The new anti-smoking campaign announces a 'Rockin' without Smokin' concert - and suddenly I am overcome by the threat of a congregation of terrible Straight Edge bands making music awful enough to wake the dead who sleep beneath the foundations of the Esplanade. 

Actually, no - there aren't actually any good bands in Singapore, although the Observatory comes close at times, as does ublues - but my real grief with this ridiculous business is that making rock squeaky clean is necessarily disingenuous, if you actually give a shit about the music. Now, don't get me wrong - I don't in any way promote smoking, although I have done my fair share of it. But to use rock (or the idea of rock, in this case - asking for actual rock in this country is asking for far too much) to push your own squeaky clean agenda is to disassociate it with everything that rock stands for - the great sacred chaos at the heart of human interactions. 

I'm not outraged at this point. The concert is well meaning, and given the quality of past such productions I'm not (and doubt if anyone is) shocked. But I'd like to add my voice to a debate that maybe will help this sodden little country grow up a bit.

adam