Vietnamese airlines just can’t catch a break these days. From in-flight public urination and sexual harassment to smoking, it’s been a rough go of it the domestic aviation industry. Well, now you can add “cultural insult” to the list as Vietnam Airlines has just recalled its latest magazine due to a poor cover choice.
The Vietnamese flagship airline’s November issue of Heritage Fashion magazine had drawn the ire of the Burmese Buddhist community with its cover featuring a Vietnamese woman in ao dai containing an image of Myanmar’s famous Shwedagon Pagoda, according to Tuoi Tre.
Last week, Venerable Nayaka took to his Facebook page to voice his disdain for the garment - even going as far as to drop the F-bomb in his post and threatening diplomatic action - which he found offensive due to its use of the scared site.
The full cover of the November edition of Heritage Fashion.
To their credit, Vietnam Airlines quickly removed all of the magazines from it flights. “The recall is meant to limit the impact of different cultural views,” Le Truong Giang, editor-in-chief of the airline-run Heritage magazine, told Tuoi Tre on Friday.
Heritage Fashion, a supplement issue of Heritage, is available on all flights operated by Vietnam Airlines.
The issue in question was meant to highlight the Vietnamese national dress. The pagoda-clad ao dai was designed by famed silk maker Thai Tuan, who consciously chose the image to “introduce the typical religious trait of Asia.”
The Shwedagon Pagoda was built between 2,600 and 643 years ago, with archeologists and believers differing in opinion. Either way, the pagoda (also known as Great Dagon Pagoda and the Golden Pagoda) is the country's most sacred and dominates the Yangon skyline.
The Shwedagon Pagoda. Photo via Rajesh_India.
