UK magazine yanked after slipping Singapore's net

November 12, 2000
Web posted at: 6:24 PM HKT (1024 GMT)

SINGAPORE (Reuters) -- A British lifestyle magazine has been pulled from news stands in Singapore for falling foul of the city state's tight controls on pornography -- but not before dozens of copies were snapped up.

Just how The Face's November issue got through the net is a bit of a mystery.

The magazine was sealed in lurid pink plastic with "SEX" emblazoned across the front in huge capital letters. Inside, the cover featured a topless model wearing a black G-string.

"It sold out very fast," one news agent who asked not to be identified told Reuters on Sunday. "But I don't see the problem. Kids don't buy this magazine and it was sealed in plastic."

The offending issue prompted a bout of indignation from one newspaper on Sunday.

"How did smut slip into Singapore?" the New Paper asked.

While the tabloid reprinted both the front cover and the shot of the model it said it had blacked out the woman's bare breasts "for obvious reasons."

Singapore typically censors and bans publications and films deemed to have excessive amounts of sex and violence, references to drug use and material which could foment religious or racial intolerance between the Chinese, Malay and Indian communities.

Titles like Playboy and Penthouse are obvious no-gos but the women's magazine Cosmopolitan is also considered too racy.

Distributors regulate themselves via guidelines laid out by the Films and Publications Department, which falls within the Ministry of Information and the Arts.

No one at the ministry was available to comment on Sunday, but a spokesman for the Films and Publications Department told the New Paper that The Face's November issue "should not have been distributed under the Registered Importers Scheme."

"The distributor has also indicated that it would be reviewing its control measures," the spokesman said.

Parents interviewed by the New Paper were split on whether they would want their children to see the issue of the magazine, with one man acknowledging that the Internet was making it even tougher to keep certain material away from young eyes.

Other widely available magazines such as GQ and FHM push pretty close to the line with scantily clad models and sex-infused articles.

Copyright 2000 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For more ASIANOW news, myCNN.com will bring you news from the areas and subjects you select.

See related sites about Southeast Asia
Southeast Asian media sites

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.