And while the mainstream press such as the Straits Times newspaper have given her film rave reviews for being "quirky" and "striking a chord with every strata of society", others have appreciated the film for deeper political angles.
"GaGa is subversive in a warped patriotic gentle loving way, or rather, it's patriotic in a gently subversive way, I don't know, just don't let THEM know," wrote one Singaporean in an entry posted on the film's official Web site.
Tan emphasized that there is no "enemy" she is trying to challenge. "It's not us against them," Tan said in reference to the government, adding that she has turned the restrictions into a positive.
"It actually makes my films better. You are constantly trying to add subtext to a film. The process of adding subtext or layers makes it a much richer work," she said.
But Tan admitted that at times she is overwhelmed by not being able to fully express herself.
"What's most difficult for me is dealing with how not to censor myself when it has become such an automatic reaction. I have to sit down and tell myself: `don't do that, don't do that [self-censor],'" she told reporters after the press screening.
Other high-profile Singaporean filmmakers who have adopted more confrontational approaches have suffered accordingly.
Video editor Martyn See is under police investigation for making an unapproved "political" short film, Singapore Rebel about opposition politician Chee Soon Juan.
The film portrays Chee, a marginalized figure in Singapore politics who rarely receives positive coverage in the traditional press and has never been voted into parliament, as a loving family man who is eloquent, well-educated and courageous.
If convicted of violating the Films Act, See could be fined up to 100,000 Singapore dollars (US$61,000) as well as jailed for two years.
Another film maker to have run afoul of the law is Royston Tan, a 20-something director who has won more than 35 international and local awards and was last year named by Time magazine as an Asian Hero for his work.
Royston Tan's 2003 feature film about Singapore's gangland culture, 15, suffered 27 cuts at the hands of the censors over concerns of it being a national security threat.
In response, Royston Tan made a 13-minute film last year that became a cult hit called Cut, which lampooned the government's censorship policies and the head of the censorship board -- but managed to avoid being cut itself.
In 2001, a 15-minute film about long-time opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam, Vision of Persistence, by three lecturers at the local Ngee Ann Polytechnic was also banned because of its political content.
Meanwhile, Tan Pin Pin is continuing to win wide acclaim for Singapore GaGa.
The film, which played to a standing-room only audience at the Singapore International Film Festival in April, will be screened at a local arthouse in July and the Rotterdam International Film Festival the same month.
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