Eileen Poh | poh.eileen@nus.edu.sg
the ridge news
A NUSSU Publication
Sept 26, 2008
Japanese comics laden with sexually explicit content were up for rent at the Comics Corner located at the National University of Singapore’s Co-op@Forum, situated on the premises of the school’s Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.
Shelves filled with comics at the NUS Comic Corner
(Photo Credit: Jason Hau)
Commonly known as ‘manga’, a Japanese term for comics, these books are found to contain nudity graphics depicting women’s breasts, intercourse scenes and sexual positions.
The comics, labeled “unsuitable for aged 18 and below”, are not shrink-wrapped, and free for all to browse at the store.
“I am quite shocked to hear that we can find such books on campus,” said Mandy Tan, a second-year arts student. “Although pornographic materials are easily available on the Internet, I don’t think we should promote such an unhealthy culture openly.”
“Would this not indirectly promote sex?” asked Ong Zheng Wei, a second-year engineering student. “Those pictures might be seen as ‘thought-provoking’ and could intoxicate people with lust.”
“The residential comic stores do rent such books,” said Robbie Yee, a fourth-year communications student. “But, come on, this is a school.”
Pictures from one of the comics with sexual content, Love of a Tyrant
Photo Credit: dmwangyou.com
A check with the comic store found that the previous vendor, AZ Comics, left behind the majority of these controversial comics.
Ms. Joanne Lim, staff of NUS Comics Corner, said, “We did notice the restricted books then and found out from the previous vendor that his rationale for bringing the restricted books into the campus was that all the students here are above 18, and there are always a small group of readers who are into such books.”
“We agreed with his reasoning and have since kept the books in our shop,” said Ms Lim.
Agreeing with Ms Lim’s reasoning is a third-year business student who wanted to be known as Chew.
“Everyone on NUS is definitely above the age of 18,” said Chew. “So logically speaking, there is nothing wrong with keeping the books here.”
Yeo Junjie, a second-year engineering student, agreed with Chew. “We are old enough to make our own decision.”
The controversial comics are less popular among students, with eight borrowers for two of the titles – ‘The Virgin’s Peril’ and ‘Love of a Tyrant’.
An assistant at the NUS Comics Corner, who wanted to be known as Mr. Teo, cited that majority of the borrowers are females, possibly due to the classification of these comics under the “Young Women” category.
When approached by the ridge, NUS Co-op NUS Co-op General Manager Jessie Lee explained that the management has “formed a contract with the vendor that only healthy materials can be promoted.”
“It is therefore the responsibility of the vendor to screen through the comics and make sure that only healthy materials are promoted,” said Ms Lee.
However, a check with the comic store found that the store does not screen through every book.
“Considering the number of comics we have, we can’t possibly screen through every single one of them,” said Mr. Teo. “But we do screen through the first one or two books before we put them on the shelves.”
Mr. Teo added that the store relies mostly on the ratings given by publishing companies to decide if the books should be put up.
Comics allowed in Singapore are generally classified under ’General Release‘ and ’Unsuitable for the Young‘, according to a Content Guidelines for Comics by the Media Development Authority (MDA).
However, the industry is largely self-regulated.
Trained importers are required to sift through the publications and assess their suitability for local distribution based on the guidelines provided by MDA, under the Registered Importers’ Scheme.
NUS Comics Corner has since agreed to remove the books from the shop.
oh come on!? do we really need to regulate this already non-existent sexual content? must we really remove everything sexual? this is so sad… NUS is so sad.
what’s the big deal? besides, it’s not that popular anyway. doesn’t the co-op sell cosmo too? or they used to anyway.
i think some people have to realise that NUS is a school but it’s also a place for young adults. we don’t neeeeeed this kind of sheltering.
*rolls eyes*
Come on, this is a university; not some primary school. Please respect the undergraduates studying in campus and stop assuming that they’re such mindless freaks and as such require baby-sitting.
i can’t believe some people in engineering said ‘intoxicated with lust’!!
i am in engineering too, btw.
but we are not 12 and if we are so easily influenced and “INTOXICATED” by things like that, we might not even be in NUS but lazed around as sex freaks or porn addicts.
i don’t know why we are still treated as kids here. in lectures, they always say ‘you are in university. you are adults. Do EVERYTHING by yourself.. blah blah bla..’
But are we really adults?? if we are really adults and have to deal with our own problems, reading sex comic books or not, should be one of them along with coping our super heavy workload.
Our birth rate is low enough as it is. Thanks for helping to support a Singaporean core value!!!!
What’s the big deal seriously? Big brother say ‘this is unhealthy for you’ and we comply like mindless drones. Typical singaporean behaviour imo. As all above has mentioned, stop treating manga readers like kids. And such manga constitutes only a small portion of all genres of manga combined.
What’s the big fuss? It’s a university, and people make their own choices over what to buy or read.
Stop playing the moral police. It is simply lame.
