Friday, 04/17/2026
Domestic
A Fake Monk at Festival.
Update: 21/03/2015
March 15th, 2015, the police of Nang\r\nMau village town, Vi Thuy rural district cooperated\r\nwith the police of Long My rural district tasked\r\nhim to the office for investigation. He was\r\nnotified as Pham Van Chieu (1982 birth, 1 hamlet, Long\r\nMy rural district, Hau Giang province) and he wasn’t shown\r\nany document relating to religious practice.
\r\nHe accepted that he disguised as a monk because of having\r\nno money for expenditure and being indebtedness. He was reeducated with\r\nmaking public trouble of security in 2004. Vi Thuy district’s\r\npolice compelled Chieu not to disguise as a monk,\r\nwhich affects the dignity of Buddhism.
March 10th, 2015, the Police Department\r\nof Security an Society of Can Tho city cooperated with\r\nthe police of Cai Khe ward, Ninh Kieu district, Can Tho city for\r\ninvestigation to Ngo Van Khanh (1982 birth, Khanh Hoa commune, Chau Phu\r\ndistrict, An Giang province) and Huynh Hung Hai (1978 birth, Chau Phu\r\nward, Long Xuyên city, An Giang province) as the crime of being a\r\nfake monk act in as a “mendicantâ€.
At the police office, both accepted\r\ntheir hard life, indebtedness and gambling;\r\ntherefore, they escape from local region to Chau Doc\r\ncity. A woman named Hue without address (different\r\nname as Tam Le) guided them to be mendicants and\r\nprepared a monk robe for each. At the end of the day,\r\nthey must pay as a tax to Mrs Hue with 200 VND a person.
According to Thich Nu Nhu Huong nun, Chief Board of\r\nVietnamese Buddhist Congregation of Can Tho city, many people\r\nare dressed in monk robes as mendicants earning\r\nmoney. They are not official monks of Vietnamese Buddhist Congregation,\r\nwho take use of the belief and the compassion of people, which\r\nsullY the quality of Buddhism. This is a deceiving action,\r\nwhich need to do severe punishment and people must be alert.
Translated into English by Bui Thi Bich Huyen