New beauty pageant rules draw fire

Vietnam’s most recent draft for a new art and performance law is being criticized for allowing girls who have criminal records or plastic surgery to sign up for beauty pageants.

Explaining the rationale for opening beauty pageants to ex-convicts, Vuong Duy Bien, a senior official from the Ministry of Culture, Information and Tourism which is responsible for drawing up the draft, said the new rules want to give ex-convicts a chance to rebuild their lives.

“If they reform well and change into better persons, they deserve to be treated like others,” Bien said.

For many, this isn’t realistic.

Duong Xuan Nam, a chief organizer of Miss Vietnam for many years, said beauty queens are expected to have clean records.

“If we crown a girl who was expelled from school, imagine the public’s outrage,” Nam said.

As for allowing girls who have gone through plastic or transgender surgery to take part, Quang Tu, head of New Talent Model Agency which has churned out two beauty queens, Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy and Miss Vietnam 2010 Ngoc Han, said this was simply not fair for natural beauties.

Miss Vietnam 2006 Mai Phuong Thuy

Miss Vietnam 2010 Ngoc Han

Tu said if surgeries were accepted at all, only minor ones should be allowed.

Nam is more critical. He said the new draft law actually encourages young women to turn to surgery to be more beautiful.

“This means beauty pageants in Vietnam would be accessible only to the rich”, Nam said.

Thuy Linh, Miss Ao Dai at Miss Vietnam World 2010 was withdrawn her title after she was found out to have plastic surgery