Adjusting to the realities of a globalising world

The Straits Times, April 23, 2007


WHEN the Cabinet debated whether to allow the Crazy Horse topless revue into Singapore some years back, there was a chorus of nays from among ministers.

Then, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew gave what he called his 'tuppence worth'.

He said to his colleagues: Let the show in. It does not make sense to keep things out in this globalised age.

Singapore had to adapt constantly and adjust to the realities of a globalising world, he said on Saturday at a Young People's Action Party (YP) dialogue at St James Power Station.

He was responding to YP member Loretta Chen, who asked where censorship here is headed for the next two decades.

Recounting the discussions with Cabinet colleagues, he replied: 'I said, Look, once upon a time, Singaporeans watched peep shows. You know, you pay 10 cents and you turn an old film in a box at Chinese wayangs.

'Today, they are going to Paris, they go to the Folies Bergere. I mean it doesn't make sense any more,' he said, referring to the renowned topless cabaret show.

'I said, 'Let it go'. So they said, 'No, we must stop this, stop that'. I said, 'You either go with the world and be part of the world, or you will find that we become a quaint, a quixotic, esoteric appendage of the world'.'

The Crazy Horse revue was allowed here and opened to much fanfare in December 2005. But poor attendances led to it shutting down in February this year.

But while Mr Lee is for opening the gates to the forces of globalisation, he said this did not mean that anything goes.

The key for the Government, he said, is to not just decide for the society what is good or bad, but also be mindful of the practicality of banning certain things.

'We have to decide on behalf of society what is the long-term effect of this, and if you prohibit it, will it work? And if it doesn't work and it is flouted, does it do harm? Which is better - to let it run freely or say, 'No, have it surreptitiously flouted at the margins'? You've got to weigh the two odds,' he explained.

Later in the dialogue, he added that with the prevalence of the Internet, censorship is just not practical any more.

'We have created a society which is totally educated. You are all able to go on the Internet. So all this censorship and so on makes no sense to me. You are on the Internet 24 hours, broadband.

'We're going to have Wi-Fi throughout the whole city. We cannot stop this. If we stop this, we stop the progress. We are marginalised.'




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'I said, 'Let it go'. So they said, 'No, we must stop this, stop that'. I said, 'You either go with the world and be part of the world, or you will find that we become a quaint, a quixotic, esoteric appendage of the world'.'