Hanoi  - Vietnam's largest technology company, FPT, has suspended two students in its corporate training programme who performed wearing only loincloths at a show celebrating the company's 20th anniversary, a company official said Thursday.

"The decision has been made," said Le Truong Tung, director of the corporate training program, known as FPT University. "All the relevant people have been punished."

According to the decision, the two trainees in FPT's Multimedia Artistic Training Centre, both named Nguyen Viet Anh, have been suspended from their studies for one year.

The director of the multimedia center, Mai Thanh Long, and the manager of the show, Pham Viet Long, have been fired.

During the performance of a song at the corporate anniversary show, held at Hanoi's National conference centre on September 13, the two students danced, joked, and wrestled with each other while pulling fake hair out of their loincloths.

Most in the 4,000-strong audience clapped and cheered, but some female audience members voiced their disapproval.

Images of the performance posted on the internet later sparked public outrage.

"It's unbelievable," said Nguyen Thuy Dung, a student at Hanoi's National University. "Why would they do that? They are tarnishing the image of Vietnamese students."

Other students supported the performers' creativity and bravery.

"They did not break the law. Why were they suspended from their studies?" said Hoang Hiep, a student at the Foreign Language University in Hanoi.

FPT officials are trying to avoid further coverage of the affair.

"We don't want to talk about this incident anymore, because local media have covered it too much," said Nguyen Thu Nga, head of FPT's communications department.

FPT is Vietnam's largest technology company. The company is involved in information technology, mobile telephony, computer distribution, internet services and software development. (dpa)