Archive for the ‘Malaysia’ Category

Editorial urges censorhip, citing U.S. as example.

Thursday, March 11th, 2010

An editorial on the Malaysian site, The Star Online, argues in support of censorship making the point:

Correct me if I am mistaken, but even in the US, obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment’s guarantee of free speech. This means that filtering of obscenity is allowed in the US. Then why can’t our country do the same when it is in our best interest?

You’re right that it’s probably only a matter of time before the U.S. follows in the footsteps of Australia and France in terms of considering measures to protect the population from the free flow of content deemed in appropriate by the state.  But, it’s not in the interest of anyone except those willing to piss away free expression in the name of morality or protecting children.

For me, there is no such thing as freedom to express oneself through pornography.

Once upon a time there was no such thing as the freedom to say the earth wasn’t the center of the universe.  And it’s still the people who consider themselves the center of the universe that want to control what everyone else gets to say and see.

Posted in Censorship, Malaysia, Obscenity | Comments Off

Art censorship in Malaysia

Wednesday, February 24th, 2010

Not that Malaysia is a mecca for fee artistic expression, but the painting in question by Philippine artist, Igan D’ Bayan, was previously accepted and then rejected when it arrived at the Kuala Lumpur’s National Art Gallery.

He received no official letter from the organizers explaining why his macabre riff on Grant Wood’s American Gothic — replete with skulls, bones, breasts and genitalia — was censored. The only communication Mr. D’ Bayan received was a trail of e-mail messages forwarded by Ramon Orlina, chair of the Philippine Committee of Asian Artists, Inc.

One of the messages in the back-and-forth conversation between Mr. Orlina and National Art Gallery curators cited that was unsuitable because the woman’s “secret part” was “too clear,” making the painting open to “bad interpretation.”

So the question arises as to whether they must be covered up because they are ‘secret parts’ or they are secret parts because they are always covered up.  In any case, the “Secret Parts” lobby must be pretty powerful on a global scale, because there certainly seems to be a lot of laws requiring that they be kept secret.  The painting, Gothika Filipina 2, can be seen here.

It should be pointed out that city officials in Temecula, CA had nothing to do with the censorship in Malaysia.

Posted in Art, Censorship, Malaysia, Nudity | 3 Comments »