Netizens got into the act and quickly found out that the woman in question was Phạm Thị Minh Hiếu, deputy director of the Bình Thuận Province’s Department of Justice. — Photo N.A.T

T. was walking around the famous Tuyền Lam Lake area in Đà Lạt City when he overheard a group of tourists talking about breaking off some flowering branches of the wild Himalayan Cherry, the city’s famous spring blossom, for taking some photographs.

A short while later, when he returned to the spot, he saw a woman in the group holding a branch of the flowers. When he accosted her, she told him off quite rudely. T vented his anger by posting the incident on his Facebook page, with pictures.

Netizens got into the act and quickly found out that the woman in question was Phạm Thị Minh Hiếu, deputy director of the Bình Thuận Province’s Department of Justice.

Once the post went viral, the rude official was forced to replace her flowering branch with an olive branch – she publicly apologised for the lack of awareness in her actions.

However, she also hastened to add that she was not the one who actually broke off the branch. It was her driver. She’d seen a branch about to fall off, and the driver had plucked it for her, she said.

The matter did not end there. Yesterday, the deputy chairman of Bình Thuận People’s Committee said that he’s asked the provincial Department of Justice, where Hiếu works, to report on the incident by March 10 before any possible penalties are decided.

Meanwhile, the netizens are not just skeptical about Hiếu’s story, they are derisive about her pinning the blame on her driver, instead of owning up fully to her fault.

Not matter what happens next, she’s not going to come up smelling of roses. – VNS