Animal sex and nude photography will soon be on Singapore news stands when self-proclaimed love guru Wei Siang Yu launches what he calls the conservative city-state's first "adult edutainment" magazine.
Wei, nicknamed "Dr Love," says 10,000 copies of Love Airways magazine will be in circulation the week of Oct. 22.
"It's about time," the Australian-educated medical doctor said.
PHOTO: AFP
He said the 100-page monthly will offer "sex-centric content" including reviews of overseas love hotels, nude photography, medical science, nutrition and the "sexual habits of other animal species."
The target audience is men and women aged 18 to 80 "who are ready for sexual transformation and better awareness of sexual and reproductive health," he said.
Wei has previously said that stress over the pursuit of material success has ruined the sex lives of many Singaporeans.
"Love Airways magazine hopes to promote a non-judgemental approach in communicating sexual wellness issues openly and objectively," he said.
The retail price of S$4.50 (US$2.83) will support groups involved in AIDS awareness and conservation of endangered animals, he said.
The magazine will feature "body" images, Wei said when asked about the plan for nudity in a country where Playboy magazine is not allowed to circulate.
"It is fairly artistic but it is still `body,'" Wei said of his proposed content.
He said he has already shown most of the magazine to the country's Media Development Authority, responsible for the censor board.
The city-state has been gradually relaxing some of its social strictures. Last year scantily clad dancers began performing at the Crazy Horse Paris cabaret. Bikini models feature in some magazines on public display, and bar-top dancing is now permitted.
Wei will act as chief editor of the magazine, part of the "multi-media Love Airways platform" which includes a Web site.
Last year the Love Airways television show, Singapore's first television program dedicated to sexual matters, was aired by national broadcaster MediaCorp.
Wei has developed a burgeoning business offering advice to Singaporean and foreign couples finding it difficult to have babies.
Singapore is trying hard to dispel its conservative and strict social image and is positioning itself as an Asian arts, entertainment and media hub.
It is also desperate to boost its population.
Deputy Prime Minister Wong Kan Seng (黃根成) said in August that the number of babies born per woman in Singapore fell to a historic low of 1.24 in 2004 and last year.
Singapore needs a fertility rate of 2.1, or at least two children per woman, for the population to replenish itself.
Wong said this meant Singapore needed 60,000 births a year -- a long way from the 35,500 babies born last year.
In August the government said it planned to ease immigration rules in an effort to offset the population shortage, which officials have warned could threaten the country's long-term survival.
In conjunction with the magazine, Wei has launched "Dr Love's Playroom" equipped with a love swing, costumes, and free chocolate to give uptight Singaporean couples an outlet for sexual role-playing.
"There's no channel for people to vent their libido," he said.
Wei said he has attracted about 30 contributors and signed "less than 100" subscribers for the magazine that will be distributed by local publishing giant Singapore Press Holdings.
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese
RIVER TRAGEDY: Local fishers and residents helped rescue people after the vessel capsized, while motorbike taxis evacuated some of the injured At least 58 people going to a funeral died after their overloaded river boat capsized in the Central African Republic’s (CAR) capital, Bangui, the head of civil protection said on Saturday. “We were able to extract 58 lifeless bodies,” Thomas Djimasse told Radio Guira. “We don’t know the total number of people who are underwater. According to witnesses and videos on social media, the wooden boat was carrying more than 300 people — some standing and others perched on wooden structures — when it sank on the Mpoko River on Friday. The vessel was heading to the funeral of a village chief in