Dear Editor,

The suggestion by the governor of Phnom Penh that girls under the age of 16 should be banned from going out alone after 9pm is inappropriate, ridiculous and fundamentally weak.

I pass one of Cambodia's biggest entertainment facilities every Friday afternoon, and its entire parking lot is always filled with teenagers. Most of them looked younger than 16, and many were still wearing their high school uniforms.

In such places, there are competitions that offer young partners the club's main stage to demonstrate their French-kissing skills. In addition, sexually provocative dancing can now be seen on almost every mobile phone and Web site.

Will the curfew also be imposed on Friday afternoons and weekends, or are these times ignored because girls are visiting clubs not alone, but as a team?

Having read another reader's letter giving alternative solutions to this social problem (August 31), I found the author's proposals much more appealing and fundamentally stronger than the governor's. I hope the governor reads it, too, and will reconsider his proposal.

Borei Sylyvann

Phnom Penh

Send letters to: [email protected] or PO Box 146, Phnom Penh, Cambodia. The Post reserves the right to edit letters to a shorter length.

The views expressed above are solely the author's and do not reflect any positions taken by The Phnom Penh Post.