Letter to the Editor

As promised, here's a lovely letter I saw in today's newspaper. This one bemoans the arrival in Singapore of one of Paris' famous cabarets, and the resultant total degeneration of Singapore's entire moral fabric.

I AM deeply concerned and saddened by the decision to allow the Crazy Horse cabaret to perform in Singapore.

It looks like yet another attempt by the Government to ditch our strait-laced image, and I question the need to allow such acts into Singapore to justify 'loosening up' the society.

While the evolvement of a society into a more creative and dynamic one may be facilitated by the relaxation of social and moral safeguards, it leaves me to wonder: At what cost?

The part-owner and director of Crazy Horse Paris, Mr Didier Bernardin, was quoted as saying that he was not worried at all that the nudity would shock audiences. I would rather remain shocked at the things that should indeed shock us.

Ok. In a country where you can get all the nudity (and worse) you need on the Internet, what indeed is the cost of adding something a little more edgy to Singapore's art scene, as compared to, say, "Phua Chu Kang, the Musical".

There are 2 kinds of people who are going to go to see the show, and all of those must be able to cough up the $150 price for the tickets:

1. Those ah peks who will go in to perve and try to catch a glimpse of a body part here and there among the fans and lighting effects. These gentlemen surely are already are "morally corrupt" (note: I'm using phrases that would appeal to the letter writer, and are not my opinion).

2. A segment of Singapore's population that has the maturity to sit through the show, and appreciate it for its artistic content (no, no sarcasm here, I do regard this as an artistic show). These people are not going to perceive anything offensive in this show, and are certainly not going to go out and cause damage to society
after sitting through an evening with scantily clad dancers.

Kids aren't going to be allowed in. And also, a precedent already exists in Singapore (the Neptune Restaurant), which has topless dancers. I believe this has been around for over a decade, with no noticeable effects on the moral fabric.

So Miss Lee (who wrote this letter), please continue to keep your eyes and ears closed and hope this goes away, and dream on about your vision of a Singapore happily (and heavily) populated with happy heterosexual couples with 2.3 (or more!) children. The world is changing and Singapore needs to change too. For heaven's sake credit your fellow Singaporeans with some maturity.

And finally, someone please explain to me this gem: "I would rather remain shocked at the things that should indeed shock us."