Singapore gay censorship

Singapore gay censorship refers to the censorship of LGBT themes in the following media:


 * free-to-air television
 * subscription television
 * radio
 * the Internet
 * films
 * video games
 * the performing arts
 * talks and speeches
 * exhibitions
 * audio recordings
 * print

=Regulation & implementation=

Media Development Authoriy

 * Main article: Media Development Authority



In 2002, the Government enacted the Medi​a Devel​​opme​​nt Authori​ty of Singapore Act to establish and incorporate the Media Development Authority (MDA). The latter statutory board, under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), ​is empowered to license and regulate media services in Singapore via the publication of guidelines and standards regarding the content of media services, any equipment or facility used in connection with the provision of media services, and other media-related issues.

The following are miscellaneous legal Acts which govern the media industry as a whole, including broadcasting, films, publications, newspapers, radio, games, the Internet, the Arts, public entertainment and advertising:


 * Broadcasting Act - an Act to regulate the dealing, operation and ownership of broadcasting services and apparatus, including matters connected therewith.
 * Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act - an Act which makes it the statutory duty of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority to ensure that nothing is included in any broadcasting service which is against public interest or order, national harmony or which offends against good taste or decency.
 * Films Act - an Act relating to the possession, importation, making, distribution and exhibition of films.
 * Newspaper and Printing Presses Act - an Act for the licensing of newspaper companies and matters connected therewith.
 * Public Entertainments and Meetings Act - an Act to provide for the regulation of public entertainments and meetings.
 * Undesirable Publications Act - a​n Act to prevent the importation, distribution or reproduction of undesirable publications and for purposes connected therewith.​​​​

In exercise of the powers conferred by the Medi​a Devel​​opme​​nt Authori​ty of Singapore Act, the MDA issues the following Codes of Practice for market conduct in the provision of media services:


 * Code of Practice for Market Conduct (also referred to as the Media Market Conduct Code)
 * Variation of Code of Practice for Market Conduct
 * Free-to-Air Television Programme Code
 * Subscription Television Programme Code
 * Television Advertising Code
 * Free-To-Air Radio Programme Code
 * Radio Advertising and Sponsorship Code
 * Internet Code of Practice
 * Broadcasting (Class Licence) Notification

Under the Broadcasting Act, the Media Development Authority has the power to impose sanctions, including fines, on licensees who contravene these Codes of Practice.

The MDA's decisions may be appealed to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA) and the Films Appeal Committee (FAC).

Censorship Review Committee

 * Main article: Censorship Review Committee

The Censorship Review Committee (CRC) is a government-appointed committee that reviews and makes recommendations regarding Singapore's censorship policies. Its mandate is to update censorship objectives and principles as society evolves while preserving Singapore's broader interests - national security, social cohesion, and community and family values. First convened in 1992, the committee was to be formed once every decade. However, the government decided to form a mid-term CRC in 2009 in view of the rapid changes in Singapore's media and social landscape.

2002/2003 CRC report


The recommendations for homosexual themes in the 2002/2003 CRC report were:


 * Take a more flexible and contextual approach when dealing with homosexual themes and scenes in content.
 * Allow greater leeway for adults, through suitable channels, to access such content provided it is not exploitative.

(The following image is a screen capture of the relevant section of the downloadable PDF of the 2002/2003 CRC Report):



2010 CRC report


The statements regarding homosexual themes in the 2010 CRC Report were:

to the provision of clear and unambiguous consumer advisories.
 * The CRC 2003 recommended that the MDA take a more flexible and contextual approach for homosexual content. It further proposed that greater leeway be given to adults, through suitable channels, to access such content provided the material is not exploitative. In accepting and implementing this recommendation, the MDA has gradually moved towards allowing more content on homosexuality. Generally such content is allowed under the higher, restricted ratings to address concerns over their suitability for younger viewers. Content which glamourises or promotes a homosexual lifestyle is disallowed.
 * This CRC agrees with the proposition that depiction should not be presumed to mean promotion of homosexual lifestyles, and recommends that the MDA continues to adopt a flexible and contextual approach in classifying homosexual content. This will ensure that adults have a wider variety of choices while the young are protected from content deemed unsuitable for them.
 * The CRC notes that the issue of homosexuality continues to be a sensitive subject for many Singaporeans. Nevertheless, based on the principle of informed adult choice, the CRC recommends that a lighter touch be taken in classifying non-explicit homosexual content, subject

(The following image is a screen capture of the relevant section of the downloadable PDF of the 2010 CRC Report):



However, at the same time and as if to contradict itself, the 2010 CRC Report also reaffirmed the status quo which deemed "prohibited material" as that which "advocates homosexuality or lesbianism".

