Arts Engage, a network of local arts practitioners, has on behalf of the local arts community published a position paper renewing the call for the government to regulate rather than censor the arts in Singapore.

The position taken is that “censorship isn’t working: regulate instead.” Arts Engage is seeking support for this stand and started an online drive to get people to add their signatures to the paper.

The position paper will be submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, the Censorship Review Committee 2009/10, and the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts.

Regulation, the group points out, classifies work into categories (for example, age-appropriate categories) following a set of published guidelines. As a process, it engages and empowers all stakeholders in comparison with censorship, which has a top-down approach.

Guidelines provided in several legal statutes are vague, leading to a constant testing of the “out-of-bounds” markers. ArtsEngage provides a list of works which had been censored and the arbitrary and opaque nature of the censorship process becomes evident.

The trickle-down effects of censorship can be detrimental; all too often, censorship results in disillusionment and self-censorship on the part of creators, and disengagement and passivity on the part of the public.

As consumers, regulation would give us a greater variety of content and the freedom of choice to view whatever we deem as appropriate for ourselves or our children, Arts Engage says.

The end of the censorship regime would also ease the years of friction and tension between the arts community and the authorities. Coupled with greater artistic freedom, it would ultimately aid in the blossoming of our local arts scene.