Pop star censured for kissing monks
Published: 14/11/2012
HANOI – Vietnam’s Ministry of Culture has told Ho Chi Minh City authorities to punish a male pop singer for kissing two monks at a charity auction this month, a government official said Wednesday.
“Kissing a Buddhist monk on his lips is indecent,” said Vuong Duy Bien, director of the ministry’s department of performing arts, told dpa. “Our society is not ready to accept homosexual kisses.”
Pop star Dam Vinh Hung auctioned a bottle of wine on Nov 4 to raise funds for a cancer victim and had promised to kiss the winning bidder.
Two Buddhist monks won after bidding US$2,636. Hung kept his promise, kissing the young monk on the lips and the older monk on the hand.
A photo published on the internet caused public indignation.
“Your sin has stained the Buddhist robes,” a reader wrote in the Tuoi Tre newspaper.
The monk who was kissed on the lips was dismissed as manager of Quan Am pagoda. Both monks have been barred from leaving the monastery and ordered to break off contact with the outside world for three months.
The singer apologized. He faces a fine and a ban on performing for up to three months.
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Pop star Dam Vinh Hung fined $ 250 for kissing 2 monks
A $250 kiss
Related to the “kissing” scandal between HCM City’s singer Dam Vinh Hung and two Buddhist monks, the Inspectorate of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism summoned the singer to Hanoi and decided to impose VND5 million ($250) fine on him for a charge of “indecent behaviour.”
Although the fine was criticized for being too small, MCST Inspector Vu Xuan Thanh, said it was the highest punishment available under current regulations for indecent behaviour by artists.
On November 4, in a charity show in Ho Chi Minh City, Dam Vinh Hung offered a rare wine bottle for auction at a charity event for a fellow singer, Wanbi Tuan Anh who is suffering from a rare pituitary protuberance and needed money for treatment abroad. Before the auction, he promised to kiss the auction winner.
The winners were two Buddhist monks, who bought the bottle for VND55 million ($2,500). Incidentally, Dam Vinh Hung did not hesitate to kiss the younger monk on his lips and the older monk on his hand.
However, the kiss caused public controversy following its release on internet. The two monks explained that they are only representatives for an anonymous Buddhist, and they had not bought the wine themselves.
They later were confined to the pagoda for three months. Thich Giac An, the older monk, who was head of Quan Am (Avalokiteshvara) Pagoda has been temporarily striped off the duty. They were also penalized: being kept in for three months.
Singer Dam Vinh Hung and two monks have apologized to the public, Buddhist nuns and monks nationwide.
The same-sex kisses between the male singer and the monk made the witness be stunned. The pictures “grabbing” the kisses have been quickly spread on the Internet and received harsh comments. Many people said that this image is so offensive, especially in an Asian country as Vietnam. It is harder to accept the same-sex kiss of a monk.
Although the two monks got pretty strict punishment, the public wave has not yet subsided. Many people said singer Dam Vinh Hung must be punished for putting a bad image to the public.