No slang in songs, Vietnam says
HANOI - Vietnam's Ministry of Culture and Information has asked all provinces to pay strict attention to vocabulary used in songs and to exclude slang and inappropriate wording, an official said Thursday.
The ministry send on October 6 a circular to all offices in the country to make sure young composers create better-worded songs, said Pham Dinh Thanh, director of the ministry's art performance department.
"We have asked local officials to pay greater attention to the contents of songs before they are publicly used," he told Agence France-Presse.
"The censorship concerns exclusively the vocabulary," he said, adding there was "nothing political" in the move.
State-controlled website VietnamNet said "the public has raised its voice about the trend of using 'garbage' words in Vietnamese songs."
"Online forums to attack the creation of what could be translated as 'shockingly-worded songs' have stirred up a large discussion among the public on the issue."
The ministry asked that "badly-worded" songs be changed before licenses are issued.
A group of inspectors in different provinces will decide whether or not songs need rewording. Based on the decisions made by these judges, licenses will or will not be issued.
Agence France Presse - October 12, 2006.
|