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Arts practitioners still open to proposal for co-regulation

Said Mr Kok Heng Leun, artistic director of Mandarin theatre company Drama Box: “Since we call it ‘co-regulation’, the regulatory framework needs to be developed with artists ... problems and penalties should also be shared by both stakeholders.”

Said Mr Kok Heng Leun, artistic director of Mandarin theatre company Drama Box: “Since we call it ‘co-regulation’, the regulatory framework needs to be developed with artists ... problems and penalties should also be shared by both stakeholders.”

The Theatre Practice’s artistic director Kuo Jian Hong suggested reviewing current standards by conducting a “targeted survey of arts audiences” to get a more representative assessment of what they expect.

She also noted that co-regulation “will not be an expedited process”, adding that she appreciated that the MDA took the effort to consult the arts groups on the scheme and hoped such engagement would continue.

On the other hand, Member of Parliament (Chua Chu Kang GRC) Zaqy Mohamad, who is also chairman of the Government Parliamentary Committee for Communications and Information, was of the view that classifications guidelines should be set by a governing authority, such as the MDA.

The MDA, he said, has the role of upholding rigour in safeguarding the public’s interest. However, it should be open and transparent about how it came up with existing standards.

Parents interviewed agreed that the existing ratings decided by the MDA are helpful, but noted that the onus is still on them to guide their children in navigating media content. Said Mr Jonathan Ooi, 40, who has three children: “Current ratings are helpful as a quick reference ... it will not be good if ratings are based solely on artistic merits and do not take into account social norms or conventions.“

Mr Edward Sim, 36, added that while ratings offer “helpful estimates of the category of material”, parents must still uphold the responsibility of educating their children on appropriate media. “We should not assume that what the authority prescribes is absolute. Sometimes, parents may not have the same views as the authority,” said the father of three.

Some, like 31-year-old Sam Ho, who has two daughters, felt that minimal regulation from the State would be acceptable, but “not to the point of self-regulation; it’s not the prerogative of artists to rate their own work”.

Playwright and law professor Eleanor Wong, on the other hand, questioned the need to regulate the arts sphere. “Art is not about agreeing on what’s right or wrong. It is just expression to illuminate, provoke and, sometimes, even to offend. Citizens are free to critique if they come across a work they dislike.”

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