Singapore: Time To Censor The Censors

20 June 2010

Singapore's arts community's latest statement on that perennial hot-button topic - censorship - offers policymakers and the public a number of issues to chew on.

Some 190 theatre, film, visual arts and literary arts practitioners are advocating that, with the current framework of age-appropriate ratings and consumer advisories, art works should not still have to be cut. Their point is that art should be regulated instead of censored.

The last 10 years have seen an end to outright bans on art works and performances. However, contentious works may continue to suffer any number of nips and tucks - in order for them to be classified as, say, an R21 film or R18 play and be watched by mature audiences.

As the government-convened Censorship Review Committee (CRC) ponders how to update Singapore's arts regulatory regime, the arts community is proposing that regulation be treated as separate from censorship.

Source: Straits Times http://www.asianewsnet.net/home/news.php?id=12620&sec=3