This contentious phrase had led many human rights workers to argue that it is preposterous for the MDA regard realistic, positive portrayals of gay men and lesbians as "advocating" homosexuality. 

=Justification= The Government of Singapore argues that censorship of political, racial, religious, cultural and sexual issues to a certain extent is necessary to avoid upsetting the balance of Singapore's delicate, conservative, multiracial society.

=Broadcast media=

On 15 July 1996, the Singapore Broadcasting Authority (SBA) issued Notification no. 2400/96 which specified a Code of Practice which covered not only the Internet, but also all broadcast media, including television, cable and radio. The foreword to the Code of Practice stated:


 * "The Singapore Broadcasting Authority Act (Cap. 297) makes it the statutory duty of the Singapore Broadcasting Authority to ensure that nothing is included in any broadcasting service which is against public interest or order, national harmony or which offends against good taste or decency."

Among the material to be prohibited were:


 * "Contents which depict or propagate sexual perversions such as homosexuality, lesbianism, and paedophilia."

Owing to the ignorance of the SBA that homosexuality and lesbianism were not 'sexual perversions' according to prevailing international medical opinion but variations of the norm, and widespread public dissatisfaction with the vague, inaccurate and unnecessarily restrictive wording of the Code of Practice, the latter was revised on 1 November 1997 to state:


 * "whether the material advocates homosexuality or lesbianism, or depicts or promotes incest, paedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia".

While being a quantum leap away from incorrectly labelling homosexuality a sexual perversion, the non-specification of what exactly "advocates homosexuality" made it a taboo subject for television documentaries for 7 years following the first issuance of the Code.

Free-to-air television
The state-owned MediaCorp controls all free-to-air terrestrial local TV channels licensed to broadcast in Singapore, as well as 13 radio channels. Both Free-to-Air and Pay TV channels are available on cable. Private ownership of satellite dishes is illegal, though international TV broadcasts (such as CNN, BBC, etc.) are available on StarHub's cable TV service Starhub TV and SingTel's IPTV service mio TV.

The Media Development Authority, through its Programme Advisory Committees for each of the four official languages, constantly monitors and provides feedback on broadcast content. Permissible content on Singaporean TV is minutely regulated by the MDA's Free-to-Air Television Programme Code.

Part 5 of the Code states that TV programs "should not in any way promote, justify or glamorise" homosexuality in any form.

As of September 2010, Singapore partially relaxed television broadcast guidelines allowing Pay TV operators to screen NC16, M18 and R21 films containing explicit content on Video-on-Demand (VOD).

Anne Heche interview on Channel i


The penalty for media licencees flouting the Code is a hefty fine, as SPH MediaWorks' Channel i, the now-defunct English-language sister channel of Channel U, discovered after it aired an interview with Anne Heche in 2003,. During the interview, Heche spoke about her lesbian relationship with Ellen deGeneres, amongst other things. Channel i was subsequently fined $15,000 by the SBA censorship watchdog for "justifying, promoting and glamourising homosexuality". The MDA website also published a statement that "broadcasting programmes which glamourise and promote lesbianism is considered a major breach of the (Free-To-Air TV Programme) Code."



Melissa Etheridge's kissing & thanking of wife during Oscars on Channel 5
During Channel 5's live broadcast of the 79th Academy Awards held on Sunday night, 25 February 2007 (California time); Monday morning, 26 February 2007 (Singapore time), when it was announced that Melissa Etheridge had won the Oscar for Best Original Song - "I Need to Wake Up" from the movie "An Inconvenient Truth" - the camera immediately swung over to her getting up from her seat. As she moved out to the aisle in order to get up to the stage, she bent over to kiss her wife seated next to her. MediaCorp censored this part during the repeat telecast on Monday night, Singapore time. Instead, Channel 5 showed Etheridge getting up and then disruptedly showed her a few feet away walking to the stage. Also, at the start of her acceptance speech, she said, "I have to thank my incredible wife Tammy and our four children...". The words "incredible wife" were edited out during the repeat telecast. 

