Miss Jewelry 2007 pageant under scrutiny
08:05′ 04/12/2007 (GMT+7)
VietNamNet Bridge, Vietnam
VietNamNet Bridge – The head of ‘Miss Jewelry’ 2007’s organizing board has been accused of bargaining prizes for sex, while pageant winner, Miss Jewelry 2007 Luu Thi Van Anh and runners-up have not received the promised awards of VND345mil ($21,562) yet.
Van Anh crowned Miss Jewelry 2007
Vu Khac Tiep, Director of the Ve Nu Jewellery Company has sent a letter to press agencies confirming the words of contestant Phan Nhu Thao, a model of Ve Nu Company that a member of the organising board asked Thao to “buy’ prizes.
The letter has been forwarded to the state management agency.
Prior to that, local newspapers published a series of stories about the dubious nature of the pageant.
Miss Jewellery, Luu Thi Van Anh said she and two runners-up went before the organising board to receive their promised awards. They were then told they could not receive any money until the state management agency had come to a final conclusion as to whether there were ethical violations.
“The organising board said money will be distributed after the state management agency has completed their investigation,†Ms Van Anh said.
Anh said that she has been told to prepare for travel. Truong Thuy Ha, Chief Secretary of the Miss Jewellery 2007 contest, confirmed that the organising board will still arrange for her to spend 5 days in Thailand starting December 12, along with other contest winners, as promised. However, she said she cannot provide a final answer about the money.
Meanwhile, Pham Dinh Thang, Head of the Music and Song Performance Management Division under the Artistic Performance Agency, said payment is not related to the organising board’s report.
“The agency has not requested the organising board give any explanation as of yet,†he said.
Under current regulations, beauty contests’ organizing boards must award contest winners monies won15 days after the contest ends, at the latest.
Mr Thang said that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism has signed the decision for an inspection delegation to scrutinize the Miss Jewellery 2007 contest. Members of the delegation comprise representatives from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, the Artistic Performance Agency, and the A25 Agency from the Ministry of Public Security.
(Source: VnMedia)
