In an earlier post, I mentioned or hinted at my unease with one aspect of my photography trip to Siem Reap earlier this month, specifically with respect to the children.

I was in Siem Reap back in 2006, with my friends from Museum Volunteers. While we did meet some child beggars, they were very few in numbers. There were a lot of child salespeople - children trying to sell all kinds of trinkets and bags but even then, they backed off once you indicated that you are not interested.

In 2009, the number of child beggars astounded me. The number of children going "one dollar? do you have "tang-guo"?" chills me to the core. And it is not just child beggars who are asking for these gifts. We were at Bakeng for the sunrise, and while we were shooting the temple from the entrance in order to capture the golden glow, children were walking through the temple to get to school, and almost every other child who passed us went "do you have "tang-guo" lady? one dollar?" And the child salesgirl / boys - they were so very persistent that it has become irritating. I actually had to tell off two girls who trailed me up and down a road, and going non-stop "lady, you want to buy - 5 for one dollar, lady, give me a dollar, lady, give me "tang-guo""...  up and down the street. I kid you not.

I cannot help but curse the influx of Chinese tourists (whether from China or Taiwan I have no idea) who thoughtlessly gave sweets to these children ("tang-guo" is Mandarin for candy / sweets). Seriously, these children have very little, if any, access to dental care - what on earth are people thinking to be giving sweets to these children? And why why why are tourists giving money to them as if money is nothing? It just encourages begging.

Look, before you curse me for being a hard-hearted bitch with not a drop of sympathy in her blood, I feel sorry for the poverty-strucken circumstances of the Cambodians as much as anyone else. However, there are ways of helping that do not encourage dependency on hand-outs. Here is a link to one NGO that is doing good work for children in Cambodia. Just think - when you give that one dollar, who do you give it to? That old man, that middle-aged woman with a missing limb or that adorable child with the big eyes and tattered clothes? I bet that more often than not, you are giving money to the child. And guess what is going to happen? Do you really think that the child will use that money to go to school? Or rather, will the child (or his or her guardian or in the worst case scenario, owner) stay on the streets simply because it makes more financial sense for him or her to be accosting tourists for handouts rather than be in school studying?

OK fine, you say, what about notebook and pencils, these are good for the children right? My hard-hearted view - no, no and no. What do you think the children are going to do with the notebooks and pencils? If they are at the temple ruins posing for photographs (and then asking for money in return) or begging for money, do you think the notebooks and pencils will be used for school? Or is it more likely that the notebooks and pencils will be sold for money? And if children are trying to sell you trinkets, and instead of buying their wares, you give them notebooks, pencils, sweets or worse, money, what have you done to them? At the least, these children are trying to make an honest living by selling their wares - why treat them like beggars who are asking for handouts? Buy their postcards damnit, or just ignore them. They are not beggars, don't treat them like they are. Don't take away what self-respect they have. Sometimes that is all they have.

Thou shalt not be a victim.
Thou shalt not be a perpetrator.
Above all, thou shalt not be a bystander.
             ~Holocaust Museum, Washington DC

It was inspirational. It was awesome. I have never seen such a gathering of intelligent, witty, passionate and knowledgable women in my life, and if you had told me just two months ago that such a gathering is possible, that there are 1,414 women in Singapore who will willingly spend their entire Saturday holed up in a cold convention hall where only water is provided simply to kick out a bunch of Christian fundamentalists who thought that they will be able to successfully pull off a take-over of a secular NGO, I would have laughed in your face.

This is not a bunch of ladies who lunch and chat politely and quietly about how to do good over tea and scones, it is a bunch of ladies who have learnt how to fight for their rights, to stand their ground, to defend their turf, to bang tables and demand to be heard. It is a bunch of women who understood whether instinctively or through bitter experience that to "SHUT UP & SIT DOWN" will not get you anywhere. And if in the process, they were told off for being "rude" or acting like "hooligans", well, so be it. I did not, and I am sure most of the women in that hall did not, get to their current position in life as independent knowledgeable women, by being meek and subservient.

