Old guard members counter allegations of a pro-gay stance

Straits Times - April 25, 2009

Old guard members counter allegations of a pro-gay stance

AWARE'S old guard yesterday rejected the new leaders' accusation that the association had become pro-lesbian and pro-homosexual. This was their response to the allegations made on Thursday.

PROMOTED A LESBIAN MOVIE

Aware sponsored the screening of the lesbian-themed movie, Spider Lilies, at its charity gala two years ago.

Former Aware president Constance Singam, 72: 'Over the years some of the movies we have screened include Singapore Dreaming, Mrs Henderson Presents, The Soong Sisters, Summer Snow and Paradise Road.

We exercise our judgment. Earlier this year an Israeli Film, Seed Of Summer, was offered to us but we turned it down because the subject matter was sensitive and controversial - it dealt with military service and lesbianism.

Spider Lilies was about the relationship between a tattoo artist and a Web camera woman. One of my exco members - a mother of three boys - told me the two protagonists' sexuality was secondary. It was a film about love, companionship and longing.'

HAD A MEN'S WORKSHOP

Aware invited Mr Bert Bjarland, a Finnish gender activist, to hold a workshop.

Male associate member Tan Wah Kiat, 37: 'Bert Bjarland had spent 20 years working with men's groups in Finland and wanted this issue tackled in Aware. His workshop helped men to recognise that there are many different masculinities.

We do not want to live in a box where men are supposed to be all macho, rough and aggressive; and women, soft, meek and domesticated.

I used to be a jock, and that is one of my biggest regrets. Joining Aware, I learnt the value of being soft and sensitive. I've been happily married for seven years. It really helps to build family and personal relationships.'

WANTS TO LET MEN VOTE

Former Aware president Dana Lam, 57: 'We have been discussing this in Aware for years. We are a bit divided over this.

We women have been saying that decisions - public, personal, family - cannot be made by only men; that they have to be made jointly with men. If we walk the talk, then we have to give men the right to vote.

On the other hand, some of us feel we are not that ready to admit a male voice in the organisation. We are still debating this, and debate is healthy.'

MOTHER'S DAY 2006

Aware held an event featuring lesbian-friendly mothers and lesbian daughters talking about themselves.

Aware member Corinna Lim: 'We had mothers with lesbian daughters coming together to share their pain and issues in a very supportive environment.

It was done in a loving way. How could they say it was bad when they didn't even attend the forum? To me, that was love. The bond between a mother and child is precious, no matter what the circumstances.'

INVITED GAY ACTIVIST ALEX AU

Former Aware president Tan Joo Hymn, 38: 'This forum, Playing It Safe: Keeping HIV At Bay, was organised because statistics showed that cases of women contracting Aids had shot up in Singapore.

Mr Au was one of four people at the forum; the others were a doctor, a representative from Action For Aids and then Aware president Braema Mathi.'

REACHING OUT TO TRANSVESTITES

Former Aware president Constance Singam, 72. 'I've never talked about reaching out to transvestites in any newsletter.

Last year, I gave a talk to a lesbian audience and they asked me very tough questions and demanded to know why Aware was not fighting for their rights. I told them we were inclusive, but we could not lobby exclusively for lesbians.

The fact is, Aware represents all women. I told them we are also fighting for them when we fight for issues like equality, the right to personal choices and sexuality.'

WONG KIM HOH

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Aware chief wants to heal rift with upset members

Straits Times - April 20, 2009

Aware chief wants to heal rift with upset members
Josie Lau says change needed as group had diversified too much
By Wong Kim Hoh

AS ITS new president, Ms Josie Lau says her priority is to reconcile members of the Association of Women And Research (Aware) following the controversial leadership change on March 28.

She hopes that an extraordinary general meeting to be held soon will provide an opportunity for an open discussion.

'The team has clearly fissured. I want to operate such that my members can support me, and we can all disagree in an agreeable environment,' she said.

Ms Lau and Aware's new honorary treasurer Maureen Ong appeared on Channel News Asia's half-hour Talking Point programme aired last night.

They said they could not understand why the Aware old guard had been unhappy with the change, when the exco's new faces had merely responded to calls to serve women.

