Ministry clampdown on "crude" lyrics
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said that they would deliver strict punishments to music websites and underground artists for publishing and performing songs with crude or sexual lyrics.
Several singers, including Yanbi, Bueno and Mr. T released a song called "Phieu Be Ngoan" via the internet. The song became controversial as it contains many sexual references and innuendos.
A spokesman for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Phan Dinh Tan, said, "I have lived in western countries and there is no country which would consider such obscene words normal. Why don't we learn from their best instead of mimicking things taken from the dirty corners?"
Tan said that, after receiving the news from the media, the ministry's inspectorate is investigating further and will apply punishments in accordance with the law. "Fine are a weak form of punishment. I think the heaviest punishment would be for audiences to ignore artists. The website ZingMP3 music removed the song, thereby showing responsibility. I also think they should be more efficient in managing their content," he said.
The ministry's inspectorate, Vu Xuan Thanh, said they would send the results of their investigation to Department of Performing Arts. The department will decide on punishments for singers. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has asked other music websites to review their content and take down songs with explicit lyrics that clash with Vietnamese culture.
Last year, Yanbi and Mr. T were fined VND10 million (USD476) after they used explicit lyrics during concert in Haiphong City.
