My take on sexy books

(Get it? Not "I'm bringing sexy back", but... ... nevermind)

I took this some time back in Borders:


My phone camera is not the best in the world, so unfortunately I can't remember nor make out what it says on those green stickers. But I do remember being shocked that all the sex books were completely shrink-wrapped and had warnings on them.

So funny. It's like they're wrapping the books in condoms. MUST KEEP ALL THE BAD STUFF IN!

The other books in Borders are all unwrapped and thoroughly fingered and rifled through. (Yes, they're all sluts.)

My point is, why? These are actual, proper sex books (by "proper" I mean more words than pictures). If it's porn, ok - I understand if you wanna wrap it up, black it out, cover it in gold foil and put it on the top shelf (where only the young kids who happen to have hyperthyroidism will be tall enough to reach it). But these are really just like any other books devoted to a subject.

I know people will say - Oh, the Singaporean public is very conservative. Oh, they are not ready... etc etc.

Fine - maybe that boils down to that generation gap between the people making the policies, and the people who will change the policy one day but who are currently more busy making good use of university dorm rooms, and Hotel 81s (Hotels 81???), and perhaps even their handphone video cameras and internet connections for... oh, sorry I cannot say... you are not ready yet lah, paiseh.

That covers the premarital sex part. But what's up with all the morality from parents?

How disgustingly hypocritical is it when they protest to condom ads on MRT trains and ovulation test kit ads at bus stops, with the familiar cry of "what values are we trying to teach our children?!"

Tell me again what was that thing you did before that kid of yours was conceived?

Also, if you're going to shrinkwrap sexy books, why don't you shrinkwrap Her World and FHM and all those magazines too? (I don't know for a fact that Borders doesn't do this... I'm just being antagonistic.)

Jesus...

I was walking towards City Hall MRT that day when something appeared:


This was on display at St Andrew's Cathedral's Welcome Centre. I couldn't help but stop and gape in horror.

Ads like these really do nothing to inspire respect for religion.

Firstly, they're premised on the ignorance of their audience - i.e. the ignorance of evolution. (It's even worse if the ignorance is deliberate.)

Secondly, they rely on the arrogance that stems from this ignorance - i.e. the arrogance that humans are not animals, that we are the most important things in the divine creator's eyes, etc.

And (this is a really cheap shot I admit), the ad even shamelessly rips off the aesthetics of those cool i-Pod ads.

Even if we dropped the marketing savvy bit...

Ignorance + Arrogance. What a superb combo. Who cares about educating themselves or being humble anyway? It's us versus them crazy monkey-making people man... don't ever let them get to you!

Swastikas on the MRT

Call me a prude, but I feel a bit uncomfortable when people flaunt Nazi symbols in public:


I believe the above would be cause for arrest in Germany.

(I know that the swastika is actually a spiritual/religious symbol. This intent seems more apparent in the clothing of the guy below:)


But like that?


Don't get me wrong - I'm not trying to profile anyone. I'm just wondering, would I get away with the same thing if I emblazoned my t-shirt with "CHINESE ARE THE SUPERIOR RACE" (or a symbolic equivalent)? I bet those lime-green shirted NEL officers would be "escorting" me very politely out of the station in no time.

Or... does this mean that Singapore implicitly subscribes to the notion of white supremacy? Hahaha.