Countering the contradictions and poorly conceived propaganda of AWARE’s new Exco

April 26, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Current Affairs 

Written by Ng E-Jay
26 April 2009

It seems that AWARE’s new Exco cannot even tell a proper lie, nor are they able to spin even a half-credible propaganda story.

EXAMPLE 1:

AWARE’s Vice-President Charlotte Lim told TODAY newspaper that Ms Josie Lau was “touched by the outpouring of support and the well-wishes from colleagues and members of the public“, and that “people were giving her the thumbs-up all the time“. (TODAY, “Job safe, but future of AWARE chief will be known on May 2″, 18 April 2009)

However, in the press conference on 23 April 2009, Ms Josie Lau said: “So far I’ve kept a very stoic and dignified silence … … And this is actually something that could have been resolved internally between the Old Guard and the New Guard in a very polite and civil way. But that has not happened. I’ll tell you so far I’ve only been appointed President for about a week and I’ve only been an Exco member for about 3 weeks. But to date I’ve only been met with hostility, intimidation. I felt so bullied I tell you.“. (See here.)

So in a mere span of five days (18 April to 23 April), Ms Josie Lau has gone from being touched by an outpouring of public support for her takeover, to being treated ONLY with hostility and intimidation.

EXAMPLE 2:

In an interview with Channel News Asia on 20 April 2009, Ms Josie Lau said: “AWARE has become too diversified … … They are just moving into too many areas and not going into depth.”

And yet at the press conference on 23 April 2009, the new Exco lambasted the old guard for losing its focus and “steering AWARE into becoming a single purpose organisation“. (Channel News Asia, “New exco wants to bring AWARE back to its original cause“, 24 April 2009, 1:50am)

Can this motley crew of wannabes at least get their propaganda story straight? Has AWARE become too diversified in its activities, or has it become too narrow?

EXAMPLE 3:

During the press conference on 23 April 2009, AWARE’s new Exco desperately tried to paint the picture that the old guard promoted lesbianism, by citing the screening of the Taiwanese lesbian movie, Spider Lilies, at its charity gala two years ago, and organizing a lesbian-friendly Mother’s Day event in 2006.

Former Aware president Constance Singam clarified the next day that movies screened at charity events over the years included Singapore Dreaming, Mrs Henderson Presents, The Soong Sisters, Summer Snow and Paradise Road, none of which have anything to do with lesbianism. In fact, Singapore Dreaming is a 2006 film set in Singapore that most decidedly embraces family values.

According to Constance Singam, Spider Lilies was about the relationship between a tattoo artist and a Web camera woman. She said: “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.”

The new Exco’s tendency to cherry-pick facts and circumstances to suit their own propaganda whilst ignoring the mountain of evidence suggesting otherwise is strongly indicative that their real intention is not to help AWARE, but to destroy it.

EXAMPLE 4:

The new leadership has also made the outrageous allegation that the old guard of AWARE used Comprehensive Sexuality Education (see here) as a front for promoting lesbianism and sexual freedom.

Constance Singam clarified during the old guard’s press conference that the CSE programme was a comprehensive one, designed to provide teens with information in a non-judgmental way. She said: “We do not teach kids to impart judgment, we just give them information … … Their values come from their family, and their religion. Words like ‘homosexuality’, ‘sexy’ and ‘virginity’ are neutral words because AWARE is non-judgmental.”

This is an introduction to the CSE programme posted on AWARE’s website:

In 2007 AWARE developed and began conducting Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) workshops in secondary schools and welfare homes around Singapore. CSE is a holistic sexual education program designed for young women. It aims to replace the silence and shame associated with sexuality with practical information and skills. By bringing sexuality into the open, young people are more likely to make wise, realistic, and informed decisions based on principles of human rights and gender equality. Given the potential risks inherent in sexual activity, we owe it to young people to help them safeguard their own futures. Research shows that comprehensive sexuality education is effective in providing young women and men with the tools, knowledge, skills, attitudes, and values to make responsible choices about their sexual health.

Netizens like myself have absolutely no clue how this programme could remotely be associated with encouraging lesbianism.

Far from it being a front to promote lesbianism and sexual freedom, CSE teaches youths to make informed decisions about sex, including the ability to say “no”. International reports have shown that comprehensive sex education is much more effective than abstinence-only education in encouraging abstinence, lowering the rates of unwanted pregnancies, and reducing STI transmission rates (see here).

CONCLUSION:

Josie Lau and her motley crew must have been insane if they had ever thought they could dish out such poorly conceived propaganda and falsehoods and hope to get away with it.

Had this coup been orchestrated in the days without the internet, possibly few people could have credibly challenged them, given limited access to real-time information.

But today, anyone with determination and an internet connection can take apart their lies and expose them for what they are.

Josie Lau and her gang are trying to destroy an organization that has helped many women in distress, including victims of spousal abuse and sexual harassment, and pregnant teens, simply because they do not accept diversity in the modern world, and desire to impose their own values and beliefs upon others.

