Barely weeks after Starhub was fined 10,000 for showing a lesbian kissing scene, another TV station has been slapped with a fine.
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.
So, just showing that gay people exist, and can be happy, is such an anathema that it has to be regulated by repeated stiff-upper-lip fines and threats, in this sunny island of Singapore. Once again, the authorities fail to recognise that there can be no “promotion” of homosexuality – people are either queer or they are not.
What is this harm that they are bending over backwards to protect the people from? Because, the only thing that will result from watching the program is that maybe more people will be more accepting of homosexuality and learn that it is possible to have a happy gay family, that we are not all drug-using promiscuous unhappy people. Once again, this change in attitude, the acknowledgment that gay people are human, does not mean that they are going to BE gay. We are normal people living normal lives, paying our mortgages and taxes, going to work, contributing to society.
The authorities are trying hard, very very hard, to make sure there is no way that attitudes can be changed in any way. What they are protecting is not families, but the shell that people live in, to make sure there is absolutely no possibility intolerant attitudes can change, because that would really mean the end of the world, if there was a little less hate in our hearts for people who are different from us.
Protecting hate can be a tough job, and we extend our congratulations to the authorities for doing a fine job of it.
Comments
humph said,
April 26, 2008 at 6:06 pm
i think singaporeans are now well confused by the conflicting messages. “oh being gay is ok, gays are just like you and me” “homosexuality is an abonormality we mustn’t show it on daytime television!” but we can proclaim on the national paper “we welcome gay talents!” and “we will not actively enforce 377a” but “MSM are considered a high risk group who may be charged with having sex under the new amendments to the HIV act of infectious diseases bill”.
blah. maybe it’s time we have a new, consistent government.
ryodee said,
April 27, 2008 at 9:33 pm
hear hear!
mda isnt exactly clear about its ob markers (which means nothing can be done about changing them). and the fines seem to be coming right after each other.
conclusion: tv broadcasters = mda’s atm.
nudibranch said,
April 28, 2008 at 11:58 am
Yes, authorities are doing a fine job. Why? Because YOU allow this to happen, sistas. But have the lesbian community been doing a fine job? Noo..where were your members when the time mattered to repeal the cursed penal code 377a ruling? How many members have this forum gardnered for signatures, mass rebuke, corrections and education to public forums, govt, MPs & what not? Barely a handful I heard. Mostly not even locals, I heard. How many of your members signed the petition of repeal? Was there even an effort in your forum to gardner any other than, “hey, check this link out”?
There’s a time to make sure things matters, put aside egos & come together as ONE lesbian and if not gltb community to stake your claim of EXISTENCE. Only when this country’s lawful CONSTITUTION is set straight, you can expect to get use to the CONSEQUENCE of lawmaking in this or any community or country. I’m sure MDA will gladly NOT stand in the way when that goes to pass, but, “hey, there’s this law about homosexuality by govt and I’ll have to ensure as MDA, to disallow the promotion, justification and glamourisation of lesbian lifestyles and their explicit depictions too”. Ha-ha.
Shame on you for not having balls, imaginary or not, for not seizing the moment when it mattered then or now. If this lesbian community has even an ouce of maturity to see that there’s a need for concerted plan, humility to co-operations between agencies and ‘balls of bravery’ to dare to put your foot, as many signatures & faces down, to stop all frivolous activities to get your members attention to this historic and seriously life-changing times for yourselves and the next generations, I think you are just making yourselve only more disdainful to the other glbt communities worldwide even.
Cowardly disassociating with this country or just skirting away from this milestone moment will only breed regrets in your lives later, I curse you. So ask yourselves what you oughta be doing and stop relegating to frivolities and bitching on the sides on your ’safe haven’ of a ‘forum’..much like blinded moles burrowing deep in your holes, AWAY from the sun.
