is the govt justified?

• 2 bloggers were charged in September 2005 under the Sedition Act for allegedly making racist comments in an online forum and on a website.

• A PSC scholar was given a letter of reprimand for racist blog entries in April 2005.

• In May 2000, the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit rejected an application by gay activist Alex Au to hold a public forum on ‘Gays and Lesbians within Singapore 21’ because the forum will “advance and legitimise the cause of homosexuals in Singapore”.

• We have censorship laws against homosexual materials in print and electronic media. In 2004, ‘Formula 17’, a Taiwanese film was banned from Singapore cinemas despite an appeal by its distributor to the Films Appeal Committee (FAC). The FAC based its decision on the fact that the movie “creates an illusion of a homosexual utopia”. According to the FAC, everyone in the film is homosexual and no negative aspects of the “gay lifestyle” are portrayed.


• Sections 377 and 377A of the Singapore Penal Code criminalise homosexual acts as unnatural offences and outrage on decency with mandatory punishment of jail for such acts performed, regardless of whether they are consensual.

• Application to organise an indoor dance party “Snowball.04” by Fridae.com, Asia’s largest gay and lesbian portal who also held ‘Nation.04’ last August, was rejected by the police because it was deemed to likely be organised as a gay party which is contrary to public interest. An appeal letter to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong urging the authorities to reconsider their decision did not change the situation.


• ‘People Like Us’, a gay and lesbian support group had faced countless rejections in its attempts to be registered with the Registrar of Societies since its first application in November 1996.

• Even when there are signs of acceptance towards homosexuals, such as when the Singapore government’s ‘Remaking Singapore’ committee recommended the acceptance of homosexuals in the Civil Service, it was only applied to certain sectors in the Civil Service