VietNamNet reviews remarkable cultural events, reported by the local media in 2011.

Health Minister’s daze and the generosity of beauty-loving bosses

While Minister of Health Nguyen Thi Kim Tien was still socked of the overload at hospitals, where she has worked for dozens of years but could not find out thorough solutions, beauty-lovers quickly help people forget pain and stress caused by diseases and economic difficulty, etc. by holding many beauty contests.

Vietnam has hosted several international beauty contests in recent years. For each contest, a new, big theater was built.

In 2008, to prepare for the Miss Universe in Nha Trang city, the central province of Khanh Hoa, Hoan Cau Company built the Crown Convention Centre with 8,000 seats, totaling $9.8 million.

Again, to serve the Miss Earth 2012, a $10 million theater named San Ho (coral) is being built in the central province of Ninh Thuan.

In 2010, the Miss World was almost held in Vietnam. A big theater was also almost built in the southern province of Tien Giang to serve the beauty contest.

While public works like hospitals and schools are in serious shortage, million US dollar theaters are built for one-time use.

In the other words, Vietnam loves beauty and Vietnamese bosses are generous with beauty.

1,001 tricks of charity
What are the standards for a beauty queen? Beauty queens must be beautiful from inside to outside and particularly, they have to be enthusiastic with doing charity. This is the answer that all girls who compete at beauty pageants know clearly. Moreover, through doing charity, they have opportunity to appear on the media.

It is okay to organize charity events that both benefit the disadvantaged people, beauty queens and businesses of kindness. However, the public opinion strongly criticized a charity event held in late 2011, when a group of over 40 people, including contestants of beauty contests, flocked to an orphanage in the central province of Thua Thien – Hue clear of weeds, collect rubbish, take photo and take lunch and finally gave the orphanage only VND1.5 million ($70) for the lunch.

At the same time, singer Luong Bang Quang brought boxes of instant noodles to a charity center, under the protection of a group of bodyguards.

According to a newspaper of the public security ministry, beauty queens are paid to participate in charity events.

Tourism ambassador and “showing off like minister”
After many scandals, actress and businesswoman Ly Nha Ky was unexpectedly nominated as the first Tourism Ambassador of Vietnam. The appointment stirred up controversies on the local media and the public.

Besides Ambassador of Tourism Ly Nha Ky, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh also appeared very often on the media to advertise for the campaign “Vote for Ha Long Bay” as a new natural wonder of the world. His five-month old granddaughter was called “the youngest who votes for the Ha Long Bay.”

Houses and statue of Heroic mother
The central region is known as the poorest region in Vietnam, where they face many natural disasters. But in 2011, the central region was also known for a VND420 billion ($20 million) to build a monument to honor Vietnamese heroic mothers in Quang Nam province.

While the local authorities were ready to invest $20 million to build a monument to commemorate heroic mothers, living heroic mothers are living in poor houses.

$2 million scandal at the Cinema Agency and resignation culture
Accountant Pham Thanh Hai of the Vietnam Cinema Agency embezzled VND42 billion ($2 million). This sum is ten times higher than the average capital for a state-funded film project.

The question that how this accountant could embezzle such a huge amount of money, but officials of the Vietnam Cinema Agency did not know is still not answered.

The agency’s officials kept insisting that they were cheated and they were not involved in the embezzlement. The chief and vice chief of the agency were even promoted as the chief and vice chief organizers of the Vietnam Film Festival (like the Oscar of the USA). The public could not stand anymore to raise its voice. Until then, the two officials resigned when they were nearly dismissed.

“They are still lucky to not have to go to jail, just losing their positions,” a blogger commented.

Law for Writers and literary awards
A scandal broke out in 2011, related to many composers, movie director, script writers, etc. when the list of nominees for the Ho Chi Minh Awards and the State Awards for Culture and Art was announced.

Five musicians and two scriptwriters have petitioned the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism for reconsidering the list of nominees for the Ho Chi Minh Awards and the State Awards on music and movies. These artists said that the list of nominees was unsatisfactory.

The scandal became a big hit on the local media for a period of time.

Thanks to National Assembly deputy Nguyen Minh Hong, who proposed to issue the Law for Writers, writers became the centre of interest in 2011.

“I just put forward the suggestion but I do not know why we need that law,” Hong stated then. Hong made that proposal just because he is the representative of writers in the National Congress.

Hoang Huong