun Sen criticized TV3 for broadcasting Thai pop concerts that featured scantily clad singers and dance routines that gyrated beyond the bounds of Cambodian decency.
Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara, charged with carrying out Hun Sen’s clothing crusade, held a meeting Sept 1 and reached a four-point agreement with TV officials.
The agreement includes replacing two-thirds of all foreign films aired on TV with Cambodian productions. A similar two-thirds Khmer-music ruling was announced for Phnom Penh’s karaoke parlors in early August.
Television directors are also now responsible for the clothes worn by performers. Traditional Cambodian dance teachers have been sent to TV stations to ensure that unorthodox dancers were shown how to dance correctly.
According to Chea Sophara, Cambodian television stations that are managed by Thai nationals are guilty of promoting dancing that is not Cambodian.
“They know Khmer dance styles, but Thai managers want them to dance their way,” Chea Sophara said.
TV3’s head of marketing, An Sopheak, is responsible for two of the station’s most popular live music shows. He said the dress code is being followed but that dancers—particularly women—should be allowed to perform modern dances when the music is modern.
“It’s just like a garden,” he said. “You need more than one type of flower.”
Station Manager at Bayon TV, Thai Norak Satia, said his station supports the style rules—for now.
“We have made some changes, but we do not know how long they will last,” Thai Norak Satia said.
