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Asia Buzz: Sex in the Lion City
Digital technology poses problems for countries like Singapore
By ERIC ELLIS
November 23, 2000
Web posted at 3:40 p.m. Hong Kong time, 2:40 a.m. EDT
It wouldn't be Asia if we weren't regaled with the thoughts of Lee Kuan Yew.
It's near impossible to pick up a paper or magazine and not encounter the aging
"Father of Singapore," Asia's self-styled philosopher-king, polishing his
crystal ball and holding forth authoritatively on some subject.
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I've seen him in action a dozen times, and read his ramblings countless more.
About the only subject I've heard him admit he doesn't have much expertise on is
information technology. After reading a long jargon-filled speech at the launch
of the StarHub telephone service earlier this year, he confessed that he didn't
have a clue what half the terms mentioned actually meant. It was refreshing
candor from LKY about a sector that has disquieted his control-obsessed country
when it comes to the spread of information and its inability to fully control
it.
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The story behind today's news from the editors of Asiaweek
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My wife and I got a taste of that dilemma this week as we kicked back to watch
six episodes of the hit U.S. TV series, Sex and the City. As most people outside
Singapore know, it can be seen via HBO's Asian service, which also beams into
Singapore. But we can't watch Sex and the City because the authorities have
deemed that particular program unacceptable fare for local eyes. HBO runs a
different schedule when Sex and the City features elsewhere in the region.
The series examines the ups and downs of the sex lives of four female New
Yorkers. It's witty, hip and frank and it has won myriad awards. So if it's
banned, what we were doing watching it in Singapore?
We had ordered a DVD online from Amazon in the U.S., and it arrived courtesy of
the government mail service in our postbox. We felt naughty watching it, like
minor dissidents. Living in Singapore, and mindful of the legal treatment meted
to those who have been deemed to break it, one is always watchful -- lest
someone else is also being watchful. If authorities aren't tapping phones here,
they might want to undertake a campaign to assure residents they aren't because
the conventional wisdom -- rightly or wrongly --is that Singaporeans'
conversations are being monitored.
Strictly speaking, examples like our illicit viewing of Sex and the City
shouldn't happen. If we were good, law-abiding residents, we would've taken the
DVD to the censor for examination. He might have been shocked at the sex scenes
and the amusing promiscuity of the series' heroines. Chances are, we wouldn't
have been allowed to watch it. He might've wanted to cut it. But digital
technology can't be cut -- at least not by censors.
Digital technology such as that of a DVD poses a problem for countries such as
Singapore. The republic is about the most frustrating place in Asia to watch a
movie, considering the cuts made to films shown here. Jim Carrey's harmless Me,
Myself and Irene was cut almost beyond recognition. Many directors also won't
show in Singapore because their art is often butchered.
Movies traditionally come in tape, the famous celluloid. So do videos. And it's
easy for censors to take the scissors to a video, excise the offending bits and
patch the tape back together. But not for much longer. Digital technology can't
be cut because it's digital; there is no tape. Soon, tape will be as yesterday
as typewriters. The only people with access to the digitizing tend to be the
people who made the movie. And directors tend to take a dim view of anybody who
messes with their work.
Places like Singapore have a problem. If films like Titanic are so mainstream
that everyone the world over flocks to it, what happens if there's a scene that
offends the censor? Does Singapore not show Titanic? And do they do this at a
time it wants to develop a profile as a liberalizing arts "renaissance" city?
Studios won't make films designed just for Singapore because it's not economical
to do so. And if Singapore takes the hard-edged approach and bans otherwise
innocent films, its efforts at liberalization will come to nothing.
In the meantime, my wife and I will continue to order banned DVDs and movies via
the Internet. And, if they are true to form, perhaps await word from the
authorities.
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