Asked if their takeover was a planned coup, Ms Lau said: 'No.' She and Ms Ong claimed they had only just got to know each other.

They were short on details about their plans, saying it was too soon.

But Ms Lau said change was needed because Aware had lost its focus and diversified too much, going into too many different areas. The result was that it did not have enough depth.

'Like any good corporation, if you have diversified too much, consolidate,' she said. 'And as with any new committee, we know that resources are always limited, (so) let's take a look and review what is done in the past that is good, let's keep that, and what new ideas we have, bring on.'

She said she hoped to start a mentoring scheme to groom younger women for leadership positions.

In fact, she already had a new programme called 'Wind Beneath My Wings' in mind, and said it would pair younger women with successful role models such as former Aware president Claire Chiang and Singapore Ambassador to the United States Chan Heng Chee.

The past three weeks have seen a series of stormy events at Aware after a large group of new members swarmed the annual general meeting and voted in an exco of mostly unknowns.

Mrs Claire Nazar was elected president, but quit after just 11 days.

She revealed in The Sunday Times yesterday that she gave up because of the aggressive tactics of the new office bearers, who seemed in a rush to replace sub-committee heads and disregarded input and advice from older Aware members.

Ms Lau filled the gap when she was appointed president last week, but immediately landed in trouble with her employer DBS Bank, which said it had advised her not to take up the top post.

Meanwhile, a group of 160 Aware members have called for an extraordinary general meeting to table a vote of no confidence in the new team.

Last night, Ms Lau said she and her team had remained silent because events had moved so fast.

As for her problem with her employer, she said it 'has been resolved', but was still under discussion.

Explaining why she took the post, she said: 'I felt that I had to pick up the baton, to run and to continue to lead this organisation that had been mired in controversies in the last one, two weeks.'

Near the end of the programme Ms Lau was asked how her exco would respond to a woman facing discrimination at work because of her sexuality.

She replied: 'Aware is a secular organisation. We are not there to push our personal religious beliefs. We do not discriminate against anyone of particular religion, whether you are a man or woman.

'Talking about sexual discrimination, it is a very controversial topic, and the new exco will have to take a new look at this and see what is the role we want to take.'

kimhoh@sph.com.sg

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Constance Singam quits as Aware adviser

Sunday Times - April 19, 2009

Three-time president describes her unhappiness with the new team in a letter to long-time members. Wong Kim Hoh reports.

One voice had been silent in the controversy currently swirling around Singapore's most well-known women's group - that of stalwart and three-time president Constance Singam.

Yesterday afternoon, however, she broke her silence in a letter - marked confidential - to long-time members of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware).

She told them she had quit as adviser to the new executive committee steering the group. As immediate past president, Mrs Singam - under Aware's Constitution - automatically earned an advisory role to the new committee.

The three-page letter, a copy of which was obtained by The Sunday Times, described her unhappiness with the new team, which took office after a leadership grab last month.

Mrs Singam, 72, wrote that although the team had publicly said that they would honour Aware's founders and build on the good work of past members, their private behaviour suggested otherwise.

'In private meetings, the exco showed a complete lack of respect for me, ignoring my advice and keeping me out of an exco meeting when I had the right to be there, as stated in the Constitution,' wrote Mrs Singam who has served three terms as Aware president over the last 20 years.

She told members that she was especially unhappy with the new exco's proposal to replace all the heads of Aware's sub-committees with exco members.

There are about half a dozen sub-groups in Aware working on various women's issues such as ageing, singles, work life, and Cedaw (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women).

Former Nominated MP Braema Mathi was axed by e-mail last week as chair of Cedaw, a position she had held since 2004.

Mrs Singam wrote in her letter: 'I protested and said it was Aware's longstanding practice to give more women, especially young women, the opportunity to acquire leadership skills and empowering them through experiences in sub-committee work.'

The exco ignored her advice, she said.

When contacted, Mrs Singam confirmed that she has quit as Aware adviser and that she penned the letter.

She told The Sunday Times she was not abandoning ship.

'I am still an Aware member. Being outside the exco gives me more freedom and right to speak up, assert and push for the work that Aware has done all these years.'

The events of the last few weeks, she admitted, have been traumatising.

