This article explores how gay men and lesbians in Singapore appear content to prioritise availability of consumer goods and services, lifestyle comfort and the availability of artistic representations over civil and political rights and social/political change. Contentment here acts as a powerful strategy of political and social containment of gays and lesbians who continue exist under the shadow of governmental erasure, censorship and oppression

Lek, Andrew

Obendorf, Simon

English

University of Lincoln Institutional Repository

 Join Our Mailing List: Add Me!(Click here to unsubscribe) Contentment or Containment?Consumption and the Lesbian and GayCommunity in Singapore(Singapore Studies)International coverage of this year?s National Day celebrations and of Lee HsienLoong?s assumption of the premiership was almost outshone by news of a verydifferent social (and some may argue political) ritual: the fourth annual gay andlesbian dance party Nation 04.Monday, 25 October 2004by Andrew Lek and Simon ObendorfMelbourne?s Age newspaper proclaimed ?it?s case of kick upyour heels in Singapore, the new mecca for Asia?s pinkdollar? (14 August 2004) while the Reuters agency reportedthat ?6000 people turned out for?a festival of internationalDJs, podium dancers, pumping music and?packed dancefloors?. (8 August 2004). Elsewhere, media reports on the second PM Lee?s policyplatform drew parallels between the greater visibility of gayand lesbian Singaporeans and the installation of the newadministration as evidence of social and political liberalization.From London, the Independent?s analysis of the politicalhandover proceeded under the headline of ?Gum, gays andgambling? (26 August 2004). Certainly observers of contemporary Singapore would havenoticed the emergence of a sophisticated and self-confidentcommunity of gay and lesbian consumers. Services andproducts, some specifically designed for a gay and lesbianclientele, others referencing broader modes of Singaporeconsumption such as the 5 Cs (car, condominium, credit card,cash and country club) are enthusiastically consumed bySingapore?s gays and lesbians. Singaporean advertisers increasingly utilise globally circulatingsymbols and linguistic terms such as Pride, the rainbow flag,the pink triangle, as well as locally signified markers like thephrase People Like Us (?PLU?) to target gay men andlesbians. This heightened visibility has also been reflected in Singapore?s arts scene, with commentators Heng and Devan describingSingapore?s artistic community as ?obsessed with thingssexual in the arts?. In recent years there has been an explosion in the numbersof homosexually themed plays being brought to the Singaporestage. Singaporean playwrights and theatrical practitionersappear to have carved out a niche for a visible, politicaltheatre directed to exploring issues faced by sexual minorities.(An incomplete list of such plays would include Asian BoysVolume 1, Asian Boys Volume 2, Mardi Gras, Top or Bottom,Abuse Suxxx!!!, Invitation to Treat, Mergers and Accusations,Wills and Secession, Crystal Boys II, Beautiful Thing, Rent,The Wedding Banquet, Bent, M Butterfly and Shakespeare?s R& J). Similarly, homosexual themes have been explored inother art forms in Singapore such as the cinema and thevisual arts. These factors seem to contradict the conventional image ofSingapore as a strait-laced nanny state marked by social andpolitical control. How, then, should we explain both theCURRENT:- Democracy and theinternet in Singapore:The supply of alternativepolitical content duringgeneral elections- Singapore's vulnerablerisk-free democracy- Lee's Law: HowSingapore crushesdissentOPTIONS:- Email this to a friend- Print this page- Save this- Send Feedback’Citizen Journalism’:Bridging the Discrepancyin Singapore’s GeneralElections News  (Media)This  paper  was published in  theGerman Institute of Global  andArea Studies' journal  Südostasienaktuell, otherwise known as theJournal of Current  SoutheastAsian Affairs.  -- James Gomez OTHERS:- Singapore: Freedom ofExpression and Media- Stability, Risks andOpposition in SingaporeMore  Search Now increased visibility of a gay and lesbian community organisedaround modes of consumption and an increased visibility ofthe gay and lesbian community and its political issues inSingapore?s art scene? Part of the answer, it seems, lies in the very aspirations ofthe Singapore government to present Singapore as a globalhub for the arts and a cosmopolitan, diverse and excitingtourist and cultural destination. A thriving gay and lesbianconsumer culture and both homegrown and international artsprojects referencing homosexual themes can act as markersof Singapore?s cosmopolitanism, sophistication and urbanchic. More significantly, given the superb economic credentials ofsuccessive Singaporean administrations, both homosexualityand the arts have been figured in public discourse aseconomically useful to a 21st century Singaporean economy.The Renaissance City report specifically sees a vibrant artsscene in Singapore as contributing to worker creativity, toattracting tourists and