TNP: THE subtitles were tweaked because of Singapore's censorship laws.

THE subtitles were tweaked because of Singapore's censorship laws.

That's one of the reasons why subtitles on some of its anime series are not accurate, said managing director Peter Go of local anime distributor Odex.

Anime fans have long criticised Odex's products saying they are inaccurately subtitled.

He was speaking at a press conference to announce the support of the Japanese copyright owners in its appeal against its case against Pacific Internet.

It has successfully obtained court orders to force SingNet and StarHub to reveal alleged illegal downloaders' identities, but its case against Pacific Internet was thrown out of court.

The company, which began a widespread crackdown on illegal anime downloading in May, has got flak from netizens for the quality of its anime subtitling.

Netizens have posted screen captures of illegal anime fansubs (fan-subtitled anime), comparing their subtitles to those on Odex's 'inaccurately subtitled' anime releases.

But why the discrepancy?

Mr Go said the subtitles of certain anime series had to be tweaked to conform with the Board of Film Censors' requirements.

He cited the example of popular anime series Fruits Basket, which contained content deemed too risque.

'We need to abide by the board's regulations - the series cannot have certain religious connotations, be too violent or touch on issues like homosexuality,' he said.

So Odex had no choice but to tweak the themes slightly.

In an earlier interview with The New Paper, Mr Go said that in response to the escalating popularity of fansubs relative to Odex products, the company decided to hire fansubbers (or fans who subtitle illegal copies of anime) to do subtitling work for their products.

But that backfired after fansubbers turned in sub-standard work, with inaccurate translations and grammatical errors.

At a press conference yesterday, Mr Go and Odex director Stephen Sing stood by the quality of their DVDs, which they say local anime focus groups have trouble distinguishing from the same titles released in Japan.

The main reason for its loss of more than 60 per cent of its sales since 2005, it says, is rampant illegal downloading here.

According to data collected by BayTSP, the US company hired by Odex to identify the IP addresses of illegal anime downloaders, Singapore has the highest per capita rate - one in 10 - of illegal anime downloading in the world.

Odex has used this data in its ongoing attempt to get local ISPs to reveal the identities of those identified by BayTSP as illegal downloaders.

Yesterday, Japanese copyright owners, including Media International Corporation, Toei Animation Enterprises Ltd and TV Tokyo Medianet Co Ltd gave Odex letters of authorisation, granting it permission to act on their behalf against illegal downloaders.

Representatives of the Japanese companies said they were prepared to act individually in support of Odex's appeal if the court required them to do so.

Said Mr Yukio Kawasaki, manager of the content business division of TV Tokyo Corporation: 'The best way to solve the problem (of illegal downloading) is through our licensees in each country.

'This is because the licensees can take action quickly. In this case, Odex is a very important partner to us.'

May Odex cracks down on illegal anime downloaders

2 Aug The New Paper reports 9-year-old among those who got letters from Odex

15 Aug Odex director flamed, threatened online

23 Aug Judge denies Odex PacNet subscriber details

Yesterday Odex brings in Japanese to help

Odex to have video-on-demand

IN an attempt to stem the tide of illegal downloading, Odex will offer video-on-demand anime on its website from next week.

This move, Odex directors say, will bring new anime to fans more quickly, allowing them to watch episodes as soon as one week after they are broadcast in Japan.

Said director Stephen Sing: 'We are hoping to be able to release episodes simultaneously with Japan, but there are logistical issues which have to be worked out.'

Such issues include making sure that the anime available on Odex's website - generally in Windows Media Video (WMV) format - are fully copyright protected with digital rights management technologies.

Managing director Peter Go said this was crucial to prevent these videos from being copied illegally.

The company is also working towards same-day broadcasts of selected anime titles on local TV.

The New Paper - Gay Divide in Society (Saturday, 5 May 2007)

Gay Divide in Society - The Gray Divide

It's ok to be gay, but not ok to lie about it?

May 05, 2007

THE best man for the job deserves the chance to do it, whether he sleeps with a man or a woman.

