A controversy has surfaced over the eligibility of Miss Viet Nam 2008 contest winner Tran Thi Thuy Dung barely a day after her crowning, with the allegation that she had not graduated from high school.
Tran Thi Thuy Dung had only one night to savor her anointment as Miss Vietnam 2008 before she had to face a barrage of rumors, the most serious of them questioning her eligibility as a contestant.
Online newspaper “vnexpress.net” has carried an interview with the Quang Trung Private High School in Da Nang where Dung studied for three years. Principal Pham Si Liem told the paper: “Dung has not yet graduated from this school since she and her family submitted a request for suspending her studies at grade 12 at the beginning of the second semester.”
Dung displayed her interest in pursuing a modeling career, and the school approved her request, Mr. Liem explained.
Commenting on his former student, Mr Liem said: “Dung did not have a good result when she entered the school, but honestly, her background was quite good. She did not gain any outstanding result during her three years at classes 10B4, 11B4 and 12B4, except being the second runner-up in an “Elegant Student” contest in grade 10.”
According to beauty pageant conditions issued by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, eligible contestants are female Vietnamese residents aged at least 18 who have already graduated from high school. However, the Miss Viet Nam 2008 pageant has not followed it. It required its contestants to have at least high school education, did not mention the need to graduate.
Recently, the Performing Arts Department submitted amended regulations for beauty pageants, including a proposal that contestants only need to have attended high school, and not have to complete their graduation, said department official Pham Dinh Thang.
The change was aimed at encouraging more beautiful women to join the contest, opening it to those who had not been able to graduate because of some difficulties in their lives, he added.
However, the new regulations have not yet been approved until now, and obviously all contestants in any beauty pageant must follow the regulations issued by the ministry in 2006, Thang conceded.
Asked about Dung’s eligibility, Head Clerk of the Organizing Board for Miss Viet Nam 2008, Duong Xuan Nam was optimistic that everything would be sorted out, and a press conference held today to answer all questions.
The Tien Phong Newspaper, main organizer of the contest, is set to hold a concert to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Miss Viet Nam contest at the Culture and Friendship Palace in Ha Noi tomorrow evening, but many residents are concerned that the controversy would cast its shadow over the ceremony.
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