Playboy Approaching Singapore Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Playboy Approaching Singapore - Essay Example While I don’t need to go to Playboy to get the latest topics of interest, I also believe that individuals or a culture shouldn’t be prevented from doing so. While this shows a sense of respect to culture, it also creates a question of how much control should be created over media influences in a given country. By releasing the ban on Playboy, there is also the ability to open media statements that allow the public to gather information that is diverse and timely from a broader perspective. The ban of Playboy is only one of several media publications which don’t have room in the Singapore culture. I have found that the controls over the magazine are creating continuous debates from those who want to get closer to nudity and to organizations that want to keep the doors closed. The problem is one based on the ideology of out of bound markers, mostly which implies sexual, political, racial and religious issues which don’t have an ethical or cultural relationsh ip to the culture. Bans made in Singapore are implemented through the Media Development Authority (MDA), specifically which justifies what is shown through the media. The authority is a branch of the Singapore government and has created a standard for censorship policies to uphold values and ethics in relation to the concept of free expression (Gomez, 2000). While the government, authorities and culture of Singapore holds values through the banning of magazines, a larger issue is at hand with the decision not to provide Playboy in the culture. I believe that the issue is based on control over topics which may not be considered ethical or which may be controversial. If there isn’t a magazine like Playboy, then how will free expression from various topics be heard? The problem isn’t with nudity it is with individual interest and to undress different areas of freedom. I believe the government and the MDA become forces which stop freedom of expression, exploration or a dee per understanding of the news, media and knowledge understood to the world. The problem then relates to individuals who can’t explore the full depth of nudity and Playboy statements. I think it is time for the controls and forces from the government and media to come down in Singapore. There isn’t a true understanding of whether sexual expressions are also a lack of value within society. The content in Playboy is considered controversial because of the nudity of women and what this may imply. However, this may not be considered morally wrong by some and implies a freedom of expression. I think that with exposure, there is also expanded awareness, changing beliefs and the ability to understand new lifestyles. By censoring the media, an entire culture is deprived from this awareness. While the ban on Playboy in Singapore is created through the government and MDA as a censorship for values, it does not provide a complete interpretation for the needs of society. The statem ent made through the institutions is one created with the ideology that media and information should be controlled according to what the government believes the values should be. More important, there is a withholding of knowledge and information that may provide those in Singapore with a different understanding or meaning to life. By withholding any type of media, there is also a censorship of freedom in terms of expression and exploration of society. I believe that

Why It Is Important to Criminalize Possession of Cigarettes Research Paper

Why It Is Important to Criminalize Possession of Cigarettes - Research Paper Example Cigarettes were mass produced and advertisements were set up in every city. Cigarettes became incredibly popular. For much of this time, and certainly, in the late 20th century, cigarette companies became aware that their product was extremely dangerous and was causing cancer. They hid these facts from everyone. At the same time, independent medical practitioners were saying the same thing based on experience with their patients. It did not take a rocket scientist to realize that people could die from smoke inhalation. And yet the cigarette companies kept selling their products and deceiving the public. Cigarettes should have been banned then and there. Politicians should have stepped up to the plate for the Average Joe who w was suffering from cancer. Unfortunately, nothing happened. It is quite sad to see that the government has taken very little interest in an issue that has such a strong and clear ethical dimension. We elect our leader to stand up for what we believe is right. Ho wever, the American government was more interested in throwing people in prison for smoking marijuana than they were for arresting cigarettes executives who had perpetrated a massive, deadly fraud on the American people. This was truly shameful. But it is not too late to change things. Cigarettes should be banned. They are a severe poison and they should not be permitted to be sold in the marketplace. No government should permit companies to poison its people; even less so should companies be allowed to lie to both citizens and the government. Unfortunately, the facts on this matter speak for themselves. Even the scientists hired by these companies indicate that they have lied to the public and to the government about what is really in their product. As one recent news report put it: cigarette scientists had been altering their findings to hide the toxicity of their product: They also found, after obtaining evidence that additives increased toxicity, that tobacco scientists adjusted the protocol for presenting their results in a way that obscured these increases.