Hanoi’s Deputy Chairman, Le Hong Son, has ordered relevant ministries to crack down on public profanities on the streets of the capital.

According to the city administration, foul language is becoming a growing problem, one that undermines the city’s reputation as the “capital with thousands of years of civilization,” reports Tuoi Tre.

Son said that the Ministry of Education and Training and the Ministry of Culture must take action to “minimize the uncultured behaviors at schools and in society.”

Last year, the city tasked the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism to develop a code of conduct for local public offices and residential communities. It is scheduled to be issued this year but it neither mentions what utterances would be considered vulgar nor what kind of punishments would be doled out for offensive language.

Some, however, doubt the ability of authorities to wage war on public vulgarity.

“Even though the document is intended to do good for Hanoi, I don’t think it can really be realized,” writer Nguyen Ngoc Tien toldthe newspaper.

Tien’s thinking was echoed by Doctor Bui Quang Thang, Associate Professor at the Vietnam Institute of Culture and Arts Studies. “Such a request can only be enforced in public offices, where few people use vulgar language.”

“Swearing is now a fad among some young people and it is impossible to educate them just by a document.”

“Bans and penalties are necessary, but what matters is changing the awareness of the youth,” concluded Doctor Nguyen Tung Lam, chairman of Hanoi’s educational psychology association and principal of a local high school.

[Photo via Swearnet]