• Society

No Music Horns and Dance on Roads, PM Warns Drivers and Public 

• By Meng Seavmey
• March 19, 2024 10:50 AM

PHNOM PENH – Vehicles must get rid of ‘music horns’ and people must stop dancing on the side of the road at their passage, Prime Minister Hun Manet warned while a social media trend is rising in Cambodia.

Through a statement on Facebook on Mar. 18, Hun Manet called on the Ministry of Public Works and Transport and the General Commissariat of National Police to take action against trucks or cars with custom horns, to avoid disorder and accidents on the road.

Such horns are specially developed to make short rhythmic sounds that produce a melody. A recent social media trend, that spread quickly on TikTok and Facebook, saw groups of youngsters filming themselves dancing on the side of the road to the sound of such ‘music horns’.

Such gatherings are risky. “[They] disrupt the order on the streets, pose a risk for travel and can especially cause harm to children,” the prime minister said.

Yong Kim Eng, president of the People Center for Development and Peace, thinks young people can easily be influenced – positively and negatively – and copy what they have seen online. Hence a need to tackle this trend quickly, before any dreadful incident happens.

“This is why the government and authorities need to secure the order, and not only blame young people for acting like that,” Kim Eng told Cambodianess on Mar. 18. 

He suggested the authorities should work faster on instructing drivers to get rid of the horns, and punishments should be defined for people who don’t respect the guidelines.

Pa Chanroeun, president of the Cambodian Institute for Democracy, believes that drivers and dancers who don’t respect the ban of horns and dances should be fined, to improve road safety.

“The punishment should be based on morality and include social work. For example, they should clean the road for a week or so,” Chanroeun said.

He claimed that the trend first started in other countries and was later followed by children and teenagers in Cambodia after seeing it on social media.

He said that the matter should be discussed among elders and teachers, who should remind children not to follow the trend.

According to the prime minister, provincial authorities had already instructed truck owners to remove such horns and install a normal device instead. They also warned the public, especially the youth, to stop dancing along the road.

However, the instruction had not been spread widely enough to enhance any change of behavior, Manet said. 

He therefore called on administrations of provinces and authorities at district, commune, and village levels to follow up on the situation and take actions to prevent such acts, protecting lives and securing road order.