above all to the national bottom line. Recent comments by senior government leaders indicate thatthe Singapore government is aware of, and attempting tomanage, gay and lesbian communities in Singapore. It wasrecently announced that the Singapore civil service would hiregay men and lesbians, provided that they were open abouttheir sexual orientation. Lee Kuan Yew has signalled an approach that suggests thatprovided there are no attempts to craft a politically active gayand lesbian community aimed at achieving political rights orsocial recognition that the government will not harass orimpinge on gay and lesbian events, consumption practises orvenues. Senior government figures as well as social commentatorsseem to be of the opinion that attracting gay and lesbianforeign talent and nurturing a local, creative homosexualcommunity is both desirable and economically prudent. Onecommentator described liberalising Singapore?s attitudes to,and regulation of, homosexuality as being ?not about gayrights?[but] about economic survival? (Straits Times 9 July2003). Other reports have focussed on the so-called pink dollar,highlighting the amount spent by visiting gay and lesbiantourists or by local homosexuals (Straits Times 17 August2003) while the gay and lesbian community has justified itscontribution to Singapore?s economy by stating that thelatest Nation party was worth 10 million dollars in tourismrevenue (www.fridae.com). While these developments appear progressive and seem tohold significant promise for both gay and lesbianSingaporeans and gay and lesbian residents, workers andvisitors to Singapore, the reality is more nuanced. Section377 of Singapore?s penal code continues to outlawconsensual male homosex and there appears to be nogovernmental intention to alter this situation. Even thestatement by then-PM Goh that gays and lesbians would beemployed in the civil service was given with the proviso thatsuch individuals would have to self-identify as gay or lesbian,and admit to what arguably would amount to criminalbehaviour. The considerable public protest from ethnic and religiousgroups over perceived liberalisation on issues of sexualmorality has been met with regular statements fromgovernment leaders stressing the conservatism of Singaporesociety over issues of homosexuality and assuring citizensthat the views of the majority of society will continue to directpolicy making in this area. policy making in this area. Thus, the Singapore government?s tolerance of homosexualcommunities and gay and lesbian visibility in Singapore isboth strategic and limited. Most notably, while tolerating gayand lesbian consumption and forms of artistic representation,together with homosexual subcultures? contributions tonational economic objectives, the government seems preparedto intervene to prevent the formation of a political gay andlesbian community or to prevent social organisation in thecause of arguing for gay and lesbian rights. The lobby group People Like Us has repeatedly been deniedregistration as a society by the Registrar of Societies on thebasis of the conservatism of mainstream moral values ofSingaporeans. Similarly, censorship authorities recentlybanned the Taiwanese gay film Formula 17 on the basis thatit promoted a homosexual utopia. The Media CommunicationsAuthority has also recently questioned the free streetmagazine Manazine for it?s homosexual content and forseeming to ?promote homosexuality as a lifestyle? (StraitsTimes 28 August 2004). What then are lessons that can be drawn from the currentsituation facing gay and lesbian communities in Singapore? It appears that there has emerged a strong culture ofcontentment on the part of Singaporean gay men andlesbians. A strongly controlled political and social culturecombined with limited liberalisation and a de facto if not dejure tolerance of same-sex sexual acts in private betweenconsenting adults has made both individual risk and socialorganisation to the ends of legal and social reform less, notmore, likely. In the absence of overt oppression (legal, civil orgovernmental) there are few rallying points around which todevelop a political consciousness or community aimed atpolitical and social reform. And it seems that there aredangers in the continuing attempt to connect gay and lesbianrights, consumption and visibility with economic growth andnational strategies of international legitimacy. Gay men and lesbians in Singapore appear content toprioritise availability of consumer goods and services, lifestylecomfort and the availability of artistic representations overcivil and political rights and social/political change.Contentment here acts as a powerful strategy of political andsocial containment of gays and lesbians who continue existunder the shadow of governmental erasure, censorship andoppression. Back to Top Home | Policy | Commentary | News | Publications | Meetings | JTV | J-Radio About James | FAQs | Contact | Links | User Policy

Contentment or containment? Consumption and the lesbian and gay community in Singapore

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