Singapore This Evening: Poltergeists, Jurassic Thosais, Patricia Mok and Josie Lau
Posted: June 23, 2009 Filed under: Aware, Changi Village Ayam Kampung, Singapore This Morning Leave a comment »The producer of an online programme told me he was keen to feature a segment on supernatural happenings in Singapore. He related how he had interviewed the former shopkeepers of a unit at Block 1, Changi Village. They were chased out of their shop by a persistent poltergeist which resisted even the powerful Thai Buddhist monk they had invited to exorcise it.
Being a denizen of Changi Village, I was wondering about the location of Block 1 until it dawned on me that that’s where the popular AHB Indian coffeeshop is located. The waiters and bosses hardly look spooked – so could it be that the poltergeist has finally given it a rest? Or is it more intrigued by the Jurassic Thosai served by this esteemed establishment from 6pm to 12 midnight? Apparently, this is the longest (4-feet) thosai in SouthEast Asia and feeds about three adults with a hearty appetite. I’m still waiting to form a threesome to feast on the legendary Subway-defeating thosai. Who’s afraid of ghosts when you have lengthy thosais?
Topping the list of strange occurences in Singapore, however, are neither thosais nor ghosts, but news of Patricia Mok being molested in a nightclub (reported in today’s Wanbao). And even stranger is Josie Lau commenting in the latest issue of Her World that she’s not afraid of public criticism after facing down the “hooligans” at the Aware EGM. This really puts a new spin on the word “delusional”.
Trojan horses – lessons in subterfuge
Posted: June 21, 2009 Filed under: Aware, Politics Leave a comment »The Economist (May 30th – June 5th) makes an interesting observation that the recent acquisition of Singapore Petroleum Company (PSC) by PetroChina, China’s largest energy company, is a strategic move by the Chinese firm to buy access to foreign resouces, i.e., PetroChina is leveraging on Singapore’s reputation in the business world to make foreign acquisitions “on the sly”. The rationale being that wealthy, developed countries are less hostile to take-over bids by Singapore-run firms than their Chinese counterparts.
The same could perhaps be said of fundamentalist religious groups that take over women’s organisations ostensibly to weed out ”undesirable” homosexual elements - but who, in reality, are eyeing the prized role of guiding our nation’s impressionable youth on the right – and there’s only one they claim – path to the kingdom of heaven. It seems that the piped piper is still paying his tune. And trojans horses exist everywhere…
Singapore This Morning: Clarke Quay Club Rejects Amputee, Free Aung San Suu Kyi, Thios Weigh in Again
Posted: June 1, 2009 Filed under: Ah Kua Show, Aung San Suu Kyi, Aware, Politics, Transgenderism, Uncategorized Leave a comment »ST this morning reported on a club which refused entry to an amputee on safety grounds. I understand where the club is coming from. Further down the article, the Pump Room is quoted as saying that “even people on wheel chairs are admitted to the pub”…but not transsexuals perhaps? Until today, I have not heard from the Pump Room regarding the outcome of their investigations into the incident concerning me being labelled a “ladyboy” by their bouncers and ejected from the pub when I refused to show them my IC. It appears transsexuals are less human than amputees and people in wheelchairs. But two years down the road, this is my philosophy: if people don’t welcome you, don’t party on their premises. Watch a dramatic reenactment of the incident in the Ah Kua Show.
Our Lady's supporter - quiet and dignified with symbolic yellow roses which put the orchid named after a Myanmese general to shame
A vigil to exhort the Myanmese government to free Aung San Suu Kyi was held at the Speaker’s Corner yesterday. Despite the threat of economic sanctions, the global community has not been able to persuade the Myanmese dictatorship to free Our Lady. And the ASEAN countries are too terrified of foreign intervention on their own soils to weigh in on the matter. What you and I could do is continue to highlight and raise awareness of the oppression of the Myanmese leader and the plight of Our Lady who has been placed under house arrest for the past decade or so. What’s interesting is I met a civil servant who was warned by her bosses not to participate in the event, although they were sympathetic towards her leanings. I know someone from a statutory board who throws himself into such causes with passion and fire, so I can only conclude that it really varies from ministry to ministry. The former ministry deals with national security issues whereas the latter promotes greater consumption of fruit and vegetables. Go figure.
I’ve saved the dullest for the last. The Thios have weighed in again on the Aware issue and for once, I’m not going to comment on the matter. It’s the same argument being played all over again like a broken tape recorder. By the way, pg. 73 centrefold, having Aware struck off MOE’s list of accredited vendors is a pyrrhic victory, not a moral one. I reject your moral authority.
Have a sunshine day!
Leona
Strange to Cast Blame on Aware – Christian Right Named Outright
Posted: May 22, 2009 Filed under: Ah Kua Show, Aware, Politics, Religion and spirituality, Uncategorized 5 Comments »The CSE programme dominates headlines again – and both Aware and the Christian Right are named outright as the trouble-makers. Tikki Madagascar reports.