Gay couple & adopted baby in home decor series on Channel 5
MediaCorp has also been fined repeatedly for violations of the Code. The most recent incident was in April 2008 when it was fined $15,000 by the Media Development Authority (MDA) for airing a show that featured a gay couple and their adopted baby. The MDA said that an episode of an acquired home and decor series, Find and Design, "normalises and promotes a gay lifestyle". In the episode, aired on Channel 5 at 7.30am on Sunday, 13 January 2008, the host helped a gay couple turn their game room into a nursery for their adopted baby. The MDA objected to several scenes of the couple and their baby together, and the host's acknowledgement of the pair as a family. It said MediaCorp breached the Free-to-Air Television Programme Code, "which disallows programmes that promote, justify or glamorise gay lifestyles". The MDA had consulted the Programme Advisory Committee for English Programmes which frowned on the episode's presentation of a gay relationship as an acceptable family unit, and its airing during family viewing hours.

Oscar acceptance speech for documentary "Freeheld" on Channel 5
In February 2008, the Academy Awards acceptance speech for the short documentary Freeheld was censored by Mediacorp in the rebroadcast of the program due to the filmmakers' mention of equal rights for same sex couples.

Radio
=Films and videos=

The importation, production, distribution and screening of films in Singapore is governed by the Films Act.

Film censorship has historically been strict, although the gradual introduction of the NC16, M18 and R21 ratings now allow most major Hollywood features to be shown uncut in Singapore. The rating system was first introduced in 1991 with the now defunct R(A) rating to allow those aged 18 years and above to watch films with explicit content. However, due to public objection, the rating system was revised and the age limit was lifted from 18 to 21 years old.

A new film classification system was introduced in September 2003 and came into effect on March 2004.

In addition to the existing ratings of G, PG, NC16 and R(A), the new M18 (Mature 18) band was introduced.

The R(A) rating was changed to R21, with the censorship review committee of 2003 proposing to "allow greater leeway to non-exploitative sex and nudity" in content for adults as well to take a "more flexible and contextual approach" to homosexual content in film.

Koh June May, senior manager of corporate and marketing communications at the Media Development Authority (MDA) said, "We are moving towards classification and industry co-regulation. Cinemagoers had more options following the introduction of the revised classification system."

Prior to the introduction of M18, there was rarely a middle ground between PG and R(A). There was NC16, which was introduced in 1992, but it took seven years before the NC16 rating was given to Saving Private Ryan. Even after that, it was not often used.

Before the new system was established, film distributors sometimes faced an awkward balancing act: Release a film with certain risqué scenes with a PG rating and expect cuts. Or, release the film uncut and expect to be rated R(A), which would damage the film's box office potential.

So M18 was a significant middle ground for a wider audience to see more films in their original form.

Released films are presented to the Media Development Authority (MDA) which classifies the films under six different ratings for different groups of audiences:


 * G (General) - Suitable for all ages. Everyone is admitted.
 * PG (Parental Guidance) - Suitable for most but parents should guide their young. No age-restriction for admission. May contain moderate violence, rear nudity, mild coarse language and mild sex references/innuendos.
 * PG13 (Parental Guidance Strongly Cautioned - Suitable for 13 And Above) - Recommended by the CRC in 2009, the PG13 rating is given to films with content deemed unsuitable for young children but for which a NC16 rating is not warranted. May contain moderate violence with some details, some mature themes, intense and realistic horror, moderate sexual imagery, mild sexual activities, partial/side nudity, discreet drug use/references and moderate coarse language including brief strong usages
 * NC16 (No Children Under 16) - Nobody under age 16 is admitted. May contain brief scenes of frontal nudity with/without semi-sexual context, moderate sexual activity without strong details, graphic violence/gore, drug use with some details, strong coarse language and may offend religious people. (This classification was introduced in 1993)
 * M18 (Mature 18) - Nobody under age 18 is admitted. May contain full frontal nudity with moderate details in semi-sexual context, strong graphic violence/gore, frequent strong coarse language, frequent drug use with some details, strong sexual activity with some details and may offend religious people. (This classification was introduced in 2004)
 * R21 (Restricted 21) - Nobody under age 21 is admitted. May contain graphic full frontal nudity with/without sexual context, sequences of explicit and prolonged simulated sexual activities, moderate homosexual sex acts, pervasive strong coarse language, very strong graphic violence/gore and torture, detailed drug taking activities/sequences and may offend religious people. (This classification was introduced in 2004)
 * NAR (Not Allowed for all Ratings/Banned) - Contains issues that are likely to cause controversy in Singapore.

