Singer Dam Vinh Hung banned from performing for 9 months due to “inappropriate” accessories

Singer Dam Vinh Hung’s controversial outfit during his live show on May 4, 2024. Photo by Kieng Can

The Ho Chi Minh City Ministry of Culture and Sports announced the punitive measure on Tuesday after an evaluation committee reviewed Hung’s patch-embellished outfit during his live show “Ngay Em Thap Sao Troi” (The Day You Light Up the Stars in the Sky) in Ho Chi Minh City on May 4.

Many viewers believed the badges on the singer’s outfit resembled the “Special Forces Star,” a badge worn by the Republic of Vietnam, also known as South Vietnam, from 1950 to 1974.

The criminal verdict states that Hung committed an administrative offence by using “clothing, words, sounds, images, gestures, means of expression and forms of performance that contradict the country’s traditional morals and aesthetics and have a negative impact on public morality and health as well as social psychology.”

This decision followed an assessment by the Ho Chi Minh City Ministry of Culture and Sports on May 23, which found that his outfit was inconsistent with Vietnamese cultural values ​​and raised sensitive political issues, leading to negative public sentiment ahead of major political events.

The singer is reportedly in the US and plans to return to Vietnam at the end of July.

Singer Dam Vinh Hung. Photo by Dam Vinh Hung’s Facebook

Following the controversy surrounding his outfit in May, the singer apologized on social media and clarified that the outfit, designed by Vietnamese designer Tuan Tran and inspired by an international brand, featured badges as purely decorative elements with no other meaning. He also mentioned during a show in Hanoi on May 18 that he would no longer wear the outfit.

The 53-year-old singer, real name Huynh Minh Hung, rose to fame after placing fourth in the Ho Chi Minh City Television Singing Contest in 1998. He rose to fame in the early 2000s with contemporary music. In addition to his work as a singer, Hung has been a judge on various music shows, received numerous awards and participated in several social activities.