Lift Your Skirt, Save Your Life ad goes against Asian values

Posted on May 8, 2013 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Ad catches the eye and raises a few eyebrows’, 8 May 2013, article by Debbie Lee, Eugene Chua and Joanne Lee, ST and 10 May 2013, ‘Cancer ad goes against Asian values’, ST Forum

“LIFT your skirt, save your life,” urges a new advertisement by the Singapore Cancer Society to promote awareness of preventive measures for cervical cancer. But the campaign appears to have raised eyebrows instead.

Public reaction to its posters, depicting celebrities in white dresses catching a rush of air from the ground, have varied from “catchy” to “obscene”…It features celebrities MediaCorp Radio 987FM DJ Rosalyn Lee, model and TV host Linda Black and 93.3FM DJ Siau Jiahui.

The campaign aims to encourage women to go for Pap smear screenings being provided for free by 178 clinics this month. However, more than 60 per cent of the 80 people polled by The Straits Times said the advertisement was not effective in delivering its message.

Respondents commonly mistook it for fashion or slimming advertisements….A quarter of the respondents felt the advertisement was offensive. “Most people are saying, ‘Oh, it uses sexual undertones to get attention, it’s effective.’ But just because it gets people talking doesn’t mean it sends the right message,” said Miss Yvonne Jin, a 21-year-old student.

The Association of Women for Action and Research agreed. Its executive director, Ms Corinna Lim, said: “It is a sad reflection on society that good causes also have to resort to sex to promote their message.”

(Dr V Subramaniam):…We have long cherished and promoted the age-old values of decorum, decency, good morals, respect for tradition and other attributes that go with our rich Asian culture. These values provide us with the cultural ballast against the influx of unhealthy foreign cultural trends and behaviour.

The ad to promote awareness of preventive measures for cervical cancer, which comes with the tagline, “Lift your skirt. Save your life”, is not in keeping with our Asian morals and is degrading to women. Left to the imagination, the crude insinuations can easily corrupt the morals of our young.

Otherwise you’ll get more than just a 7 year itch

Cervical cancer is no joke of course, as ambassador DJ Ross Lee would attest, having had a near brush with the dreaded disease herself. But you don’t need a controversial headline to grab the attention of Singaporean women. One four letter word starting with the letter F would do the trick: FREE, and that magical word that possesses Singaporeans into queuing long hours for stuff they don’t need is restrained here by small caps and boring font. Hell, you may even get a MAN to queue for cervical screening if you market your freebie a little TOO well. Maybe SCC should try the same tactic for prostate screening. I doubt anyone would complain of such an ad as obscene, sexist or defiling ‘Asian values‘, though some may accuse it of causing nightmares, loss of appetite and general distress.

manpants

It’s always tempting to employ ‘sexual undertones’ when you’re talking about cancers of intimate body parts. In 2010, another local cancer foundation used nude models to encourage women to, well, keep ABREAST of cancer prevention, painted NIPPLES and all. Just like those crying foul about this PAP smear campaign giving upskirt perverts ideas on the escalator, some dismissed body painting as crass objectification of women everywhere.

A very cheeky ad

Take away the provocative images though, and what you’re left with are awful puns like ‘Treasure the BREAST things in life’ in 2011, the kind of tagline that would only draw the attention and non-stop giggles of females with their breasts still under development. Unlike boobs, there’s very limited wordplay when it comes to organs around the pelvis without offending someone, especially when words like ‘penis’ and ‘vagina’ are still avoided by the media till this day. Even saying things like ‘Hey ladies, come spread your legs!’ can be as insulting as an orgy invitation.

You can’t make visual puns of erogenous zones without coming across as downright vulgar, like the ‘Unfurgivable‘ ad by the Ministry of Wax, which got some all fired up over a purse resembling female genitalia. Still, cervical cancer is the ONLY preventable cancer in women to date, which means delivering a necessary message and making it stick may be more important than what the good folks at AWARE think. All it takes is one person to notice the ad, ‘lift her skirt’ and get saved from disaster for the campaign to work. I don’t see how ‘skirt-lifting’ is a problem for AWARE considering they endorse anti-rape campaigns called SlutWalks. It’s also better to benefit from a lewd ad that is a ‘sad reflection of society’ and be ALIVE, than get your knickers in a twist and dead.

