Dear Molly,

Please publish the following letter in your blog for me. I don't know why the ST forum never publishes my letters although I endorse the same values as the do. Is it because I don't write as well as ex-ISD agents?

Thanks, Molly.

See Nao

MDA's Lapses in Media Development

It is heartening to know that the MDA has fined Starhub for showing two women kissing and MediaCorp for airing a show that featured a gay couple with a baby. This sends across the message that dangerous and unnatural alternative lifestyles are not tolerated by Singaporeans. The program was totally lacking in educational value. What happens if an impressionable child watches the show and start thinking that men could love each other and become pregnant? What happens if children start thinking that gays are normal people like you and me, who can become professors and even head highly-funded research programs?

Despite the MDA's commendable efforts, I find that the MDA is not doing enough. All too often, undesirable lifestyles are depicted by local TV shows.

Over the years of watching TV, I have seen the following being depicted (either in fiction or not):

1. Couples who divorce

2. Men who have mistresses and even have children with their mistresses

3. Premarital sex

4. Abortions (Murder)

5. Men who castrate themselves and become women after practicing some weird kung fu

6. Rape and Molest

7. Potential romantic love between long-lost siblings (Incest)

8. Liang Po Po (disgusting old drag!), Liang Xi Mei (uncle in drag having two children!), and not to mention the infamous B B Belachan (Transvestitism)

9. Tomboys and effeminate men who are accepted simply because they are not lesbian or gay [Surely Singaporeans are too conservative to accept tomboys and sissies because of their transgressive, unconventional behavior?]

10. Men who look at women lustfully (adultery)

[And I'm not even listing vices such as smoking, drinking and gambling.]

The MDA is right to assume that depiction is equals to promotion, so the disturbing acts and behaviors above should never have been shown on Singapore TV. They show unconventional families, aberrant behavior, and downright illegal acts. By having shows in which women are raped, for instance, MediaCorp must be promoting rape and endorsing it as a social norm. (The only exception is, of course, when a husband have sex with his wife without her consent, i.e. what has been mistakenly called marital rape although it is not rape at all.) This is very dangerous for Singapore because Singapore is a small, vulnerable island with no natural resources and our only resource is our conservatism which makes us socially responsible citizens who work for the good of the Great Nation.

It is, thus, appalling that MediaCorp only gets fined once in a while for depicting homosexuality. I hope the MDA would be more proactive and not only fine MediaCorp more often, but take charge of productions as well. This is not at all ambitious, given that the rap that the MDA produced last year probably attracted more audience than the typical MediaCorp program. By becoming producers, the homely, funky, rapping personnel of the MDA will be able to ensure that only conventional-family-oriented programs will be shown. This will ensure that Singapore's ambition to be a media hub will be realized.

Additionally, I have been shocked to learn that some MediaCorp actors are rumored to be gay. The MDA should tell MediaCorp to sack their gay actors and lesbian actresses since their appearance on TV and even in the public is tantamount to the promotion of gay and lesbian lifestyles.

There has been a lapse in the MDA's functioning all these years. But what to do, it's happened. I do not expect any minister to resign because MediaCorp has not been fined for all the above offenses, but I hope things will improve. We cannot let the fragile heterosexual supremacist social cohesion be undermined.

Mr. Lee See Nao