Singapore Lets Cosmo Girl Back - But Only in a Jacket

After a two-decade ban, the Cosmo girl is set to return to Singapore - although only in a shrink-wrapped, body-hugging cover to prevent undesired leching, the government of the tightly controlled city state announced yesterday.

Keeping her company will be the Sex and the City quartet of strong-willed New York women whose exploits in and out of bed have attracted an army of fans around the world.

The move to allow the popular woman's magazine Cosmopolitan back on the shelves - it was banned 21 years ago for "unhealthy values" - and Sex and The City on cable TV after 10pm is part of a package of measures recommended by the Censorship Review Committee after a 17-month review.

Other changes include alterations to cinema ratings and greater flexibility for arts and theatre events. The last review was in 1992.

They are all part of a wider strategy led by the government-appointed Remaking Singapore committee to shed the republic's staid and prudish image.

But the information minister, Lee Boon Yang, said Cosmopolitan would not be freely available. "There are some constraints. It has to be shrink-wrapped to prevent browsing."

The minister also said there would be some tightening of the current censorship laws, particularly as regards children, because the review committee's report found "parental guidance of the young in media consumption is grossly inadequate".

"Censorship exists in all societies ... some more, some less stringent than others," he said. "We will react to changes according to our social norms."

Mild nudity - such as a naked scene in Titanic - and a lesbian kiss in The Hours, were among the high-profile casualties of its censorship.

The ministry said that a more flexible and contextual approach will be taken when dealing with homosexual themes and content.

But radical changes are still unlikely for many years.

"The desire to protect the young from unsuitable content and to respect racial and religious sensitivities remain strong," a ministry statement said.

One example is the relative failure of Speaker's Corner, a government attempt to copy the no-holds-barred oratory venue of the same name in London's Hyde Park.

Only 177 people registered to speak in the last year - all orators have to get police permission in advance - compared with 365 in the previous year.

Among headline-grabbing attempts to "remake" Singapore are the relaxation of licensing laws and the end of the ban on bar-top dancing in some city districts on August 1. As a result, bars with table-top dancing are reporting a rise in sales of up to 30%.

Adrianna Ennab, the owner of 37 The Bar, has been quoted in the local media as saying her takings have been "fantastic" in the last month.

After a ban of many years chewing gum is also now on sale again in Singapore, although only because its prohibition violated a recently signed free-trade deal with the United States.

But allowing sugar-free gum obtained via a prescription is only as far as the conservative Singaporean authorities are willing to go, at least for the moment.