Lessons for Vietnamese artists after singer Dan Truong's charity scandal

The controversial case of singer Dan Truong calling for charity through his personal account is a common lesson for all artists, celebrities in particular and individuals in general.

Many artists show signs of violating Decree 93

As previously reported, singer Dan Truong caused controversy when calling for donations using his personal account "PHAM DAN TRUONG".

When questioned by the audience, he responded with a tense attitude. After 2 days of calling for donations, the singer released a statement, saying the reason for using a personal account was because this was a "small, compact, and intimate" activity with fans.

At the same time, on her personal account with the official blue tick, singer Duong Hong Loan called on the audience to donate money to an account named "TRAN THI KIM NGAN". After 2 days of calling, the total amount collected was 46 million VND and 200 USD (about 5.2 million VND).

Accordingly, Duong Hong Loan called for donations for another individual. She did not publicize the bank account statement, instead posting a list of donations in a manual statistical form - a method that does not ensure the transparency of charitable activities.

Similarly, "Calendar Queen" Hien Mai also continuously posted to call for donations to an account named "Khanh Hoa - Sai Gon Business Club", updating the list of donations manually instead of publicly posting a bank statement. The total amount is currently up to 768 million VND.

Singer Dan Truong promised to learn from his experience in calling for charity using his personal account. Photo: FBNV

Reporters also noted that some social media celebrities' calls for charitable donations showed signs of lack of transparency.

Another common case is organizing a fundraising concert but not meeting the conditions specified in Decree 93/2021/ND-CP.

There is no excuse for wrongdoing.

Speaking with VietNamNet, lawyer Hoang Ha (Ho Chi Minh City Bar Association) said that from the time Decree 93/2021/ND-CP takes effect, all spontaneous charitable activities must be within a framework.

When an individual initiates an act of calling for and receiving money from others, a civil relationship is established and subject to the regulation of law.

Therefore, the reasons given by artists and celebrities such as: small scale, only calling on loyal fans, only posting on closed groups/personal pages, being abroad... are all baseless to exempt themselves from the responsibility of transparency.

In the case of individuals calling for donations, he summarizes Article 17 into 3 easy-to-remember steps.

First, a separate account must be opened for each charity donation - the most important change compared to the milestone before 2021.

Second, it is necessary to publicly announce the purpose, objects, location, time... of receiving money; send a notice to the People's Committee of the commune or ward where the charity is planned.

Third, after the charity campaign ends, the account must be closed, a statement must be made and widely publicized.

Vietnamese artists have caused public distrust because of their lack of transparency in charity work. Photo: Archive

Attorney Hoang Ha also noted that the campaigners must be careful to fulfill their commitment to spend the charity money; for example, if they have announced to buy instant noodles, they cannot arbitrarily change it to building houses or giving cash. If they want to change the purpose, they must notify the donors.

Next, the mover does not arbitrarily deduct logistics costs.

"If from the beginning, you clearly state 'will deduct a portion of the money to pay for gas, accommodation, warehouse, workers...' then you can include a notice clearly stating how much money will be deducted for which expenses. If you commit to '100% of the money going to the people', you have to pay out of your own pocket for logistics costs, and cannot use even 1 dong of the money you have called for," he said.

In addition, according to Article 18 of Decree 93/2021/ND-CP, the distribution of money and goods must be based on a list or in coordination with the People's Committee of the receiving location. The mobilizer is not allowed to arbitrarily take money and goods to distribute, giving them to whoever they like.

Finally, if the entire amount of money raised is not used, the campaigner should not keep it for himself. Attorney Hoang Ha recommends that they notify the donors to transfer the money to other charity programs or transfer it to reputable charity funds and relief funds.

Charity - now different

According to lawyer Hoang Ha, in the past, going to the bank to queue, get a number, and sign dozens of documents to open an account used to be a barrier and a nightmare for many individuals doing charity work.

However, currently, most banks in Vietnam allow opening online payment accounts through phone applications.

Singer Thuy Tien once caused controversy for distributing charity money in an emotional way. Photo: Document

In fact, it only takes individuals about 3-5 minutes of operations on the phone such as taking a photo of the ID card, facial authentication... to create a new account. People who are abroad can still use an international roaming SIM card and Vietnamese ID to open one.

Individuals can open additional payment accounts right on the banking application they are using. Many banks allow account names such as "DANTRUONG-MIENTRUNG2025" or "UNGHO-LULUT-DAKLAK".

"This method is both legal and professional, and donors feel more secure. After the charity event ends, you can easily close or lock your account right on the app with a balance of 0," he said.

If individuals find themselves incapable of managing and reporting finances, they can choose safer options such as acting as a communication bridge, using personal prestige to call for contributions to reputable charity and relief funds; or giving legal authorization to professional law firms and financial companies.

"The regulation on separate accounts to receive charity money does not cause difficulties, but on the contrary is a 'lifesaver' for charity workers. In the 4.0 era, you cannot find any excuse to continue doing charity work in a non-transparent manner like in the past when there was no legal corridor," according to lawyer Hoang Ha.

Mi Le

Source: https://vietnamnet.vn/bai-hoc-cho-nghe-si-viet-sau-on-ao-tu-thien-cua-ca-si-dan-truong-2466363.html