The Christian fundamentalists were simply outclassed. They were out-organised (what on earth happened to the red-shirts mid-way through the EGM, only the white-shirts remained to keep the crowd under control), out-prepared (one self-declared "Feminist Mentor" whose claim to the title is her being cited on page 73 of a book on outstanding women, and one research paper on the superiority of abstinence over condom use by some academic in Utah of all places does not good preparation make) and out-voted (what happened to the busloads of bible-toting ladies?). Women who spent their lives fighting inequality whether it is for themselves or for women in general, women who never joined AWARE previously but whose lives have been touched by AWARE, women who refused to allowed the name of Christianity to be sullied by the actions of a gang of bullies, women who believed in the importance of a secular state for a diverse community, women whose inate sense of fairness has been offended. All these women turned up, and queued for hours, first to get into the meeting hall, and later to get to the sole microphone to give the Christian fundamentalists a sound dressing-down. The depth of knowledge and experience these women represented - lawyers, academics, NGO activists, event organisers, students, social workers - is breathtaking. Collectively they knew so much about feminism, the fight for equality, comprehensive sexual education, activism, social issues etc etc - listening to them speak at the microphone was like having a crash course in civil society work. I think even the Old Guard were surprised at how many of us turned up - as one of them said, you gals came out from the woodwork, we don't know where you came from. The new Exco, inexperienced, unable to defend their views or (with the exception of Josie Lau who earned respect for keeping her cool under relentless fire)  even to maintain their composure, did not have a chance.

We Singaporeans always mock ourselves for being apathetic. On 2 May 2009, we have proved ourselves wrong.

I had previously, in one of my earlier posts, said that Christians should speak up against Christian fundamentalists. You can imagine how grateful I am to find blogs by Christians who condemn the behaviour of the Christian fundamentalists who took over AWARE. Right now, a Christian by the name of Gwee Li Shui has posted a note on Facebook setting out his views on why Christians should object to the behaviour of Christian fundamentalists in the AWARE saga, and generating hundreds of responses - I thought I'll repost it here.

( Christians in Singapore, please read this ... )

I was having drinks with a friend and we were discussing the AWARE saga - and as things now stand in the saga, we started talking about the role of woman in the family and Christianity (disclosure: I am an atheist, she is a Christian). And I remembered something I once read in the Bible (a long time ago when I read and re-read the Bible day after day) - there was a passage that I particularly like because it spoke about the role of a woman. I did a search when I came back and realise it is Proverbs 31:10-31.

( Who can find a virtuous woman ... )

I find that I still like this passage on re-reading it. It portrays a woman who is independent, skilled, hardworking and resourceful. Very much what a modern woman still aspires to be.

My friend also mentioned a passage in Tales of Narnia that she felt was very insightful as to just what is a true Christian. I just looked it up in my copy of The Complete Chronicles of Narnia and I think (we were drinking at that time yah?) the passage she referred to is this:

( If any man does a cruelty in my name, then though he says the name Aslan, it is Tash whom he serves ... )

( Response from MOE (Emphasis added) )</div></div>

I usually disagree with Chua Mui Hoong of the Straits Times. Heck, I disagree with the Straits Times on a lot of things. But this time round, this time, I am with her on the points raised in her article. For once, I honestly hope that her views reflect the views of the government. And I say this as an atheist and as a woman who still has fond memories of her church-going days.

We the citizens of Singapore
pledge ourselves as one united people
regardless of race, language or religion
to build a democratic society
based on justice and equality
so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for our nation

So the cat is finally out of the bag. Or as mrsbudak quoting someone said "The Sith Lord has finally come out of the woodwork."

The takeover of AWARE is an organised coup by a group of Christian fundamentalists (I am not even going to call them conservatives anymore) who believe that their way is the only right way and everyone else is wrong. 

Blogging about religion is always a rather risky business in Singapore, given how sensitive we are about the potential for religious dissent. However, I think it is time that we all buck up - if we can tell members of the Islamic faith to stand up and speak up against Muslim fundamentalists, I really do not see why we can't say the same about the Christians (or for that matter, the Buddhists and the Hindus and the Jews etc etc).