About these ads

Filed under: 2000s, 2012, 2013, Advertisements, Campaigns/Elections, Nudity, Sex, Singaporean women | Tagged: , , , , , , | 2 Comments »

Singaporeans will never give Gaw Yu Han a car

Posted on September 29, 2012 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Excuse me, can you buy me a sports car?’, 29 Sept 2012, article by Goh Shi Ting, ST

CALL him shameless or naive but a 20-year-old has sent more than 300 letters to the richest residents in Sentosa Cove asking for a “sports car sponsorship”. And as incredible as it may sound, he said 10 have responded to him within a week – though none has granted him his wish.

In a brief letter sent last Thursday, Mr Gaw Yu Han introduced himself, giving his name and age, before stating his purpose which was “the hope of finding a sponsor”. He said he likes cars and listed as his favourites Audi R8 Coupe, Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and Honda CR-Z.

“May I have the courage to ask for a car as a gift from you?” he wrote. Owners of a Sentosa Cove property, he added, “must be a person of great success” and “it will be nice to know and perhaps learn from you”.

…”But I don’t like to ask my parents for money. I’d rather get a sponsorship,” said Mr Gaw, who has lived here for 13 years…”Anyway, I spent only five cents on a letter. And even if nobody offers a car, I can still make friends. It is important to network and have connections,” he said. “I don’t expect to give anything in return. What I can offer is casual friendship.”

So far, 10 Sentosa Cove residents, all Singaporeans, have contacted him, he claimed.

But they were more interested in finding out why he is doing this than buying him his dream car. One of them, a property developer known as Victor who owns two properties at Sentosa Cove, even arranged to meet him during the F1 race last Sunday and they chatted for 30 minutes, he told The Straits Times. Victor had asked about his background and even requested to see his identity card – but no promises were made.

“I could tell that he was not interested,” said Mr Gaw, who got his F1 ticket from an uncle.

“Singaporeans will never give me a car,” he said.

You’d probably have to forgive a 20 year old for trying to get something for nothing. After all, if Gaw could get a free F1 ticket, he may think that asking for a supercar is the next logical step. ‘Sponsorship’ doesn’t come cheap all the time. Gaw made no effort to justify why he’s entitled to a car, and without some sob story as a backdrop to emotionally manipulate the folks at Sentosa Cove, I don’t think his request would be entertained without the giver expecting something in return, something more than just ‘casual friendship’. I can only think of a few reasons why a lonely rich man would check the I/C of a 20 year old kid, in view of a number of rich people landing themselves in jail over underage sex. I don’t think the wealthy would want to associate themselves with LOSERS who go around begging people for stuff anyway. While I do agree that Singaporeans will NEVER give an able-bodied boy a car even if it were spare change to them, I doubt any self-respecting foreign billionaire would too. These people are rich, not STUPID. Gaw’s bid for a free car is as useful as sending letters to Santa’s elves in the North Pole, or wishing upon a falling star.

So how do you go about asking for a sponsorship and be successful without selling your kidney or your virginity? First, you have to be a popular female blogger with a flat chest. Qiu Qiu eventually got her wish for bigger cups fulfilled, though she later went back to normal ‘size’ and seems quite delighted with her ‘deflated’ self now. Or you could be a female blogger requesting for plastic surgery to boost your confidence like Peggy Heng.  But it’s all not just pretty girls with blogs that win the hearts and sympathy of the generous. Popular food blogger Bradley Lau (Lady Iron Chef) gets to dine at fancy restaurants for free too. Donors in these cases are rewarded with the gratification of their ‘sponsorship’ gone into fruition, whether it’s deeper cleavage, a prettier face, or a good word in a review. Anyone handing Gaw a powerful car risks being labelled the one responsible if he drives recklessly and kills people, himself included, in the process.

