Forum: Mural of smoking samsui woman fulfils one of art’s essential purposes
Sign up now: Get ST's newsletters delivered to your inbox
Follow topic:
On a recent family holiday to South America, I was struck by the vibrant murals adorning city walls that vividly depict everyday life, culture and struggles.
These open expressions of identity and history stood in sharp contrast to the controversy that surrounded the mural of a smoking samsui woman back home in 2024.
That mural in South Bridge Road now features a plaque carrying an anti-smoking advisory ( Anti-smoking advisory in new plaque for controversial samsui woman mural
Films and streaming content featuring characters who smoke – often without context or critique – pass largely without comment or backlash. Why are we selectively intolerant towards certain expressions of smoking, especially in the arts?
This episode invites deeper reflection on our thresholds for tolerance in a multicultural society. Art, as French philosopher Michel Foucault once said, is “a confrontation with the unseen structures of society, knowledge, and power, revealing deeper truths about the world”.
Our strong reaction to the samsui woman mural may well reveal more about Singaporeans’ societal values and discomforts than the image itself.
By provoking such discourse, the mural has fulfilled one of art’s essential purposes. As a society, we must be willing to accommodate artistic expression, even when it challenges our norms – so long as it does not harm the community.
In that spirit, I applaud the Urban Redevelopment Authority and the Ministry of Health for showing discernment in allowing the mural to remain, while adding an advisory that respects public health concerns.
In doing so, they have struck a thoughtful balance between regulation and artistic freedom – giving art, and society, room to breathe.
Goh Ee Kiat