On March 28, the group was taken over by unknown faces who joined Aware only in recent months.

The takeover was like a bolt out of the blue.

'I spent the first two days crying. It makes you suddenly realise the danger of not being vigilant.'

However, she added: 'But that's not the nature of the society. It's always been open and welcoming and I will continue to fight for it to be open and egalitarian.

'I'm not going to be defensive. It has happened, it's a hard lesson, but Aware will continue.'

Mrs Singam is aware that the old guard has been described as sore losers by some who pointed out that the new team was legitimately voted in.

'Why are we sore losers? We are just fighting and defending our values.

'They walked in, took over, and they refused to tell us what they were going to do with Aware. They say they would honour the work of past Aware members, and the first thing that they do is to fire Braema.

'There are just too many questions they are not answering.'

She said their silence has stoked and fuelled too much unhealthy debate, especially online, with speculation about the new team's religious affiliations and anti-homosexual stance.

'I am not at all happy where this is going. This is not a gay versus Christian debate,' she said.

'It is getting away from what Aware stands for. We have spoken up and initiated discussion on a lot of much broader issues - foreign worker abuse, domestic abuse, financial intelligence, education, body image, sexual harassment.

'We address issues that have large and wide implications which affect society.'

She is concerned about the 'possible ideological opposition of many members of the new team'.

She wrote in her letter: 'Our values are based on the fundamental rights and responsibilities of women as women. These include being treated as informed individuals capable of choice, being deserving of opportunities equal to those of men in education, marriage and employment; and being able to control their own bodies, particularly with regard to sexual and reproductive health.'

Meanwhile, news of her resignation upset many longstanding members.

Lawyer Halijah Mohamad, who is in her late 40s, said she was flabbergasted by the apparent high-handedness of the new team: 'Bearing in mind that they are very new members, how could they disregard the advice of someone who has been such a long-time member, and who has an institutional knowledge of Aware?

'By shutting her out, they are just showing that they have absolutely no interest in continuity.'

Madam Halijah was Aware's vice-president in 1999/2000.

'She should not have been put in that position to feel compelled to resign. We were aghast.'

Counsellor Ravqind Kaur, 24, a volunteer since 2006, agreed.

'By keeping her out of decisions, they are showing her no respect. Any little confidence we might have in them has just been washed away.'

Postgraduate student Martha Lee, 32, said: 'Constance has been with Aware for more than 20 years, and she would never resign without a good reason.

'She has tried to engage them, reason with them, but they are not listening. They ask why we are being hostile and they said they want to reconcile but I don't think reconciliation is on their agenda.'

Ms Lee has been a volunteer on several sub-committees since 2001.

Attempts by The Sunday Times to contact the new exco for comments yesterday were unsuccessful.

Mrs Singam said the jolt might have its upside: It has brought Aware members closer together.

It has even rallied new members such as Internet executive Hafizah Osman, 39, who joined Aware yesterday to show her support for what Mrs Singam and the old guard have achieved.

'I was shocked when I heard she was quitting. I think she is obviously making a statement that she does not want the fundamentals of Aware to be compromised,' she said.

'The old guard has done wonderful work and it is so shameful that events of the last week have negated everything to just one issue - sexuality and religion.

'It is much more. I don't want Aware's broad agenda to be lost.'

kimhoh@sph.com.sg

What are your views on the happenings at Aware? Send them to suntimes@sph.com.sg

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DBS exec is Aware's head

Straits Times - April 16, 2009

DBS exec is Aware's head

Josie Lau appointed despite employer's advice not to run

By Tan Dawn Wei, Wong Kim Hoh & Yen Feng

BANK executive Josie Lau, 48, was appointed the new president of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) on Wednesday night at a meeting of the new team in charge.

She is vice-president of consumer banking group cards and unsecured loans for DBS Bank.

But shortly after she announced that she was president, posed for pictures and made brief comments to reporters, her employer expressed unhappiness that she had taken the top post at Singapore's best-known women's group.

DBS Bank said it had told her just before last night's Aware exco meeting that it did not support her running for president. The bank said it supported employees' participation in community work, but they needed approval before taking on external appointments.

And Ms Lau did not have the green light to be Aware president.

