Controversial Sun Ho MTV Raises Concerns... Again

Wednesday, Sep. 30, 2009 Posted: 1:56:00AM HKT

A controversial music video featuring Singaporean pop singer Sun Ho in a raunchy dance act has drawn the attention of concerned members of the public once more.

This time, it was a recent weblog posting by Ho's husband, The Rev Dr Kong Hee, which fanned the flames of debate.

In an entry titled Wholesome Shallowness? dated September 22 on his weblog, Kong, who founded the largest congregation in Singapore, appeared from the outset to be defending his wife’s decision to produce the 2007 music video.

The pastor defended the music video as a ‘drama’ about “a girl who has to take up an extra job at a nightclub to make ends meet for her family” and as ‘portraying’ “the reality of a fallen secular world”.

There were 341 responses at the time of writing, most of them affirming the MTV, with a significant number expressing concerns. Often, these concerns would be met with refutations.

Much of the responses were made within three days of the posting of the weblog article.

Among other things, the netizens were concerned that the short clip was a ‘stumbling block’ to new converts to the faith, a sexual temptation for men, and have a negative impact on children.

“The [criticism] that has been leveled at Sun [has] nothing to do with the fact that she is a [pastor’s] wife, but that she is a Christian who because of her success will influence many people,” said ‘Mark collard’ who felt that it was unnecessary for the singer to do such an act in an attempt to be more relevant to the non-Christian public.

The MTV, which has been posted online, shows Ho wearing scanty clothing and making sexually arousing moves.

‘H. Liao’ expressed: “[M]y only gripe is why can’t Sun maintain her pop status by upholding wholesome family values (prior to 2007)? Why must she be at the fringe of pop culture, i.e. club culture? Why must she promote debauchery and overt sexuality through her music?

“In the music scene, there are many pop singers who are successful and popular without resorting to the overt sexual portrayal in [C]hina [W]ine [the name of the MTV]? Yes [I] agree sex sells but [I] can think of artistes such as Colbie Caillat, Alicia Keyes, Kelly Clarkson or even Leona Lewis whose music videos are not as ‘wild’ as [C]hina [W]ine… An artiste expresses his/her values through their songs/performances. One wonders what are Sun’s values.”

‘Cana’ who introduced herself as a pastor’s wife, said: “[M]y daughter saw the ‘[C]hina [W]ine’ video [and felt] stumbled and [kept] asking me why [it is] like that… so my question is where is accountability?”

‘NOT AGREED’ felt that the MTV would sexually arouse its men viewers.

‘Teresa’ agreed.

“I think it can be more tasteful... It is critical as MTV which showcase such lewd settings will no doubt evoke some sort of lustful intention or reaction from some viewers.

“If we can minimise such scenarios, why not? God’s way of appealing to the mass is through our daily actions and it speaks a lot of the person if he/she succumbs to what the world thinks… Christians should uphold strong values that will change the world instead of just blindly agreeing with the pop culture.”

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Nathanael Ng
nathanael@christianpost.com