The deputy director of the Cambodian Television Association has warned comedians who perform live on television to avoid jokes about sex, religion, vulgar behavior and philandering US politicians.
Crude humor threatens the sanctity of Cambodian culture, said Sok Ey San, who is also general director of Apsara Radio and Television.
“We want audiences to be happy and we also want them to get educated while we protect our culture,” he said.
The new order will require comedians to describe their acts in detail before going on the air. They must also say beforehand how many audience members their act requires, he said.
Those who defy the refinement order will be kicked off of television.
The ban may kill the spontaneity of live comedy acts, comedians complained.
To Chamroung, who made his way onto popular television portraying the befuddled tycoon San Mao, said some acts may go too far. But requiring comedians to describe their acts in detail before they go on stage is unfair, he said.
“It’s OK if the association wants to ban sexual or impolite words, but don’t require us to provide details of our acts beforehand,” To Chamroung said.
He said he makes $15 or $20 a show.
The anti-vulgarity measure also bars from television women’s clothing that shows too much flesh, Sok Ey San said.
“Some singers complain about the order [barring risque clothing] because if they wear short clothing they will become more popular,” Sok Ey San said.
The dancers have been told to cover themselves before: Prime Minister Hun Sen banned short skirts from television in April 2000, saying the provocative clothing degraded Cambodian culture.
Although it’s hard to say how free performers are in Cambodia, compared to other countries, various cases of censorship in Cambodia led the World Press Freedom Committee to rate Cambodia’s media as “not free” in its 2000 report.
Cambodian law outlaws negative statements about the King through the constitution’s Article 7 of Chapter II: “The King shall be inviolable.”
Laws written during the UN’s period of rebuilding Cambodia in the early 1990s call for penalties of up to three years in prison for slanderous remarks or statements. Article 63 of state law, meanwhile, sets the penalty at up to one year in prison and fines of $400 to $4,000.
An additional press law, passed in 1995, forbids the publication of “false information which leads to the humiliation or degradation of national organs or public authorities.” Comparing politicians to dogs, for example, could be grounds for a lawsuit.
Still, some comedians said the order will have little effect on their acts. Comedian Chuong Chey, famous as the stage goof Kuy, said he never uses sexual or rude words.
“I never kiss or use impolite words [with female comedians] to make people laugh,” he said.
He said he agreed with the association’s plan and hoped it would clean up Cambodia’s comedy acts.
Not everyone agrees.
Ou Pon Narath, one of Cambodia’s most popular comedians, said the order puts too much pressure on performers.
He said a lot of comedians use metaphors to compare sex to more innocent things to make people laugh, he said.
Meanwhile, comedians in other countries use politicians’ names in their acts and no one minds, Ou Pon Narath said.
“The association’s suggestions wander close to communist rules,” he said.
He said he intends to perform as he did before, with no changes. “The prime minister never criticized my performance,” said the comedian.
That could lead to a showdown. Sok Ey San said if comedians insist on using sexy words during their live performances, he will instruct technicians to switch the station’s broadcast to a film.
(Additional reporting by Matt McKinney)
