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The Media
Development Authority (MDA) issued this press release on 24 April 2008:
MediaCorp TV Channel 5 fined for
breaching Programme Code
TV Channel 5 has been fined by the Media
Development Authority (MDA) for an episode in an acquired series,
"Find and Design". The episode normalises and promotes a gay
lifestyle and was aired on Sunday, 13 January 2008 at 7.30am.
The programme "Find and Design"
is a home and decor series and in the episode concerned, the host helps a
gay couple to transform their game room into a new nursery for their
adopted baby. The episode contained several scenes of the gay couple with
their baby as well as the presenter's congratulations and acknowledgement
of them as a family unit in a way which normalises their gay lifestyle and
unconventional family setup. This is in breach of the Free-to-Air TV
Programme Code which disallows programmes that promote, justify or
glamourise gay lifestyles.
MDA also consulted the Programme Advisory
Committee for English Programmes (PACE) and the Committee was also of the
view that a gay relationship should not be presented as an acceptable
family unit. As the programme was shown on a Sunday morning, PACE felt
that this was inappropriate as such a timeslot was within family viewing
hours.
Taking into account the severity of the
breach, the telecast time of the programme and the fact that this was a
second breach for MediaCorp TV, MDA found that a financial penalty was
warranted and issued MediaCorp TV a fine of $15,000.
This incident was first highlighted in a letter to the Straits Times, 17
January 2008, by a certain Bennie Cheok, whose name when googled, comes up
in relation to a certain Christian organisation. I wrote about it in Sex is all around, get over it
(you'll need to scroll about halfway down).
I had actually missed that letter then,
since at the time, I was out of Singapore. I only came to know about it
when a month later, another Christian homophobe, Nominated Member of
Parliament Thio Li-Ann, bellowed about it in Parliament as if the life of
our nation depended on it.
The Minister of State for Information,
Communication and the Arts, Balaji Sadasivan told her in reply that:
With regard to the Straits Times forum
page letter regarding a TV show, which Prof. Thio mentioned, which
apparently showed a supposedly married gay couple who supposedly had an
adopted child, we need to take a balanced view. The TV programme was a
programme about home decoration and design. It featured a game room being
converted into a nursery. There was no objection to the skills and talent
of the designers or to the general entertainment value of the programme.
The objection raised does not relate to the main features of the programme
but to an incidental feature found in this one episode. The concern was
that in the programme the people who were going to live in the redesigned
home were two men and a child, not the usual man, woman and child. The
viewer can extrapolate what the relationship of the two men may be and
then from the extrapolation conclude that family values are not being
upheld. As there is a complaint about the programme, MDA is investigating
the matter in its usual manner. It will consult the Programme Advisory
Committee for English programmes, or PACE, before making a decision if any
guideline was breached.
-- Parliament Reports, 29 Feb 2008
I thought it interesting that the Straits Times, in reporting this
exchange the following day, appeared to stress Balaji's point that the
relationship depicted was
... an 'incidental feature' of the programme,
Dr Balaji said, and Singaporeans would 'need to take a balanced view'.
-- Straits Times, 1 March 2008,
Offensive online
content: MDA investigates all feedback
From the latest MDA press release, it
appears that "a balanced view" in Singapore means that the TV
station has to pay a fine of S$15,000. We are a "fine city"
after all, right?
* * * * *
On the same day that MDA issued its press release, Japan's Mainichi Daily News
reported that:
Coverage of homosexuality by Japan's
notoriously squeaky clean, hyper-conservative public broadcaster NHK has
so far been as hard to find as a G-spot, but the taxpayer-funded network
is finally coming out of the closet, according to Shukan Shincho (4/24).
NHK's Education Channel program "Haato
wo Tsunago (Let's Connect Hearts)" will screen a program on
homosexuality on April 28 and 29.
-- Mainichi Daily News, 24 April 2008,
NHK ventures into the closet for first time with program on homosexuality.
Link
(Thanks to
Manbeer for the tip)
An NHK spokesman told the media:
"The show basically involves talking to homosexuals, their families
and their associates to find out what sorts of problems they face and what
we can do about them. We asked them about what it means to come out or
not, why some homosexuals feel uncomfortable with being open about their
sexuality and how friends and relatives react to those who are out."
While homosexuality is not illegal in
Japan, the social pressures to avoid bringing "shame" to the family
are still great, so the subject is rarely discussed. However, gay persons are generally accepted by their families and
circles of friends.
* * * * *
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The audience
before a screening. Q! Film Festival, Indonesia
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In the world's largest Muslim country, Indonesia, gay activists are making
preparations to hold their 7th annual Q! Film
Festival. The weeklong screening of gay-themed movies is scheduled for August this
year. As with previous years' programs, the Q! Film Festival will move to other
cities such as Surabaya and Yogjakarta, after the run in the capital.
As reported by Reuters last year,
Indonesia's gay film festival faced
violent opposition in its early years.
Members of a hardline Islamic group tried
to storm theatres to stop screenings, but as the festival enters its sixth
year, organizer John Badalu has no such fears.
[snip]
QFF, one of the largest gay film
festivals in Asia, features about 80 films from countries including the
Philippines, Thailand, Germany and Indonesia, and deals with topics such
as sexual abuse and HIV/AIDS.
-- Reuters, 26 Aug 2007, Indonesia film
festival
takes gay issues out of closet
* * * * *
Coming back to Japan, on 19 February this year, the
country's Supreme Court issued a landmark ruling that photographs by the
late US artist and photographer Robert Mapplethorpe were not obscene,
vindicating publisher Takashi Asai's attempts to import and sell a book of
his photographs.
Mapplethorpe (1942 – 1989) was a celebrated artist who
switched to
photography from the late 1970s on. His works, mostly featuring flowers or
human bodies, were famous for their exquisite classical forms. In
addition, his male nudes had a homoeroticism that was revolutionary, but
also very controversial in his time. Today, they have become icons of the
period.
As reported by The Associated Press:
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