Note: Any outright denigration of race or religion, matters that threaten national interest, depictions of hardcore pornographic scenes/unsimulated sex and depiction of explicit homosexual acts are still banned. Royston Tan's award-winning 15, a graphic depiction of Singapore's underbelly, was only allowed after over 20 scenes were cut.

The categories G, PG and PG13 are age-advisory ratings. NC16, M18 and R21 are age-restricted ratings.

As of March 2004, only cinemas located in downtown Singapore are licenced to screen R21-rated movies such as Hollywood's gay biopic Milk which won Sean Penn the 2009 Best Actor Oscar for his portrayal of a homosexual politician. A ban on showing R21 movies remains in suburban cinemas.

Movies that are classified as R21 are excluded from video releases and television advertisements. However, as recommended by the latest CRC in September 2010, R21 Video-on-Demand (VOD) is now allowed on Pay TV.

Boy

 * Main article: Boy (2009 film)

In early 2009, the Media Development Authority banned the film "Boy" by Filipino filmmaker Aureus Solito, from the Singapore International Film Festival, accusing it of "normalising" homosexuality.



A letter by Amy Chua, Chairman of the Board of Film Censors, published in the Straits Times forum on 11 April 2009 stated:

"The second film, Boy, revolves around a teenager who is attracted to a young dancer in a gay bar and ends up having a homosexual relationship with him. The film includes a prolonged and explicit homosexual love-making sequence between the teenager and the dancer. The panel was also consulted about the film. Members felt that the film normalised homosexuality and that the homosexual scene was prolonged and explicit and filmed in a romanticised manner. The panel chairman, Mr Vijay Chandran, observed that 'the homosexual love-making scene has exceeded the guidelines and the board, by allowing it, will shift the markers set by the community'. The board agrees and hence Boy has not been passed for classification."

Blue is the warmest color
In March 2014, the 2013 Palme d'Or winner, Blue is the warmest color, was rated R21 with the consumer advice of homosexual content and had 8 minutes cut. The movie was released in local cinemas on 1 May 2014.

The French drama by writer-director Abdellatif Kechiche centred on the relationship between teenager Adele and older art student Emma. The prestigious Palme d'Or was awarded to the director and, for the first time in the festival's history, also to the lead actresses, Lea Seydoux (Emma) and Adele Exarchopoulos (Adele). According to the MDA's films classification database, the film contained "several strong, prolonged and explicit sexual scenes between the two women". They included a 7-minute-long sexual scene "where the two female protagonists appear naked and engaged in various sexual activities, including oral sex and masturbation".

=Music=

Janet Jackson's albums Velvet Rope and All For You were also banned due to homosexual and sexually explicit themes that the BPAA found "not acceptable to our society". The ban has since been lifted.

=Video games=

On 14 April 2008, the Media Development Authority announced that an official video games classification system would come into effect on 28 April 2008. Under the system, video games that contain nudity, coarse language, drug use and violence, will be given a rating sticker similar to those found on video media in Singapore with either one of the two ratings:


 * ADV (Age Advisory) - Anyone can buy a video game with this rating, but it's not recommended to children. Contains mature themes, some violence with little or no blood, mild drug use, implied sexual activity, partial nudity and infrequent explicit language.

Examples: Mass Effect 2, Assassin's Creed II, Resident Evil 5, Left 4 Dead and Hitman: Blood Money


 * M18 (Mature 18) - Nobody under age 18 can buy a video game with this rating. Contains adult and/or offensive themes, realistic depictions of violence with/without blood, strong drug use, nudity with/without sexual context and frequent explicit language.

