Vietnamese models knocked for prostitution 'sideline'

By Tran Dinh Thanh Lam
December 1, 2001

Ho Chi Minh City - Reports of fashion models caught selling sex would probably receive little attention elsewhere, but when Vietnamese police recently accused well-known models of engaging in prostition, it caused a scandal in this communist nation.

Earlier this month, authorities here announced that they had caught at least six models selling sex in hotels in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau. They also said that they found a list of some 100 models in the room of the alleged "ringleader" who also maintained a website in which she "marketed" the women.

The public has been appalled not only by the arrest of the models but also by the apparent nonchalant attitude of the young women - all from middle- and upper-class families - toward their "sideline". According to the models who were arrested, they decided to sell sex because they needed money to maintain their image. Huffed one: "As a model, I cannot go out on my old obsolete Honda Cub 81. I should have at least a Spacy or Avenis [motorbike]."

This is understandably lost on members of Vietnam's older generation, such as Nguyen Trung, 69, a war veteran. He remarks: "I don't understand why these young, beautiful and educated girls would engage themselves in prostitution. Where are we heading to by letting our children trapped in materialistic lifestyle, forsaking all the noble, spiritual valor?"

But Jacqueline Le Trinh, who set up the first training center for models in Vietnam, would rather just focus on how to reverse the negative effects of the scandal on Vietnam's infant modeling industry. "It's really a blow to the industry. It makes genuine and correct models ashamed of their trade," she laments.

She has urged the Ministry of Culture and Information (MoCI) to introduce clear-cut stipulations on the management of catwalk shows, including a certification process for models, as well as standardized fees and more professional industry practices.

Senior MoCI official Tran Chien Thang can only concur. He said: "We will draw experience [from the scandal] and set adequate measures to manage modeling operations."

Jacqueline Le Trinh came home to Vietnam in 1995 to help Ho Chi Minh City set up a training center for fashion models. But it took her three years before she could get a license for her very own modeling agency - the very first in communist Vietnam. These days, says Trinh, people who want to follow her footsteps can get a license in just two weeks. That may be partly why the country's major cities are churning out more and more models, even though most of these are unlikely to get any real working stints.

Trinh herself notes that the fierce competition has made it hard even for her girls to land advertising contracts, which used to make up a large part of her company's income. "Since last year," she says, "we [have been focusing] more on 'A Glimpse of Saigon', a kind of musical program cum fashion show, so as to maintain work for our teams of models."

But many young women - and their parents - in this country seem oblivious to such developments and still see modeling as the job to have, equating it with glamor and wealth. Indeed, there are even "modeling clubs" dedicated to training children, while some cater to housewives and businesswomen who think they have what it takes to sashay down the catwalk.

Trinh says, though, that modeling takes very hard work, plus a sense of professionalism that is getting scarcer to find among the newcomers. "Many parents come to me and demand that their daughters appear on the catwalk," says Trinh, whose Baby Co Ltd has a broad license permitting it not only to train models but also to organize fashion shows. "Unfortunately, however, hardly any of these girls know anything about modeling and get where they are by having good looks and wealthy parents," she says.

And while a model's maximum fee of US$40 per show is certainly many times more than the average Vietnamese daily wage, the sheer number of models means that even the more popular girls get to do only as many as three shows a month. After all, there are not that many fashion designers in Vietnam, and the handful who do produce collections put up shows only occasionally. In Hanoi, where professional models are estimated to number at least 1,000, a mere 30 have work that can be considered "regular". In many instances, their fee is also cut to $15 per gig.

In the past, models would compete in pageants and beauty contests that offer cash prizes in an effort to augment their income. But, says Hong Ha, a winner in last year's beauty contest in Hanoi, "Unfortunately, these [competitions] are becoming rare."

Le Toan, who belongs to a 200-member modeling team, says: "Outsiders may think that a model is someone special and earns a lot of money. False, we get only a pittance, enough to survive. It's no wonder some models manage to make a name on the catwalk and then make use of their name to engage in dubious activities," she adds, referring to the recent sex scandal.

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