Tikki: We are all quite weary of the whole Aware saga and want to move on, but what do you think of MOE’s statements today?
Leona: Well, it’s quite strange to cast blame on Aware as they were provoked by the Christian Right. The Aware leaders were happily going on with their lives when a group of Christian fundamentalists took it on themselves to hijack the elections and throw out the Old (now new) Guard. Who’s provoking who, you tell me?
Tikki: That’s true, but without this episode, we would not have known that Aware had been preaching that homosexuality’s a “neutral” term.
Leona: Homosexuality IS a neutral term. It’s a sexual orientation. All sexual orientations are neutral. And I’m glad that Aware had been neither endorsing nor condemning homosexuality. But now, thanks to the fundis, a gay kid growing up in our local education system will probably be subjected to even more taunts by his/her classmates who may feel emboldened by the outcome of the saga. Let’s not even touch on the transgender kid who’s light years away from receiving sympathetic treatment in local schools.
Tikki: You are quite emotional about this episode. Why is this so?
Leona: Of course – what else would you expect from someone who was bullied in school all her life for being “effeminate”, all of which culminated in a suicide attempt in National Service? All this will be enacted in the Ah Kua Show. Did I receive any Aware-endorsed neutral treatment in school? No. Were my teachers sympathetic? Hardly! Did I “infect” any of my classmates with my sissiness or “transsexual lifestyle”? No way! If anything, my presence made the boys even more vindictive and viciously “macho”. And now, thanks to the fundis, an entire generation of transgender kids will be condemned to bullying in school simply because educators are not allowed to say being transgendered is a state of being, and not some crime or sin.
Institutionalised bullying, crushing a poor kid’s spirit, driving young adults to suicide - are these meaningful objectives? Is this what God desires for his people? Even if these young adults are “unrepentent” and continue with their so-called “homosexual” lifestyle, is it man’s role to punish or forcibly ”reform” these individuals with draconian laws? God NEVER forces himself on people. If anything, one important teaching I’ve learned from Church is Jesus knocks on the door of your heart – He doesn’t barge in!!!
Tikki: Are you Christian?
Leona: I’m Catholic, and happily so. I owe my life to Sister Juanita O Carum and my joy to Father Tony Lester. Without them, I would still be mired in self-loathing and self-doubt.
Tikki: There’s been a lot of talk about the homosexual “lifestyle” – what do you think? Is homosexuality a lifestyle?
Leona: Let me tell you what a lifestyle is – shopping till you drop at Orchard Road; enjoying cream tea and scones at Foster’s Steakhouse; having indiscriminate sex with Geylang prostitutes; watching porn movies on the internet; developing an anti-gay blueprint and being endlessly fixated on gay sex…these are all lifestyles. Homosexuality? It’s a state of being. It’s a sexual orientation. It’s not a choice. If you think it’s a choice, well, that’s your personal opinion and lifestyle choice. Don’t go about attacking other people. Gay people aren’t interested in your lifestyle choices. If you choose a spouse for her religious beliefs, that’s your personal choice and I respect that. If you choose the boring missionary position day after day, that’s also your personal choice and I respect that. I don’t try to influence you to try other bedroom antics, do I?
Tikki: Err…we’re on national TV here…
Leona: Don’t be silly. We’re on my blog. The moral of the story is, we, the previous generation of dispossessed homosexuals and transgendered kids – we’re all grown up now. We are secure in the belief of who we are and we can think for ourselves. And I credit this to my schooling in the great literary works, to William Shakespeare’s fascinating world of androgyny, cross-dressing and homo-eroticism. So, do you want to ban Shakespeare from the schoolroom too? After all, his works are definitely a lifestyle choice.
Victorious Victorious – Aware has work cut out
Posted: May 3, 2009 Filed under: Aware, Uncategorized 2 Comments »
Photo by Yvonne Loh
Merlion Tonight Reports.
Tiki Madagascar: You were there yesterday at the EGM. How would you describe the atmosphere?
Leona: It was an electrifying performance filled with high tension and fireworks that even “Cats” the musical could not rival. I half expected some woman to be man-handled, but then I thought, the security officers were probably too terrified of being scratched by the caterwauling middle-class women to lay hands on them! The calm and serene atmosphere when we were queuing to get our voting slips was stunningly deceptive!!!
Tiki: What were some of the highlights of the EGM?
