Thuy Tien speaks up about the charity money distribution case '6 500,000 VND bills become 5 million VND'

On the afternoon of May 16, Thuy Tien attracted attention when she shared a long post, explaining the videos circulating on social media that suspected her of embezzling charity money in October 2020.

SingerSnow White Dreamclaimed that the "edited" videos of her undercounting the relief money for the people of Central Vietnam. Specifically, there were videos recording the singer declaring "support of 5 million VND per person" for the people in a commune in Le Thuy district (Quang Binh province) on the night of October 31, 2020. However, she distributed the money unevenly, some people received a lot, some people received a little, and at one time she only gave 6 500,000 VND bills (equivalent to 3 million VND) to the people.

Thuy Tien distributed money to people in Le Thuy district, Quang Binh province on the evening of October 31, 2020. Photo: Screenshot.

Regarding these controversies, Thuy Tien spoke up to explain: "That day, I woke up from 4am to distribute money to the people, and until 8-9pm I didn't have time to rest or eat, and the long journey at night was very tiring. I'm just a normal person, and when I'm tired or overworked, I sometimes make mistakes and give money to some people. However, any people who counted the missing money immediately reacted to the local leaders. When I finished distributing, I confirmed with the local leaders and the people, and I made up for it."

Thuy Tien said that the people who received the extra 5 million VND all returned it. Those who received less money also stayed behind to wait for the full amount. She admitted to making a mistake in counting but affirmed that she had compensated the people in full later. The singer cited a video she had broadcast live on the evening of October 31, 2020, as evidence that the information spreading on social media was intentionally "ignoring" the part where she compensated the money to cut and paste the truth.

"I know that saying it won't change anything. Those who don't believe it can still believe it, but I think that those who are following Tien will feel better when they hear the truth of the story being shared," Thuy Tien said.

Thuy Tien's post immediately attracted the attention of netizens. This is also the first time the singer has spoken out about the "5 million VND but only gave 6 500,000 VND bills" controversy that has been simmering for many years. However, besides the opinions supporting the female singer, there are still many conflicting arguments.

Many viewers commented that Thuy Tien waited 3 years, after the charity scandal broke out, to speak up to explain, which was unreasonable. Besides, the reason "tired, too exhausted" given by Thuy Tien was also unconvincing. The viewers said that doing charity work is commendable, but this is a difficult job, requiring precision, transparency, and no room for mistakes or emotions like the 8X singer's mistake.

In addition, netizens also questioned whether all people who received money short are waiting to be compensated or only a few. Some comments online: "If you count a few million dong and still make a mistake, how will you handle the 178 billion dong in the charity account?"; "If you do it, do it correctly, if you don't do it correctly, don't do it"; "It's better to get tired and make mistakes once or twice, but make a lot of mistakes. Taking responsibility for taking money from donors to help people, how can you bear to give out less money?"; "Watching the video, you will see that after this person is given money, he is pushed away so that someone else can come up to receive it. With so many people and such a short time, how many people will receive money and know that they were counted short and stay waiting?"...

Thuy Tien and Cong Vinh withdrew money to help people in Central Vietnam on October 29, 2020. Photo: Facebook characters

Previously, in October 2020, Thuy Tien had a charity trip to the Central region to support people affected by floods. At that time, she called for 178 billion VND from domestic and foreign benefactors. This action helped the female singer receive many compliments but also caused a lot of controversy about the transparency in the disbursement process.

In September 2021, Thuy Tien and her husband - soccer player Cong Vinh - went to the bank to make a statement of their account when the case of embezzlement of charity money exploded violently on social networks. Although they made a detailed statement and the Criminal Police Department determined that "there was no appropriation of charity money, no signs of crime", until now, the controversy over the singer's charity has not stopped.

In recent years, Thuy Tien has almost "retired", rarely appearing in public and rarely participating in artistic activities.

Bich Phuong