Cambodian PM urges wayward monks to follow Buddha's rules

PHNOM PENH, Cambodian Prime Minster Hun Sen has appealed to the Kingdom's Buddhist clergy to behave, saying that monk's misdeeds are causing citizens to lose respect for religion, national media reported Friday.

"If monks causing social problems, it is very difficult for me," Hun Sen said during the closing ceremony of the 17th monk congress, according to the Phnom Penh Post.

Hun Sen urged the community of monks to respect the rules by which monks must live, the Post said.

He said he had been shocked when he saw Buddhist monks dancing in a recording on one of his children's mobile phones, and mentioned an unidentified temple where the chief monk had collected money from ceremonies to buy himself a car.

However, he said this did not reflect on the overall spiritual health of the nation.

"These are individual monks making problems. Citizens should not consider it an issue of the whole religion, but equally, we must not be careless over the issue," Hun Sen said.