Banned In Singapore ?
Does anyone know why the hell this movie was banned in Singapore ?
shareNudity, sex, drug-use, rampent smoking, lesbianism, letting off fireworks, being unemployed, song lyrics referring to trans-gendered individuals, snow, no shopping, and other such things discouraged in Singapore.
shareThat is the best answer I have ever heard.
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I totally agree with you.
shareOne of my ambitions is to someday teach with the International Baccalaurate Organisation in Singapore, and from what I've seen and heard (my father went for awhile and he loved it) it is a wonderful, cultural place... except for their strict censorship rules (seems ironic considering how diverse and cultural the country is) apparently to the point that if I did ever go there, I'd have to leave my entire DVD collection at home. Can anyone speculate on why this is the case? Is it just because the country is conservative or are there other reasons?
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Singapore has a fantastic transport system and it's impeccably clean and safe.
And the food is great.
Apart from that, nothing is wonderful about it.
Your father must have experienced a disneyland version of Singapore while he was there. Did he ever hang out with anyone but expats? Singapore is one of the most intolerant, oppresive, racist and homophobic regimes in the world. I lived there for a month and never want to return. This is how Singaporean society works: Ethnic Chinese are first class citizens. Ethinc Malays and Westerners are second class citizens. Everyone else (Indians, Indonesians and Phillipinos) is a third-class citizen. True, every nation discrimitates against minorities to some extent, but in Singapore discrimination is open and present at all levels: In the legal system, in the prices you pay, in getting promoted, in finding a flat, even in getting seated in a restaurant. If any country in the West treated ethic minorities like Singapore it would be a huge scandal. Oh, and if two men kiss in public, they go to prison for a year. You call that cultured? If by "culture" you mean eating, shopping in the same designer stores you can find everywhere else in the world and watching bland, commercial trash in the cinemas and theatres then maybe Singapore is for you.
Lately, Singapore has become more "opened" towards the movie industry. In the past, films such as Brokeback Mountain (gay theme), or Sin City (graphic violence), would both be banned in Singapore. However, they're both rated R21 right now, which means only adults aged 21 years and above are allowed to view.
Regarding the censorship in relations to the filmmaking industry in Singapore, writer-director Royston Tan has much to say:
"Singapore is one of, if not the smallest countries in the world and as such, aside from limited funds to spread around, there is a culture here that contradicts itself by outwardly promoting globalization but yet steadfastly clings to an underlying sense of tradition and ethics that isn't entirely bad, but only harmful in ostracizing freedom of expression. As such, only a handful of filmmakers, myself included, who wish to tap beyond the market of extremely localized feel-good comedies and drama that seem to thrive on local commercial appeal, we have to face a little more arduous journey of confronting censorship issues. The censorship here is doubly cautious over local productions. Allow me to precede this by clarifying that I believe the censorship board is doing what they believe is necessary to protect the security of not allowing over-zealous ideology to run rampant. However their over-protectiveness and paranoia to Singapore being misrepresented has also created a barricade for honesty to a certain extent. I had hoped they would understand my stance as someone who is trying to contribute by highlighting problems to be addressed with 15. Instead, I feel i am viewed as a zealot reporter who will do anything to get his story and uncover some great scandal."
For your information, Royston Tan's locally-produced movie "15", a film which charts the misadventures of five teenagers on the fringe of Singaporean society, was banned initially due to its explicit content. (Before it could be shown in cinemas, around 27 cuts have to be made) But right now, the uncut version is rated R21.
If you wanna know more about Singapore - go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singapore
Apart from the first two lines of chtfj21's comment, everything else is complete trash, and shows a complete and utter bias, ignorance or both of Singapore and its society.
Firstly, how does the writer expect to understand the country after living there merely for a month? Such a short time there does not qualify the writer as an expert.
The description of the society is completely untrue and is utter rubbish. All the races in Singapore are treated equally, and there are strict laws to ensure that such is the case, such as race quotas in public housing flats to make sure there is no formation of enclaves. In terms of democratic representation, GRCs (Group Representation Constituencies) must have at least one minority member of parliament. Indians, in fact, are overrepresented in the higher levels of Singaporean society when compared to their percentage of less than 10% in the overall population. The president, S. R. Nathan, is of Indian descent, as are one deputy prime minister, and many cabinet ministers, such as those of education and law, to name a few. They are also very evident in the legal profession, and in finance. How then could Indians be considered third-class citizens?
Westerners, if anything, are treated even better in Singapore than Chinese Singaporeans due to some misguided remnant of colonialism. Singaporeans tend to underestimate their own worth, and exaggerate that of foreigners, especially those of the West, when they certainly do not deserve such estimation.
It is utter nonsense to claim that race affects the prices one pays, and especially in the legal system. The legal service is full of minority members, and there are strict laws to prevent discrimination. Having lived in Europe, I know for a fact that Singapore is one of the most racially-tolerant countries in the world, and minorities are treated far better there than in so-called leading countries of Western Europe.
As for being conservative and "homophobic", as the writer alledges, he or she is in no position to judge the values of another culture which he or she does not understand in the least. Though widely English-speaking, Singapore is an Asian country and Asian society, and has neither the inclination nor the obligation to adhere to Western values or the Western interpretation of civilisation.
