New Aware exco of fresh and old faces vows safeguards

New Aware exco of fresh and old faces vows safeguards

Weekend • May 3, 2009

Loh Chee Kong
cheekong@mediacorp.com.sg


THE Association of Women for Action and Research has a new leadership team again, after a

landslide no-confidence vote on Saturday night saw the one-month-old executive committee

finally agree to step down - though not without a fight.

And the new team appointed at the extraordinary general meeting (EGM), a marathon six-hour

session attended by 3,000 members, immediately announced steps to prevent another March 28-

style takeover of the advocacy group.

“Its important to put some measures in our Constitution to make sure that something like this

doesnt happen again,” writer Dana Lam, a past president of Aware who made her return to the

top position, told reporters.

Specifically, the new team will be looking at enacting more stringent criteria for members

seeking posts on the Exco, including the requirement for candidates to have served at least

one year as a volunteer on a subcommittee.

In fact, Ms Lam revealed, such changes were already discussed prior to the leadership grab at

Aware's annual general meeting in March, but they “were not put into effect in time”.

The EGM, due to start at 2pm, was delayed by 40 minutes due to the huge crowd which turned up,

with many having signed up as members in recent days and more registering on the spot.

“We heard and read a lot in the press. So weve come to see, hear and feel for ourselves,”

said Ms Irene Low, a corporate trainer.

The meeting showed up the good and bad sides of both factions, with constant heckling and

booing of speakers - notably, against self-proclaimed “feminist mentor” Thio Su Mien - while

there were cheers for members who made heartfelt pleas for level heads.

The vote of no-confidence saw some 1,400 members calling for the incumbent Exco led by Ms Josie Lau to step down, with about 750 voting the other way.

Despite Ms Laus protestations that her Exco was not bound by the Aware constitution to step

down, they finally agreed to resign at about 9.15pm under severe pressure, more than an hour

after the vote results.

Elections for the new leadership then followed immediately.

While elated with the conclusion to what has been a “traumatic” period, Ms Lam concedes that

hard work lies ahead for the group - not least repairing the damage done by the internal

strife.

She said: “The biggest challenge is to restore confidence within Aware and outside. We will

have a lot of work to do to reassure our supporters, members and staff that things are not

just the same, that we are moving forward.”

The new Exco line-up sees the return of several Old Guards to the helm: Ms Chew I-Jin as vice

-president; Ms Corrinna Lim as assistant honorary secretary; Ms Tan Joo Hym as honorary treasurer; and Ms Margaret Thomas as a member.

Half the 12-women team were new faces, including fresh graduate Joanna D'Cruz, doctorate

student Martha Lee and new media practitioner, Hafizah Osman.

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