Local magazine blamed for sexual explicitness

Published on Wednesday, 26 December 2012 14:51

A local magazine in Myanmar comes under fire, being criticised for its sexual explicitness in photos and wording, which is considered against Myanmar culture.

Hnyot Magazine [literally meaning fascination or charm], published photos of female inner parts in its first issue in December, and one article in the same issue says “men prefer thin night dresses of their women bedmates, instead of tight clothes that are difficult to unbutton”.

“Even sex education books should not include pornographic photos in this country,” said writer Khin Maung Nyo.

“Public will decide whether it is a pornographic magazine on the basis of cultural norms,” said Phe Myint, chief editor of the People Age Journal.

The magazine in question defends its publication policy in response.

“Everybody has the rights to present different view and idea in the democratic era. We need to define the term ‘Myanmar culture’. What does it represent—the culture of Pyu period, Bagan period, colonial period or the present,” Ko Oo Swe, chief editor of Hnyot Magazine said in his interview with local media Thandawsint Journal.

“I assume that ‘culture’ is to be preserved, not to be practised. So, if the culture is always observed, the country will not develop,” he added.

“If freedom of press prevails in the country, obscene books and magazines are likely to appear. Publishers have to decide the trend of their publication, and the media must observe its work ethics,” said Kyaw Min Swe, chief editor of the Voice Weekly Journal and secretary of Myanmar Press Council (Interim).

Publishing obscene papers in Myanmar can result in legal responsibilities, based on the country’s Penal Code as well as 1962 Printer and Publishers Law, said a high grade pleader.