The innocent victims of this whole saga are all those women in genuine distress who are unable to receive help because of the inconsiderate and bigoted attitudes of a group of women who are prepared to disregard the suffering of others in their pursuit of ideological purity.

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Comments

7 Comments on Countering the contradictions and poorly conceived propaganda of AWARE’s new Exco

  1. More than meets the eye? « Mathia Lee ~ Plans and Preoccupations on Sun, 26th Apr 2009 6:25 am

    2. [...] And if it was just about replacing ideology, why the need to lie, and lie so badly too? (http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2784) [...]

  2. The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 26 Apr 2009 AWARE Weekend Special on Sun, 26th Apr 2009 12:44 pm

    3. [...] Lee: More than meets the eye? – TOC: AWARE veterans set the record straight – Sgpolitics.net: Countering the contradictions and poorly conceived propaganda of AWARE’s new Exco – The Kent Ridge Common: Questions the new AWARE exco must tackle before the EOGM and lessons we [...]

  3. Jackie Chan on Sun, 26th Apr 2009 11:34 pm

    4. The new Exco members and their mentor Thio Su Mien would claim to be good Christians. However their consistent lying… and readiness to stoop to devious and under-handed means to achieve questionable aims… are an indictment of their beliefs.

    It is incredible that supposedly intelligent, educated women could follow their “leader” so blindly and not find out for themselves if what she claimed as true. The real truth is so easily unearthed that they cannot claim ignorance (not in this age of internet and when so much of AWARE history is easily available in the public domain)

    It says a lot — and certainly does not paint a positive picture — of these corporate women who hold senior positions in bg corporations. It also says a lot about how Singapore’s obsession with “certificates” and “paper qualifications” exclude considerations of EQ and plain common sense and ethics.

  4. xtrocious on Mon, 27th Apr 2009 5:10 pm

    5. To Jackie Chan…

    This happens alot to people on moral high horses – as long as the means can justify the ends, they are acting on the basis of “greater good”…

    But then again, their greater good may not be our greater good…

  5. mathialee on Tue, 28th Apr 2009 4:52 pm

    6. MOE Statement on AWARE’s CSE

    Reply to Recent Comments and Claims About AWARE’s Sexuality Education Programme in Schools

    1We refer to recent claims and comments about AWARE’s sexuality education programme in schools.

    2Sexuality education conducted in MOE schools is premised on the importance of the family and respect for the values and beliefs of the different ethnic and religious communities on sexuality issues. The aim is to help students make responsible values-based choices on matters involving sexuality.

    3Core programmes are delivered by teachers but schools do collaborate with other agencies in delivering additional modules. However, in doing so, schools must ensure that any programmes run by external agencies are secular and sensitive to the multi-religious make-up of our society. Parents can choose to opt their children out of these programmes.

    4Last year, 11 secondary schools engaged AWARE to run workshops for their students. The number of students involved in each school ranged from about 20 to 100, and each workshop lasted 3 hours. The objectives of these workshops were to provide students with accurate information on Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)/HIV, to help students understand the consequences of premarital sexual activity, and to equip students with skills such as decision-making and resisting negative peer pressure.

    5AWARE also conducted assembly talks, typically of 45-minute duration, for students in a few secondary schools. Some of the areas covered in the talks included body image, self-esteem, eating disorders, teenage pregnancies, sexual harassment and the role of women in today’s context.

    6The schools that engaged AWARE found that the content and messages of the sessions conducted were appropriate for their students and adhered to guidelines to respect the values of different religious groups. The schools did not receive any negative feedback from students or parents who attended the workshops and talks.

    7In particular, MOE has also not received any complaint from parents or Dr Thio Su Mien, who was reported to have made specific claims about sexuality education in our schools. MOE has contacted Dr Thio Su Mien to seek clarifications and facts to substantiate her claims.

    8If parents and members of the public know of specific instances where guidelines have not been adhered to, they should report them directly to MOE to investigate. MOE recognises that sexuality education is sensitive. In conducting these programmes, the views of parents will be respected and values taught should not deviate from the social norms accepted by mainstream society in Singapore.

  6. Mutant X? on Tue, 28th Apr 2009 8:41 pm

    7. AWARE endorse homosexuality and anal sex as ‘normal’ or ‘neutral’.

    For example some statements from the current CSE programme (as reported in “Nothing ‘sneaky’ about elections”, Sunday Times, 26 April 2009) include:
    • Anal sex ‘can be healthy or neutral if practised with consent and with a condom’.
    • ‘Avoid using the term ‘husband’ and use ‘partner’ instead, so it is more inclusive. For example, ‘homosexuals have partners, not husbands’.’

    If you are a parent, you would be want to find out more…

  7. Past Blog Posts « We-Are-Aware on Sat, 9th May 2009 3:29 pm

    8. [...] April 29 – An open letter to Ms Josie Lau [...]

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