Gaw does not have the minimum reputation of a blogger, nor has he even made the effort to pitch a tragic life story of poverty and childhood abuse. You’re not going to achieve anything in life by just sending letters to rich people and hope for the best. And Sentosa Cove residents will not achieve anything in return by doing this guy a favour as insane as giving Osama Bin Laden a grenade launcher for his birthday. It’s an insult to the handicapped busking in underpasses, or anyone desperate for money with at least an ounce of TALENT to show for. So here’s some advice, Gaw: Start a blog, gain at least 1000 followers, spin some stories about being abused and bullied as a kid, that all your life you NEVER got a single birthday or Christmas present, or never even stepped into a car showroom, not to mention IKEA. And then maybe someone from Sentosa Cove, someone without the assumption that you’re soliciting something beyond casual friendship, someone perhaps just as NAIVE as you, someone who thinks handing a fast car to a mere kid is a good idea, may actually give a damn about your pathetic plea.

Filed under: 2000s, 2012, Bloggers, Local food, Money | Tagged: , , , | Leave a Comment »

Children learn about nipples in kindergarten

Posted on July 18, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Parent outraged by the word ‘Nipples”, 17 July 2011, article in insing.com translated from SM Daily.

A parent is complaining that her child in kindergarten 1 is learning the word “Nipples”.

The parent found this word in her child’s practice book as an example of words starting with the letter “N”.

The parent confronted the principal of the kindergarten about this. The principal replied that there is no issue with children learning the word. In fact, the principal feels that children should be learning the names of their body parts without prejudice, including words like “Penis” and “Vagina”.

The parent, on the other hand, feels that examples under the letter “N” could have easily been substituted with “harmless” words like “Neck”or “Nose”.

I wonder what euphemism such parents use whenever their kids ask what nipples are, because I can’t think of any reliable substitute without invoking the breasts, or cows’ udders. ‘Penis’ and ‘vagina’ have cute replacements, like ”wee-wee’, pee-pee’, or the nullifying ‘private parts’. The nipple, however, always comes in a package, it’s prominence dependent on the euphemism used to describe a woman’s breasts. Men who say ‘boobs’ really mean cleavage, while those who mention ‘tits’, like the sound suggests, are also focussing partially on nipples. To put it crudely, men describe porn stars as having a great pair of ‘tits’ but swimsuit models or celebrities as having nice ‘boobs’, though that doesn’t necessarily make one more polite than the other.

But back to nipples. Nobody calls these anything other than nipples, whether it’s erotic novels or pornography. Every other thrashing body part can be swathed in metaphor or a dirty word, but the nipple remains stubbornly clinical.  Other than perhaps ‘mouth’, no other body part in erotic literature is addressed with the respect and scientific accuracy like the elegant nipple.  There’s simply no other word that comes close to the perky sensuousness about the triple consonants ‘ppl’. It’s also the easiest to pronounce amongst all known erogenous zones (think thighs, anus, vagina, testicles). Even greats like D H Lawrence couldn’t bear to be creative with nipples. One could describe an orgasm easily in a 100 words, but struggle to write two lines about nipples.

According to the Online Ethymology Dictionary, ‘nipple’ is derived from ‘neble’, or ‘a small projection’ (1530), while ‘penis’ and ‘vagina’ emerged later in the 1670s. i.e Nipple is an older word than either penis or vagina, which doesn’t surprise me because it’s probably the first thing everybody notices other than your mother’s face as a baby. On the contrary, it’s impossible without a mirror to view our own nape or neck, nor our nose without squinting, and it’s likely that the only body parts beginning with the letter ‘N’ that any child will first notice are their own nipples, and yet here we have parents disapproving of the N-word, parents who probably feel the same way about ‘Chest’ or ‘Buttocks’, maybe even ‘Lips’, or any body part that has some function in foreplay or, in this case, lactation, ironically the essence of motherhood. Still, I’m dying to know what these parents use as a ‘nipple’ replacement. ‘Fleshy protrusions’ would be quite a mouthful for any kindergartener. More nipple fuss here.

