WebQuest Report: Film Censorship Issues

1. What are the governmental ministry and agencies that oversee the policy?

A branch of the Media Development Authority called the Film Censorship Board

2. Who are the direct parties involved in the transaction? Are there any indirect (external) parties that are involved or affected by the transaction?

The direct parties involved are; the distributors of the films, MDA, production crew. The indirect parties involved are; the target audience.

3. Are there any other supporters or critics of the policy? Examine their views.

Critics:
- Audience who believe in the freedom of expression
- The production crew
- Foreigners, especially from those countries with more slack rules.
- Cultural fans who believe that the censorship of a film destroys its cultural value and distorts that message it was originally trying to bring across.

Supporters:
- Government
- Audience, mainly parents who wish to protect their children
- Conservatives who wish to preserve moral values.

4. Do you think that the goods or service is being under or over produced/consumed?

It is neither. These goods are for entertainment purposes, as entertainment cannot be properly quantified, it cannot be said that a film is over or under produced. Furthermore, there are many substitutes for entertainment. However, the reason why the government has imposed censorship rules is so as to reduce the negative externalities that certain images would have on a certain audience. Some citizens may feel that the service is overproduced as too much is censored or that as the film is restricted to only a certain age group. The service, to some is under produced as they still see a number of things that should be cut but was not cut by the MDA. It is wise to preserve some of the cultural scenes to make it dynamic and lively, but not overly so such that the negative externalities are too high, costing far more than what it's worth.

5. Do you agree with the Singapore government's policy in addressing this issue?

It is hard to measure the exact external cost; therefore, it is better to be safe rather than sorry. After all, cultural enlightenment can be obtained from other sources; however, it is best to reduce the negative social cost to minimum. This however, encourages to a certain extent, piracy as people look for substitutes to fulfill their desires. There is however, some unhappiness at the fact that the guidelines to what is acceptable and what is not keep changing. It would be better if the MDA were to decide on a set of rules once and for all. They are also not transparent enough when it comes to declaring the guidelines as it is constantly changing.

Credits: Sim Yok Teng, Jane Lau, Kong Yiting and Nguyen Don