Examples: Kingpin: Life of Crime, Yakuza 3, Age of Conan: Hyborian Adventures, Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2, Grand Theft Auto III and Manhunt 2

Games that do not fall into any of these categories and are approved for general audiences do not require these stickers and games containing offensive material (such as racial or religious denigration) are still banned. The purchase of games with the M18 rating legally require retailers to conduct age checks, while "Age Advisory" games are not required to have mandatory age checks.

Previously, the Media Development Authority and by extension, the Singapore government has also banned several video games. For example (as of November 2007) the video game The Darkness (due to presence of graphic violence and swear words) and more recently Mass Effect from Bioware due to the in game option of a homosexual romance if the player chooses to play as a female. Mass Effect was later unbanned with the implementation of the aforementioned games ratings system that was still in development then. However, similar games with graphic violence such as Prince of Persia and Gears of War (players can perform decapitation moves) or other Bioware games like Neverwinter Nights and Jade Empire (which both allow the possibility of male-male and female-female romances) have not been banned or censored.

Mass Effect

 * Main article: Ban of Mass Effect video game for lesbian scene



In November 2007, the MDA banned the sale of an Xbox video game that featured an intimate, caressing scene between two female characters, one human and the other alien. "Mass Effect", a futuristic space adventure, contained "a scene of lesbian intimacy... as such the game has been disallowed," the deputy director of the Board of Film Censors, a part of the MDA, said in the statement.

Under the then existing local guidelines, video games sold in Singapore could not "feature exploitative or gratuitous sex and violence, or denigrate any race or religion," the official said. "Mass Effect" was to be launched globally the following week. The MDA said a new video games classification system would be introduced in 2008 could allow titles such as "Mass Effect" to be passed and classified appropriately. 

=Performing arts=

The scripts of all plays to be performed in Singapore must be vetted in advance by the Media Development Authority (MDA), which has the right to ban any it views as "contrary to the public interest". Appeals against MDA's decisions can be made to the Broadcast, Publications and Arts Appeal Committee (BPAA).

Brother Cane

 * Main article: Brother Cane

In 1994, performance artist Josef Ng protested the arrest and caning of 12 homosexual men by caning slabs of tofu, then turning his back to the audience and snipping off some pubic hair. He was charged with committing an obscene act and banned from performing in public, and his theatre group's grants were cancelled. 

Wild Rice's grant cut for promoting alternative lifestyles
In May 2010, the National Arts Council (NAC) cut the annual grant given to local theatre company Wild Rice. It would only get $170,000 for the year, down from $190,000 in 2009. It was the lowest annual grant that the company had received from the Council. Artistic director Ivan Heng said the NAC told him funding was cut because its productions promoted alternative lifestyles, were critical of government policies and satirised political leaders. In March 2011, the NAC increased the value of grants awarded to $1.92 million, a 25% hike, the amount to be given to 16 arts companies, including Wild Rice, under its one-year Major Grant scheme.

=Print media=

Local press
With the sole exception of MediaCorp's daily freesheet Today, all daily newspapers including the flagship Straits Times are printed by Singapore Press Holdings, whose management shareholders are appointed by the government in accordance with the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act of 1974. While current shareholding structure does not imply direct governmental control on media content}, their active presence promotes self-censorship amongst journalists.

In 2008, Reporters without Borders ranked Singapore as 144th out of 173 surveyed countries in terms of freedom of the press

The Singapore Government said it is not ashamed of its low rank for press freedom because it has achieved top ratings for economic freedom and prosperity. Instead of subscribing to the Western press model, it believes that a non-adversarial press can report accurately and objectively. A recent Gallup poll found that 69% of Singaporeans trusted their media.

Foreign publications
The MDA requires importers to "ensure that the publications/ audio materials brought in for distribution do not feature content which could be considered objectionable on moral, racial or religious grounds, or deemed detrimental to Singapore’s national interests". According to the MDA, more than 2 million publications and 300,000 audio materials are imported into Singapore each year under the Registered Importers Scheme.

