Vietnam's karaoke fans sing the blues
HANOI - Draft legislation to close one of the country's most popular "social evils" -- the karaoke parlour -- is under fire from all quarters, including the country's normally pliant Communist bureaucrats.
The Ministry of Culture and Information wants the government to ban the entertainment venues, starting on Jan. 1, calling them havens for prostitution, drugs and offensive music.
"Eighty per cent of karaoke bars in Vietnam harbour negative phenomena that could affect our culture in the long run," said Le Anh Tuyen, director of the ministry's legal department. "Police have discovered that many karaoke parlours actually serve as brothels or as intermediaries for call girls. Many songs do not have pleasant lyrics."
Mr. Tuyen said the ministry received numerous complaints from people living near the bars about noise and unsavory activities.
Karaoke has flourished since being introduced to Vietnam in the early 1990s. It offers people a chance to let off vocal steam, from the country's bustling cities to remote mountainous villages.
According to official statistics, there are more than 2,000 licensed parlours, but the number is much higher. Many are thought to be owned by army, police and government officials.
Used as venues to celebrate birthdays and business contracts and to entertain visiting officials, they fast became one of the most popular after-work haunts. But their popularity led many owners to offer "additional services" -- carried out with the connivance of well-bribed officials and police.
Many karaoke lovers believe the ministry's motives for the proposed ban are short-sighted and will prove ineffective.
"It is ridiculous. If they want to stamp out prostitution, they should close all massage parlours and guest houses, not only karaoke bars," said Do Manh Hung, a 25-year-old Hanoi businessman.
The proposal is absurd, said Tran Thi Bich, owner of the popular Minh Anh Karaoke Bar.
"It is a case of one rotten apple spoils the barrel. The government should find those who violate the law and punish them, not everyone.
"What about the rights of people for whom karaoke is legitimate entertainment? There aren't many things for people to do in their free time to entertain themselves in Vietnam. It will be terrible if karaoke is shut down."
An survey of more than 13,600 people carried out by Vietnam's most popular Internet newspaper, the state-run VNExpress, indicates that 76 per cent of those polled oppose a ban; 24 per cent support it.
State news media outlets contributed to the uproar by devoting many columns to the proposal.
"We cannot ban it, because it is the right of the people," Vu Duc Khien, chairman of the National Assembly's legal-affairs committee, told the Tuoi Tre daily in February.
"Why has karaoke existed for years in Japan without problem? We should not ban something just because we cannot deal with it properly."
By Vu Quynh - Agence France Presse - March 22, 2004
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