SingapuraKini

Thursday, April 30, 2009

Here is another Ministry which has seemingly lost it's way. As a parent, I simply have to speak out.

From the MOE website; their mission statement:

Desired Outcomes of Education
Introduction: The Singaporean - an Individual, a Citizen
Education does two things: it develops the individual and educates the citizen.

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Education is about nurturing the whole child. Indeed, this is the traditional Asian understanding of the term. Education means developing the child morally, intellectually, physically, socially and aesthetically.
The foundation of a person is his values. From these spring his outlook on life and his goals in life. Together with the home, our schools have to work carefully and painstakingly to shape the morals of our children. Our children also have to learn to relate to other people - their elders and their peers, people who are like us and people who are different. Education also develops each child’s unique talents and abilities to the full. Education teaches him to keep fit and healthy for life. And education teaches him to appreciate the finer things in life and the beauty of the world around him.

Now lets take a look at the kind of morals the MOE is shaping in our children -

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Instead of reading all the rhetoric in the newspapers about AWARE's Comprehensive Sexual Education (CSE) programme - why don't you read it for yourself. The Basic Instructor Guide for its trainers can be found here :-

http://voicethread.com/share/468061/

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Obviously this manual is not what is shown to the parents......

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Here are some extracts - (in case it gets taken down )
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Please note - this information is targeted at 12 year olds!!!
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Page 13
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1. Anal sex - can be healthy or neutral if practiced with consent and with a condom.
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Opinion: Is the MOE, through this programme, promoting buggery? When did the anal canal become a legitimate sexual organ? Does the MOE need some educating in basic biology here?

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2. Pre-marital sex - people might place pre-marital; sex as negative, but it is really neutral.
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Opinion: Here I am, trying to teach my 4 daughters to take the high road, not to jump into bed with boys - and here is the MOE promoting promiscuity and the low road, undermining everything that good parents try to impart to their children.
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3. Virginity - is a concept which is really difficult to fix, traditionally virginity is related to the hymen. But perhaps we can also think of virginity as a state of mind?
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Opinion: Girls should be taught to respect their bodies and not use it as a pleasure tool. Virginity is not a state of mind, it is a state of being sexually untouched. That is the fact, why are they playing word games?
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4. Pleasure - sex is a pleasurable act. This is the reason why people have sex.

Opinion: "So, go ahead little girls, have a good time! Pleasure is good, therefore sex is good for you! Try it!! Sex is delinked from love, commitment, creating a family. it is simply a pleasurable act - much like watching a movie or going for a foot massage maybe....

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5. Fun - sex is meant to be fun. However like all things that we enjoy, there are some rules and regulations for sex, which you must set for yourself first. Also, you need to be able to trust the person in order to have "fun" with him. Will he stand by you in case things go wrong?
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Opinion: "Yes, it's fun, fun, fun! Will your boyfriend stand by you when you get pregnant?"

Do you really think a 12 year should be even THINKING such a thing! They have absolutely no concept of that kind of responsibility - they can hardly take care of their pencil cases! Pregnancy is seen as 'something gone wrong' - well something here is definitely wrong but it's not the pregnancy!

All children like to have fun - fun is what they have everyday of their young lives. It is highly dangerous to substitute 'sex' with the word 'fun'. The person whom the girl is having 'fun' with is not identified as husband, just some random boy it seems. No mention that this 'fun' is restricted to adults only and is definitely not child's play.

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8. Foreplay - Foreplay is the physical and sexual stimulation (kissing, touching, stroking etc) that occurs in the excitement stage of the sexual response. Foreplay increases the pleasure of sex.
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Opinion: Another exhortation to experiment and heighten the fun!
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10. Homosexual - people have different preferences for their partners. Homosexuality is perfectly normal. Just like heterosexuality, it is simply the way you are.
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Opinion: what is the societal norm here? Perfectly normal? Who gave AWARE and the MOE the right to redefine what is normal? Doesn't Singapore Law still outlaw homosexual acts?
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13. Pain- some people derive pleasure from pain during sex. However it is important that both parties consent and are comfortable with it, otherwise it is probably negative.
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Opinion: Yeow! Now the MOE is promoting masochism and sadomasochism! Again to 12 year olds! And if sex is painful and they do not like it - it is only probably negative!! Get the whips out, girls, and lets demonstrate!
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Page 15-19
Examples of Opinions held by students to be specifically debunked by trainers
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2 Homosexuality/same-sex preferences (ie gays, homos, lesbians) is unnatural.
For a homosexual, heterosexuality may seem unnatural. We do not know what causes homosexuality, or heterosexuality for that matter. Some scientific studies show that people are born like this.
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Opinion: We do not know what causes heterosexuality? What claptrap is this? The MOE has gotten awfully unscientific all of a sudden.

