かんぼでぃあ・からおけ。
Yahoo!newsでの報道。
【インドシナ】カンボジア政府、ナイトスポット閉鎖へ
カンボジア政府は23日から、ナイトクラブ、ディスコ、カラオケ店といった娯楽施設をすべて閉鎖する方針だ。暴力事件や麻薬取引が日常化したため、風紀の粛正を図る。レストランやダンス場などはこれまで通り営業を認める。
プノンペンではナイトスポットでの暴行・発砲事件、警官や兵士による路上強盗などが頻発している。市当局は先週、発砲事件や麻薬取引で知られる「マンハッタン・ナイトクラブ」を閉鎖したが、19日にも別のカラオケ・パブで発砲事件が起こり、１人が死亡、５人がけがをした。（NNA）
[11月22日2時56分更新]
プノンペン・ポストでの報道。
PM pulls plug on karaoke
By Robert Carmichael and Bou Saroeun
Prime Minister Hun Sen officially decreed the end of fun in an executive order dated November 20. The instruction shuts all karaoke parlors, bars, nightclubs and discotheques, whether legal or illegal, starting 6pm today (November 23).
The directive is the latest in a line of similar demands from the Prime Minister over the past few years. Previous efforts saw all strip clubs shut down, and casinos banned within 200 kilometers of the capital. He also forced cable TV companies to stop offering pornographic films, and banned miniskirts and tight tops for women from Khmer TV. The sale of marijuana was also outlawed.
The new order requires that "all ministries and institutions and the town and provincial authorities shall implement this order cooperatively and effectively". Restaurants are specifically excluded. A government legal advisor said that assuming the order was enforced, it could well backfire.
"This is the most wrongheaded thing [the government has] done in a long time," he said. "All those people who manage to have a job are going to be wiped out. I can't imagine implementing a policy that could be more damaging to public opinion - just look how many people make a living out of it. This is sending exactly the wrong image [of Cambodia]."
The question on everyone's lips was: Why? Speculation ranges from Hun Sen's anger at the behavior of his nephews, who have embarrassed him with their well-publicized firearm-toting activities at karaoke clubs, to a general clean-up of an industry that is often a thin disguise for prostitution.
The executive order signed by Hun Sen stated that it was to protect people from criminal activities so often associated with such entertainment establishments. It also stated that these places were "destroying the future of teenagers, who are the mainstay of the country".
However, financially inclined minds came up with an alternative answer: they thought it might be a cunning ruse to compel those businesses that pay no tax - that is, most of them - to start paying, or close. The government recently agreed with donors that it would focus on improving tax collection next year.
In a classic Catch-22, some of the city's best-known expatriate bars have been told to sign a paper agreeing to close, failing which they will be shut down. Others were still awaiting the notice from the municipal authorities.
The legal advisor said the order would not only frighten off investors, but could well be unconstitutional.
"The government should put this off for a month. Aside from the [CFF] attack last year, this is probably the worst signal you can send to investors. Companies want stability and want to know the rules aren't going to change overnight," he said.
The order will also see thousands of people thrown out of employment, whether legal or otherwise. Minister for Women's Affairs, Mu Sochua, said as many as 40,000 people could lose their jobs. She said there are no fewer than 450 establishments in the capital alone.
Sochua said that today (November 23) her officials will cooperate with NGOs and visit karaoke parlors to hand out an information leaflet detailing where the workers can go for assistance such as temporary shelter and legal assistance.
One karaoke parlor owner, who asked not to be named, said that since the announcement her staff had visited pagodas to be blessed with holy water and burn incense imploring the spirits to help revoke the order.
Sok Ny is a singer at a karaoke club called Golden Star and is distressed at the announcement. She earns around $80 a month, most of which she sends to her mother and two ill sisters in Mondolkiri province.
"Right now I don't even have the money to get home," she said. "I felt dizzy when I learned that in two days my place will close. I don't know what I will do to earn money."
Bopha, 26, from Kampong Cham province said her family too depends entirely on her earnings as a karaoke worker. Now she is worried she will be unable to repay the money she borrowed to fund an operation for her mother.
"When I heard this I was shocked and started to cry," she said. "I had promised to pay the money back next month, but now my work will close. It is so hard to find a job."
Phnom Penh Post, Issue 10/24, November 23 - December 6, 2001
(c) Michael Hayes, 2001. All rights revert to authors and artists on publication.
For permission to publish any part of this publication, contact Michael Hayes, Editor-in-Chief
http://www.PhnomPenhPost.com - Any comments on the website to Webmaster
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