Singapore's Discomfort Zone

Heng: Undesirable elements!

Kwek: Western influences. All the rest of it. It's very cyclical, the mood of it.

Wong: If it's a seven-year cycle, this is the year something is supposed to happen.

Sa ' at: Yes, in 2000 the Elangovan play "Talak" was banned.

It seems like theater and the Internet are areas where sensitive subjects can be discussed most openly in Singapore.
Kwek: The government tends to draw a very strict line between what it calls the mainstream media and alternative media. And certainly, theater in Singapore is an alternative media. So theater has a unique advantage born of a disadvantage.

Wong: If I could interject, after the 1987 chill and theater was shut in a corner, I think it found its other major meaning, which was to explore a lot of personal issues. It did that really well, and this latest wave [of creativity] comes on the back of that.