Le Minh Tan, director of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs has only been reprimanded for holding a house-warming party during work hours despite clear regulations on such abuses of power.

Le Minh Tan

On June 10, dozens of blue-plated cars from HCM City and Binh Phuoc Province lined up outside of the house of the newly-appointed director of HCM City Department of Labour, Invalids and Social Affairs at 3pm.

When being asked, Tan said he had invited everyone at office for a meal at home at 4pm because he had taken over the position two months ago and his family had just had a funeral which meant the celebrations had been delayed.

"They left work early to avoid congestion because my house is far from the office," he said.

During this time, members of the public which needed issues resolved were told that staff were busy having meetings and couldn't deal with their issues. It was later found out by the city inspectorate that Tan and his employees were all at the party.

Nguyen Duc Chanh, head of Duc Chanh Law Firm, said according to the Decree 192 issued in 2013 on administrative sanctions in state property management, a fine of VND5m (USD227) to VND10m would be applied for those used state cars for wrong purposes.

Officials will be reprimanded according to the Decree 34 issued in 2011 on penalties for state officials. Leaders of agencies can be demoted or sacked if their actions lead to serious consequences.

On June 24, the authorities of Ho Chi Minh City People's Committee said in written report that Tan's actions were a bad role-model for other officials as he had used state cars and work hours for private matters.

Such behaviour badly affected the reputation the civil service, but surprisingly the people's committee only issued a written warning rather than the legally required fine.