TAIPEI - A poster featuring ghostly characters and displayed at the main entrance of a Taipei subway station has unnerved commuters and raised debates on Taiwanese public transport companies' advertising policy.

It did not help that the poster - showing five weary-looking figures and a Chinese funeral paper doll seated in a Mass Rapid Transit (MTR) train - was put up during the month-long Hungry Ghost Festival which began on Aug 19.

'It's frightening! I thought I was seeing ghosts especially since the ghost month has yet to end,' commuter Tracy Chin said of the poster, on display since Sept 2.

The poster is an advertisement for Hongkong director Ann Hui's latest film, Visible Secret, in which actress Gu Zhulin plays a funeral paper doll.

Frightened commuters complained that when their train passed by the poster, they thought they were seeing 'ghosts' on a train that was moving in the opposite direction.

City councillors have criticised the MTR company and the government authorities for turning a blind eye to the display of questionable advertisements.

They noted that a similar movie poster was removed from Hongkong's MTR train stations in April following complaints from commuters.

The MTR company in Taipei, however, has declined to do so because it did not find the poster 'particularly frightening'.

There have been constant debates and discussions on what is suitable for public display since the publication censorship regulation was lifted in the early 1990s.

Before that, all media publications, including billboards, had to be screened before they could be printed or displayed.

Earlier this year, a debit-card poster showing a frontal nude image of a man touching his sexual organ - blurred by photographic effect - drew protests from female bus passengers.

The picture was accompanied by the statement: 'You can't do without it'.

The bus company which put up the poster removed it only after repeated complaints.

Officials with the city government's information department said that with the abolition of the publication censorship regulation, a ban on sexually explicit pictures was possible only if they were displayed publicly.

'The authorities should not tolerate advertising firms which put up posters with obscene and violent images under creative or artistic pretexts,' said Taipei city councilor Yeh Hsin-yi.

'It is the job of the transport companies and government authorities to prevent such ads from being displayed,' he said.

• Story originally published by:
The Starights Times / Singapore | Lawrence Chung - Sept 12.01

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