Censors Relax Video Ban on Adult Scenes

After 39 years of independence, Singaporean society has at last reached adulthood. Or so say the video censors, who last week announced that films originally made for adults would no longer have to be edited to make them suitable for children before they could be released on to the market.

Video dealers said the move was overdue but would be unlikely to make any difference to films that had already been banned, such as Saving Private Ryan, Basic Instinct and Schindler's List.

Free speech activists meanwhile dismissed the relaxation as a 'trivial diversion' to conceal the fact that the government still used myriad tactics to muzzle criticism and that censorship in the tightly controlled island republic was as strict as ever.

The Media Development Authority, which oversees censorship, said in a statement that from 1 July video classifications will include two more mature categories, one for people over 16 and one for those over 18. The move follows similar steps for films shown in cinemas introduced earlier this year.

Alan Soo, manager of the 29-outlet Pohkim Video-Private chain, said that the new classification would help consumers to assess which films to show their children but do little else. 'Those that are banned, I don't think will be rated and then released,' he said.

Many commentators say this is representative of the government's approach to free expression: to appear to be more open but underneath remain repressive. Withdrawing funding for productions, not granting licenses, legal action and regulations such as the one banning teachers from sending unvetted letters to newspapers, are some of the best known.