Taikiew said:

Such swift action can only mean that the government view this as a serious matter. While I certainly do not believe in online censorship, it could perhaps be the best cause of action in babying dedicate and immature Singaporeans from an possible civil unrest that could result from such publications.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "MDA blocks website swiftly after couple arrested for distributing seditious publications"

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Yasim Ahmad said:

"A friend told me recently that one local paper attacked me for always showing my films in Singapore before Malaysia. I didn't read the article, but apparently they accused me of being disloyal, or words to that effect.

Truth beknown, the reason for this is that the Singaporeans are just quicker on the uptake than we are."

Recommended by Otterman: "One of Malaysia's creative talents and director of "Sepet," "Gubra" and "Mukhsin" finds it easier to screen her films in Singapore, uncut, then in Malaysia. And she says its safe from piracy too!

Another talent, Amir Muhammad, has had the same experience too.

But the same could be said about Singaporean filmmakers who deal with sensitive material - they will find it easier to showcase their films in Malaysia. Cheaper and faster travel means its hard to deny enthusiasts their fare.

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The Online Citizen said:

After much negotiation between the paper’s teacher-advisors and the university, NTU president Su Guaning gave the article the go-ahead. However, he changed his mind at the last minute, and the article was removed just one day before the newspaper’s publication on Monday (15th September). Many of the student editors at the Chronicle were clearly indignant when they learnt about this.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Censors strike again."

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BBC said:

"I fear that, in this sense at least, it puts Singapore in a league with North Korea, Myanmar and the People's Republic of China," MEP Graham Watson was quoted as saying by the AFP news agency.

"What has happened today proves that Singapore is an authoritarian state," said Ignasi Guardans, a Spanish MEP.

Recommended by Lucian: "The stench of the linen is disturbing even the neighbours."

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Martyn See said:

the Minister himself has banned the film under Section 35(1) of the Films Act, which basically accords absolute discretionary powers to one person to decide if a film is suitable for public viewing.

Recommended by Tym: "As Martyn's blog is named, " No political films please, we're Singaporeans"."

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Wired.COM said:

"In 2003, plans for [usa] Total Information Awareness, or TIA, sparked outrage among privacy advocates....Poindexter resigned...[TIA was terminated, to be reborn in] Singapore, a country that mixes elements of democratic governance with authoritarian rule..."

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Data mining and surveillance of internet works against privacy of the internet user and his free speech. It will send everyone back to the stone age of controlled "Speakers corners" where nobody speaks anything significant or controversial and nobody listens."

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Yawning Bread said:

How he jumped to this is astounding. I can't rebut this logically, because his proposition is beyond logic. Going by his line of argument, heterosexual males, on seeing too many pictures of David Beckham posing as a sex object for females to devour, will either overcompensate by trying to become predator women, or else accept their subordinate status by being no more than toyboys.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "I am glad I wasn't the only one who sprained my brain trying to understand the logic behind Andy Ho's badly written and poorly argued article."

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Ng Yi-Sheng said:

My sis, a GP teacher at RJC, asked me if I could help her put together an infopack for her students on censorship in Singapore. No prob, I thought. I'll just lift stuff from the censorship website and from Alfian's diaryland record of censorship 1995-2004. (His version is more entertaining; I had to remove snarky comments for the kids).

But of course, I had to fill in everything that happened in 2005 and 2006. And WOW. Iin 2006, us artists and activists really got shafted. And this isn't even counting minor developments like how the Singapore Biennale discouraged Zai Kuning from doing his exhibit on the criticism of Lee Kuan Yew, or how SIA made Brian Gothong Tan slap an explanatory note on his work to show he wasn't defaming Singapore Girl stewardesses. Just take a look

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "24 years of promoting Asian Values at a glance."

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fridae said:

Madonna's record breaking Confessions Tour filmed at London's Wembley Arena during her worldwide sold-out 25-city run in 2006 has been banned in Singapore for her performance on a massive neon cross in a mock-crucifixion.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Censorship rears its ugly head again. One more item to our illustrious Banned In Singapore list."