Foreign publications that carry articles the government considers slanderous, including The Economist and the Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER), have been subjected to defamation suits and/or had their circulations "gazetted" (restricted). The sale of Malaysian newspapers in Singapore is prohibited, Sec. 22. "Permit required for sale and distribution in Singapore of newspapers printed or published in Malaysia" 22. —(1) No newspaper printed in Malaysia shall be published, sold, offered for sale or distributed in Singapore unless the proprietor of the newspaper or his agent has previously obtained and there is in force a permit granted by the Minister authorising the publication, sale or distribution of the newspaper in Singapore, which permit the Minister may in his discretion grant, refuse or revoke, or grant subject to conditions to be endorsed thereon. A similar ban on the sale of newspapers from Singapore applies in Malaysia.

Pornography is strictly prohibited in Singapore; this encompasses magazines such as Playboy or Penthouse. However, magazines which are deemed to contain "mature content" such as Cosmopolitan Magazine are free to be distributed at all stores with a "Unsuitable for the young" label on its cover.

=Internet=

Internet services provided by the three major Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are subject to regulation by the Media Development Authority (MDA) which has published an Internet Code of Practice for them to adhere to. Under the Section "Prohibited Material" of the Code of Practice, Section 4 (2)(e) states:

"whether the material advocates homosexuality or lesbianism, or depicts or promotes incest, paedophilia, bestiality and necrophilia"

However, the MDA only blocks a "symbolic" number of websites containing "mass impact objectionable" material, including Playboy and YouPorn. In addition, the Ministry of Education blocks access to pornographic and similar objectionable Internet sites on its proxy servers. Nevertheless, the MDA adopts a "light-touch" approach in regulating the Internet, with minimal Internet filtering

Government agencies have been known to use or threaten to use litigation against bloggers and other Internet content providers. The first instance of such activity was against Sintercom in July 2001 when the founder, Dr. Tan Chong Kee was asked to register the website under the nascent Singapore Broadcast Authority Act (now Media Development Authority). Dr Tan chose to shutdown Sintercom due to concerns over the ambiguity of the Act.

In the last few years, the government has taken a much tougher stand on Internet-related matters, including censorship. Proposed amendments to the Penal Code intend to hold Internet users liable for "causing public mischief", and give the authorities broader powers in curtailing freedom of speech.

=Denial of censorship by the Government=

Lee Kuan Yew


On 4 October 2007, during Nanyang Technological University's Ministerial Forum, then Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, in response to a query from a female English language undergraduate, replied that there was no censorship of art depicting homosexuality in Singapore. He was obviously unaware of the numerous instances of censorship by the Media Development Authority described above. 

=Reaction to gay censorship=

=See also=
 * Singapore gay films
 * Singapore gay literature
 * Discrimination against homosexuals in Singapore

=External links=


 * Arts Entertainment Licence, MDA:.
 * The Media Development Authority's Content Guidelines for Imported Publications (2009)[http:// bit[dot]ly/1mR2dLR].
 * Media Development Authority
 * Censorship in Singapore - IFEX
 * Undated Centre Street Broadcast in which Martyn See and others discuss the film Singapore Rebel
 * The 3 tiers of censorship in Singapore, a review of censorship laws and practices. (5 November 2009)
 * Ng Yi-Sheng's compilation of cases of censorship in Singapore in his blog "the paradise of flowers and fruit":.
 * Alfian Sa'at's list of cases of censorship from 1995 to 2004 in his blog "Diaryland":.
 * The Chiongs, "Mainstream media and gay people in Singapore [Post Straits Times Interview]", Facebook, 28 January 2011,

=References=


 * Elisia Yeo, "Local gays, foreign gays", TODAY, 4 July 2003.
 * Jeanine Tan, "More action less cut", TODAY, 4 November 2005.
 * Alex Au, "Film censors behaving like bullies", Yawning Bread, 29 August 2009.
 * Alex Au, "Film censorship correspondence, part 2", Yawning Bread, 9 November 2009.
 * Alex Au, "Film censorship correspondence, part 1", Yawning Bread, 14 September 2009.
 * Alex Au, "Film censors behaving like bullies", Yawning Bread, 29 August 2009.
 * Alex Au, "Incredible wife makes disappearing act", Yawning Bread, February 2007.

=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.