Good luck to your motto of “empowering Asian queer”.
kt said,
April 29, 2008 at 7:02 am
nudibranch, I don’t think our lesbian sisters are not doing anything. They did step out and help in the signatories during the 377A petition. I think they’ve done their part and the blame is on the “conservative majority”, not on them. The lesbians are also suffering quite a fair bit under our society’s myopic views. They get ostracised and discriminalised no less than us. If you think they haven’t done enough for us, in retrospect, have we stood up for them on the large scale? I’m thankful for the lesbian signatures in the 377A petition, and I think we as the sexual minorities should stand together as a cohesive unit to counter social prejudice. Then we can have a voice.
pleinelune said,
April 29, 2008 at 11:13 am
Dear nudibranch
I understand you might be a little out of the loop, but lest you get the wrong idea, we’ve been actively involved in the 377A debate from the beginning, when even the gay men were not doing much:
http://blog.sayoni.com/2006/12/04/feedbacksession/
http://blog.sayoni.com/2006/12/06/observations-at-a-focus-group-meeting-for-the-proposed-penal-code-amendments-in-singapore/
We’ve spoken personally to MPs, we’ve signed both the online and parliamentary petition and directed our members to, and I personally have taken pains to collect signatures from my schoolmates for the purpose. We’ve been consistently writing about it to raise awareness, and our own members have been very active in the discussions on the forum though, technically, s377A doesn’t affect us. We’ve taken the pains to go and attend the parliamentary debates in person, and rebut them.
http://blog.sayoni.com/2007/10/24/thioliann/
We’ve done everything we could have done, within our power, and given the whole movement was already fragmented and conducted within a very short period of time that did not allow for detailed collaboration. The First Reading of the Bill was announced out of the blue in the first place.
Could we have done more? Of course we could have. Everyone could have. There is always room for improvement. Everyone knew from the beginning that we were going to be fighting a losing battle, given the government is not known for changing its mind under public pressure. But we persisted, generating national discourse and awareness of the issue – which will hopefully be a stepping stone for repeal in the future.
Ovidia said,
May 1, 2008 at 10:37 am
hi nudibranch
‘Barely a handful I heard’
maybe it’s you who haven’t been listening? In fact the guys appreciate the support they got from lesbian, bisexual & straight women… none of whom were under fire at the time.
‘There�s a time to make sure things matters, put aside egos & come together as ONE lesbian and if not gltb community to stake your claim of EXISTENCE’
No. As a community we are neither isolated from the rest of SIngapore nor homogeneous within ourselves. And the only time that matters is the present, because it’s all we have to work with.
‘I think you are just making yourselve only more disdainful to the other glbt communities worldwide even’
On the contrary, most glbt communities (again I refer only to individuals, not accepting your homogeneous fronts) I have been in touch with have been positive, sympathetic, supportive & encouraging.
‘So ask yourselves what you oughta be doing and stop relegating to frivolities and bitching on the sides on your �safe haven� of a �forum�..’
Yes, there is a lot of frivolity on this ‘forum’–but that’s the point of having a ’safe haven’… a place where people like us can play & interact in ways we can’t (yet) in general society.
‘.much like blinded moles burrowing deep in your holes’
Thank you. Moles being extremely active animals that work both day & night creating extensive & elaborate underground networks, will take that as a compliment. Thank you (btw you might keep in mind that the shrew is also a member of the mole family…)
‘Good luck to your motto of �empowering Asian queer�.’
Thank you for this too. Any good wishes are welcome.
& Thanks pleine, for posting the links.
nudibranch said,
May 2, 2008 at 12:28 pm
Thank you for refreshening news of the Feedback session. Pleinelune and too few others no doubt, will and should go down in local gay history as someone who eptomise the erudite spirit of the local gay cause.
If the present is all that we can work with as Ovidia says, then the publicity of MHA’s statement that “lesbian sex would not be criminalised” should be kept alive & kicking, always. I’m sure this truth itself will no doubt empower the lesbian community! Ha. I really hope to see more surface campaigning vehicle by Sayoni.
Education gives insight, but presence solidifies reality. I don’t think just the occasional excursion out of your underground network is going to paint a otherwise healthy & rosy picture of lesbianism to the mainstream.
Humour & wit may be the most powerful & useful thing to use in S’pore context & climate, esp to shift & open up the so-called older generation. Perhaps Sayoni Speak can try to embody more forms than as a subscribed online readings of essays. ‘Speak’ can be conveyed in more ways surely.
