An order by the Singaporean authorities to remove a cigarette from a Chinatown mural has sparked public criticism over censorship and historical revisionism, The Straits Times reports.
The mural created by artist Sean Dunston, an American citizen who has lived in Singapore since 2009, depicts a young Samsui woman holding a smoking cigarette. The term broadly refers to Chinese female migrant workers who came to Singapore between the 1920s and 1940s as industrial workers. The work was completed in early April this uear on the exterior of a restaurant building.
According to The Straits Times, the landlord was told by Singapore’s Urban Redevelopment Authority (URA) via email that the depiction is not ‘aligned with Singapore’s anti-smoking policy stance’. Another email from the URA that was sent on 18 June cited an unnamed member of the public who found the depiction ‘offensive’ and that the woman ‘looks more like a prostitute than a hard-working samsui woman’.
The URA requested a ‘revised proposal’ of the mural by 3 July, and warned that a failure to do so ‘will be taken into consideration for any application for the renewal’ of the building’s restaurant licence, which expires on 27 July.
‘To the member of the public that leveled this criticism, I’d like to say that sex workers are very hard working people, and should be treated with as much respect as anyone else. You should ask your Mom about it,’ the artist responded to URA’s request in an Instagram post on 19 June. ‘Also, if I offended you with this depiction of a Samsui woman, trying to enjoy herself for 2 little minutes between grind after grind, then I couldn’t be more pleased about it. You’re literally my target demographic.’
According to the South China Morning Post, the neighbourhood the mural is currently located is where Samsui women primarily lived when they first migrated to the country.
In a 21 June email to the landlord, URA asked the artist to ‘delay any works to the mural until the review is completed’, as it had ‘taken note of additional feedback regarding the mural’.
