There are certain things in life that we like, in which case we approve of, and there things that we do not like, thus disapproving. That is normal and that is what makes us unique. I am me and you are you. This uniqueness causes us to prefer a particular "thing" over the other. This is what bias or prejudice is all about.

Lately, there seems to be an uproar in the Khmer's ministry of women affairs over the subject of "indecent" drawing/painting/image of almost naked Apsara. To this I am astonished! What is so tasteless about a picture of an Apsara beig shown nude? Our prejudice self acts as though this is the first time we see the breasts of Apsara. The temples of Angkor has plenty of them. All naked from waist up. many Khmer's household has some kind of painting hung on their wall of a woman showing her breasts.

These are all arts. I myself may not hang these on the wall of my house, but who am I to say that these arts are bad? Yes, I cannot hang them becase I do not want my young kids to see the half naked woman, but I cannot say that others should not simply because my taste and theirs are not mutual. I am a believer in a saying that goes beauty is in the eyes of the beholder.

Many years ago, Angkar told us that having a certain hair style was not socially acceptable and therefore illegal.

Many years ago, we could not utter the word "communism" in the open for fearing the secret police of Mr. Lon Non may jail us or worse, make us disappear.

Many years ago, we could not criticize movies that were made by prince Sihanouk, no matter how bad they were (in my opinion at least).

You see, once a government entity starts to dictate what is and what is not socially acceptable we will slowly begin to lose our freedom of expression, a rare commodity in the realm of Khmer political arena.