That is a straightforward approach, and shareholders are nothing but straightforward when it comes to their investments.

I invest, you deliver.

Yet, on Tuesday, British Petroleum CEO Lord John Browne, 59, stepped down after 41 years at the petrol giant.

He was head for 12 years.

In that time, he took the company into the ranks of Fortune 10 and determined that BP had a mission to go 'Beyond Petroleum'.

But he also had sex with a young man whom he met through a male escort agency's website.

One might think - most people have sex, what is the big deal? Why resign?

But what if each time you look at the CEO of this company, you think of him having sex?

SULLIED IMAGE

What if your image is that of him trawling gay online dating sites, picking up young men?

If your own bedroom romps were made public, you would not feel like standing in front of 97,000 people (BP's staff strength) and speaking of 'energy for heat and light'.

Gay or straight, you wouldn't feel right leading, motivating, inspiring the team.

Lord Browne's decision is an all-too-human response, less the result of public pressure than private embarrassment.

And the debate should be less about gay issues than the role of media in reporting on private life.

To underscore the point from the shareholders' perspective, and their profit priority, let's move away from sex.

Take the case of Mr Hsieh Fu Hua, the CEO of SGX. Here there is no taint of lying, scandal or any sort of cover up, only a possible conflict of interest that had been declared to the board from the very onset. Still, there is some talk that he may leave when his contract ends in 2009.

Shareholders are saying that there is no need for him to leave.

At an extraordinary general meeting on Wednesday, one shareholder said: 'Mr Hsieh, I want you to know that we are all behind you.

'Please keep up the good work that you have done!' and the 70 or so shareholders gathered there applauded.

It's ok, we love you, as long as you perform! A purely utilitarian argument.

Chairman JY Pillay wisely said that when Mr Hsieh's contract ends, future boards could decide to persuade him to stay.

But the argument changes when we speak of political appointments. And it is here that we may differ from more liberal Western countries.

In Britain, MrMichael Portillo was defence minister in the 1990s - and was open about his gay past. In Singapore, we have some way to go before electing a Singaporean Portillo to succeed Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean.

A political leader stands for a set of values which, by and large, reflects that which his society lives by.

In politics, it is not mere profit maximisation. It is what his idea of what a good life is.

Even in Britain, Mr Portillo did not get his party's leaders support in his bid to lead the Conservative Party and hence the Prime Ministership in 2001. Rather bluntly, they said they wanted someone 'more normal'.

DEFINING NORMAL

How do we say what is 'normal'?

We tend to start from the smallest digit of society - the family. In a way, it is easy - as a mother, I can say that I love my sons, whatever colour they choose to embrace. As a Methodist, I stand against homosexuality.

These are the two immovables - in between are many shades, possibly of pink.

Moving up, let's go through the various groups in society - grassroots, schools, workplaces and so on. Does it matter if your Residents' Committee chairman, or your colleague, or your fellow-volunteer is gay? Not really.

Let's move even further up - into the civil service.

Does it matter that a permanent secretary is gay? For me, not really.

So between the family and the ballot box, there is a wide range of social spaces where one's sexual orientation does not matter.

But the buck stops at the ballot box.

Does it matter if an MP is gay?

If a man is gay, hides this fact, and is exposed when he stands for election, he will surely be repulsed as a craven liar.

But if a man is gay, openly so, and stands for election, some may applaud in public for his courage, but vote against him in private.

Indeed, when you engage in open debate, in the realm of logic and cold-blooded analysis, you may concede the point that a gay minister or MP is as good as a straight one.

But when it comes to the ballot box, where you have no need to justify your decision to anyone other than yourself, things may be different.

This does not end as a moral argument, although, turning on family and personal values, it may have begun as one.

It ends as an argument in political process.

If you have decided to respect each man's vote and let his values count as much as the next, then you are bound by the decision spawned by the one-man, one-vote process.

You do not then dispute the quality of this decision.

For some, this represents the tyranny of the majority; for others, the triumph of democracy.

