It “could create unhappiness and disaffection amongst Muslims” — that is, somebody could get hurt. From Reuters, with thanks to Twostellas:
SINGAPORE – Singapore authorities banned a play just hours before it was due to be staged because it portrayed Muslims in a negative light, local media said on Saturday.
In its first banning of a play since its was formed in 2003, the government’s Media Development Authority said it was withdrawing the performance licence for “Smegma” as it was “insensitive and inappropriate for staging”, the Today paper said on Saturday.
“Smegma undermines the values underpinning Singapore’s multi-racial, multi-religious society. The play portrays Muslims in a negative light,” the media authority was quoted as saying in Today.
The media authority, which initially agreed to the public performance of “Smegma”, back-peddled on Friday and said it was worried that the play “could create unhappiness and disaffection amongst Muslims”, the newspaper reported.
According to the Singapore law, all public performances must be approved and licenced by a government-appointed official.
Both the media authority and “Smegma” playwright P Elangovan could not be reached for comment on Saturday, but Elangovan was quoted as saying in Today that he was “unsurprised” by the ban.
His play “Talaq”, about rape within an Indian Muslim marriage, was also banned in Singapore in 2000, according to the paper.