Taiwanese singer Jolin Tsai (蔡依林) said she thinks it is a pity that Singapore has banned her same-sex marriage-themed new single and music video, We’re All Different, Yet the Same, her agent said on Tuesday.
Tsai is expressing her support for marriage equality through her music, the agent said.
Although it is a pity that the song featuring same-sex marriage has been banned in the city state, Tsai respects “different views,” the agent said.
In the video, Tsai and Taiwanese actress Ruby Lin (林心如) lock lips in a wedding setting.
The Singaporean Media Development Authority (MDA) told the BBC on Monday that after discussion, it reached a decision to ban the song.
The MDA has advised local broadcasters not to air the song and music video on channels that are freely accessed by younger viewers, due to its mature content.
Paerin Choa (蔡豪龍), spokesman for Singaporean pro-gay group Pink Dot, said it was regrettable that the MDA had reached such a decision.
This kind of censorship bans even “positive scenes” depicting the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) community and emphasizes negative stereotypes of the community, Choa added.
It is not the first time a Taiwanese singer’s work has been banned in Singapore for homosexual content.
In June last year, Taiwanese singer Chang Hui-mei (張惠妹), also known as A-mei (阿妹), was told not to perform Rainbow — a song that suggests same-sex love — during a music festival in the Southeast Asian country.
The reason she was given for the ban was that the local authorities could not make sure no teenagers would attend the festival, which was a public event, and so songs with adult content should not be sung.
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