The Performing Arts Department on August 30 instructed Departments of Culture, Sports and Tourism nationwide to temporarily stop issuing performing permits to singer/ actress Angela Phuong Trinh for donning a ‘transparent’ jumpsuit and performing erotic dances at a recent performance in Hanoi.

Angela Phuong Trinh, whose real name is Le Ngoc Phuong Trinh, will be banned temporarily from performing nationwide, including at restaurants, hotels, bars and discotheques.

Several photos of Trinh’s performance, which took place at the Next Top bar in Hanoi on August 22, instantly spread online, sparking widespread public reactions.

At the performance, Trinh was wearing an extremely tight, short ‘transparent’ jumpsuit which revealed her underwear. Many online comments wrote that Trinh strongly reminds them of Chinese showbiz ‘sex bomb’ Gan Lulu.

That night, Trinh performed some local pop songs accompanied by erotic dances, including ones with a pole, and titillating prone postures.

Soon after the images from Trinh’s performance went viral on the Internet, many people expressed strong disapproval. Her show at another bar two days later was canceled because of this.

The Hanoi Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism on August 30 also fined Next Top bar VND3.5 million (US$165) for hosting Trinh’s performance.

After assessing this performance, and another featuring her in Hai Phong on August 25, the Performing Arts Department decided to issue the ban on the singer for wearing culturally inappropriate outfits and performing titillating gestures and dances.

Le Minh Tuan, from the department, said that only when Trinh complies with the penalties and prove she has ‘improved’ will she be issued performing permits again.

Trinh earlier expressed regret on her personal page, claiming she hadn’t imagined the outfit could have looked so provocative under the stage lights and promised to cut the inappropriate dance moves as soon as she’s allowed to resume performing. However, many think that this was a ploy to grab attention.

Trinh, who played innocent, obedient teen girls in such television dramas as the Korean-Vietnam co-production “Mui Ngo gai” (The coriander scent), “Linh Lan Trang” (The white orchids) and hit “Ba me nhi” (The little mother) several years ago, has regularly performed songs accompanied by sexually explicit dances in revealing costumes at local bars in recent years.

Several local singers and models, particularly female ones, including Thu Minh, Thai Ha and Minh Hang, have each been fined some VND3.5 million (US$165), a penalty which many consider perfunctory, for donning revealing costumes and performing erotic dances onstage.

The Performing Arts Department recently instructed all cities and provinces to temporarily ban 22-year-old Le Thi Huyen Anh, or “Ba Tung” (Mrs. Tung), from performing nationwide, even in bars, due to her breast-flaunting acts and shocking statements on Facebook.