'We believe that as a vice-president in DBS, she already has a challenging job with many responsibilities, and the role of president would demand too much of her time and energy,' a spokesman said last night.

Ms Lau could not be reached to comment as the new team wanted media queries to be channelled via the Aware office.

Checks by The Straits Times revealed that she is married to Dr Alan Chin Yew Liang, who owns several clinics under the Lifeline Medical Group. They have two teenage daughters, and Ms Lau is also listed as director and shareholder in some of her husband's clinics.

A beaming Ms Lau refused to take questions from reporters when she emerged from last night's exco meeting which lasted nearly four hours. But she said she was pleased and delighted to be president.

'Together with the new exco which was duly elected under the Constitution, I will build on the good work of the past Aware members who advanced the causes for women in all areas of society through advocacy, research and community work,' she said.

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DBS TO LAU: DON'T RUN FOR TOP POST

A STATEMENT issued by a DBS spokesman:

'The bank requires all employees to obtain approval before running for or taking on an external appointment, and many DBS employees are involved in community work and/or support various charity organisations in their own personal capacity.

'Josie was informed prior to the Aware election this evening that although the bank supports her involvement in Aware as council member, in her own personal capacity, DBS is, however, not supportive of her intent to run for president of Aware. We believe that as a vice-president in DBS, she already has a challenging job with many responsibilities, and the role of president would demand too much of her time and energy.'

************************************************************

NEW TEAM PLEDGES TO WORK FOR FULL EQUALITY OF THE SEXES

THIS is the statement issued by the new team at Aware shortly after midnight. It included an updated list of the executive committee, but did not provide any details about the women in charge:

'Aware, Singapore's leading women's advocacy organisation, is delighted to announce that its new president is Ms Josie Lau. She is joined by a dynamic, fresh and committed group of women forming the executive committee, who hail from diverse professional backgrounds drawn from the business, banking, finance, legal, education, management, human resource and social service sectors.

2009 marks the jubilee of our nation (50 years of self-government). In this period, the cause of women has made many great strides in many respects. The new team at Aware wishes to remember and honour the work of past Aware members for their vision and endeavours to advance the cause of women in all areas of society through advocacy and community work.

The new team intends to build on the solid foundations laid by the founders of Aware and will continue to promote the participation of women, on equal terms with men, in the political, social, economic and cultural life of our society. The goal remains to bring about full equality of the sexes and to end all forms of discrimination against women.

Aware will build on existing advocacy, research (eg. attitude and policies towards singles) and education to empower women to deal with various forms of discrimination, raise their awareness of rights and responsibilities, and promote their welfare in tandem with the standards in the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (Cedaw). In 1995, Singapore became a party to Cedaw which contains benchmarks against which to measure the elimination of discrimination against women on a national basis.

Singapore has made much progress in areas like education and health but can do better in other respects. In particular, the new team will seek to promote the role of women in politics and public life as Article 7 of Cedaw affirms. We endorse the Cedaw committee recommendation that women's participation in public life should reach a minimum of 30 per cent to 35 per cent, sharing the conviction that this will revitalise political and public life.

The new team will, as a paramount objective, seek to empower women to be leaders in our society, in politics, business, the professions and in all areas of endeavour which will benefit our nation.

President Josie Lau says: 'In these challenging times, the new team will actively seek to collaborate and align Aware with other women's organisations with outreach to girls and women who are affected by the current economic downturn.

'The new team aims to empower women who have been retrenched and equip them with new skills. In this context, we will work with training agencies and launch a series of programmes of practical assistance, such as grooming, budgeting, finance and debt management, career planning and management of change. We will continue to provide emotional, psychological or legal support for women.'

We call on all women of Singapore to rise to the challenge of taking on leadership roles in our nation. We invite volunteers to help make Aware a positive agent of change for the beneficial transformation of our society, where all people, regardless of race, religion or sex, are valued and have a place under the sun.'

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Unknowns knock out veterans at Aware polls

Straits Times - 10 April 2009

Caught off-guard by big turnout, longtime members lose to fresh faces 

By 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.

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.

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.

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.

Older members said the newcomers spoke well but would not elaborate on their plans for Aware.

'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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

'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.'

 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.

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.

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.

kimhoh@sph.com.sg

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