Ms. Mai Thảo, who lives in Melbourne, said that many Vietnamese forums in Australia have been buzzing for the past two days because of the incident involving the country's largest low-cost airline making vulgar and derogatory remarks about the Vietnamese currency.
"Many people are calling for a boycott because they are so outraged that money is the face of the nation and cannot be used as a joke or mockery. We have sent numerous complaints to the Australian Human Rights Council and continue to file complaints with the company because they were wrong but offered only a perfunctory apology. Yesterday, the company apologized by responding to comments on their fan page in a very brief way; today they apologized on their website, but it was just for show," Ms. Thao shared her opinion.
Jetstar omitted the accent mark from the word "đồng" to turn it into the vulgar slang term "dong" to mock the Vietnamese currency. They also used the exchange rate difference between the two currencies to ridicule it.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Australian low-cost airline, which once had a joint venture in Vietnam, mocked the Vietnamese currency in a Facebook post: "Sorry, but calling Vietnamese currency 'dong' sounds ridiculous." ("Dong" in English slang has a vulgar connotation).
Furthermore, in the comments section, the company wrote: "One million dong is $65, and basically, having $65 means I'm a millionaire."
Following intense online criticism in both Vietnam and Australia, Jetstar deleted the post, but the screenshots had already spread rapidly. These screenshots were recalled by customers in the airline's old promotional posts, and thousands of people reacted with outrage on Jetstar's fan page, prompting the airline to issue an apology. However, many considered the airline's attempt to erase the evidence and its superficial apology to be inadequate for the serious issue caused by Jetstar.
Therefore, the company later issued an official statement on its website: "We acknowledge that a Facebook post on Wednesday regarding Vietnam's currency was inappropriate and should never have been posted, which is why it was quickly removed."
Immediately after the post was deleted, we apologized on Facebook and would like to sincerely apologize once again for any offense caused.
"We will review our processes to ensure a similar error does not happen again," Jetstar's apology, posted today on its website, failed to appease public opinion.
Apology from the Australian airline.
On her personal page, Dr. Nguyen Phuong Mai argued that Jetstar violated Australia's anti-racism laws, as well as its own social media regulations. Furthermore, the airline's apology did not explain why it was a violation, did not acknowledge the damage caused by the violation, and did not mention any measures to punish or prevent similar violations in the future…
According to Dr. Nguyen Phuong Mai, customers have the right to boycott, but in a society governed by law, the formal legal process ensures that the matter is officially acknowledged and handled properly. For this reason, Dr. Mai advises customers to file a complaint with the Australian Human Rights Council and Jetstar.
Jetstar, a low-cost airline, belongs to the Jetstar Group (Australia), which previously partnered with Vietnam Airlines to establish Jetstar Pacific Airlines. However, in June 2020, Jetstar officially transferred its stake in Jetstar Pacific Airlines back to its major shareholder, Vietnam Airlines, to officially withdraw from the Vietnamese market due to losses.
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