What time is it? It's time to stop

By Colin Goh
September 20, 2004

Back from Singapore, I asked my Singaporean friends in New York how the Tiger Beer-sponsored chilli crab fiesta in Brooklyn went.

Their responses were consistent: First, it was a crowd-puller which caused stirrings of national pride; second, the crabs were great 'but not enough, leh!', stirring pangs of makan nostalgia; and finally, 'Eh, what's with those Latinas in cheongsams trying to look all dragon lady, ah?'

'I donno whether I'm offended or relieved that they didn't get actual Singaporeans to play the roles,' said one friend.

Another added: 'Some more, Tiger's sponsoring some exhibition at the Museum of Sex! What kind of sleazy image are they projecting of Singapore?'

Over the following weeks, I received further irate requests to write on Tiger's exhibit, entitled 'Sex Among the Lotus: 2500 Years of Chinese Erotic Obsession'.

I was puzzled. Singaporean breweries have always used sex to peddle their plonk, as anyone who's ogled kopi tiam Stout ads featuring provocatively clad babes can tell you. We tolerate it at home, so why get upset about them in the West?

I decided to investigate, and, in the interests of objectivity, dragged the Wife along. (Like I'm going to tell her, 'Honey, I'm off to see a sex show... alone!')

The exhibit began innocuously with a historical review of Chinese treatments towards sex, with erotic artefacts from 200BC onwards, and an examination of Taoist and Confucianist sexual treatises (surprisingly pragmatic and enlightened in their acceptance of recreational sex, and even homosexuality).

So far so good, despite some annoyance at several white youths who kept sniggering at the Tang dynasty pillow books. (In fairness, anyone would snigger at a painting of a noble and his concubine 'at it' while using their poor maid as a human chair).

In fact, I told the Wife the exhibition should be taken to Singapore to educate those who keep ranting about the retreat from traditional Chinese values and practices. One look at this, and they'll realise we should retreat even further.

Next was an examination of 'golden lotus' foot binding, which unsurprisingly induced loads of retching from the viewers.

Still, the Wife said it might contain a salutary message for the growing number of women undergoing toe-shortening surgery so their Manolo Blahniks will fit.

The exhibition's last section, however, undermined everything.

Looking at Chinese sex today, it suggested China was experiencing a reflowering of sexuality after decades of communist repression (though they banned foot binding).

Maybe, but the evidence chosen to represent the revival was dispiriting: skin mags, Hong Kong Cat 3 films, massive posters of bikini-clad prostitutes on Macau and of a mainland hooker servicing a Caucasian man.

Sex in ancient China was all about pleasure. Sex today is apparently about commerce, with Asia painted as a sex destination for foreign men.

There was little analysis about sex tourism, colonialism, or whether Taoism and Confucianism are still moderating influences today. Neither was there any attempt to put the Chinese practices in a comparative global and historical light.

Due to such omissions, intentional or not, one could easily emerge from the exhibition with the message that Chinese people were pretty kinky, they abused their women, but it's all changing for the better now, because they're hooking up with the West.

The real downer, however, was the final image as one exited: a Tiger Beer poster featuring a stereotypical cheongsam-clad dragon lady standing over a man with acupuncture needles stuck in his back, with the untranslated Chinese words 'Wo kan ni bu gan', meaning 'I see you don't dare'.

I can see why some Singaporeans got upset. Using hints of eroticism to sell is one thing, but pandering to gross cultural stereotypes is another. Worse, it created false cultural associations about modern, multi-ethnic and supposedly sophisticated Singapore.

It's interesting to see how differently Tiger is marketing itself in Singapore and the United States. On the Singapore website, it's a cosmopolitan beverage. On the US website, it's some ancient Asian brew framed by exoticising Fu Manchu nonsense, complete with animated bare-breasted demonesses.

I showed it to some Asian American friends, and they were extremely offended. They've been fighting the Fu Manchu/Dragon Lady stereotype for decades, and here's an Asian company re-inscribing all its ills for profit. It's like post-colonialism never happened.

You expect it of clueless Occidentals, but not our country's flagship brewery.Colin Goh is the editor of Singapore's most popular satirical humour website, TalkingCock.com

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