• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

MDA ordered comic book withdrawn from bookstore

by Andrew Loh
16/07/2014
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0

archieThe Media Development Authority (MDA) has confirmed that the comic, Archie: The Married Life” Book Three was withdrawn from bookstores because its content “breached guidelines by depicting same-sex marriage of two characters.”
The MDA told the media that it received a complaint in March about the book and had assessed it. It then decided to ban the book and accordingly advised the local distributor not to import or distribute the comic here.
According to the media, the MDA said its Publications Consultative Panel was consulted before it made the decision to withdraw the comic book.
The MDA said the panel advised it that the theme of the comic was “not in line with social norms” and were thus in breach of content guidelines.
The ban was flagged by comic artist Sonny Liew in his blog on 11 July. When he could not find the book at Kinokuniya, he enquired with the bookstore and was told that the MDA had ordered it removed.
He posted on his blog on 11 July, “At this point it is unknown whether this ban on sales was due to outside pressues (as with the NLB) or if it was a unilateral decision by  the MDA – currently waiting for a reply from them about the mechanisms and processes involved behind restrictions on books, especially ones that do not appear to pose a threat to political stability (compared with, say,  a racially charged tract).”
It is unclear when the MDA had ordered the book to be withdrawn from Kinokuniya.
“Beyond that – what other titles might also have faced sales bans without any wider public awareness?” Mr Liew asked. “How does the MDA discover them and make decisons about them?”
The National Library itself, which also carries copies of the comic, told the press that it “will be reviewing the book in the light of MDA’s decision.”
“It should be noted that Archie. The Married Life was acquired for our adult collection. NLB takes a broader approach for the adult’s collection than it does for its children’s collection,” the NLB said.
On Wednesday, three judges of this year’s Singapore Literature Prize resigned in protest over the National Library Board’s destruction of two children’s books which depicted alternative family structures, which the NLB said was not “pro-family”.
Minister for Communications and Information, Yaacob Ibrahim, supported the NLB’s decision and said the NLB had to “reflect community norms.”

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

Sengkang Town Council is now directly-managed without a Managing Agent
Politics

Sengkang Town Council is now directly-managed without a Managing Agent

01/02/2023
高庭驳回迪哥达索取警方录供的刑事动议
Court Cases

CEO of D1 Racing sues a woman to claim S$3 million for “emotional trauma” suffered from being friend-zoned

01/02/2023
Thai police chief apologises for Taiwanese celebrity’s alleged extortion case by police officers
Thailand

Thai police chief apologises for Taiwanese celebrity’s alleged extortion case by police officers

01/02/2023
Myanmar town pleads for help as thousands flee fighting
Myanmar

SAC-M calls for a step-up on support for Myanmar’s democratic movement

01/02/2023
Tourism arrivals and tourism receipts to remain weak in 2021 despite development of vaccines: STB
Singapore

SG scores 5th as least corrupt country but its ranking dropping – illicit financial flows through SG

01/02/2023
They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation
Labour

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

01/02/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

Sengkang Town Council is now directly-managed without a Managing Agent

Sengkang Town Council is now directly-managed without a Managing Agent

01/02/2023
高庭驳回迪哥达索取警方录供的刑事动议

CEO of D1 Racing sues a woman to claim S$3 million for “emotional trauma” suffered from being friend-zoned

01/02/2023
Thai police chief apologises for Taiwanese celebrity’s alleged extortion case by police officers

Thai police chief apologises for Taiwanese celebrity’s alleged extortion case by police officers

01/02/2023
Myanmar town pleads for help as thousands flee fighting

SAC-M calls for a step-up on support for Myanmar’s democratic movement

01/02/2023
Tourism arrivals and tourism receipts to remain weak in 2021 despite development of vaccines: STB

SG scores 5th as least corrupt country but its ranking dropping – illicit financial flows through SG

01/02/2023
They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

They have done a fine job of confusing us about the jobs situation

01/02/2023
38-year-old Indian mother who has her two kidneys “stolen”, deserted by husband

38-year-old Indian mother who has her two kidneys “stolen”, deserted by husband

01/02/2023
Can we trust the words of prosecutors, police officers, civil servants and their witnesses at face-value?

Can we trust the words of prosecutors, police officers, civil servants and their witnesses at face-value?

01/02/2023

Trending posts

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

Former Singaporean shares change of life in Australia with annual pay of S$80,000 as a plumber

by Yee Loon
30/01/2023
19

...

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
41

...

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

Earning only S$400 a month, delivery-rider turned hawker threw in the towel after two years of running a rojak stall

by Yee Loon
26/01/2023
24

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
68

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
58

...

Ho Ching breaks silence over Temasek’s write down of its US$275 million investment in FTX, says it “can afford to be contrarian”

US regulator questions VCs’ due diligence work prior to investing in FTX; Ho Ching says Temasek can afford to be contrarian

by The Online Citizen
24/01/2023
28

...

July 2014
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Jun   Aug »

The Online Citizen is a regional online publication based in Taiwan and formerly Singapore’s longest-running independent online media platform.

Navigation

  • Editorial
  • Commentaries
  • Opinion
  • Politics
  • Community

Support

  • Contact Us
  • Letter submission
  • Membership subscription

Follow Us

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • YouTube
  • Instagram
  • Fact Checking Policy
  • Privacy Policy

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2022 - 2023 The Online Citizen Asia

wpDiscuz