Over 10 local artists have come together in a video that encourages Singaporeans to reject the Media Development Authority's (MDA) proposed Arts Term Licensing Scheme.
Under the scheme, production groups across genres like dance, music, theatre and the visual arts will be divided into two tiers of supposed self-classification.
Tier 1 groups may self-classify performances that fall within the "General" rating, while tier 2 groups may self-classify performances up to the "Restricted 18" rating, but only through assessors trained by and registered with MDA.
Produced by the Arts Engage network, the video made up of significant members of the local scene like Wild Rice's Ivan Heng, The Substation's Effendy Ibrahim, artistic director Santha Bhaskar and choreographer Goh Lay Kuan, addresses the issues brought up by the scheme. "It's like they're training someone from within the group to be the policeman," says Effendy in the video, supported by Heng: "a policeman who makes sure artists follow a guideline set by them and artists can't have any say in it."
Actress Karen Tan also brings up, "when the arts groups are found guilty of misclassifying their work, they will be fined up to $5,000. Like criminals."
Find out what are the other reasons they've rejected MDA's proposed new scheme in the video:
Over 10 local artists have come together in a video that encourages Singaporeans to reject the Media Development Authority's (MDA) proposed Arts Term Licensing Scheme.
Under the scheme, production groups across genres like dance, music, theatre and the visual arts will be divided into two tiers of supposed self-classification.
Tier 1 groups may self-classify performances that fall within the "General" rating, while tier 2 groups may self-classify performances up to the "Restricted 18" rating, but only through assessors trained by and registered with MDA.
Produced by the Arts Engage network, the video made up of significant members of the local scene like Wild Rice's Ivan Heng, The Substation's Effendy Ibrahim, artistic director Santha Bhaskar and choreographer Goh Lay Kuan, addresses the issues brought up by the scheme. "It's like they're training someone from within the group to be the policeman," says Effendy in the video, supported by Heng: "a policeman who makes sure artists follow a guideline set by them and artists can't have any say in it."
Actress Karen Tan also brings up, "when the arts groups are found guilty of misclassifying their work, they will be fined up to $5,000. Like criminals."
Find out what are the other reasons they've rejected MDA's proposed new scheme in the video: