This is fucking disturbing. Fundamentalist agenda takes over!
Unknowns knock out veterans at Aware polls
Caught off-guard by big turnout, longtime members lose to fresh facesBy Wong Kim Hoh
SINGAPORE’S best-known women’s group, the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware), has seen a dramatic changing of the guard – which some members are describing as nothing short of a leadership grab.
Hello? It is, lor!
When Aware held its annual general meeting on March 28, everyone expected the usual: No more than 30 or 40 members would turn up at its Dover Crescent centre, and a prepared slate of candidates would be voted into office easily.
Instead, more than 100 people came, the majority of whom had joined Aware only in recent months.
And when the election of office bearers began, almost every position was challenged by new faces, who won by wide majorities.
In the end, nine out of 12 executive committee spots went to the newcomers.
One older member who won without a contest was Mrs Claire Nazar, a former corporate counsel nominated to be president by outgoing Aware chief Constance Singam.
But barely a week into her new term, and before making her first statement as president, Mrs Nazar quit suddenly this week.
She confirmed that she had resigned, but declined to say any more when reached by The Straits Times.
“I can’t fucking stand these people?”
It is not known who will now become president.
Longtime members took two other positions: Chew I-Jin as assistant honorary treasurer and Caris Lim Chai Leng was elected a committee member.
The election results have left longtime Aware members in shock.
Former president Tan Joo Hymn, 38, told The Straits Times the big turnout at the AGM surprised her.
‘I arrived at the meeting late and found out that I was No. 100 on the attendance list. I’ve been a member for 10 years, and never before has there been such a turnout,’ said the former lawyer who is now a full-time mother.
Another former president, writer Dana Lam, 57, said: ‘There were many faces I had not seen before, and I found that very strange.
‘In previous years, even if there were new members, they would be known to one or more of the older members.’
The first indication that something was afoot came when Ms Chew, an Aware veteran, was challenged and defeated handsomely by new member Charlotte Wong Hock Soon for the post of vice-president.
Ms Chew was later elected unopposed as assistant honorary treasurer.
‘It was alarming,’ said Ms Lam. ‘How could a new member who had just joined for a couple of months, and whom we knew nothing about, be picked over someone who has been with Aware for more than 15 years?’
Some of the older members immediately began checking the attendance list.
Ms Tan said: ‘We found that about 80 of the 102 who turned up were new members who joined between January and March this year.’
Aware, a feminist group that has prided itself on being ‘all inclusive’, has never vetted the people who apply to be members.
Men can join too, as associate members.
As it dawned on them that a leadership grab was imminent, some older members at the AGM tried asking the newcomers who they were, what they stood for, and why they wanted to be in charge.
They got only the briefest answers, they said.
Ms Lam said she tried suggesting that new members serve a stint on Aware’s various sub-committees before standing for election to leadership positions.
But such suggestions went unheeded as the election proceeded, with more newcomers winning executive committee positions by landslide margins.
Ironically, the old guard at Aware had been working towards changing their Constitution to make it a rule that only those who have been members for at least a year would be eligible to join the ex-co.
And with the change of exco, the changes will be completed and secular liberal voices in the organization will be silenced forever more.
There is currently no rule to bar a brand new member from seeking office, and that was what happened at the AGM.
Ms Tan said: ‘We were simply outnumbered. Technically, they got in legitimately.’
She added that the way the election proceeded was so unusual, it was hard to imagine that the takeover was not a planned effort.
‘It could not be pure coincidence,’ she said.
But little is known of Aware’s new leaders, aside from the fact that they include women from the corporate sector, lawyers, company directors and academics.
Being corporate sector, lawyers, company directors and academics in no way gives any information about their position on issues.
Older members said the newcomers spoke well but would not elaborate on their plans for Aware.
HIGHLY SUSPICIOUS!
‘When asked if they believed in equality, they kept repeating they were there to support women and to make sure they got ahead and got all the opportunities given to them,’ Ms Lam said.
THEY DON’T BELIEVE IN EQUALITY!
Older members were keen to know if the newcomers shared Aware’s vision and values, including equality for all regardless of race, religion or sexuality.
But one outspoken new member from the floor, who identified herself as Angela Thiang, said questions about the new office bearers’ religion and their stand on homosexuality were not relevant.
ie. you can shove your questions about equality back up your ass.
Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Braema Mathi, a two-term president of Aware, told The Straits Times that she, like many other members, was concerned.
‘If you are keen to serve, you don’t challenge every position. We do not know who they are,’ said the former journalist who is now in Bangkok doing consultancy work for international women’s group Unifem.
‘It is very troubling, more so because I’ve heard the new president has resigned.’
Almost a fortnight into their new roles, the new leaders of Aware were not entertaining calls from the media this week.
I hope your little exercise puts you on the goddamn spotlight and let’s see how far your little fundamentalist agenda will go.
New honorary secretary Jenica Chua Chor Ping told The Straits Times a press release would be issued ‘in a few days’ and added that until then, the committee would not answer any questions.
A check showed that some of those at the AGM and on the new committee have appeared in The Straits Times Forum Page.
Ms Chua, Ms Thiang and Dr Alan Chin, a male member of Aware who attended the AGM and supported the newcomers, all wrote letters to this newspaper between August and October 2007.
In a letter on Oct 17 that year, Ms Chua said NMP Siew Kum Hong had overstepped his non-partisan role and advanced the homosexual cause by tabling a petition in Parliament to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalises homosexual sex between consenting men.
No, he did not, it was, in fact, long overdue.
In another letter on Oct 25, she took issue with a Straits Times report which said NMP Thio Li-Ann had been ‘visibly distraught’ when she opposed Mr Siew’s petition vigorously.