The New Paper - The Gray Area (Saturday, 5 May 2007)

THE GRAY AREA

Gays okay, say some heartlanders. But only if they stay away

FRIDAY night, Tanjong Pagar. Thumping music. Hunks and babes, dressed to
kill. Macho sauntering, come-hither looks.

05 May 2007

FRIDAY night, Tanjong Pagar. Thumping music. Hunks and babes, dressed to kill. Macho sauntering, come-hither looks.

Just another scene at a club? Watch a little closer.

At some Tanjong Pagar pubs, the hunks don't check out the babes. They check out other hunks. And the babes check out other babes.

This corner of old Chinatown becomes the centre of Singapore's gay scene when night falls and the neon lights flicker on.

'Tanjong Pagar is to gays what Little India is to Indians, or what Chinatown is to the Chinese,' said regular patron Issac Ritz, a 22-year-old NSman.

Most of the gay clubs in Singapore are here, he said.

In a country still grappling with the idea of homosexuality, Tanjong Pagar is Singapore's fringe zone.

It's where the 'conservative majority' brushes up against the 'liberal minority'.

Where the singlet-clad uncle shares the same table with the guy with the right earring.

And it's okay.

As Ms Gina Aw, 43, who owns a Chinese restaurant opposite a gay club, puts it with a shrug: 'You like to drive car. He likes to ride a motorcycle. It's as simple as that.'

The simplicity of logic works both ways. Security guard Joe Nathan, 30, doesn't like 'their attitude'.

'I'll be polite,' he said. But draws a line there.

OF COWS AND PIGS

Does he believe that some people are born gay? He offers an old Indian saying: 'If a cow follows a pig around long enough, it will stop eating grass and start eating like the pig.'

Or, in less colourful language: Group influence.

The gay debate often takes place at the highest levels of society, bringing in genetics and God.

But often, it's street logic that prevails.

Ride a motorcycle. Follow a pig.

Dismiss it as ignorance? That might be too simplistic.

Homosexuality is an issue that has split the church, challenged medical science and changed laws in some countries.

Sometimes, it seems you need to be a doctor, priest or lawyer to answer the question.

But not everyone can dissect the issues wisely, although it's becoming an increasingly relevant question.

Hawker Tan Beng Seng, 53, runs a drinks stall at Maxwell market.

'I like them,' he said. 'They got standard, okay?'

They're professionals and well-educated, he explained. They wear branded clothes and many are from rich families.

'They're a bunch that really knows how to let their hair down and have a good time,' said Ms Aw.

Down the road, 37-year-old car jockey RemyA looked almost star-struck talking about the gay crowd that arrives on Friday and Saturday nights.

'It's a good crowd,' he said with a veteran's air. 'You should see their bodies, man. Muscle!'

And he has never seen the crowds at gay clubs get into fights.

Mr Remy's tone sounds accepting. But what would he do if his son should one day tell him that he is gay?

'I'd smack him,' he said.

The trend seems to be this: A decade ago, it was okay to be gay as long as you didn't come out of the closet.

Now, it seems okay to step out of the closet. But just don't step into my backyard.

Is it progress? Or just grudging resignation?

When gay customers give Mr Tan a friendly peck on the cheek, he doesn't mind.

'Kissing and hugging is the way Westerners greet each other,' he said matter-of-factly, even though not all his gay customers are Westerners.

Where does he draw the line?

'If a gay couple were to kiss openly in front of my stall, I'll ask them, please, lah, don't like that,' he said.

'NATURAL'

What if it's a male-female couple?

His eyes widened in surprise. 'Why would I need to do anything? That's perfectly natural,' he said.

The clubs or gay hangouts are subtle. A rainbow flag hangs outside one club, quite innocuously.

Only those in the know understand it's a symbol for gay pride. You won't find men smooching openly here.

It's only late into the night that you might see a couple stroll past hand in hand.

There seems to be an unspoken code.

You do your thing and I'll do mine.

Live and let live.

Article can be found at: http://newpaper.asia1.com.sg/printfriendly/0,4139,129450-1178402340,00.html?