I am proud to be Singaporean, and immensely proud of my country, and all that it has accomplished in only 40 years of independence. Having lived for nearly half my life in Western Europe, I am constantly faced with people's ignorance and self-righteous criticisms of my country. It is time that people in the West face up to the harsh reality, and dispel the myth that everyone wants to be like them, but are prevented from being so by oppressive regimes. The West is not the epitome of human civilisation and democracy, and many people of the non-Western world are proud of and happy with the way their countries and cultures are.
(I apologize that this post does not really have anything to do with the film that this messageboard is for, but then again, neither did any of the other posts in this thread.)
Hello Adrian,
Thank you for joining me here in helping to dispel the various mindless myths about Singapore.
Yours sincerely,
C
Good for you Adrian! :)I agree!
shareI am a Singapore citizen who hasn't had the chance to flee the country yet, and you are absolutely right. This is a first world-looking country with a third world mindset.
shareI recall reading an article in which the writer claimed that neighbors spy on each other and report to the police such things as walking around nude in your own apartment, playing "inappropriate" music, etc. Of course, I've read similar things about some parts of Switzerland.
On the other hand, I believe it is now possible to buy chewing gum in singapore without a medical prescription--though I don't know if you can actually chew it in public.
Dear all,
I think there are a few questions and misperceptions about Singapore here. I have lived there for a while (longer than a month, anyway) and these are my impressions.
First, about the matter of race. Singapore was originally a part of Malaya (Malaysia today), a country originally populated by the Malays, a Polynesian ethnic group which in majority converted to Islam around the 15th and 16th centuries. Starting in the late 18th century Britain colonised Malaya, and in their endeavours to operate their various commercial concerns (tin mines, rubber plantations, etc) they encouraged the immigration of a large proportion of Chinese people. Immigration increased to the point when there were almost as many Chinese in the country as there were Malays. The Chinese had a much more acute commercial sense than the rural Malays and ended up taking over large swathes of the country's economy, while the Malays gradually slid into poverty.
This became a difficult issue to manage in the years preceding independence. Malays were concerned that their culture and way of life were at risk because the Chinese held almost all the economic power in the country, while the Chinese battled for equal political rights. The government decided to settle this by running a coalition along with parties representing other races, but at the same time granting executive powers only to the Malays. Later more affirmative action policies came into effect to protect the Malays, including preferential quotas for employment and university admissions, exclusive housing privileges and subsidies for business ventures.
But Singapore disagreed. The city was 80% Chinese and its prominent politicians advocated a system where every citizen would enjoy equal rights regardless of race. This conflict led to the expulsion of Singapore from the Malayan federation, and today the two countries steadfastly maintain that their own way of doing things is right. This is why race is such an important issue in Singapore, and to chalk it down to gratuitous bigotry and intolerance is fundamentally misunderstanding a complex and difficult situation. Although it is true that the different races in Singapore do not mix very much informally and there is a considerable amount of prejudice, in everyday life there is no preferential treatment whatsoever in existence for any particular race in Singapore - in fact the government is very careful in promoting a strictly egalitarian system, if only to differentiate itself from Malaysia's affirmative action policies.
To say that Westerners are second-class citizens in Singapore is rubbish. The original founders of Singapore were all Western-educated intellectuals. Lee Kuan Yew, the first Prime Minister of Singapore, got his law degree from Cambridge and famously admitted to feeling more at ease in English than in Chinese. The government has encouraged English-language education and Western economic thinking for decades in order to boost Singapore's international competitiveness. If anything, there has been a certain bias in favour of Western culture, not against it, especially in the realms of education and business. English-educated Singaporeans find it easier to apply for high-paying jobs and tend to look down upon their Chinese-educated compatriots, whom they refer to by the derogatory epithet of "cheenah". Singaporean director Jack Neo even satirised this particular trend in his film "I not Stupid".
Now, about conservatism. When Singapore was expelled from Malaysia, it was a very small country with no natural resources, no army, virtually no economy of its own and a divided and uneducated population. Poverty, organised crime and political agitation were rife. By all accounts, this was a place in a state of terminal crisis which was not going to survive without heavy government intervention. To remedy these monumental problems, Singapore's leaders embarked on a very strict regimen to build up the place into a viable country. The government took highly restrictive political measures to curtail the influence of dangerous Communist agitators and racist rabble-rousers. It also implemented emergency housing and education programmes, and through a draconian legal code it managed to instill in its citizens a real sense of respect for the law and the country's institutions.
The government also eulogised the values of traditional Chinese culture (not out of chauvinism but because it was something the majority of the citizens could relate to), especially the importance of law-abidance and the prevalence of society over the individual. For that reason, Singapore ended up becoming a very conservative country. One can very well fault the government for that, though this criticism must be balanced by the fact that it still managed to transform a backward equatorial island into one of world's most modern and wealthiest countries in less than a quarter of a century. Singapore's crime rate is also one of the lowest in the world, and income inequalities there are narrower than in Europe or the US.
By the way, "Babe" was banned in Malaysia simply because Islam is that country's state religion and the film's hero happens to be a pig, an animal with very negative connotations for Muslims. Also, "Babe" is an Australian fim and at the time of its release diplomatic relations were very tense between Malaysia and Australia - this too may have contributed to the film being banned.
Hope I helped,
C
I thik they chew gum too!
shareGreat answer!
Christian Camargo is sexy
Good answer !
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