(IPS) feature

Reports of fashion models caught selling sex would probably receive little attention elsewhere, but when police recently accused well-known models of allegedly engaging in prostitution, it caused a scandal in this communist nation.

Three weeks ago, local authorities announced that they had caught at least six models selling sex in hotels in Ho Chi Minh City and Vung Tau.

Police said that they found a list of some 100 models in the room of the alleged ''ringleader'' who also maintained a website in which she ''marketed'' the women.

The public was appalled not only by the arrest of the models, but also by the apparent nonchalant attitude of the young women towards their ''sideline'', more so because the women are all from middle- and upper-class families.

According to the models who were arrested, they decided to sell sex because they needed money to maintain their image. Huffed one: ''As a model, I cannot go out on my old obsolete Honda Cub 81. I should have at least a Spacy or Avenis (motorbike).''

This is understandably lost to members of Vietnam's older generation, like Nguyen Trung, 69, a war veteran.

He remarks: ''I don't understand why these young, beautiful and educated girls would engage themselves in prostitution. Where are we heading, if our children are trapped in materialistic lifestyles, forsaking all noble and spiritual valour?''

Certification process

But Jacqueline Le Trinh, who set up the first training centre for models in Vietnam, would rather just focus on reversing the negative effects of the scandal on Vietnam's infant modelling industry.

''It's really a blow to the industry. It makes genuine models ashamed of their trade,'' she laments.

She has urged the Ministry of Culture and Information (MOCI) to introduce clear-cut stipulations on the management of catwalk shows, including a certification process for models, as well as standardised fees and more professional industry practices.

Senior MOCI official Tran Chien Thang can only concur. He said: ''We will draw experience (from the scandal) and set adequate measures to manage modelling operations.''

Trinh came home to Vietnam in 1995 to help Ho Chi Minh City set up a training centre for fashion models. But it took her three years before she could get a licence for her own modelling agency - the very first in communist Vietnam.

These days, says Trinh, people who want to follow her footsteps can obtain a licence in just two weeks. That may be partly why the country's major cities are churning out more and more models, even though most are unlikely to get any real working stints.

Trinh herself notes that fierce competition has made it hard for her girls to even land advertising contracts, which used to make up a large part of her company's income.

"Since last year we (have been focusing) more on 'A Glimpse of Saigon' a kind of musical programme cum fashion show so as to maintain work for our teams of models,'' says Trinh.

But many young women and their parents in Vietnam, seem oblivious to such developments and still view modelling as the job to have, equating it with glamour and wealth.

Indeed, there are even ''modelling clubs'' dedicated to training children, while some cater to housewives and businesswomen who think they have what it takes to sashay down the catwalk.

Trinh says, modelling is hard work, and it needs a sense of professionalism which is getting scarcer among the newcomers.

''Many parents come to me and demand that their daughters appear on the catwalk,'' says Trinh, whose Baby Company Ltd has a broad license permitting it not only to train models but also to organise fashion shows.

''Unfortunately, hardly any of these girls know anything about modelling, and get where they are with their good looks and wealthy parents,'' she says.

Pittance

And while a model's maximum fee of US$40 (RM142) per show is certainly more than the average Vietnamese daily wage, the sheer number of models means that even the more popular girls get to do only as much as three shows a month.

After all, there are not many fashion designers in Vietnam, and the handful that do produce collections put up shows only occasionally.

In Hanoi, where professional models are estimated to number at least a thousand, a mere 30 have work that can be considered ''regular''. In many instances their fee is cut to US$15 (RM57) per gig.

In the past, models would compete in pageants and beauty contests that offer cash prizes in an effort to augment their income. ''Unfortunately, these (competitions) are becoming rare,'' says Hong Ha, a winner in last year's beauty contest in Hanoi.

Le Toan, who belongs to a 200-member modelling team, says: ''Outsiders may think that a model is someone special and earns a lot of money. False, we get pittance.''

''It's no wonder some models who manage to make a name on the catwalk and use that to engage in dubious activities,'' she adds, referring to the recent sex scandal.