This statement quickly received much criticism from the audience because storm No. 3 (Yagi) had just landed in Hai Phong, causing heavy damage to people and property. In response to the wave of public opinion, Mr. Pham Duy Khanh wrote a long post apologizing and explaining his misleading statement: “In fact, what Khanh intended to say was, “We are very happy that the contest is still taking place even though Hai Phong has just experienced the biggest storm ever.”
However, as the head of the Organizing Committee and the general director of the program, Khanh was too distracted because it had been pouring rain for nearly an hour before the opening ceremony. He had to worry about the guests, the stage, the contestants, the artists, the electricity, the stage, etc., so his mind was as tense as a guitar string. In addition, the speech paper Khanh had printed out got wet and ruined because of the rain and wind, so Khanh decided to speak and this unfortunate incident happened.
Khanh sincerely apologizes to everyone, because no matter how he explains, his words have unintentionally hurt so many people. Khanh sincerely bows his head to apologize to everyone, and hopes to be forgiven!”.
The organizers of Miss Tourism Vietnam Global apologized for their statement “welcoming the big storm”.
Mr. Pham Duy Khanh also said that the contest was held in Hai Phong, after the storm, the Organizing Committee also decided to cancel the Semi-final night, instead organizing 2 sessions for the contestants to participate in cleaning up fallen trees, then organizing a session to visit and give gifts to lonely elderly people. Mr. Pham Duy Khanh and all the contestants and everyone in the Organizing Committee also donated and transferred 150 million VND to the Hai Phong City Fatherland Front to support people in the flood areas.
Another controversial incident in the final night was when Mr. Pham Duy Khanh took the crown from the reigning beauty queen Ly Kim Thao to put on the head of the new beauty queen. Miss Ky DuyenExplaining this, the head of the contest’s organizing committee said: “When Ly Kim Thao held the crown and was about to lift it up to put on Ky Duyen, Ly Kim Thao’s evening gown had a very stiff brim on the shoulder and Thao couldn’t raise her arms so she said “Mr. Khanh, please help me put it on”, and at that time Ky Duyen was bending down waiting, and it was live so she needed to be quick, so Khanh helped Thao put the crown on the new Miss Ky Duyen”.
Head of Organizing Committee of Miss Vietnam Tourism Global also considers this a valuable lesson in speaking and handling situations on stage during the live televised competition. He promises to accept everyone’s comments to make changes, in order to improve himself.