Leona: Certainly, when Ms Lau and her team instructed NMP Siew Kum Hong to sit down and move to the associate members’ corner, that really set the stage for more theatrics to come. Sally-what’s-her-name’s strident “Shut up and sit down” rebuke to Margaret Thomas almost gave me a heart attack. And she’s a teacher too!!! Imagine what her students have to endure!!! And what’s this fixation with getting people to sit down anyway? I think we need to refer these women for psychiatric evaluation. When the Feminist Mentor talked about being charmed by her appearance in page 73 of a “book”, we were all turning to each other in confusion and asking, “What book? What book is she referring to?” For a moment, I thought she was referring to the Old Testament!
Tiki Madagascar: Some say the Old Guards scored a pyrrhic victory. What are your thoughts?
Leona: Certainly if Josie Lau and her team had more PR savvy they could have swung national opinion to their side. But by making homosexuality their sole agenda, they aroused the ire of every Singaporean who embraces pluralism and diversity. In this sense, the Old Guards have won a moral victory. But they have their work cut out. Josie and her 700 team members will probably form a vocal chorus in the “new” Aware. So the new committee and their supporters will have to be vigilant and as their actions will be closely scrutinised from now on. But we can’t shut out Ms Lau and her team. We need to be patient and understand that they operate under the constraints of socially limiting beliefs. We must extend God’s loving kindness to them.
Photo by Genevieve Chua
Tiki: Someone suggested you should have used yesterday’s meeting as a platform to seek clarification on certain statements allegedly made by Ms Lau and her team that the Old Guard had reached out to “transvestites”. Why didn’t you do so?
Leona: It was a great suggestion but it wasn’t the time and place for me to do so. The Ah Kua Show would be a more appropriate platform. I know I’m shamelessly plugging the show, but so what? That’s my show and this is my blog. It’s not like I hijack other people’s website to talk about the show right? For the record, “transvestite” refers to a man, straight or homosexual, who dresses up as a woman to fulfil a fetish. A transsexual, however, is someone who identifies with the socially “opposite” gender and who may or may not undergo gender reassignment surgery to align his/her body with the identified gender. I am proud to identify as a transsexual woman.
Tiki: Now that the Old Guard is back, do you have any plans to contribute to the association?
Leona: Someone did suggest that I should contribute to the Helpline to provide counselling to transgender women. It’s a great idea but again, I’m not sure that this is the right time to bring the subject up. I don’t wish to be the victim of the next wave of crusading. Right now my focus is the Ah Kua Show which will be staged in early August. And the programme booklet will be a revelation in itself.
Tiki: Ok, tell us more about the Ah Kua show – how’s it progressing?
Leona: We’ve had two rehearsals and our director Emeric Lau is really stretching us and he’s really the best man for the job. I feel like I’m being taken out of my comfort zone. I feel that I’m being forced to take a honest, hard look at my life. I have to reassess the role of my parents and certain key individuals in my life and the results are amazing. I find that I’ve been too harsh on my loved ones. Certainly it’s been an amazing experience for me. We will have to submit the script to MDA soon. I certainly hope all goes well!
Tiki: Thank you Leona for the candid interview. We wish you all the best for the show.
Photo by Yvonne Loh
Leona and Kirsten. Photo by Ching Crackberry Sia
Good luck Aware!
Posted: May 2, 2009 Filed under: Aware Leave a comment »I’m all set to attend the EGM today. The battle lines have been drawn, as Pastor Derek Hong rightly pointed out. What he failed to realise is they were drawn by man, not God. They were drawn when a group of post-menopausal women decided to swoop down like vultures and oust the old Exco on the spurious charge of homo-mongering. Admittedly, the so-called Old Guard had grown complacent – and if the vultures had used less sneaky methods to voice their concerns, I may even have sat on the fence. But since they have drawn the battle lines in such an insidious fashion, I’ve got no choice but to throw my weight behind the Old Guard.
Regardless of the outcome today, we, the secularists, have already scored a moral victory.
Be gone vultures!
Watch this space!
Selfish
Posted: May 1, 2009 Filed under: Aware Leave a comment »Selfish – that’s how I would describe the middle-to-upper class Singaporeans who have been stocking up on Tamiflu. They buy up to 10 boxes and threaten the poor receptionist with recrimination if she does not give them more boxes because they have “elderly folk at home”. And guess what? My mum’s friend, who is an administrative staff at one of the clinics say some of these tai tais have also asked if they can get a refund for unused tablets. Shame on them.
Perhaps our newly crowned ”Feminist Mentor” could go after these ugly Singaporeans as part of the new Inquisition?
Time to close this chapter
Posted: April 25, 2009 Filed under: Aware 7 Comments »After Chua Mui Hoong’s commentary in ST today, there are no doubts as to the official government take on the current standoff between the old and new guards of Aware: Singapore is a secular, multi-religious, multi-racial country; there is no room for religious interference in the public sphere. Should we we rejoicing? Well, that’s not the point, is it?