Filed under: 2011, Foul language, Kids, Nudity, Parenting, Sex, Teachers | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

The Girl with the Nipple Piercing

Posted on June 15, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Movie poster too raunchy’, 15 June 2011, article by Boon Chan in ST Life!

The teaser poster for the dark Hollywood trailer The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, which shows a topless actress with nipple piercing, has turned out to be too much of a tease…The Media Development Authority has asked that the poster be taken down as it has breached MDA’s film advertisement guidelines.

…The film ‘s release date is strategically emblazoned across her (Rooney Mara’s) chest but you can still make out her breasts. She is embraced from behind by actor Daniel Craig.

…(Ms Jinny Tan, lawyer): I think it’s a bit explicit for the general public because there’s a bit of nudity, although the important places are covered. I think it’s a bit too much flesh.

The Authority Who Kicked A Fuss

Obviously this Jinny Tan, mother of 2, hasn’t been out much. Too much flesh? Has she seen topless lingerie ads at bus stops? Or full bodied bloody nudity suggestive of menage a trios on magazine covers? Thanks to MDA bringing this controversy to light, the downloads of the unedited poster will hit all time data transfer highs from Singapore IP addresses.  This wouldn’t have been an issue if you weren’t able to tell if the actress had her nipple pierced, so it’s not so much the suggestion of a nipple behind the ‘strategically emblazoned’ date, since our ads play peek-a-boo all the time, but that it’s a mutilated one, a concept which still strikes a raw nerve in some Singaporeans.  Or perhaps the accessory does to horny adolescents what ‘X’ does for pirates hunting for buried treasure, saying ‘Nipple HERE!’. A little self-censoring innovation by cinema operators could have saved this from the sleaze can, like sticking a rating to be advised label over the offending region, or putting soon- to-be-obsolete liquid paper to good use, though that would be breaching artistic licence since the font design is supposed to be, you know, smudgy and gritty and stuff.

Daniel Craig isn’t even molesting the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, unlike the very different scenario depicted in Janet Jackson’s banned album cover art below. What’s interesting to me is how topless women with a male hand draped around their chest ALWAYS never smile, I mean even for erotic wedding shots; The naked bride never ever looks like she enjoys the warm cradle of her groom’s arm (See Melody Chen and Randall Tan’s wedding shot below, in total bliss obviously). If the flesh police want to be consistent in their enforcement of decency why aren’t they storming wedding banquets to pull such copious filth off the pedestals? Children attend weddings too, you know.

The Girl with the Finger Bikini

Say Squeeze..I mean Cheese

Filed under: 2011, Advertisements, Art, Bureaucrats, Censors, Film, Local actors, Marriage, Nudity, Sex, Weddings | Tagged: , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Women slowly unzipping their tops in bra ad

Posted on March 29, 2011 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Was bra ad appropriate?’, 29 March 2011, Voices, Today

(Tan Chor Hoon): At 10.45 on a weeknight, as I was tuned in to a Mandarin current affairs programme, Focus, on Channel 8, I was appalled to see an explicit advertisement for a maximizer bra of a renowned lingerie brand.

The approximately one-minute commercial featured shots of women slowly unzipping their tops and close-ups of cleavage.

I wonder, firstly, if it satisfies the Media Development Authority’s (MDA) criteria of appropriate advertising and, secondly, if MediaCorp has any internal benchmark for corporate social conscience in terms of declining advertisements unsuitable for a free channel popular among family viewers.

I ask the MDA to comment on whether such a commercial was suitably aired and how it ensures that advertisers do not cross the line.

I also hope MediaCorp will comment on how such an advertisement made its way to a programme aired at a family viewing hour and whether it imposes any controls over the nature of advertisements it accepts.