Perhaps for the refute to tholiann & her representative view of the other S’porean population, your agency ought to bind & print it out in booklets/flyers & be distributed til death if the community is set on changing the mindset of the majority here. Make a campaign out of it, make a series of T-shirts, mugs, flags, whatever (dat can contain all text). I dunno, whatever. So ’shrew’ u, gals. You know I’d still support you beneath it all…
pleinelune said,
May 2, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Nudibranch, since you have so many great ideas, why don’t you volunteer to implement some of them?
humph said,
May 2, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Good points, good points sista nudibranch. Been awhile since your ban from the forum has it not – hello! Though I’m not entirely sure why you want to campaign lesbian sex, I agree that more can always be done and should be done (wrt: sex or otherwise). Antagonistic criticism has its function and I’m sure the Sayoni girls can take yours with their “imaginary balls of bravery”, as you have put so succinctly. Pleinelune has done a brilliant job.
You expect a lot of Sayoni (suppose in a way that’s quite quite flattering) – it is afterall a very informal group made up of a modest number of people. Started 2 years ago, I do think it’s been developing at a healthy pace. Did your teacher ever tell you the story of the boy, you know, that one? He tried to hasten the growth of his rice plants by pulling on them and then the next day they all died? Ok nevermind.
You should also be aware of what might work or not within the social context of Singapore. Although Sayoni can take your antagonism, I doubt the same can be said of the general populace of Singapore. We want to achieve understanding, not make enemies.
As an anal, frivolous and antagonistic aside, I must tell you that for a simple simple person like me, your big big words peppered with spelling and grammar mistakes are a bit hard to comprehend. For example, I don’t know if we could ever “gardner” anything. If you find out, please let me know. Also, although the following:
“Education gives insight, but presence solidifies reality. I don�t think just the occasional excursion out of your underground network is going to paint a otherwise healthy & rosy picture of lesbianism to the mainstream.”
sounds all visionary and rah rah, again, I’m not sure what it all means, especially when it comes after your call to emphasise that lesbian sex is not a crime. Wherever did you get the idea that Sayoni is an underground network of whatever?
Maybe when you take a breather from trying to find girls to take part in threesomes with your very understanding hubby (or have you already quit that hobby?) you can use your humour and wit to educate us.
nudibranch said,
May 5, 2008 at 12:55 pm
Woah, woah, there, Humph (can it get anymore ironical in name?). So sorry if you can’t get your satisfaction that you have to sound like a VERY unsatisfied sour-pussy-grape there about my sex life, but for someone who use a name like that, I guess one can understand your desperation.
It’s hypocritical for you to sing about wanting to achieve understanding, not make enemies. I bet you that if go telling every lesbian that S’pore does not criminalise lesbian sex, you have better chance to bring more smiles from your sistahoods than not. And I don’t know about your kindergarten riceball story, I just know never be afraid to do something new.
Come down from your high horse and I dare you go correcting ‘p’s & ‘q’s of the GENERAL populace of Singaporeans postings where the REAL battle arenas are OUT there instead of picking one of your kind. Gee, so now I kinda know what low-life lesbians like some do for interest at your forum – frivolity to the max, case in point. So get over with me & perceptions abt me & sex already. You don’t even know me to say such things.
For a ’simple’ lawyer-wanna-be who possess no spirit for the issue at hand than picking on my grammar, I’d say it’s not very becoming to hit below the belt like that on anyone’s personal life, dirt-diggin’ & slander, I can slap you with a law suit.
My condolence with you, pleinlune, as you can see, there’s no point and no way I can contribute further as any step taken to stand in the same page with you always seem to be backfired by some in your forum. I wish more can show benefits of doubt & grace like some. I apologise if I was rantin’ a bit as I was distressed in my first comment in view of the current gay status & happenings.
In the end, your forum gets me very confused as I see & admire some great activists and yet your cause are stymide with vindictive distractors as well.
