Rated X for content: TEDxPP

11 June 2012
The Phnom Penh Post
Activists / cancelled performance / Chut Wutty / dean of communications and media arts / event / evictees / government forces / institution / internet / Loun Savath / Pannasastra University / performance / Phnom Penh / political manifestations / political rallies / Raymond Leos / recording / show / TEDx

The grand finale at Phnom Penh’s much-ballyhooed TEDx event on Saturday was intended to send a message. Several activists, among them Loun Savath and the son of the late Chut Wutty, would stand before an audience of 600 and read accounts of violent land disputes. Images from clashes between government forces and evictees would play in the background. That was the plan, anyway, until sponsors and a dean from host institution Pannasastra University saw the dress rehearsal on Friday. The decision that followed was swift – the show must not go on. “Our internal regulations at our school prohibit any political rallies and political manifestations of any kind,” Raymond Leos, dean of communications and media arts, said yesterday. The cancelled performance came to light over the weekend when a surreptitious recording of Friday’s meeting was posted on the internet. …

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2012061156729/National-news/rated-x-for-content.html