I haven’t caught the ad on TV myself, but it’s highly likely to be the ‘Sexy Cushion’ one above, judging from the complainant’s description of in-your-face boobies and some hot, slow and sexy unzipping action, which to my dismay turned out to be nothing at all like a striptease or an invitation to foreplay. Instead,  this  unzipping business is in fact a calculated ploy by women to swivel men’s heads and have them collide into each other using the oldest trick in the book of seduction: lifting and flashing cleavage. And all it takes is a fraction of the time needed for putting on make-up, checking their hair, spraying their Rexonas, or adjusting the length of their skirts. The ad, of course, naturally skips the rest of the less immediate ‘looking good’ bits, and transforms the otherwise sleazy act of unzipping your top into something akin to rubbing a magic genie out of Aladdin’s lamp.

Unlike the usual ads where the models are almost naked to begin with, this one boasts of a rather refreshing twist; a hint of a narrative. And the women have their skirts on (for most parts).  But Ms Tan here isn’t complaining about sexism or how the ad teaches women to flash their way up the corporate ladder. Her concern is that the suggestive,  explicit imagery of women engaging in some covert peekaboo and having their assets zoomed to eye-popping dimensions incurs a dent on television’s ‘corporate social conscience’, despite the fact that children are mostly asleep by 10.45 on a weeknight, if not playing with boobie apps on their iPhones or even surfing porn as a reward for homework completed. Similar sentiments about yet another naughty Triumph bus stop ad here.

 

Filed under: 2011, Advertisements, Local TV shows, Nudity, Sex | Tagged: , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Wobble boobs on iPhone

Posted on October 1, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘家长投诉：iPhone情色软件任下载’ 1 Oct 2010, article in omy.sg (Sin Ming Daily)

家庭主妇陈女士昨天致电《新明日报》说，她日前浏览iphone所提供的免费程序时，赫然发现里面有不少免费软件和性爱有关。

这包括3D立体做爱姿势游戏、性爱大全，还有“亚洲乳房”、“豪乳”和“大学生乳房”，让人摇动手机，就能看到女郎乳房摇晃。

陈女士说，虽然程序被下载之前，会发出只限17岁以上人士的提醒，但要过关也是易如反掌。她说：“如今不少青少年都拥有iphone。我的14岁儿子就有一架，我担心他会在好奇心的驱使下，下载这些色情程序。”

iPhone apps killed the porn video star

Translation: A mother complains about her 14 year old son downloading porno iPhone apps, whch include 3D Kamasutra apps, and numerous boobie apps where one can make boobs wobble just by shaking the iphone.

Silly mum, probably persuaded to get the iPhone for her kid because he told her he needs a handy organiser to download his school timetable, or so that he won’t get lost when he goes boyscout camping, or so that he can send coordinates of his whereabouts via Facebook or Twitter. Well, perks of technology aside, you can’t keep out porn no matter how many filters you install on your OS. No one can stop you for downloading lewd stuff, but you do it at your own risk, knowing jolly well that unlike the security of saving your favourite bookmarks and vids in ‘sub-to-the-power-of-n ‘ folders on your home desktop, having portable porn at the flick of a wrist on your iPhone is like walking around a fertilizer factory with a lighter in your pocket. Perhaps Phillip Yeo was right when he stated bluntly that the iPhone is for dummies, for it seems that for every second that people spend using the calculator, currency converter, or God forbid, read the latest news in the world today, at least 10 seconds are wasted on apps that exploit the tactile, empowering, God-like  telekinetic concept of making things of all imaginable dimensions (from boobs to angry birds to clouds) move just by twitching their fingers. With such easy access to porn, why would heartland kids need to pay money and sneak into R21 movies, when they can shake to their heart’s content in toilet cubicles after school?

Filed under: 2010, Fun and games, iPhone apps, Nudity, Sex | Tagged: , , , , | 2 Comments »

Show cleavage, get ang pow

Posted on September 4, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘Let’s have stricter rules for getai shows’, 4 Sept 2010, Speakup, The New Paper

(Maria Veronica Tymosiewicz): I WAS filled with shock and disgust when I read the article, ‘Getai singer offers her cleavage for hongbao’(The New Paper, Sept 1).

It was extremely unpleasant to learn that such lewd acts are present in Singapore’s getai scene.

It is awful that performers go to such extremes, including Taiwanese performer Lin Kai Li. To think she straddled a male performer, removed her top and revealed her bra during the performance.

