The AWARE Saga: Civil Society and Public Morality in Singapore

Chapter 9 Shut Up and Sit Down! Stand Up and Speak Out!: The AWARE EGM as Performance of Civil Society in Singapore

The AWARE EGM as Performance of Civil Society in Singapore 133 133 C H A P T E R 9 C H A P T E R 9 Shut Up and Sit Down! Stand Up and Speak Out!: The AWARE EGM as Performance of Civil Society in Singapore Lai Ah Eng1 Prelude to the Performance Prelude to the Performance Some sense of the build-up and behind-the-scene developments leading to the EGM is necessary to understanding its actual performance and significance. Suffice here to summarise that at the 24th Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) Annual General Meeting (AGM) held on 28 March 2009, 9 positions out of a total of 12 of the association’s executive committee (Exco) went to new members, and that a spike in membership from a low of 253 in 2008 to about 400 had been noticed in the weeks leading up to the AGM. According to two life members whose suspicions were aroused at the meeting (which I did not attend), it was suggested to those nominated for the main positions to first participate in an AWARE sub-committee, as these positions entail experience and responsibility. As they did not retract their nominations, they were then asked to clarify their position on feminism and gender equality, since AWARE is an openly declared feminist organisation based on principles of gender equality and inclusiveness. They were also asked their position specifically on homosexuality as 134 Lai Ah Eng there was a strong suspicion that they were anti-gay.2 Their responses were not forthcoming. They were voted in, together with two other regular volunteers. In the immediate days following the new guard’s election, some alarmed members met to discuss what they suspected was a deliberate takeover and on an appropriate course of action. At one such gathering I attended, it was clarified that an already identified loophole in AWARE’s Constitution that had not been plugged through formal regulation in time was what had allowed the instant eligibility to run for office without prior volunteer service in the organisation. It was also pointed out that the majority Exco members seemed to act as a team and excluded the other minority elected members at meetings, was not responsive to questions, were high handed with AWARE staff, changed the AWARE office computer service system immediately and went about selectively acquiring confidential data. It was also revealed, through Internet search and contacts, that at least six of them had connections to the evangelical Church of Our Saviour (COOS) known for its conservative theological position on social issues. But besides that, no one knew who they were as they had never been seen at AWARE events before. The gathering discussed several points: whether there was indeed a calculated move to take over AWARE’s Exco and what might be the new guard’s intention; whether its religious background and church stand on homosexuality was a major motivating factor in the move and how this might affect its mission and agenda for AWARE; and whether its behaviour thus far indicated an exclusivist and ill-fitted approach to working with others. Should we be “doves”, gracious in defeat, call for a meeting with the new team to get to know them? Or we should be “hawks”, always alert and ready to pounce, and call for an extraordinary meeting to cast a vote of no confidence against it? What would be justifiable grounds for calling such a vote — a lack of experience and non-transparent and unreasonable behaviour in AWARE? Could their religious background and stand be confirmed and substantively used against them? Some preferred an ordinary over an extraordinary meeting as being fairer in a “let’s see how they respond” and “give them a chance” approach. Those who preferred to “vote them out” argued that the team’s behaviour thus far, coupled with their religious background and anti-homosexuality tendencies, indicated a planned conspiracy and portended a long-term danger to AWARE even as their exact motives were not yet fully understood. The AWARE EGM as Performance of Civil Society in Singapore 135 We grappled with the pros and cons of both as well as legal implications but no decision was arrived at even as the clock struck midnight. Meanwhile, events related to AWARE became public news and over the following days, the plot thickened as more events were reported. The picture that was...