Mai Khôi Explained

Mai Khôi
Birth Name:Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi
Birth Date:11 December 1983
Birth Place:Cam Ranh, Khánh Hòa, Vietnam
Years Active:2004–present
Module:
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Genre:Pop

Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi (born 1983), known professionally as Mai Khoi, is a Vietnamese singer, artist, and political activist.[1] Described as the "Lady Gaga of Vietnam" and also compared to Russian artist-activists Pussy Riot,[2] [3] she began as an award-winning pop singer before her outspoken criticism of the Government of Vietnam's censorship and lack of democracy led to government persecution and restrictions on her freedom of speech. Khôi has also criticised Google and Facebook for cooperating with internet censorship in Vietnam.[4] [5] In 2018, she received the Václav Havel Prize for Creative Dissent in recognition of her democracy activism, and in 2021, she was awarded the Four Freedoms Freedom of Speech award.[6]

Early life and education

Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi[7] was born in 1983 in Cam Ranh, Vietnam.[8]

Her interest in music began in childhood, and she learned to play guitar from her father, who taught music, at eight years of age, going on to play with him at weddings from the age of twelve.[9] She later attended a music school in Ho Chi Minh City for three years but left without graduating, instead playing in pubs and bars around the city.

Musical career

In 2010, Khôi achieved national fame after winning the Vietnam Television Album of the Year award, and she used her national platform to agitate for better women's rights and LGBT rights in her country. For example, she spoke against Đàm Vĩnh Hưng's suggestion that domestic violence was "acceptable" against women who were "too aggressive" and criticised social acceptance of violence against women.

Khôi attracted controversy for shaving half of her head into the letters "VN" to represent "Vietnam" after her winning song of the same name. She was criticised in Vietnamese state media for her expressed preference not to have children as well as her boundary-pushing outfits and songs such as "Selfie Orgasm", which garnered criticism for nudity and coarse language in the music video.[10] After she began arguing in favour of greater creative freedom and stopped submitting her song lyrics to censors, the Vietnamese government banned her performances in the country, with police raiding her concerts.[11] [12]

Khôi has toured overseas, including in the United States, Australia, Europe, Mexico, and Cuba.[13] [14]

Following government crackdown on her music career, Khôi moved her music underground and formed the group Mai Khoi and the Dissidents[15]

In exile in Pittsburgh, US, Khôi began working on a project titled Bad Activist, a multimedia autobiographical stage show that combines storytelling and performance.[16]

Political activism

In 2016, Khôi took part in environmental protests against Formosa Ha Tinh Steel Corporation following the marine life disaster caused by its waste dumping.[17] She also applied to run as an independent for a seat in the National Assembly of Vietnam but was disqualified from participating by the Vietnamese Fatherland Front.[18] [19] Following her attempt to enter politics, she was subject to increased official persecution, including police raids of her concerts and landlords being pressured by authorities to evict her and her husband from their home. After 2017, she leased a flat under a friend's name in a secret location in Hanoi.[20]

Khôi has criticised Facebook for cooperating with internet censorship requirements imposed by the Vietnamese government, stating it was damaging one of the last refuges for freedom of expression in the repressive state.[21] [22] The platform's policies also prevented her live-streaming music due to the risk of instant arrest.[23]

Khôi was one of the political dissidents that U.S. president Barack Obama met with on his visit to the country in 2016.[24] She had gone into hiding before the meeting to avoid being detained and prevented from attending.[25] The day after the meeting, she was visited by four police officers who intimidated her.[26]

When Obama's successor, Donald Trump, visited the country in 2017, Khôi held up a banner reading "PeacePiss on you Trump" in protest of his alleged racism and supposed failure to promote human rights.[27] The next day, she and her husband were evicted from their Hanoi apartment following a visit by government agents.[28]

In 2018, Amnesty International named Khôi one of that year's "12 inspiring human rights activists to follow".[29] [30] Later that year, she was detained for eight hours at Nội Bài International Airport in Hanoi after returning from a European tour, with all copies of her new album Dissent in her possession confiscated by the authorities.[31]

Personal life

Khôi married her Australian partner, Benjamin Swanton, in 2013.[32]

They lived in Hanoi until she fled to the U.S. to escape prosecution in November 2020, becoming a scholar in residence at the University of Pittsburgh's Scholars at Risk program. Khôi lives in a residence provided by the Pittsburgh-based nonprofit City of Asylum[33] and serves on the international advisory board of the International Free Expression Project, another Pittsburgh-based nonprofit.[34] The two nonprofits also co-sponsored Khôi for an Artist Protection Fund fellowship in residence at the University of Pittsburgh.[35]

