Who are the real winners and losers of the AWARE fiasco?

Who are the real winners and losers of the AWARE fiasco?

When two groups of women slug it out with each other openly in public, who is the biggest winner?

Well, it appears that the SPH journalists and by extension the PAP government are the only real benefactors from the recent AWARE debacle.

Few Singaporeans were even aware of AWARE’s existence previously, but given the extensive coverage given by the media on the rampant mudslinging from both sides, AWARE has found itself in a limelight which it rather not be.

The fracas first broke out in the aftermath of AWARE’s tumultuous AGM a few weeks ago which saw a group of newcomers coming literally from nowhere to seize control of the organization.

The befuddled Old Guards who found themselves squeezed out of every position contested in the exco started questioning the motives of the new leaders who had remained tight-lipped over the agenda.

The ensuing confusion allowed the media to step in to take advantage and control of the situation to milk it for maximum publicity. The journalists had a field day depicting a “cat fight” involving various outstanding prominent women in the community.

Unfortunately, what should remain as a purely internal matter ended up with both sides hanging out their “dirty linen” in public to dry for all to see which the journalists gleefully obliged.

Not a single day passed without the AWARE fiasco being splashed on the headlines of most national papers be it some mumblings of discontent from a long-serving member or sensational revelation of the backgrounds of the new exco members.

More incredibly, DBS stoked the controversy further by issuing a rather curt public admonishment of its Vice-President Josie Lau through the media for “insubordination” in accepting the position of President at AWARE.

“AWARE” and “Josie Lau” collectively became one of the most searched words on Singapore’s search engines.

Even Singapore men who usually showed little interest in AWARE’s activities felt fit to jump into the fray with some writing to the ST Forum to express their support for the Old Guards.

Blogosphere wasted no time in hitching on the bandwagon with many blogs expressing their dismay and outrage at the “constitutional” coup launched by right-wing Christian conservatives to take over a supposedly secular, liberal and non-discriminatory NGO in order to further its own agenda.

Josie Lau thought she managed to secure a coup by clarifying the stance of her new exco on CNA “Talking Point”, but her non-committal responses to questions of sexuality left more doubts in the minds of viewers instead.

While supporters of both sides continue their shadow boxing over the internet, have anybody stopped and pondered over the real agenda of the media? Have we been unwittingly fooled and misled by the media again?

With due respect to AWARE, it has only 200 plus members and cannot claim to represent the interests of the majority of the female population in Singapore.

So why is the media kicking up a fuss about?

Is the media circus surrounding the AWARE saga another ploy to distract Singaporeans from more pressing issues at hand such as NEA’s role in the Geylang Serai food poisoning outbreak, GIC’s policy of giving out low-interest or interest free loans to its staff and the Public Order Act to further curtail our civil liberties?

Obviously the internal affairs of AWARE have been blown out of proportions by the media to lessen the heat on the PAP government whose various missteps were put under intense public scrutiny of late.

Regardless of the outcome of the AWARE’s EGM on 2 May, there will be no winners, only losers. The battle can be fought and won over the elections, but the war has long been lost.

The brand name of AWARE which was built up painstakingly over the years was tarnished the moment its leaders chose to speak to the media instead of one another.

In a moment of folly, they have allowed the media to hijack their cause and set the agenda for their own vested interests.

Who are the real winners then?

The mainstream media which has seen a leap in their readership to reverse a declining trend and ultimately their political masters who must be relieved that the attention of Singaporeans remained focused on AWARE instead of themselves.

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