AP: Singapore signs German TV deal, bans Taiwanese gay movie

Singapore signs German TV deal, bans Taiwanese gay movie

Singapore said last week it has stepped closer to its goal of becoming an Asian media and arts hub by signing a TV deal with a German company — but on the same day, said it banned a Taiwanese hit film for its gay content. Authorities nixed “Formula 17,” a Taiwanese movie about two teenage boys falling in love, after the Media Development Authority objected, saying it showed homosexuality as “normal, and a natural progression of society.”

The authority announced July 22 that Singapore’s Oak3films signed a $4.07 million deal with Germany’s FFP media to jointly produce the TV romance drama “House of Harmony.” It will be broadcast in Singapore and on Germany’s ZDF television network, the Media Development Authority said. But the authority, which is sponsoring part of the deal, said Singaporeans weren’t ready for “Formula 17,” and claimed that more than 70 percent of the city-state’s 4 million people reject homosexuality. Singapore law bans gay sex, but gays are seldom prosecuted.

Taipei Times: Singapore: Socially conservative Singapore bans popular gay-oriented Taiwanese film (Jul 23)

Singapore's stringent movie screening body rejected Taiwan's highest-grossing film this year because it 'creates the illusion of a homosexual utopia'

Taipei Times
Friday, July 23, 2004

Sex and the City may be suitable for audiences in Singapore, but censors have drawn the line at Taiwan's highest-grossing film this year, banning the teenage romantic comedy because of its gay theme.

Formula 17, which has grossed double the US$100,000 it cost to make, was banned, because it encouraged homosexuality, Singapore's Films Appeals Committee said yesterday.

It said panel members thought the film "creates an illusion of a homosexual utopia, where everyone, including passersby, is homosexual and no ills or problems are reflected."

"It conveys the message that homosexuality is normal, and a natural progression of society," the panel said.

Singapore has loosened some of its stuffy social controls in recent years, partially relaxing a ban on chewing gum in January, allowing some bars to stay open for 24 hours and ending a ban on the US sitcom Sex and the City last week. But many tough rules remain. Playboy magazine is still banned, while oral sex remains technically illegal under a law that says "whoever voluntarily has carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animals" can be fined and jailed up to 10 years, or even for life.

The government said in January it plans to review its sex laws, and oral sex would most probably be decriminalized -- but only between men and women. The panel said it took into account the findings of a recent survey that more than 70 percent of Singaporeans are not receptive to homosexual lifestyles.

Formula 17, directed by a 23-year-old, has been a sensation in Taiwan, its box-office earnings making it the most successful homegrown film this year, media reports said.

Date Posted: 7/23/2004