Ms Chua said Ms Thio had dealt with several points succinctly, with humour and passion.
Dr Chin and Ms Thiang both wrote letters to caution against the risks of promoting the homosexual lifestyle.
Meanwhile, news of Aware’s AGM has spread among older members who did not attend the meeting, as well as civil society groups.
The most frequently-asked questions: Who are the new women in charge, why do they want the leadership, and what are their plans for Aware?
Ms Mathi said: ‘The building of an institution takes many years; building its value system is even harder.
And it comes crashing down in just one AGM.
‘Why can’t they come in and be part of the process, and build it together and in a more evolutionary manner? That way, the comfort level will be high for everyone.’
Because this is a power grab, baby.
Former newspaper editor and media consultant Peter Lim, a longtime associate member of Aware, said he was very surprised to learn what had taken place.
Asked why he thought a group of newcomers would want to take control, he said he did not know if it was an orchestrated effort.
Of course it is.
But he thought Aware would be attractive to those seeking to be in charge of an established institution. Setting up a new outfit would take too much time and trouble.
‘Aware has built up its credentials over the years and achieved more than a few things,’ he said.
He forgot to say they were also out there to ruin it.
Three former Aware presidents – Ms Claire Chiang, Dr Kanwaljit Soin and Ms Mathi – have served as NMPs.
‘Aware is a brand name and most people regard it as the leading voice of the feminists and modern women in Singapore,’ said Mr Lim.
This is a coup.
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7 Comments
Many people have been voicing their concern about the impact of the new exco on AWARE’s existing programmes, especially where things like Sexuality are concerned.
For those of you who have been following my blog, you will have noticed I’m very active in this programme, and so is Caris Lim, one of the old-timers who was re-elected.
I will assure everyone, that as long as I am involved, I will always make sure that only secular, responsible and non-discriminatory messages are being put across.
I sincerely hope that supporters of secular, responsible and non-discriminatory education of any subject, will continue to support AWARE, and to let others know that we are still committed to this vision. There are many people who might not be in the exco, but we are the ones making sure this programme works and that it is being carried out. We do face prejudice from the conservative factions of society, and we hope that the enlightened people will continue to support us, instead of simply writing us off, because they have been scared off by an ST report about an unusal AGM outcome.
If we lose your support, then perhaps, what the ST report would have achieved, is the damaging of the credibility and effectiveness of AWARE, more than anything itself. In Singapore, platforms for non-governmental alternative voices are few and far between, and we need united support from all who share the same philosophy, in order to speak with a louder voice.
mathialee.wordpress.com
Notice that some Christian extremists tend to use abbreviated names like “George Lim“, even though the ST Forum page requires forum letter writers to “include your full name (as in IC)”.
These guys are scared of bloggers like you! Good job!
If heaven gets populated by people like this – self-righteous, bigoted and intolerant – I’d rather burn in hell for all eternity.
‘Aware is a brand name and most people regard it as the leading voice of the feminists and modern women in Singapore,’ said Mr Lim.
Many people have been voicing their concern about the impact of the new exco on AWARE’s existing programmes, especially where things like Sexuality are concerned.
The above 2 statements contradict one another. One says that AWARE was a women’s organisation started for women for women and feminist and the other one who is seemingly an old guard says she is concerned about sexuality. You mean AWARE is not for women only but all sexualities. Wow does that mean that soon our ‘women’ rights will be extended to homosexuals?
Let’s see maybe in the near future a woman’s rights wouldn’t be protected by law of the Women’s Charter if the man conveniently claims to be a bisexual later on. The Women’s Charter may be extended to him/her if he/her is confused about his/her sexuality. Why don’t we just re-name it The Association of Women and homosexuals for Action and Research?
Okay all, I was away for a week overseas, time to reply to the comments.
Mathia: Saw your blog, will come down to support you all at the extraordinary meeting.
Chris: Hahah, scared for what, if that’s what they really believe in.
Anonymous coward: I assume you are talking about transgenders who have had sex-reassignment surgery. In case you haven’t noticed, Singapore is one of the few places in the world that allows the official change in gender for transgendered people. As far as the law is concerned, they ARE female. So what’s the problem.
Clearly, a case of FAIL on your part. I would send LOLCATS after you but maybe I’ll just send you this wiki page: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transgender_people_in_Singapore
Also, please don’t feed the trolls. Thank you.
Thanks for the info todate. Without, the transparency is unknown to Public like myself. It’s disheartening, ‘open doors’ of an IPC marginalised, especially for a then X-generation teen seeking family violence info for housewife mum. Women like me benefitted from AWARE’s public eduation & remembered old faces like Constance Singam. What’s race & religion? AWARE prevents undermining of women thru self-realization/help, for wellbeing & ‘freedom of choice’ of women that’s AWARE imprinted in my mind. I applaud these women with all the money/energy to check-off opportunity costs for social causes. Socio-culture changes; gays~inset of women, so after dust-sets oscars-over (if all readings are grounded), is AWARE still for women’s causes. It’s logically necessary to sustain relevance to socio-culture developments involving women to help timely,impartially,independently. Question is ‘Will women issues not aligned to by-agendas such religion/sexuality get filtered away from lobbying for the public’s & govt’s awareness/support?’~ you can already imagine who are those rendered unhelpable at the door. Where are the independent nomination directors when you need 1?
To “A Concerned Woman” – There is a difference between gender and sexuality. AWARE is formed to protect and promote the rights of ALL women, that would include women who are lesbian, bisexual or transexual. Your “concerned” mind has incorrectly associated homosexuality only with men
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