Minister cracks whip on entertainment industry By Nguyen Hang | dtinews.vn            Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh rolled out a litany of tough measures to clamp down on the country’s entertainment industry in a Q&A session with National Assembly deputies on June 13.   Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Hoang Tuan Anh. Photo by GDVN Artists who violate performing regulations including wearing ‘unacceptable’ clothing, will be banned from stage for between three and six months and face having their licence to perform removed. Fines will also apply to artists who lip-sync performances even in situations where the acoustics may make live singing unsuitable. The measures would also apply to celebs who use scandals as PR tricks to gain more publicity. The minister also mentioned measures to tighten control over performing activities in the coming time such as careful examination of applications before deciding to grant licenses. Dossiers for programme organisers will also be checked more carefully. Regulations on performance security will be tightened. He noted that fines for violators will be higher. At the Q&A session, the minister said that the departments of culture, sports and tourism had destroyed thousands of illegally-sold CDs and DVDs and strictly dealt with performing violations. The Agency for Performing Arts instructed the departments of culture, sports and tourism to destroy DVD Asia 69 and 71 produced by the US based Asia Centre for containing negative comments about Vietnam. The agency also banned six overseas singers from performing in Vietnam due to their participation in the DVD. Musician Ngoc Dai has been fined VND30 million (USD1,428) for issuing a music album with sexual lyrics. The film Chinatown by director Charlie Nguyen and starring Vietnam’s most popular actor Johnny Tri Nguyen was also banned according to the minister due to the violent scenes that took place without the ‘intervention of authorities’.   Singer Angela Phuong Trinh’s skimpy clothes The minister also said the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism would officially announce a new ambassador in October this year. The minister said the ministry had decided it was a good idea to seek public opinions on what Vietnam’s national flower should be, with the majority of the public unsurprisingly supporting the lotus. The ministry also decided to hold a consultation on what Vietnam’s national costume should be, despite the overwhelming identification of the ao dai with Vietnam’s international image.