As a transsexual youth growing up in Singapore, my first encounter with the Anglican Church of our Saviour was when Leslie Lung from the church was invited by my parents to counsel me against my “chosen” path. Leslie shared that he was an ex-transsexual and even had boyfriends and men proposing to him. One day, like Sinclair Rogers, also an ex-transsexual and then pastor* with the church, he was touched by the Lord and decided to abandon his plans for a sex change operation. Since then, he has been ministering to transsexual individuals to heal them of their “sexual brokenness”. I believe he also gives talks in schools on the same topic. If I’m not wrong – and I stand to be corrected on this – Leslie currently identifies as a eunuch and still has feelings for men, but does not act on these feelings as they are against the will of God.
I respect Leslie’s choices as an individual and if transsexual youth choose to be counselled and “sexually healed” by Church of our Saviour, I respect their decision as individuals. At the same time, I hope that youth are also given two sides of the story when social groups decide to educate on transsexualism in schools. Youth cannot be educated on the “evils” of transsexualism without being made aware of the existence of highly successful transsexual women like Professor Lynn Conway and Dr Marcie Bowers. Internationally, ”gender dysphoria” or transsexualism/transgenderism is also recognised as a legitimate medical concern for which gender reassignment surgery ensures an improvement in quality of life for some transsexuals.
You may not approve of transsexualism, but surely to present a one-sided non-scientific view of a legitimate medical condition to our youth is tantamount to religious indoctrination, which has no place in a secular, multi-religious and multi-racial society like Singapore? I call on all education institutions to select your sexual education providers carefully as your choices will have an impact on the lives of impressionable youth. From time to time I receive emails from young transsexuals who are on the verge of suicide because they are rejected by everyone they know – and the only people who are allowed to help them tell them their feelings are sinful and unnatural. Their well-intentioned teachers dare not say otherwise because to do so would be to go against the school’s official stance.
Transsexualism is not a lifestyle – it is a state of being. Instead of throwing stones in the young transsexual’s path, let us give genuine, unbiased help when help is asked for. Whenever a young transsexual writes to me, I never prod them towards the sex change operation. I always inform them that post-surgical life may not necessarily bring the happiness they dream of. Instead, they should be prepared to face even more discrmination and heart aches.
This brings to mind the advice of my psychiatrist Dr Pamela Chan when I was being counselled by her after a suicide attempt. She said (or words to the effect): “I’m not going to tell you what to do. But I have an obligation to tell you that the road ahead will not be easy.”
I would like to appeal to religious groups and schools in Singapore to stop traumatising our youth with fire-and-brimstone moralising. Instead, let them make an informed decision after giving them the bare facts. After all, isn’t this what “education” is all about?
* I stand to be corrected on this.
Aware: Whose Fight is it Anyway?
Posted: April 18, 2009 Filed under: Aware Leave a comment »It is most interesting that Mr George Lim’s vituperative letter was published in today’s Straits Times. Set off against my fellow Hwa Chong alumnus Harvey Neo’s moderate appeal for good sense to triumph, Mr Lim’s reference to the movie Spider Lilies (I love Tiger lilies by the way) as “perverted” is both distasteful and Victorian. Not having seen Spider Lilies, I wonder in what ways is the movie “perverted”? Is it because it depicts lesbian relationships positively? What does he mean by “overtly lesbian content”? Does he mean the women had sex on screen or simply identified as lesbians? If so, would Mr Lim be ok with non-overt lesbian behaviour then? Such as that displayed in yesterday’s ST photo of the new Aware executive committee…The point I am making is this: what exactly irks Mr Lim about lesbianism? Sex between two or more women or love between two or more women? If it’s the former, as a PR consultant, I would recommend that he attack the porn industry instead as it’s the worst offender. If it’s the latter…nah, can’t be that.
10 things that could happen at the new Aware
Posted: April 12, 2009 Filed under: Aware 6 Comments »1. Close down all La Senza outlets. Henceforth, Singapore women can only buy bras from OG
2. Close down all sex shops. Henceforth, Singapore women will have to make their own sex toys from candles
3. Mandatory headscarves for all members at committee meetings. We’re harking back to the Old Testament!
4. The letters “G”, “L”, “B”, “T” are henceforth banned from our members’ vocabulary, “wih immediae effec”
5. Ban all hand-holding and public displays of affection between women. Henceforth, all hand-holding and public displays of affection can only take place between Bangladeshi men. We will continue to uphold the rights of foreign workers!
6. Infiltrate other women’s organisations and stand for elections. When queried by the media, decline to comment. We know it’s bad PR practice, but we’re lawyers, we should know better
7. Ban Raffles Place’s female financial controllers from wearing pants. Singapore women should not be seen as “pandering to male hegemony in the corporate world”
8. Fann Wong for next President!
9. Reinstate forced marriages. Singapore women are simply too choosy
10. Propose new tagline: “Be Aware, be very Aware”
