| Envelope of white powder meant for senior pastor | |||||
| SCDF confirms powder is not hazardous | |||||
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FIRST, some former Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) exco members received death threats.
Now, the senior pastor of the church where six of them attend has also received something that smacks of the anthrax powder scare in the US eight years ago. An envelope containing white powder was sent to the Church of Our Saviour office at Margaret Drive, in Queenstown, last Thursday. The envelope was addressed to the senior pastor of the Anglican church but it was not known if the name of the pastor, Reverend Derek Hong, was indicated. Police spokesman William Goh said church staff alerted the police after receiving the envelope. He said the police and a Singapore Civil Defence Force (SCDF) hazardous materials team were then sent to the church. The SCDF team examined the envelope and its contents and found the powder to be non-hazardous, said SCDF public affairs director N Subhas. Police investigations are ongoing. Since 2001, there have been several scares involving white powder worldwide. Fear The fear was that the powder could have been anthrax spores, which can cause death if inhaled. A source said he and a few other people were with Rev Hong several days after the incident when he told them about the envelope. He said RevHong did not say if any letter had accompanied the envelope but thought it was connected to the Aware saga. The source said: 'We were aghast.' The church spokesman told The New Paper that he did not know about the incident but added that RevHong looked all right when he met him yesterday. The discovery of the envelope came amid the tumultuous events surrounding Aware. On 28Mar, a large group of new Aware members attended its annual general meeting and elected a team of unknowns into power. Mrs Claire Nazar, who was elected Aware president, quit after just 11 days in office, and was replaced by Ms Josie Lau. It was later discovered that Ms Lau and several of the new leaders attend the Church of Our Saviour, which takes a strong stand against homosexuality. Senior lawyer Thio Su Mien, who also attends the church, later revealed she had encouraged the women to join Aware because she felt it was promoting lesbianism and homosexuality. On 23Apr, the new Aware leaders said that they and their families had been threatened and even received death threats. They reported them to the police. Ms Lau told the media that a death threat addressed to her husband, Aware affiliate member Alan Chin, and to Aware honorary secretary Jenica Chua, was sent to Aware's office on 14Apr. Many people, including members of the Aware old guard, condemned the death threats. Four days before the church received the envelope, in a sermon on 26Apr, RevHong said the church was against discrimination of homosexuals in areas where rights are extended to every citizen, but added that they were against any form of homophobic expression. He said that the church was against the promotion of the lifestyle and any programme that promotes homosexual behaviour as normal. He said: 'It's not a crusade against the people but there's a line that God has drawn for us, and we don't want our nation crossing that line.' On 30Apr, the president of the National Council of Churches of Singapore (NCCS), Dr John Chew, said NCCS did not condone churches getting involved in recent matters related to Aware, nor did it condone pulpits being used for the purpose. The day after Dr Chew's statement, Rev Hong said he regretted using the pulpit to mobilise support in the ongoing dispute over the Aware leadership. He said his actions on the pulpit had aroused some tension and he would be more sensitive to similar situations in future. At an acrimonious extraordinary general meeting on Saturday, Ms Lau and the rest of the Aware exco were ousted, and a new executive committee led by Ms Dana Lam-Teo took over. |
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