I understand that getai is part of Chinese culture, but such indecent acts are inappropriate.

Uncle in Seventh Heaven

That's one Hell of a ride

Strange how raunchy acts at getais can get off scot-free while open air art events where artists engage audiences in intellectual discourses are slapped bans and shuffled into indoor premises with NC16 ratings.  Should anyone really interfere with performances that are part of the netherworldly appeasement package? Perhaps the reason why the ghosts haven’t yet unleashed wave after wave of plague and calamity on us is because the gaudy, cantankerous sleaziness is keeping their hands in their pants. Better safe than sorry then, a flash of immodesty is a small price to pay in exchange for the catastrophic penalties of underworld discontent. And if you can’t take the heat, Maria, I suggest you stay at home, pull the shutters and equip your family with talismans to ward off any supernatural retaliation for complaining about ceremonial getai cleavage. Trying to regulate the getai industry is like licensing mediums and ‘ghostbuster’ exorcists, and anyone even attempting to come in the way of our spooky brethren with a clipboard and a licence permit will have to do better than just brandishing a crucifix and holy water. Meanwhile, be wary. Be very wary of relatives who recycle ang pows the next Chinese new year. You never know where it’s been.

Filed under: 2010, Festivals, Fun and games, Nudity, Sex, Superstitions | Tagged: , , , , , , , , | Leave a Comment »

Shoku-boob-su

Posted on August 6, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘礼品店卖乳房造型皂液器　女郎投诉被羞辱’ 6 Aug 2010, article in omy.sg (LHZB)

裕廊一名女郎，昨天到裕廊坊购物中心一家礼品店闲逛，摆在架上的一件叫价19元9角的乳房造型商品，叫她看了感觉浑身不自。

..她说，乳房造型的商品，是一件皂液器（Soap Dispenser)。她对于皂液器的造型，很有意见。

“什么造型不好设计，偏偏要拿女人的胸部来搞笑？你可以想象，装进皂液之后，把这东西挂在墙上，要肥皂时就猛按它的画面…，感觉很怪、很猥亵。这东西看了让我觉得很不舒服。”

Translation: Boobie soap dispenser spotted as a novelty gift shop in Jurong, raising the ire of a lady complainant who finds it discomfiting knowing that these things are mounted on a wall and violently squeezed to dispense soap. Jurong, really?

Bath time is fun time

This is exactly why sex shops should never open in the heartlands, where the town folk probably haven’t heard of toy schlongs, furry handcuffs or kinky uniforms. As unlikely as anyone would want to buy this, clearly it’s intended for installation in bachelor pad showers belonging to men of quite campy tastes.  The only concern, of course, is when it’s used for an entirely different purpose with a different sort of liquid stored within i.e men with a lactation/regression-to-nursing-infant fetish. Otherwise it looks like a pretty inefficient delivery system compared to the traditional soap pump mechanisms. One can imagine this complainant grimacing at the thought of smelly men squeezing the life out of these babies when they’re bathing, just like how other people balk at the sight of people sucking on dildo-shaped lollipops. Oh, grow up already.  By complaining you’re only boosting the awareness and sale of such tit-kitsch and doing the heartland naughty-toys industry an unlikely, if not ironic, favour

Filed under: 2010, Fun and games, Sex | Tagged: , | Leave a Comment »

Sarong panty girls

Posted on June 8, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘年轻女郎越穿越大胆　穿透明沙龙上夜店’ 8 June 2010, article in omy.sg

…现在的年轻女子到夜店消遣时所穿的衣着越来越“无拘无束”…在热门的夜店看到一些妙龄女郎，只用一条扎头发的丝巾来当“裙 子”穿，然后再穿一件几乎是透明的连体泳衣。

她们在暴露部分胴体的同时，身体的其他部位就像被类似急救时用的包扎绷带“扎”得紧紧的。

…不少迪斯科已经变成女郎们炫耀双峰及展示乳头的场所。

一些受访的男公众也认为，这些敢敢穿的惹火尤物在穿着方面，比一些出卖肉体的夜生活女郎还要大胆，加上撩人的姿态，往往看得他们心跳加速。

Translation: A Wanbao reader has been observing that girls at nightspots are wearing lesser and lesser these days, with one found to be wearing a headscarf or sarong for a dress, and a transparent swimsuit on top of it. Many female clubbers  have the tendency of exposing their breasts in full view . Some interviewed men even think they dress bolder than prostitutes.

