Crackdown on Sexually Suggestive Radio

A radio station that tested the bounds of Singapore's censorship laws, and lost, has been fined $17,500 after its disc jockeys made sexually suggestive on-air comments about pornography and women's panties. One DJ, Sheikh Haikel, was fired and another was suspended after listeners complained about sexual vulgarity on their "Morning Madness" show on state-controlled MediaCorp Radio.

In one program, a student phoned the DJs asking for advice on how best to approach a girl he liked. Sheikh told the caller "to ask the girl whether she was wearing white panties" and what she looked like under her school uniform. Several listeners complained, prompting an investigation by the Media Development Authority, a state media watchdog which objected to those comments and others it said "encouraged premarital sex and promiscuity."

"There was also an extensive discussion about pornographic movies offered in hotels with the DJ stating that he thinks about porn 'every time'," the Media Development Authority (MDA) said in a statement released to Reuters Thursday. Authorities also investigated another program where the DJ "mimicked a pimp trying to solicit a client, using sexually suggestive words on air," it said.

Tightly controlled Singapore has been slowly easing rules on censorship as a more affluent, well traveled and better educated population press for more freedoms. A 22-year ban on "Cosmopolitan" a U.S. women's magazine barred in 1982 after the government said it promoted promiscuity would be lifted this month, as long as it did not promote exploitative sex or display nudity, the MDA said on Thursday. The MDA said the radio shows had breached Singapore's Radio Program Code which says broadcasters should observe standards of good taste and decency.

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