RI objects to painting

RI objects to painting

HANOI (Dow Jones): An ASEAN art show sponsored by the U.S. consumer products conglomerate Philip Morris Cos. has become the subject of controversy in Vietnam, with the Indonesian Embassy trying to block the inclusion of a Singaporean painting at the exhibit.

The painting by Chiang Jing Ying, titled Victims of May, is about the riots in Indonesia last spring that has upset Indonesian officials here, who wrote to the Ministry of Culture asking that it be barred from the show.

"The victims (of the riots) were not only ethnic Chinese, but Indonesians too." J.B. Widodo, first secretary at the Indonesian Embassy, said on Tuesday.

The painting is due to arrive in November and to be put on display at the Association of Southeast Asian Nations art show in Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi late this year.