10 Jul 2005

War on Popular Culture



Singapore Rebel is currently having a retrospective look at the relationship between the powers that be and popular culture. Well worth a read...
As part of my own commemoration of Singapore's upcoming 40th birthday, here is a series of historical snapshots from the Straits Times and The Singapore Standard.

Before independence in 1965, Singapore had been granted self-governance by the British.

On June 9, 1959, barely 10 days after being voted into public office, the new PAP administration initiated a clampdown on rock music, jukeboxes, publications, strip tease shows (yes, we used to have that!), films and all popular entertainment that were deemed as "yellow culture" contributing to "the decline in the moral standards of society."

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