Popular television personality Hossan Leong is among those who are unimpressed with Parliament’s “offensive playlist” which includes songs by artists such as Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande.
Earlier this week, Workers’ Party (WP) parliamentarian Chen Show Mao caused a stir after he shared a photo of a handout distributed in Parliament that contained “Illustrations of Offensive Lyrics”.
The handout said that Lady Gaga’s song “Judas,” Ariana Grande’s “God is a woman,” Hozier’s 2013 hit “Take Me to Church,” and Nine Inch Nails song “Heresy” are examples of songs with offensive lyrics.
The handout was part of the parliamentary notes that were distributed as Law and Home Affairs Minister K Shanmugam made his Ministerial Statement on hate speech. In his speech, the Minister emphasised that it is important to address hate speech even in entertainment.
As the handout began trending online, the Minister clarified: “People who did not listen to the speech may misunderstand that the list contains songs which have been banned (!) or are going to be banned (!)
“All of that is untrue. I made the point that people may find many things offensive. And gave the list as an illustration. Doesn’t mean that it can all get banned, just because some people find it offensive. That is also a point I made in the speech.”
Despite his clarification, the “offensive playlist” (as the handout came to be called) went viral online and gained international traction with publications like the BBC and Reuters covering the story.
At home, several Singaporeans responded to the “offensive playlist” with shock and outrage. Hossan Leong joined this chorus of voices as he said that the handout made Singapore “the laughing stock OF THE WORLD” in a Twitter post:
Leong is a Singaporean stage and screen actor, television host, radio deejay and comedian. One of the more prominent entertainment personalities in Singapore, Leong is the host of the popular “We are Singaporeans” game show.-TISG