"There were no homosexuals in the design world back in my eon," said committee flamer, Auntie X (not his real name), "just minty fruit tart gaylord queer faggot poofs. And that's the way it should have stayed. Who needs gay doctors, soldiers, civil servants, scientists, ministers and entrepreneurs like we have in this century?"

Singapore's long-in-tooth and out-of-touch PACE (People Advocating Censorship Everywhere) said that "a gay relationship should not be presented as an acceptable family unit," and noted that the show was aired on Sunday morning, a time when many Singaporeans were recovering from their night out at gay clubs the evening before.

Repeated surveys done in Singapore have shown that the young population considers homosexuality a non-issue.

"They are flogging a dead Merlion," opined Kelvin Tan, an openly gay constable having lunch with his boyfriend's family after church.

Earlier this month the MDA fined pay-TV operator Starhub (US$7,200) for a video on MTV Mandarin Channel that included "romanticized scenes of two girls kissing (and which) portrayed the relationship as acceptable."

The video, widely available on You Tube, became hugely popular as a result of the attention created by official prudishness.

"I had never heard of the program until they made such a fuss about it," said Ms. Lilly Teo. "I ended up showing all my girl friends in the office. Some of us even tried kissing each for the first time to see if it was any different than with a man. Quite similar, la!"

Under Singapore's antique British colonial laws, gay sex is deemed "an act of gross indecency.''