It was recently reported that the Advertising Standards Authority of Singapore (ASAS) advised Cathay theatres to remove the statement “Supporting the freedom to love” from an advertisement for Pink Dot, displayed on an escalator in its Cineleisure shopping mall.
Award-winning novelist, Ovidia Yu, said in her Facebook that when she called ASAS to ask about the advisory to Cathay, she was told that the ASAS chairman has the final say on making decisions in matters such as this.
I phoned ASAS to ask who had made the decision to demand Cathay remove their banner, given it does not violate any of…
Posted by Ovidia Yu on Thursday, 8 June 2017
Ovidia Yu revealed that The ASAS Chairman, Tan Sze Wee, is a member of Barker Road Methodist Church. Mr Tan is the executive director of A*STAR’s Science and Engineering Council. His bio on A*STAR states that he volunteers with the Young Men’s Christian Association’s local chapter.
A search in the Facebook group ‘We Are Against Pink Dot in Singapore’ (WAAPD) shows that Mr Tan is also a member of this group.
The group is the one which first raised objections to the theatre-chain displaying the advertisement.
