Cultural Observations Part 1

Big apologies to the readers out there (all 2 of you)! Have been held up with assignment after assignment, but I guess that’s no real excuse ya?

Anyway, today we discuss something that has been sitting in the back of my mind for some time. Cultural observations between the ‘liberal’ democracy that is Rooland and good old Singapore.

“Yeah, it’s obvious,” some of you complain, “haven’t we heard all this crap before?”

But in an era where the Intarwebs are turning everything into one big global village (yeah, couldn’t resist a McLuhanism), and when ‘change’ seems to be the word most in vogue, one questions when debates over these issues will become a thing of the past:

1) Censorship of Porn artistic renditions of the nudist variety

Read the following article (Source)

Eileen Eileen Poh | poh.eileen@nus.edu.sg the ridge news A NUSSU Publication Sept 26, 2008 Japanese comics laden with sexually explicit content were up for rent at the Comics Corner located at the National University of Singapore’s Co-op@Forum, situated on the premises of the school’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. The comics, labeled “unsuitable for aged 18 and below”, are not shrink-wrapped, and free for all to browse at the store. “I am quite shocked to hear that we can find such books on campus,” said Mandy Tan, a second-year arts student. “Although pornographic materials are easily available on the Internet, I don’t think we should promote such an unhealthy culture openly.” “Would this not indirectly promote sex?” asked Ong Zheng Wei, a second-year engineering student. “Those pictures might be seen as ‘thought-provoking’ and could intoxicate people with lust.” “The residential comic stores do rent such books,” said Robbie Yee, a fourth-year communications student. “But, come on, this is a school.” A check with the comic store found that the previous vendor, AZ Comics, left behind the majority of these controversial comics. Ms. Joanne Lim, staff of NUS Comics Corner, said, “We did notice the restricted books then and found out from the previous vendor that his rationale for bringing the restricted books into the campus was that all the students here are above 18, and there are always a small group of readers who are into such books.” “We agreed with his reasoning and have since kept the books in our shop,” said Ms Lim. Agreeing with Ms Lim’s reasoning is a third-year business student who wanted to be known as Chew. “Everyone on NUS is definitely above the age of 18,” said Chew. “So logically speaking, there is nothing wrong with keeping the books here.” Yeo Junjie, a second-year engineering student, agreed with Chew. “We are old enough to make our own decision.” The controversial comics are less popular among students, with eight borrowers for two of the titles – ‘The Virgin’s Peril’ and ‘Love of a Tyrant’. An assistant at the NUS Comics Corner, who wanted to be known as Mr. Teo, cited that majority of the borrowers are females, possibly due to the classification of these comics under the “Young Women” category. When approached by the ridge, NUS Co-op NUS Co-op General Manager Jessie Lee explained that the management has “formed a contract with the vendor that only healthy materials can be promoted.” “It is therefore the responsibility of the vendor to screen through the comics and make sure that only healthy materials are promoted,” said Ms Lee. However, a check with the comic store found that the store does not screen through every book. “Considering the number of comics we have, we can’t possibly screen through every single one of them,” said Mr. Teo. “But we do screen through the first one or two books before we put them on the shelves.” Mr. Teo added that the store relies mostly on the ratings given by publishing companies to decide if the books should be put up. Comics allowed in Singapore are generally classified under ’General Release‘ and ’Unsuitable for the Young‘, according to a Content Guidelines for Comics by the Media Development Authority (MDA). However, the industry is largely self-regulated. Trained importers are required to sift through the publications and assess their suitability for local distribution based on the guidelines provided by MDA, under the Registered Importers’ Scheme. NUS Comics Corner has since agreed to remove the books from the shop.

Score 1 for the prudes! (apparently, the venue was closed soon thereafter. Make a guess why…)

Yet when one bumbles around our musty manga library on campus…

In all its glory, complete with obligatory otaku -_-

I guess a bunch of teenagers going at each other like rabbits is just too much for the little children you seem to think enrol at your school, eh NUS? Or are universities like mine just cesspools of Western corruption?

I won’t join the debate about whether we should all err on the side of conservatism or become one with the bunch of hyper liberals the world is slowly turning into (Don’t teenagers go at each other much earlier than 18 years of age nowadays?), since that’s tl;dr and there’s plenty of material floating around.

2) Strikes and Protests

Was hoping they'd march down to the local Church of Scientology...

On 16 May, a small representation of Project Chanology popped up at Federation Square here in Melbourne, protesting against Scientology’s tax exemption status (Well, looking at the ‘membership fees’ of the ‘religion,’ I’d naturally feel a bit hesistant funding a ‘cult’ for free, looking at the state of the economy). Though they promised free hugs, I politely declined.

Then of course we have this, proving that education outside Singapore isn’t without hiccups…

STRIKE! WE WANT MONEY! THE DOG WANTS KIBBLES! STRIKE!

Was given this flier, detailing their demands….

No mention for the dog? (Click for clearer image)

While it was quite a miserable little protest here in Caulfield, it was apparently much worse in Clayton where the picket lines blocked traffic in and out of buildings.

Well, fair enough for them. No one likes wage cuts after all, but I have to question whether all this pitchfork-waving is at the expense of the students they claim to care about. Quoting my Journalism tute-mate’s recollection of the event:

Student: ‘Scuse me, I have a a test today. Could you let me through?
Teacher: DON’T GO IN! YOU’RE JUST SUPPORTING THE FUCKING STATUS QUO! BOYCOTT YOUR LESSONS*!
Student: But what about my marks?
Teacher: BUT WHAT ABOUT TEACHERS’ RIGHTS?!?

*Non-union staff ROFL-ed and carried on lessons as usual.

Luckily for her, she managed to get in. All in all, a pretty useless show of force that only served to annoy the students they claim to be striking for as well. Plus, it only lasted a day, so I really doubt the effectiveness of their actions.

To sum up my thoughts in a nutshell: Just how effective is censorship and civil disobedience in bringing out what is ‘best for the people’? Or is it just needlessly restrictive and inefficient, serving the interests of a few power groups and not necessarily in the interests of all?

Inb4 “lol, anarchy”.

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