Karaoke Leading to Social Evils in Vietnam
Multiple Choice: What did the Chief of the Legal Department of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism of Vietnam say?
A. “Ecstasy always goes with wine and music. If the government doesn’t ban dancing at karaoke establishments, karaoke rooms will be misused by ecstasy users”
B. “In my opinion, karaoke is a cultural activity which is always latent with social evils.”
C. “Inspectors will decide who violates the rules and at what level. If someone dances to soft music and doesn’t drink wine, doesn’t scream, the punishment will be gentle.”
D. All of the above.
Why, D of course.
Here’s more from an interview of Le Anh Tuyen in VietNamNet Bridge:
“The draft decree stipulates that karaoke rooms in five-star hotels are permitted to open until 2pm (editor’s note – we assume they mean 2am here), instead of 12pm (midnight? – ed.). Why?
“According to the present regulations, karaoke establishments have to close before 12pm. It is suitable for Vietnamese because workers have to sleep to work the next day. However, foreign tourists want to spend their time at discotheques and karaoke establishments. We surveyed 1,000 foreign tourists, 295 said they want to go to discotheques, 21% to karaoke establishments, and 30% to bars.
“Vietnamese citizens can go to these places as well but these establishments often serve foreigners. Nobody can say that there are no social evils there but we have to satisfy foreign visitors’ requirements and enforce inspections.”
Gee, thanks, Le Anh, for thinking of the tourists staying at 5-star hotels. Meanwhile, the rest of us karaoke-singing, wine-guzzling, ecstasy-taking, dancing tourists staying at 4-star hotels will just have to turn in early.
