Singer Jack has been boycotted by many due to a slew of public scandals. — Photo anninhthudo.vn

HÀ NỘI — Artists are required to be transparent about charity work, contribute to the community and create a positive impression, according to the code of conduct being drafted by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism.

The code aims to promote traditional cultural values and raise artists' awareness of their responsibilities and moral standards to contribute to national sustainable development.

Notably, freelance artists, who are not members of any state arts organisations, will also be subject to the code.

Specifically, the code states that artists have to abide by laws and respect the legal rights of organisations and individuals.

Behaviour ranging from speech, image, costumes and lifestyle are required to match social moral values, national cultural traditions and customs.

Additionally, the code highlights personal responsibilities, cautiousness and calmness in handling information in a civilised manner.

The artists are also expected to pay respect to the public; be dedicated to their creative work to serve the audience and the nation; listen to audience feedback to perfect themselves and the quality of their artworks; and be honest, well-behaved, polite and friendly to the audience. They must not take advantage of their reputation for their personal benefit.

The draft clearly states the code of conduct in artists' charity activities. Specifically, they are required to be responsible and transparent about charity activities, contribute to the community, create positive impressions among the audience, maintain a healthy lifestyle and preserve their own prestige in the eyes of the audience.

Artists are expected to uphold their personal credit to spread humane values, good deeds, beautiful images and proper behaviour in the community. Therefore, they must not participate in advertisements with untrue information nor superstitious activities that violate the law.

The code also states that artists must be responsible and honest in their speech, not use offensive language as opposed to national customs and traditions when participating in any press, media and social activities.

All comments to the drafts sent to the ministry before July 2021 have been used as the basis for appropriate adjustments and the release of the complete set of regulations.

According to Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Tạ Quang Đông, the code is a behavioral framework and not a legal norm. However, it is the basis for ministries, departments and branches to develop their own rules to apply to members and affiliated members.

Singer Thủy Tiên distributes charity money to flood victims in the central region in 2020. — Photo nld.com.vn

Associate Professor Bùi Hoài Sơn, the standing member of the National Assembly's Committee for Culture and Education, stressed the necessity of issuing a code of conduct for artists by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, as there had been a lot of deviant and inappropriate behaviour by artists in recent times, particularly on social networks.

"Artists play a very important role in building human personality. Artists are associated with art and in its turn, art is associated with truth, goodness and beauty – the values ​​that guide cultural development for society. Art or artists are not merely oriented to entertainment purposes, but to orient people to good values ​​in life, so we always appreciate the role and position of artists as well as art in the general development of society,” he said.

“In order to create conditions for artists to further promote their role in society, we must have a code of conduct for artists and writers.

"I think that the Theatre Artists Association plays a very important role in developing, guiding, checking and supervising the implementation of this code of conduct. By doing so, we will create the proper direction for artistic activities." 

The drafting of the code of conduct has received much support from the audience and even artists themselves as many Vietnamese stars have been caught up in scandals like a lack of transparency in distributing charity money, shocking and careless statements on social networks and joining advertisements with unverified information.

Senior actress Lan Hương, star of the TV drama series Sống Chung Với Mẹ Chồng (Living with Mother-in-Law), said that the code of conduct was the desire of many true artists.

“The code of conduct that the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is about to issue is necessary, but in my opinion, it should have been released sooner, then there would not have been so many scandals among Vietnamese artists like now," she said.

"I hope that this code of conduct will help artists understand their roles and responsibilities and therefore behave more culturally to bring many good things to life." — VNS