Vietnam’s new transport minister, Dinh La Thang, has banned officials from playing golf, even at weekends.
The transport ministry said on its website that some senior officials were spending too much time on the golf course and, as a result, were under-performing at work.
The ministry has threatened to send spies onto golf courses to catch officials who flout the new order.
The Financial Times reports that thanks to the large number of new courses springing up around the country, golf has become increasingly popular with senior officials and businessmen in Vietnam, along with other pastimes popular with male government officials, such as drinking, visiting karaoke parlours and brothels, and tennis.
The new minister has also ordered senior staff in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh to use the bus once a week.
He has also booted out the official in charge of building a new international airport terminal in the resort city of Danang, central Vietnam, because of the slow pace of construction.
