Did Thao just pulled a "ALL HAT, NO CATTLE" move?

[theking]

Oxford drops college renaming after Vietnam billionaire's failed $189 million donation

Background: Linacre College, an interdisciplin ary graduate college, was poised to receive 155 million pounds ($189.3 million) from Vietnamese investment group SOVICO under a memorandum of understanding signed in 2021. The college, which was named after 15th-century English scholar Thomas Linacre, was to be renamed into Thao College after SOVICO’s chairwoman, Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao.

About Thao: Thao is reportedly Southeast Asia’s first self-made woman billionaire. In 2011, she launched Vietnam’s first budget airline, VietJet, which has since been known for featuring flight attendants in bikinis.

Donation controversy: Since its announcement, the plan had reportedly received backlash from some alumni. Doubts over the college’s renaming first surfaced last June after Thao failed to deliver a first payment — 50 million pounds ($61.07 million) — on deadline.

On Saturday, The Telegraph reported that the plan was dropped altogether after the donation failed to materialize. The cause, according to the outlet, were restrictions on outward donations imposed by the communist Vietnamese government, whom Thao has close ties to, as per the Daily Mail.

What’s next: Linacre, Oxford and SOVICO have yet to publicly comment on the matter. Thao, for her part, is reportedly considering donating to the Oxford University Clinical Research Unit in Vietnam, where scientists research infectious diseases, The Telegraph noted.

[Hung_Low]

I've flew VietJet and they do not have bikini flight attendants... their service was just typical of all Asian airlines, nothing special. They are cheaper though.

[theking]

Not all flights have them, just the special and probably cost more ones:

VietJet Apologizes For Putting Scantily Clad Models On Flight With Young Football Players

VietJet airlines is a Vietnamese low cost carrier that’s known for their “bikini” flight attendants. No, not all flights have flight attendants in bikinis, though the airline does release an annual bikini calendar of flight attendants.

Furthermore, for special occasions the airline sometimes has scantily clad models do a walk down the aisle inflight. They did this on a recent inaugural flight, for example.

Personally I’m not a fan of the way in which they objectify women, and I would find this to be incredibly uncomfortable (just like the time a dancer in Casablanca was shaking her breasts in my face for what felt like an uncomfortable eternity). However, I do think it’s worth noting that VietJet’s CEO is a woman, and many people disagree with me. If they thought on balance that this had a negative net effect, I’m sure they wouldn’t do it.