In recent years, there have been countless scandals and breaches of performance regulations involving local models and singers, including wearing overly revealing costumes on stage, lip-syncing and producing outrageous public statements.
The workshop was held simultaneously in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City and Da Nang and was attended by culture officials from 63 cities and provinces nationwide, as well as artists and representatives of showbiz companies.
If approved, the office expects to kick start the plan in September, initially with singers and models, who are most likely to violate the performing regulations and create scandals, and the cards will take effect by Jan 1, 2014.
According to Nguyen Dang Chuong, head of the Performing Arts Office, the artists who have received the cards can have them suspended from six months to two years, or even recalled, depending on their violations.
The ministry also suggested that title-holding artists, or those who have earned the cards previously, are exempt from this round.
This time, cards may be valid for five years, or for the artists’ entire career, Chuong added, noting that the five-year validity is more plausible.
Many participants at the workshop showed support for the plan, however, some expressed reservation and doubts about its feasibility and effectiveness.
Vo Trong Nam, deputy head of the HCMC Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism, pointed out that the ministry should learn from the previous card issue back in 1999, which was discontinued in 2002 thanks to its ineffectiveness.
“A card issue would likely be a waste of budget and an administrative burden. Besides, to tackle prevalent violations in art, we should tighten censorship over program and show content rather than stepping up management of singers and models,” he stressed.
Meanwhile, representatives of the Da Nang Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism urged that performing cards be issued to show managers and organizers as well.
Following the workshop, several local singers and models also expressed their dubiety over the necessity of the card issue and the obscurity regarding the criteria they’re supposed to meet to be eligible for the cards.
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