Positive ending to a semi-revolution at Suntec City

Positive ending to a semi-revolution at Suntec City

SINGAPORE - What the whole of Singapore witnessed at the Suntec City was people’s power, women’s power to be exact.

From the very start, Miss Josie Lau’s campaign was doomed for failure. She and the members of her team were met with strong boos and catcalls at every turn. They tried to speak, only to be drowned out by a chorus of noises. This prompted observers to question if we are really witnessing democracy in action. This is a valid point nonetheless. The basic tenet of a democracy is that anyone harboring a particular viewpoint should be given the right to express his or her opinion.

However, the converse can be argued that this event is somewhat like a semi-revolution in which the people’s power was in full demonstration. Semi because it wasn’t about taking to the streets waving placards and violent (physical) struggles, and a revolution because the ‘citizens’ of AWARE rallied together in a rare show of power to kick out their ‘government’. The sentiments were pretty obvious, 65% placed a vote of no confidence in Miss Lau’s leadership.

Despite the negative sentiments, Miss Lau did not crumble under pressure. Save for Miss Sally Ang’s “Shut up and sit down” hiccup, her team coped decently with the proceedings even though much of it went against them. In spite of the negativities behind her actions in orchestrating the initial takeover of AWARE followed by the alienation of the old guards, Miss Lau definitely deserves the credit for her high Adversity Quotient (AQ). Not many people can maintain a dignified demeanor in a high pressure cauldron like this, and Miss Lau has passed the test in this aspect with flying colors.

The old guards have a part to play in this positive ending too. Despite their differences, they rallied the audience in a round of applause to Miss Lau and company. And Miss Lau to her credit has stated that she will make use of her marketing and fund raising expertise to continue contributing at AWARE.

Now, normality has resumed at AWARE with a familiar leadership at the helm. There are still issues for the newest exco to handle, and one of which is the settlement of the huge expenditure incurred by the previous leadership under Miss Lau. Maybe, it is time for Miss Lau to start putting her marketing and fund raising expertise to good use!

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