11 Sep – Documentary film titled, "To Singapore, With Love" directed by award-winning filmmaker, Tan Pin Pin has been banned from all sort of screening and distribution in Singapore for portraying 'distorted' facts of Singapore's history. The documentary film is about nine Singaporeans who were exiled from their country and it has been classified under Not Allowed for All Ratings (NRA) by the Media Development Authority of Singapore (MDA) reports Channel News Asia. According to a statement posted by the MDA on its website:-
"MDA has assessed that the contents of the film undermine national security because legitimate actions of the security agencies to protect the national security and stability of Singapore are presented in a distorted way as acts that victimized innocent individuals. Under the Film Classification Guidelines, films that are assessed to undermine national security will be given an NAR rating. The individuals in the film have given distorted and untruthful accounts of how they came to leave Singapore and remain outside Singapore..."
Deadline reported that the film premiered at Busan International Film Festival 2013 and has since then travelled to other festivals including Dubai Film Festival where Tan won the award for Best Director for the film.
"Now, the irony that a film about Singapore exiles is now exiled from Singapore as well – this is not something I ever wanted or hoped for," Tan expressed her thoughts on Facebook. Tan also mentioned, "I am therefore very disappointed that my film is banned. By doing this, MDA is taking away an opportunity for us Singaporeans to see it and to have a conversation about it and our past that this film could have started or contributed to. It is vital for us to have that conversation on our own terms. We need to be trusted to be able to find the answers about ourselves, for ourselves.....It is my deepest regret that we cannot have such a conversation here today." "To Singapore, With Love" was originally planned to be screened together with two of Tan's other films; "Invisible City" and "Singapore GaGa" by the end of September 2014, in a triple-bill presented by National University of Singapore (NUS) Museum.