Discography

Solo

Mai Khoi and the Dissidents / Mai Khôi Chem Gio

Notes and References

  1. News: Mooney . Paul . This Vietnamese singer tried to battle state censorship. Now she only performs there in secret. . 3 September 2019 . Washington Post . 15 September 2018.
  2. News: Truong . Alice . Vietnam's Lady Gaga is pressuring Facebook to stop complying with censorship laws . 3 September 2019 . Quartz . 11 November 2018.
  3. News: Nordlinger . Jay . Mai Khoi, A Star of Vietnam . 3 September 2019 . National Review . 20 December 2018.
  4. News: Vietnam dissident Khoi urges Facebook to protect freedom of expression . 3 September 2019 . Free Malaysia Today . 20 October 2018.
  5. News: Bemma . Adam . The singer raising her voice against Vietnam's new cyber law . 3 September 2019 . Al Jazeera . 1 January 2019.
  6. Web site: Mai Khoi Do Nguyen . 10 June 2024 . Four Freedoms Awards.
  7. News: Singer Đỗ Nguyễn Mai Khôi, voice of anti-regime dissent, has been arrested . 3 September 2019 . AsiaNews.it . 28 March 2018.
  8. News: Ives . Mike . A Protest Singer Finds Her Voice in Vietnam's Police State . 3 September 2019 . The New York Times . 1 October 2018.
  9. News: Why the Lady Gaga of Vietnam performs in secret . 3 September 2019 . South China Morning Post . 16 September 2018 .
  10. News: Vietnam's 'Lady Gaga' running for parliament . 20 September 2019 . ABC News . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 17 March 2016.
  11. News: This Vietnamese singer is a fighting diva . https://web.archive.org/web/20171028064552/http://www.asiaone.com/asia/vietnamese-singer-fighting-diva . dead . 28 October 2017 . 13 October 2019 . AsiaOne . Asia News Network . 25 June 2017.
  12. News: January Featured Case: Mai Khoi . 9 October 2019 . PEN America . 7 January 2018.
  13. News: The Evolution and Enigma of Mai Khoi . 20 September 2019 . & Of Other Things . 31 July 2014 . 20 September 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190920133825/http://www.andofotherthings.com/2014/07/31/evolution-enigma-mai-khoi/ . dead .
  14. News: Mai Khoi . 20 September 2019 . triple j Unearthed . Australian Broadcasting Corporation . 14 April 2015 .
  15. Web site: 19 January 2021. In Exile, Vietnamese Musician and Activist Finds a Home in Pittsburgh. 15 July 2021. 90.5 WESA.
  16. Web site: Mai Khoi – Bad Activist. 15 July 2021. mai-khoi.com.
  17. News: Ebbighausen . Rodion . Vietnam singer Mai Khoi adds a youthful tone to aged politics . 3 September 2019 . Deutsche Welle . 6 July 2017.
  18. News: Li . Sabrina . Mai Khoi — ARC . 28 September 2019 . Artists at Risk Connection . PEN America . January 2018.
  19. News: Clifford . Catherine . How the 'Lady Gaga of Vietnam' was effectively banned from singing in her own country . 3 September 2019 . CNBC . 12 October 2018 .
  20. News: Murray . Bennett . Vietnam's harsh summer: state launches largest crackdown on dissidents in years . 20 September 2019 . The Guardian . 26 September 2017.
  21. News: Khoi . Mai . Opinion: How Facebook is damaging freedom of expression in Vietnam . 20 September 2019 . Washington Post . 2 October 2018 .
  22. News: Sarkar . Sonia . Vietnam artists seek 'liberation' from cybersecurity law . 13 October 2019 . DW.com . Deutsche Welle . 18 January 2019.
  23. News: Mai Khoi and Paul Tran: A Conversation — ARC . 13 October 2019 . Artists at Risk Connection . PEN America.
  24. News: The Economist Newspaper Limited . Popstar Gone Rogue: Former communist party poster girl now enemy of the state . 3 September 2019 . Dateline . Special Broadcasting Service (Australia) . 16 May 2019 .
  25. News: Mooney . Paul . She tried to fight for women's and LGBT rights. Now this Vietnamese singer can only perform in secret. . 13 October 2019 . The Lily . The Washington Post.
  26. News: Murray . Bennett . Vietnam's Quiet Human Rights Crisis . 13 October 2019 . The Diplomat . 17 April 2017.
  27. News: Mai Khoi's dissenting voice . 3 September 2019 . The Economist . 3 April 2018.
  28. News: Murray . Bennett . Vietnamese musician and activist evicted after Trump protest . 27 September 2019 . The Guardian . 12 November 2017.
  29. News: Singh . Angela . 12 inspiring human rights activists to follow in 2018 . 20 September 2019 . Campaigns: Amnesty International . Amnesty International . 15 January 2018 .
  30. News: Mai Khoi and Farzane Zamen release . 20 September 2019 . SafeMUSE . Safe Music Havens Initiative . 28 February 2018 . 5 January 2020 . https://web.archive.org/web/20200105164248/http://www.safemuse.org/single-post/2018/02/28/Vietnamese-Mai-Khoi-and-Iranian-Farzane-Zamen-launching-new-CDs-at-Music-Freedom-Day . dead .
  31. News: Vietnam holds activist singer after tour . 3 September 2019 . BBC News . British Broadcasting Corporation . 27 March 2018.
  32. News: Mai Khôi diện váy xẻ với legging cam trong ngày cưới – VnExpress Giải Trí . 27 September 2019 . VnExpress.net . 2 September 2013 . vi.
  33. Web site: Scholars at Risk Program Provides a Home for Vietnamese Pop Star-Turned-Activist. 15 July 2021. Pittwire.
  34. Web site: The Team International Free Expression Project Pittsburgh. 15 July 2021. IFEP.
  35. Web site: Mai Khoi – ARC. 15 July 2021. artistsatriskconnection.org.
  36. News: Mai-Khoi Album Discography . 20 September 2019 . AllMusic.
  37. Web site: Mai Khoi – Bio. 15 July 2021. mai-khoi.com.

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