Of course it’s rather strange that it would be men of all people to complain about sexy dressing or lack of for the matter. For most men, the only instance of complaining about a bare back or exposed nipples on another woman would be to their girlfriends or spouses, in mock  revulsion when it’s actually a convenient excuse to gawk secretly. It’s kinda like tucking into a bucket of KFC while bemoaning the unethical practices of chicken coop production. They’re really just short of blaming provocative attire for turning them into rapists, an argument of course, as old as the first exposed neckline on Vanity Fair.

Sarongs, in the form of the non-transparent and thigh-covering kebaya, have irked some for their lack of functionality, especially when worn by SIA stewardesses, as can be seen from this ST letter ‘Sarong Kebaya and Air Safety’ 10 Aug 1968. 1968! The SIA uniform is freakin more than 40 years old!

Unfounded concerns nonetheless, considering that the ‘restrictive dress’ is not what modern passengers are worried about these days, rather SIA stewardesses’ command of the English language. The intention of the ‘flowing encumbrances’, naturally, is to give our Singapore Girls a geisha-like tiny-feet-shuffle while serving you your coffee or tea, and looking at our airline safety track record, one can say the hypothesis of hampering of life-saving manoeuvres by the uniform remains to be tested till this day. Shorten it for functionality though, and you’ll have an infinite regress of people complaining that it’s ‘too short’ or ‘too sexy’. Which indeed has happened, but that’s for another blog post altogether.

Filed under: 1960s, 2010, Dress sense, Nightspots, Nudity, Singapore Airlines, Singaporean women | Tagged: , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

Joanne Peh flashing

Posted on April 30, 2010 by gdy2shoez

From ‘A fine line divides flashy from trashy’ 28 April 2010, article by Pamela Chow, My Paper

Watching the MediaCorp Star Awards on television on Sunday, my family spent five minutes gawking at artiste Joanne Peh’s dress. Or, rather, the lack of it.

“What is she wearing?” exclaimed my horrified mother.

“Her boobs are popping out from the sides! The gown is so ugly. How could she agree to wear something so revealing?”

I had to agree. Peh’s cut-out gown was bringing her “girls” dangerously close to flasher territory.

Nothing more than upside-down cleavage to me.

Her milkshake brings the boys to the yard

And if the Star Awards atrocity is a few scraps shy of full frontal nudity, I wonder why nobody complained about Joanne in bikini, which surely, reveals more boob value for money. I suppose it’s a matter of decorum then, though for many a peeking sphere or the occasional bare back are probably the only reasons why anyone still bothers with the Star Awards.

More cleavage, less noise

In fact,more eyebrows were raised during Joanne and her cleavage’s guest appearance in a cooking show, prompting Lianhe Zaobao netizens to comment in an article (15 March 2009, Divaasia.com) that “This is a cooking show, not some swimsuit pageant for her to show off her figure”. Like who honestly trusts celebrities’ recipes, seriously. But that’s besides the point.

If you can't stand the heat, get out of the kitchen

Ms Peh is free to flaunt her assets whenever, wherever she wants, even if she’s shooting in a children’s cancer ward or Cambodian makeshift elementary school. Maybe the unfounded reaction is due to Joanne’s reputation for being a good girl-next-door. If you have a sexbomb or bimbo pulling off such stunts no one would bat an eyelid. Poor Joanne, at the rate of people nitpicking at every piece of flesh she exposes, she’ll have to don a burqa for her next public appearance.  More irrational fear of cleavage here.

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Filed under: 2000s, 2010, Dress sense, Local actors, Local TV shows, Nudity | Tagged: , , , , , , , | 1 Comment »

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