VietNamNet Bridge – Seeing motorcycles carrying “Buddhist monks” passing by, a woman who ran a pavement tea shop pouted and said: "They are not monks at all. They are just cheaters."
    

At a tea shop in Pho Moi town, Que Vo district, Bac Ninh province, the owner said: "Every morning, they put on costumes of Buddhist monks and go to streets. In the afternoon, they return here and call at my shop to drink tea."

Vu Duong village in Bac Ninh province, which is said to have high number of fake monks, is a purely agricultural village, but most of the people here do not do farming. They are very active and trade many items.

In the last ten years, Vu Duong has really changed. The change was derived from a “special job” – fake monks. Some people said that this "job" was transferred by a local woman who married a southern man.

Initially, only a few people dared to do this “job” and all of them were strongly protested by the villagers. Not long after, seeing these fake monks getting rich day by day, others have followed them.

The owner of a tea shop in Vu Duong said: "In the morning they go to work in groups. They return home at 6pm.”

“Monks” of Vu Duong village are very professional. They wear fake cards noted with the Vietnam Buddhist Shangha. They disguised themselves as monks to sell incenses at very high prices as the way to raise donations to build Buddhist temples. They also "learn” little knowledge about Buddhism or divination to serve their “job.”

Vu Duong Village has a group of motorcycle drivers who are specialized in serving fake monks. They go to the home of fake monks to pick them up in the morning and take them back home on the afternoon. Averagely, drivers earn around VND200,000 ($10) a day.



After only a short time, many fake monks have earned a lot of money. Since then, others join them to earn easy money. This job has quickly become the way to escape from poverty of many families. During “peak times,” Vu Duong village has more than one hundred people doing this job.

Mr. Nguyen Quang Cat, who looks after the Vu Duong village communal house was ashamed when talking about this job. "Just because of money that people disregard ethics. Though it is a lucrative ‘job’ but the serious people never accept doing it," he said.

Initially, when the number of villagers who dared to practice this job was very small, most of fake monks did not dare to wear monk costumes from home, but then when it becomes a "movement," they obviously wear the clothing from home.

In Vu Duong, there are many beautiful houses. Local people said that most of the houses are owned by fake monks.

Mr. Cuong, in Chua hamlet, was a pure farmer. His parents divorced, Cuong had to graze cattle and buffaloes. Yet, people now call him a "millionaire." After getting married, life became harder for him. Cuong worked very hard but he could not earn enough to buy three meals. After six years of being a fake monk, this man has bought land and built a nice house.

"Sow the wind must meet the storm," the law of causality is probably true for some fake monks, who are in prison. Some fake monks not only sell incense at high prices but also practice superstitious rituals to cheat money. Some were arrested for swindling.

Recently, two fake monks - Phan Thanh Chuong and Nguyen Thi Huong from Vu Duong Village – were seized by people in Ninh Hiep, Hanoi, and handed over to the authorities. Thankfully, the two "monks" were only placed on probation on charges of fraud.

During their “journeys,” Vu Duong village’s “monks” faced risks. Vu Duong villagers still tell the story about Mrs. Huong, a fake monk who was forced to take off her monk costume, to have her hair cut and was thrown to a pond by people in a village in Thai Binh province.

However, after the incident, the woman did not give up this “job.” She even stated that it is easier to be a monk without hair.

CAND
Compiled by P. Lan