I don't think I am being unreasonable - all I am asking for is respect - respect for the human race in all its diversity. I suspect that my own personal views on many things will be considered conservative in nature, but what draws a bright shining line between me and fundamentalists is that I respect that there are other people, some in circumstances that I cannot even begin to imagine, who thinks differently or choose courses of action that I do not condone for myself. And I accept that, because I am in no position to tell another person with respect to his or her own actions affecting himself or herself, what is right and what is wrong. I accept that the world is imperfect, and to pretend otherwise is simply to live in an ivory tower that does nobody any good.

AWARE is a secular NGO that promote gender equality, furthering women's rights. Is a lesbian not a woman? Is an abused wife not a woman? Is a teenage girl with an unwanted pregnancy not a woman? Is a divorced woman not a woman? Is a single woman not a woman? Is a single mother not a woman? Is it fair to a young girl struggling with her sexuality to keep her ignorant of means of birth control? Can you, as a women rights group, pretend that there are no lesbians, no single mothers in Singapore? Is there only one way to be a good woman, a good human? Is there only one way to lead a good life? Good by whose standards anyway? And who are you to judge?

The AWARE EOGM is taking place on 2 May 2009. I am asking all women of Singapore (men can't vote sorry), please, register as members of AWARE, and turn up to vote on that day. I am not asking that you vote for any one side. I am asking that you come and listen and vote according to your convictions and your beliefs.  AWARE is the most prominent woman rights group we have in Singapore with the ability to influence legislation. It needs to representative of us, not of only one interest group. Christians (including Catholics) form less than 15% of our population, which means Christian fundamentalists form a much less significant proportion of that. Why should they speak for us, or act in our name?

Even if you are apathetic and think that this does not concern you, chew on this poem that has been making its rounds around the internet lately:

Give these fundamentalists an inch, and where will you and your children be in ten years time?

One of the good things that have come out of the on-going leadership tussle at AWARE - I have never ever seen so much discussion among my friends and colleagues about the role of women and the role that NGOs such as AWARE should play in Singapore society, and how this interfaces with religion. 

Personally, I think that one's religious convictions is just that, personal and no one's business but her own (with an important caveat carved out for persons who think that terrorism and mass murder are accepted means of practising their religion). Christian conservatives have as much right as any other person to run for office in any organisation, including AWARE. Similarly however, I expect Christian conservatives to adhere to the fundamental principles of the organisation they are participating in as much any other person. A Buddhist who joins a church with a view to converting its members to Buddhism is acting in bad faith, to put it mildly. And ditto for persons who seek to join a secular organisation with a view to changing it to one that advances a religious agenda.

Thus far, I have not found anything that the new Exco has published or issued regarding its agenda. Given how its members have in effect, staged a power-grab, I find it rather curious that the new Exco is unable, until now, put forward its plans for AWARE. I want to know where the new Exco stands on a host of issues because these directly impact on the programmes that AWARE has been running, including its views on:

1. work-life balance;
2. sexual harrassment in the workplace; and
3. family planning (including abortion and use of contraceptives).

I consider the whole anti-gay hysteria to be a bit of a red-herring. As far as I am aware (pardon the pun), AWARE has never actively championed gay rights, save for its endorsement of the (ultimately failed) campaign to repeal section 337A of the Penal Code (which criminalise gay sex). There are individuals in AWARE who champion gay rights, but as far as I know, they have never succeeded in pushing this agenda through AWARE. And that brings me back to my original point, I really don't care whether the Exco members include gay activists or Christian conservatists, so long as their personal agenda are not imposed onto a secular NGO whose stated mission is to advance gender equality.

The new Exo is legitimately elected under the constitution of AWARE, and while the background of the Exco collectively gives rise to questions, I am of the view that we need to give this Exco a chance to explain its agenda (which it has not) before blindly casting our vote to throw them out. I am hoping that such a chance will arise at the EGM on 2 May, but until then, I will reserve my vote as an AWARE member. I need to know more.

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