PM sneers at karaoke workers

Prime Minister Hun Sen said Monday that many women working in karaoke bars across the country skipped Cambodia's recent local elections because they feared getting their fingernails dirty with black ink.

"Many karaoke ladies did not go to vote because they feared getting their fingernails dirty," he said. "Some of them might have planned to go to vote but after seeing others return from voting with black ink on their fingernails, they decided to skip the polls. "But that was their right, their freedom — freedom to vote and not to go to vote," he said.

Hun Sen seemed to be speaking partially in jest, as laughter could be heard when he raised the subject.

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There is such a disdain for women working in the karaoke industry in Cambodia. Yet the karaoke bars are patronised by rich and poor men alike. I say men because women are not allowed to enter unless they are escorted, something I personally experienced.

The women working in the karaoke industry are there to sing with and for the men and bring drinks. It is a service business so the hostesses are dressed and made up nicely. Some indirect sex work does take place but for the women involved, this is a job like any other and is probably the only job they can get. The work they do is legal and popular and they are treated as unclean and fallen women by the powerful who use their services.

Unemployment is high in Cambodia especially among women. There are few professional positions open to women. In fact apart from some positions in NGOs or the bank, young women are employed in garment factories or bar work, where they can earn up to $50 a month, half of which is sent back to their families in the province. Many do turn to sex work and although some outsiders may see that as a choice, it is a harsh economic reality. There is a definite "death before dishonour" attitude in Cambodia but this does not feed families.

And the PM is sniggering at women who are working in legitimate employment by insinuating, without a shred of evidence, that they do not vote because of their vanity. KI Media wonders how the PM knows this about the karaoke workers. It is his job as PM to create employment and raise the standards of living of all Cambodians. He is supposed to encourage gender equality. Why just a few months ago 3G phones were banned because immoral women would use them to corrupt pure Khmer men.

He has no evidence and is making public statements about his disdain for women working in the karaoke industry. Everybody else is talking about women taking an active role in politics following the commune elections. All he does is sneer and suggest that women would choose not to exercise their democratic rights just because of perceived vanity. Shame on him.