On the afternoon of August 15, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports officially spoke out about the controversial incident involving artists Ngoc Mai and Quoc Nghiep after their tour in the US. Previously, the Department had contacted the two artists and planned to work with them when they returned to Vietnam after June 26. However, on July 4, the authorities announced that the two artists had not yet appeared for work.
Responding to Thanh Nien newspaper’s question about the possibility of punishment if the two artists do not proactively report and cooperate with the management agency upon returning to Vietnam, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports said that the authorities are still verifying whether Quoc Nghiep and Ngoc Mai have returned to Vietnam or not. The department also emphasized that it will continue to coordinate with relevant agencies and will provide specific information to the press after the verification results are available.
In the past, after Quoc Nghiep reopened his Facebook account and posted an article explaining the incident, he has not updated any new status. Meanwhile, singer Ngoc Mai has kept her social media pages locked and both artists have not appeared in public.
The incident began on May 27 when a video of Ngoc Mai’s family playing in a room in the US went viral on social media. The video attracted attention because of the image of two flags, one of which was the flag of the old regime, appearing at the head of the bed in the video. Although the video was removed, the image quickly spread on discussion groups, causing many mixed opinions among the public.
On May 30, a representative of the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Culture and Sports confirmed that they had received information about the incident. The Department also clarified that Ngoc Mai and Quoc Nghiep are freelance artists and do not belong to public art units managed by the Department. The Department is currently coordinating with relevant agencies to continue verifying and clarifying the incident when the two artists return to Vietnam.