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project_00 said:

I can imagine the kind of embarrassment the “upgraded” forum will suffer from. I’ll say, let them compete head to head. See which forum will have more users, more posts, more varied and interesting content at the end of one year. If someone suggests this to the new prinicpal, I wonder what he/she has to say.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Censorship and accountability issues in a JC forum"

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Yawning Bread said:

If there are tons of evidence that the Earth is round and not a scrap of evidence that it is flat, what are you supposed to believe? Of course there'll be people that will say, "What evidence?" and continue to insist that their belief is as good as anyone else's. But just because they're ignorant of the evidence doesn't mean that the evidence doesn't exist.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Analysis on how the gahmen tries to spin stories."

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mrbrown said:

I also believe in responding in turn to what the Government said in their letter, but my Humour column was suspended immediately after their letter was printed. Perhaps Mediacorp/TODAY did not stand by what they published?

Recommended by Kenny Sia: "WHY IS THIS ARTICLE INTERESTING?!

Nabeh, even Singapore Prime Minister said mrbrown is a very talented man liaw, still not interesting enough for you meh?!"

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Readymade said:

The good news first: the authorities have finally allowed screenings of Saint Jack, Peter Bogdanovich's adaptation of the Paul Theroux novel, here. The bad news: there will only be two of them - on Aug 18 and on Aug 27, at the Arts House. Miss either, and you'll have to settle for DVD.

Recommended by strangeknight: "This was a film based on a well-known novelist's book; foreign crew with $ wanted to film here -- and the Govt didn't even need to pay them. Then they went and banned the film. Now there's a chance to catch this little bit of our not-so-squeaky-clean past on the big screen."

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Tan Tarn How said:

This censorship principle finds application in many areas. In the arts for instance, the government is very jittery about the mainstream forms such as television and cinema. But it shows a high level of tolerance for fringe forms such as theatre or stand-up comedy. In the field of media, television and newspapers are considered mainstream, and the government’s strategy is to keep a tighter leash on them. There is even some differentiation between the newspapers, with articles printed elsewhere that would make some people very unhappy if they read them in The Straits Times. The political Internet in the form of blogs, although very active and often sharply critical, is seen as a fringe and has thus been more tolerated. If the political Internet becomes more mainstream in its reach, expect the government to start applying the vice.

Recommended by Mr Miyagi: "Tan Tarn How on dissent management strategy"

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Days Were The Those said:

Readers and contributors are reminded not to publish military-related information and photographs without first having clearance to do so.

Recommended by Anonymous Coward: "Remember to look over your shoulder the next time you talk cock with your buddies over drinks."

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Rich Fuester said:

I work at amazon.com which gets returns for many reasons. One being the Media Development Authority of Singapore has opened the box and found a DVD it doesn't want in the country. Amazon has a list of 150 DVD's known to be returned from conservative countries. Then there is another list of approximately the same size of additional titles known to be refused from Singapore. That list has not been updated in many years. However I have the fun job of processing recent returns that need extra research and a good percentage are from Singapore. Since it is a mild annoyance for me and probably a big annoyance for people in Singapore I've constructed a site that will continually grow as new titles are refused by the media development authority of singapore.

Recommended by chrisloup: "lets you see what's in the sordid minds of the film censorship board, where even men in black is banned."

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Double Yellow said:

This entry is about censorship in our esteemed local newspaper. In particular, the censorship of the word ‘bitch’. Our local media is grappling with issues of censorship for a long time (no lah, not about whether to write bad things about the gahmen or not – that one the answer is quite clear oredi :p). The media dunno whether they can use swear words in print or not. Like should they use the word “bastard” or use “bas*&%#”?

interesting article on the censorship of swear words in the local media...

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Model Citizen said:

And yes they deserve some credit for censoring Desperate Housewives without me realising so. So silent and stealthy, the censor’s scissors…

Apparently, a significant part of last Monday’s episode was actually sheared off...

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