Television’s tight-skirted scofflaws came under fire from the Prime Minister who vowed Thursday to crack down on provocative programming.
“Before I ordered girls in miniskirts banned from all TV programs,” Hun Sen said, referring to a recent government crackdown. “Since then…they wear body-hugging clothes instead.”
He said such programs threaten to destroy a culture in which women wear “good-looking traditional costume” and are “polite.”
“So stop wearing these clothes and put on traditional costumes. If we continue doing this, we lose our soul and our culture,” he told graduating students at Phnom Penh’s Faculty of Pedagogy.
TV3 is the worst offender, Hun Sen said, and the station has become notorious for its broadcasts of Thai pop music concerts, featuring scantily clad women singing and dancing in a sexually titillating manner.
The prime minister ordered Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara to tell all TV station managers to tone down their programming or face concert bans.
The move follows a series of recent measures aimed at preserving Khmer culture and standards of decency.
Last month, the government ordered karaoke patrons to sing at least two thirds Khmer songs, and gave vendors six months to get rid of pornographic material or face fines.
And last week, authorities gave vendors of pornographic videos six months to get rid of their stocks or face fines up to $520.