And that 4th year CNM student mentioned, is simply lacking in cogent rationality lah.
Reminds me of battle vixen manga in public library wooha in USA.
let’s stick with doraemon.
WAIT, there are scenes of nobita sneaking up to shizuka bathroom when she’s bathing!!
BAN!BAN!BAN!BAN!BAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!
[...] **EDIT: It looks like a storm is flaring up. Also, more narrow-mindeness at NUS [...]
I could write so much about this, but it can all simply be summarised in one word: lame.
Mandy Tan and Ong Zheng Wei, seriously? Do you guys really exist or are you some fictional characters? “Intoxicate with lust”? “I don’t think we should promote such an unhealthy culture openly”? Where have you guys been living that such things will incite you to be lustful and go around, I don’t know, flashing other girls or something.
ANYWAY, if this article didn’t get published, or if no one outed the comics, would the larger student population have realised that these mangas existed anyway? I’m sure the eight students who borrowed the two titles have been “intoxicated with lust” and gone around “promoting unhealthy culture”. The whole NUS population is going to pot, because of these two comics, and have turned into sex-crazed fiends.
The students are 18+, not 8. I think many can make decisions for themselves.
sigh…thats singapore for you….full of restrictions and laws…a fine city indeed….and they are stupid enuf to bann mangas but dont even care wad the students are surfing over their server -.-
such actions are futile and a collosal waste of time -.- its not gonna decrease or increase the number of rapists,flashers and molesters in this country -.-
and i so tink Mandy and Zhang Wei are just made up so the whole article dosent seem biased…if there is an 18 yr old out there who hasnt seen porn b4 he or she is either a really devoted religous person,has been locked up in a room with no windows since birth with no tv,pc etc or is not human -.-
I believe that these comic books in Co-op do us no harm. As university students we are expected to be adults and responsible for ourselves, what we consume, what we do, with the expected consequences. It’s totally different story altogether if these things are seen in a primary school co-op.
[...] us the rather nice venue, Imaginary Friends Studio for the great artworks and undying support, Comics Corner from NUS for the faith in us and COMICS CONNECTION for just being awesome people who displayed the lovely [...]
Thank you all for the very interesting comments. Surprisingly, out of the 10 students I spoke to for this story, only the opinions of Chew and Yeo were inline with the above comments posted. I wouldn’t claim that those 10 students are representative of the NUS population, definitely. But it would be interesting to explore the online and offline dynamics of the issue.
Mandy and Zheng Wei’s quotes adopted a more extreme viewpoint as compared to the rest of the six and so I thought it would be interesting to put them in, to show the contrasting views students can have with regards to the issue. So no, they are definitely not made up. Also, close readers would have noted the authorities’ responses when the issue was raised – interestingly they were quick to acknowledge the “wrongness” of the action even though legally, they weren’t wrong to display books tagged suitable for aged 18 and below to a university students who were definitely 18 and above. That to me, rather, was the more interesting bit of the story.
Yes, I do agree that this is a university and we are old enough to be responsible for our actions. But this is not a commentary (it is a news story) and the intent is not to reflect the writer’s point of view. Rather, it is to provide the facts as they are and hope to “thought-provoke” readers which in this case, has already been achieved. I am glad the story has generate so much discussion.
[...] sex comics/manga please for Singapore university Comics with sexual content found at NUS Co-op « nussu the ridge online Comics with sexual content found at NUS (National UNiversity of Singapore) [...]
A late comment but, well, this is interesting. Sure, nudity and all may be wrong, it’s all debatable… but what about the students who come to campus wearing skirts which might as well be large belts? Shall we implement a dress code in school too? After all, suggestive clothing can be as capable as, or even more than, full nudity at causing us to be “intoxicated with lust,” as many guys can tell you.
What! How come no one ever told me that I can find porn in my own school?! Now I can’t rent those comics anymore. :( How else am I supposed to be intoxicated with lust then?? Surfing porn off the internet? Pfft.
But seriously, I hate it when things are censored ‘for our own good’.
Eileen,
As a follow up report, you should also do a piece on
a) Student’s reactions on the closing of the store
b) The proprietor’s reasons behind the closing
c) The administration’s view on the issue; did they order for the shop to close?
d) And what is on everyone’s mind – was The Ridge’s report the catalyst for the demise of our comic corner?
As it is now, you are in fact culpable of putting a personal view on the matter because the selection process of news stories and interviewees is never objective.
If you really wish to “provide the facts”, you should, as a matter of editorial fairness, also consider the general state of manga distribution in Singapore. Are these “offensive” titles also carried in reputable book stores like Kinokuniya? This general context-setting story is missing from the above report.
As such, it is not surprising why many readers view your journalistic integrity to be suspect. Coupled with the fact that The Ridge hasn’t shrugged off its image as a lifestyle/info-mercial fodder, your appeal to the ethos of “objectivity” is really, in the words of raydance, “lame”.