Is the areca nut girl gone yet?

Last week, the areca-picking medium in Hien Thanh ward who “admitted right and argued wrong” was fined 7.5 million VND by Kinh Mon town police for providing and sharing information promoting bad customs and superstitions that are not in line with the nation’s traditions and customs, and was forced to remove the information she posted on social networks.

Ms. H.

Previously, social networks were buzzing about a medium named TH living in Kinh Mon town. This medium became famous through videos of fortune telling for others by splitting areca nuts. Shortly after being shared, information about medium TH and her fortune telling method immediately received the attention of many netizens. And the phrase “admit right, argue wrong” quickly became a “hot” phrase on social networks. From the videos, many people went to medium TH’s house to have their fortunes told.

It is known that after being fined, this medium has closed and temporarily stopped operating. However, public opinion has questioned whether there are no more areca-splitting mediums in the province? The answer is definitely not. Spring is also the business season of many "girls" and "boys" in many places. In addition to fortune telling through areca-splitting, there are also people who tell fortunes through chicken feet, betel leaves, and money that viewers bring... Not only telling fortunes directly, in the 4.0 era, many "girls" and "boys" have expanded their business channels through social networks. Some fortune tellers regularly live stream clips on social networks with invitations such as: "Obeying the Buddha, deciding fate, family, love...", "Fortune telling, free tarot cards, just like and share on Facebook"... These personal pages have attracted thousands of people waiting for the fortune teller's livestream (live broadcast) in the hope of having their names called to predict their fortunes. Because of interacting with fortune tellers and mediums, the number of people watching fortune telling on social networks is very large. To get their turn, viewers have to publicly share the live clips of fortune tellers and mediums on social networking sites. Just like that, thousands of people persistently follow and share these clips just hoping to be called by the fortune teller.

The areca nut medium was exposed due to the rapid spread of social networks, but in reality, in many places, there are still "girls" and "boys" operating that the local authorities are turning a blind eye to. It is said to be turning a blind eye because it is impossible for someone in the area to claim to be blessed by heaven, blessed by the gods, and people flock to his house to have their fortune told without the neighbors knowing, and without the village and commune (ward) leaders knowing. And sadly, there are still many people who are always willing to lose money to take care of themselves, creating a living space for "girls" and "boys" to do business.

After the betel nut shaman was fined, many people commented that the fine was too light.

According to the provisions of the 2015 Penal Code, amended and supplemented in 2017, in case a person uses fortune telling, mediumship or other forms of superstition but has been administratively punished for this act or has been convicted of this crime, has not had his/her criminal record cleared and still commits the violation, he/she will be prosecuted for criminal liability for practicing superstition according to Article 320 of this Code. The offender may be fined from 10 to 100 million VND, sentenced to non-custodial reform for up to 3 years or imprisoned from 6 months to 3 years. In case the crime falls under one of the cases specified in Clause 2 of this Article, he/she may be imprisoned for up to 10 years. Therefore, local authorities need to closely monitor cases that have been punished like Ms. TH in Hien Thanh. If they re-offend, they need to increase the punishment to increase deterrence, not only to deter the punished person but also to warn and deter other people who are practicing fortune-telling. The inspection, punishment, and dismantling of superstitious activities must be done simultaneously and organized into peak periods, because if not strictly managed, suppressing one place will cause another place to swell.

KIM THANH