Oral and anal sex in private between consenting heterosexual adults would be legalized under a bill introduced in Singapore's parliament on Monday.
Under the city-state's first major penal code amendments in 22 years, a section criminalizing "carnal intercourse against the order of nature" would be repealed.
The bill would also create new offenses to tackle child prostitution and sex tourism.
Singapore has in recent years gradually eased social restrictions that have given it a straight-laced reputation. But while the bill takes a softer line on heterosexual sex, a ban on acts of "gross indecency" between males will remain.
Gay rights activists have said authorities have not laid charges under the section in recent years, even though it remains in force.
Singaporean Second Minister for Information, Communications and the Arts Vivian Balakrishnan said earlier this year that the city-state was undergoing liberalization while retaining a very strong conservative core.
Although prostitution itself is not an offense in Singapore, the bill would make it an offence to obtain commercial sex with a person under 18. Conviction could lead to a prison term of up to seven years, while communicating for such a purpose could bring up to two years in jail, the bill says.
Similar offenses committed abroad would attract the same punishments, it says.
Local media have reported that some Singaporeans travel to the nearby Indonesian island of Batam for sex with teenage girls.
In another new provision, making travel arrangements intended to facilitate under-age commercial sex abroad would bring up to 10 years in prison, the bill says.
The revised penal code, still to be passed into law by parliament, also broadens the scope of an offense against unlawful assembly.
An assembly of five or more people would be illegal if the group's common objective is to commit "any offense," the bill says, broadening the definition from mischief and trespass.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
DENIAL: Musk said that the ‘New York Times was lying their ass off,’ after it reported he used so much drugs that he developed bladder problems Elon Musk on Saturday denied a report that he used ketamine and other drugs extensively last year on the US presidential campaign trail. The New York Times on Friday reported that the billionaire adviser to US President Donald Trump used so much ketamine, a powerful anesthetic, that he developed bladder problems. The newspaper said the world’s richest person also took ecstasy and mushrooms, and traveled with a pill box last year, adding that it was not known whether Musk also took drugs while heading the so-called US Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) after Trump took power in January. In a
RSS