STAGING OF LOCAL SHOWS BY FOREIGN SOFT PORN ACTRESSES

Dr Kanwaljit Soin asked the Minister for Home Affairs why the staging of local shows by foreign soft porn actresses is allowed.

The Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Home Affairs (Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee) (for the Minister for Home Affairs): Sir, all public performances, whether they involve foreign or local artistes, are permitted by the Public Entertainments Licensing Unit (PELU) only if the police assess that they would not pose law and order problems, or be offensive to the general public. If any artiste has a reputation of performing acts which are likely to hurt local sensitivities or are considered obscene, PELU would exercise greater care in scrutinising the application to assess whether the artiste is likely to flout PELU's conditions. If there is any doubt that the artiste would comply with the licensing conditions, the performance would not be allowed.

In the recent case which I believe prompted this question, the Hong Kong soft porn actress, Loletta Lee, complied with all the licensing conditions. In fact, a newspaper reported that the audience was disappointed and the club lost $200,000 as a result of her performance. This, I think, speaks well for the police system of control over public entertainment.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Does the Parliamentary Secretary know that topless shows are allowed in Singapore? Is the Parliamentary Secretary aware of that?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: I am certainly aware of that, and I think I should be aware of that. Topless floor shows are generally not allowed except in a few well-established theatre restaurants-cum-night clubs. For example, at the moment, there are four such establishments which are allowed to have topless shows. Such shows are strictly controlled and the establishments concerned have to comply with very strict conditions. These include barring persons below 18 years of age from seeing the show. These shows are subject to preview by the police before a licence is issued.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: What is the need to allow topless shows even under controlled conditions?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: I think we cannot go overboard in censoring such performances. We have to maintain a balance. The alternative would be to ban all such shows. But I think censorship in Singapore on the whole is generally loosening up. We allow this loosening up but subject to strict controls.

Dr Kanwaljit Soin: Would Singapore be any less poorer culturally if we were to ban topless shows?

Assoc. Prof. Ho Peng Kee: Like I have mentioned, we have to take this in the context of general censorship law. It is not a matter of whether or not people see topless shows or whether that particular incident will have any significance. But generally, as Singapore opens up to the world, we would have all these pervasive influences coming in through the media. So we want to strike a balance, and this is the balance that we have struck which we think is appropriate.