Female ward secretary stands on a raft while officers pull her to inspect the flood

On the morning of October 11, a photo appeared on social media of two women wearing skirts standing on a raft being pulled across a flooded road by a man.

The road was only slightly flooded, but the female ward secretary and another woman still got on a raft and were pulled away by a man. Photo: FB

According to the person who posted the photo, among those wearing skirts was Ms. Nguyen Thi Tam - Party Secretary and Chairman of the People's Committee of Dong Tho Ward (Thanh Hoa City). The man pulling the raft is an official working at the ward committee. At the time of filming, Ms. Tam was inspecting flooding in the area.

The photo attracted public attention and received many mixed opinions criticizing the female Secretary.

The same afternoon, the female ward secretary spoke up to explain the photo. She said that this morning she wore office clothes to congratulate businesses on Vietnam Businessmen's Day.

“The group of ward officials were on their way when they saw the flood, so I stopped the car to check. This was a case of force majeure,” said Ms. Tam.

"I just tried the raft and then waded in the water," Ms. Tam explained, adding that it was unclear who was curious enough to take the photo and post it online.

“I’m 50 years old, why would I wear a skirt to fight flooding and visit people?” said the ward secretary, adding that after the survey, she got all her clothes wet, but still returned to the committee to convene an urgent meeting to discuss relief measures for people in flooded areas. “I didn’t come back until 2pm to munch on some bread,” said Ms. Tam.

Ms. Tam wore a pith helmet, held an umbrella and wore a business dress to check the flood. Photo: FB.

The female Secretary affirmed that she did not care about public opinion. “If I went to a restaurant or sat in an air-conditioned room, I would be guilty. But if I fought with the people, the people would take note,” the female Secretary said.

A representative of the People's Committee of Dong Tho Ward said that due to prolonged rain and floods, about 300 houses in the area were flooded, and many households were unable to evacuate their belongings due to the water flooding at night.

According to VNE