Do Not Allow R21 Films Into Our Neighbourhoods and Living Rooms

To: Mr Lui Tuck Yew,
Acting Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts

We are a group of parents and concerned citizens of Singapore who wish to petition against accepting certain recommendations of the Censorship Review Committee (CRC):-

1) Please do NOT allow easy access to R21 films in our neighbourhood cinemas, on cable TV and through video sales & rental outlets.

The CRC does not consider R21 films as pornography. However, many citizens consider R21 films as soft-porn or pornography with artistic merits. R21 films always contain graphic sex scenes and nudity. But porn, whether soft or hard-core, is still porn. Studies have shown that increasing doses of pornography are needed in order to obtain perverted pleasurable responses, like drug addiction.

Many R21 films also promote values that break down the moral fabric of our society such as promiscuity, pre-marital sex and homosexuality. They seek to normalize alternative lifestyles which studies have shown to be unproductive unions or cause increase in sexually transmitted diseases, HIV/AIDs, abortions and children born out of wedlock.

For those who graduate from R21 films to hard-core pornography, many studies have shown that the habitual use of pornography causes behavioural, psychological and social problems.

According to one study involving 12,000 participants, the rise in sexual crimes, sexual dysfunction and family breakdown may be linked to the increased availability and use of pornography. The rape myth (belief that women cause and enjoy rape, and that rapists are normal) is very widespread in habitual male users of pornography.

Another study showed that pornography .
can make men sexually incompetent with a real partner, and for some can lead to growing attractions to images and behaviors of a hard-core nature
Women are faced with new expectations of sexual behaviour, increased chances of divorce, infidelity, and less happy marriages.
Children, adolescent boys in particular, are more inclined to violence, aggression and sexual coercion of peers; are more susceptible to sexual coercion by peers and adults.
Adolescent girls are more inclined to tolerate emotional, physical, and sexual abuse


2) Please do NOT replace the token Government ban on 100 objectionable website with a mandatory filtering service that is easy for families to subscribe to. Not every parent is IT-savvy nor expected to be aware of such a service. Nor should we expect the lower income group to afford a monthly subscription service when they are barely able to make ends meet. Let us have both government ban and the filtering service.

3) Relying on cinemas and video stores to check the age of consumers is unrealistic. When the profit motive is strong, there will always be border incursions. By the time we punish the offenders, the harm is already done to our teens and young adults.

4) Allowing Arts & Entertainment groups to regulate themselves is NOT wise. The profit motive is too strong and they are too close to their art to be impartial.

As a society, we need to move towards eradicating pornography and to stop any avenues that could lure viewers to pornography, such as R21 films. Just like what the government has done to halt free bus services in the heartlands to the Casinos to protect its citizens, we should restrict the distribution of R21 films and censor any graphic sex scenes and nudity.


References:

Study Proves That Pornography Is Harmful
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2002/mar/02031203.html

The Social Costs of Pornography http://www.socialcostsofpornography.org/download.php

Hijacking the Brain How Pornography Works
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/feb/10020205.html