Ovidia said,
May 6, 2008 at 8:46 am
(aside: having met humph I must say she’s more likely to drive women to desperation than be desperate herself)
nudibranch, you apologise for ranting in your first comment because you were distressed. That is understandable and gracious of you. But you must see the reactions you got here came from people who are upset both by the current situation and your comments attacking us.
Please don’t classify bonding, sharing & trust building, interaction activities as ‘frivolity’. Without them we run the risk of more situations like this–where it’s obvious that we have the same goals but still have difficulty communicating.
Even in a real war situation there will be generals (visualise pleine), fighter pilots (maybe humph) undercover intelligence agents (volunteer nudi?) not to mention engineers, mechanics, cooks, doctors, nurses, computer analysts, mercenaries, anti-war protesters (yes!) not to mention all those at home praying for them–& the future well-being of these non-fighters is real reason they are fighting.
In such a situation the people will probably be much too different to get along with each other–but to win they will have to remember they are on the same side.
We don’t have to be alike or to even like each other to have the same goals. But we shouldn’t fight each other–at least not while we are under attack.
nudibranch said,
May 8, 2008 at 5:32 pm
If this is some kind of PR for your agency. Save it. Look who’s doing the worst damage, ok? What the hell does she, your ‘fighter pilot’ thinks she’s doing by saying what she said? Send her to a kamakazi mission already!
As an outsider, I can always question what gay communities & representing agencies like yourself are doing. How you answer is one thing. But maligning & slandering is another.
Don’t tell me about your forum’s ‘bonding, sharing & trust building, interaction activities’. I’ve tried that out with sayoni with the best intention already. As someone who came out late in life & with experiences to share, only to be bashed when I tried talking about understanding , marriage & guys, seeing things from hetero pt of view or even not allowed to crack a naughty joke on your forum.
Just wait for my law suit & see what PR you can do then.
Ovidia said,
May 9, 2008 at 10:58 am
Nudi, you are not an ‘outsider’ unless you are imagining a group of ‘insiders’ which does not exist. When you were part of the forum, by your own definition, you were an ‘insider’ too,
I was trying to calm things down, not do PR.
As for who did ‘worst damage’? Please refer to your initial posting.
Re: your lawsuit:
Defamation and libel are defined as a false statement that injures someone’s reputation and exposes them to public contempt, hatred, ridicule or condemnation. If the false statement is published in print or through broadcast media, such as radio or TV, it is called libel.
Which is what I assume you will be pursuing, rather than ’slandering’.
Well, “Truth is the perfect defense against libel.”
Our truth is verified by your postings and witnesses to your previous activities as described by Humph. Remember, if a statement is true, there is still no defamation, regardless of what the person�s state of mind was at the time.
Thank you for this opportunity to go into details.
pleinelune said,
May 9, 2008 at 12:16 pm
Okay, I have not said much so far in your 3-way tennis rally… but, really, this is unnecessary.
Nudi, I understand you are upset over what happened in the past, but there is a very good reason (several good reasons, in fact) we banned you, and it has nothing to do with “naughty jokes” (which, I might add, were made in the worst taste) or honest sharing about your experiences (which we always welcome from anyone). What happened happened, and I hope you are no longer that person we banned. In the interests of your privacy and continued normal life, I will not go into a discussion about that here – you deserve a second chance.
Humph, while I understand you are upset over past events, but it is not conducive to get personal with her, while she is trying to engage us in an honest (if not slightly misinformed) discussion about the productivity and efficiency of our outreach. Throwing potshots at each other does not help.
Ovidia, thank you for standing up for us, and defusing the situation.
You may have noticed we have drifted far away from the blog post topic. If you wish to discuss this further, can I recommend you meet up whoever in person and thrash it out? All this negative energy, strong emotions and threats, are not helping anyone or anything.
Thank you for posting, ladies. Let’s close the issue here.
Sayoni Speak » Broken Promises Part II: HIV positive man prosecuted for s377A (Singapore) said,
May 10, 2008 at 1:10 am
[...] after news of institutionalized homophobia, here in Singapore. Firstly, two media providers were separately fined by the MDA for airing content deemed to be too pro-gay, barely weeks apart. Secondly, a gay [...]
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