'The issue of national costumes has not yet received consensus, there are still many conflicting opinions'

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung continued to respond to voters' suggestions that the traditional ao dai be the national costume.

Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung - Photo: GIA HAN

Minister of Culture , Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung has responded to the petition of Hanoi voters sent before the 8th session of the National Assembly.

National costume has not received consensus

Hanoi voters asked the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to study regulations that the national dress for men should not only include suits, shirts and ties, but also include the traditional ao dai .

Responding to this content, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism Nguyen Van Hung said that on July 31, 2013, the ministry issued Decision 2641 approving the project of state uniforms.

At the same time, organize competitions, order designs as well as seminars to collect opinions from researchers, experts and widely consult nationwide.

However, the issue of national costumes has not yet received consensus, and there are still many conflicting opinions. On the other hand, there is no legal basis for issuing regulations on state costumes.

Therefore, regarding the proposal of Hanoi voters to regulate national costumes, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism would like to acknowledge and continue to study it.

Along with that, report to competent authorities for the policy of building, supplementing and perfecting the legal basis for issuing decisions related to costumes, ceremonial costumes in particular, and national cultural symbols in general.

This is not the first time the issue of Vietnam's national costume has been raised. Since 1990, a national costume project to find a common outfit for state officials has been initiated.

In 2013 and 2014, the national costume project was transformed into a state ceremonial costume project, but to this day it remains unfinished and has not been implemented.

Artist Tuyet Thu is graceful in ao dai

Start choosing national costume soon

During the question and answer session at the 7th session of the National Assembly on June 5, 2024, Minister Nguyen Van Hung said that he had researched and identified ceremonial costumes and national costumes as clothing with distinctive characteristics, but then encountered problems with the authority to recognize and approve them, so he had to stop.

Mr. Hung emphasized that he knew that delegates were very concerned and wanted to preserve cultural identity.

"Here, we earnestly request the National Assembly to fill this legal gap, possibly assigning it to a locality or a management ministry to include in the law so that the Government, ministries and branches can be recognized by the competent authority," Mr. Hung replied at that time.

At the discussion session on November 1, 2024 at the 8th session of the National Assembly, delegate Nguyen Van Canh (Binh Dinh) continued to propose choosing the national costume and national flower for the Vietnamese identity system.

According to Mr. Canh, Vietnam does not have a clear cultural identity. The law does not specify which competent authority is authorized to approve Vietnamese identities such as national costumes and national flowers.

Previously, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism organized an evaluation and vote for the national costume and national flower, but it stopped halfway because there was no competent authority to approve it.

He said that in addition to what is prescribed by law, the Vietnamese identity also includes the national costume, national flower, national instrument, national dance, national martial arts, national wine, and national cuisine.

These are also the factors that create standards for a Vietnamese state banquet at major national and international events in Vietnam.

He added that recently young people have been interested in men's ao dai and have worn it a lot at cultural events, festivals, Tet and weddings. Therefore, he believes that this is the right time for the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism to restart the selection of national costumes.

Tuoitre.vn

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/van-de-quoc-phuc-chua-nhan-duoc-su-dong-thuan-con-nhieu-y-kien-trai-chieu-20250115083749964.htm