A Vietnamese minister angered his compatriots because he was being fed gold-plated steaks in a Turkish celebrity chef’s London restaurant.
London – To Lam was just on a trip to London. The Vietnamese Minister for Public Security had previously attended the UN COP26 climate summit in Glasgow. When he arrived in London, the minister, who, according to information from the Turkish newspaper Hürriyet Daily News, is considered one of the possible formative figures for the ruling Communist Party of Vietnam, first visited the grave of Karl Marx in London’s Highgate Cemetery. Then he caused a stir with a visit to a restaurant.
His trip to the luxury restaurant of the Turkish celebrity chef Nusret Gökçe – stage name Salt Bae – became known because of a video that was broadcast on the chef’s social media channels and has since been deleted. It shows the minister being personally fed a gilded tomahawk steak from the chef during his trip to Great Britain. Price on the menu: £ 1,450. This was reported by the British newspaper The Independent.
Vietnam’s Minister of Public Security To Lam was cooked and fed by Salt Bae, worth up to 45 million VND/piece in his restaurant in London. At the same table with Mr. To Lam was the Chief of Office of the Ministry of Public Security To An Xo. pic.twitter.com/hGZZqGbJZr
— Duy Binh (@DuyBnh61157516) November 5, 2021
Communism: Vietnamese minister eats gold steak worth three months’ salary
Particularly explosive is the video that was saved on the Salt Bae channels before it disappeared and distributed via the short message service Twitter, because the communist minister, according to official information, only earns between 520 and 700 euros a month, the Independent continues . According to the Hürriyet Daily News, the average salary of Vietnamese citizens is even much lower; the statistical analysis for 2020 came to the equivalent of less than 160 euros.
The minister is not only criticized because the restaurant chain of the Turkish celebrity chef is generally considered extravagant and overpriced. Vietnam is also in a deep crisis after the corona pandemic. From the largest city in Vietnam, Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon), food shortages and overcrowded hospitals were reported in September. According to the Turkish newspaper, many Vietnamese citizens have lost their jobs due to the corona wave. (ska)