Does the MOE have information that the world does not know about? Please point out the studies that support this statement!

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Since lesbian, gay and bisexual people are not ill or abnormal, they don't need to be "cured". These are not abnormalities or perversions but orientations or preferences, just like being left handed or right handed.
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Opinion; Again, what are the societal norms here? Should MOE be promoting this viewpoint before society has had a chance to debate. Why does the MOE say one thing and the Law of the land another?
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3. The chances of homosexuality increase because of childhood trauma, eg child sex abuse

That question is as difficult to answer as 'what causes heterosexuality?" No one knows for sure. Some foolishly suggest that maybe a person turned lesbian because she had a bad experience with a man, or a man becomes gay because a woman mistreated him. If this were truly the case, then there should be many more lesbians and gay people, shouldn't there?

Opinion: The MOE really should get it's science and facts right. Why is heterosexuality being challenged again? Children do not have the necessary knowledge or maturity to counter facile questions such as the above. The insidious leading of innocent minds to grave and erronous conclusions.

Page 30

14. Practicing how to use a condom.

15 Now we will demonstrate and practice how to use condoms (5 penis simulators are provided )

16 Trainer will demonstrate the use of a condom and invite participants to practice.

Opinion: I don't want my innocent and highly impressionable 12 year old practicing how to use a condom. I do not want her childhood rudely ended by the intrusion of adult material. Has the MOE gone completely mad???

Why has the MOE taken an extreme liberal stance without informing Singaporean parents? In their stated mission, they work carefully and painstakingly to shape the morals of children - have they asked parents whether or not these are the morals they want imparted?? I do not give a whit about the AWARE committee and the Christian right vs the liberal left, nor do I really care about the homosexual issue - what I do care about is the quality of education my daughters receive in school and whether or not the MOE can be trusted to impart mainstream values. I am appalled at how promiscuity is encouraged, and masochism and buggery are portrayed as acceptable practices. These are not Singaporean home values.

IF you feel this material is inappropriate for a 12 year old please join in the on line petition here and write to the MOE here.

They may not have gotten any complaints before, but they are being inundated with them now.

From the MOE website:

Reply to Media Queries on MOE’s Sexuality Education Programme

5. Some parents who wrote in to the Ministry have also expressed concern over the content found in an “AWARE Comprehensive Sexuality Education: Basic Instructor Guide” that has been posted online. MOE is investigating this matter.

30 April 2009

I have 4 daughters, 3 are safely out of reach - the youngest in Secondary 1, the target group for such brainwashing (or is it abuse?).

This issue MATTERS!!

1 May 2009

Well, the MOE has now received it's complaints and is currently looking into the the programme.

This is their way out. Expect a U-turn from the MOE....

This is not about AWARE anymore, this has become a political hot potato and a potentially explosive election issue. People do NOT forget nor will they forgive if the MOE comes out pro-AWARE programme. This is about their children, their values and nothing is more important to people than the welfare of their child. If the MOE does not revert to mainstream values and kick out this objectionable programme then they are in deep trouble. Meet-the -people sessions will have angry parents bearing down on MPs to do something, schools will have parents writing in (as they are probably doing already) asking what position the school takes. This issue will not die down until the appropriate measures are taken.

MOE has to take responsibility and show some leadership.
MOE to come out with a comprehensive list of accepted mainstream values
MOE to come with a comprehensive list of what is NOT to be discussed at school
AWARE's programme must be withdrawn and not simply amended
AWARE must not be involved in sexual education
Teachers who teach non-mainstream values should be sacked
MOE to make amends by holding corrective classes for those schools that have been exposed to the AWARE programme
MOE to make a public apology for napping on the job.

Tall order?

Let's see.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=27734.274

The petition: AWARE's comprehensive sexuality education

The petition

Dear parents,

We need your help – and your signatures!

Many of us are concerned about recent press reports about ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ (CSE) programmes conducted in schools by AWARE that endorse homosexuality and anal sex as ‘normal’ or ‘neutral’.

For example some statements from the current CSE programme (as reported in "Nothing 'sneaky' about elections", Sunday Times, 26 April 2009, Prime page 6) include:
• Anal sex 'can be healthy or neutral if practised with consent and with a condom'.
• 'Avoid using the term 'husband' and use 'partner' instead, so it is more inclusive. For example, 'homosexuals have partners, not husbands'.'

If you are concerned that such programmes have been brought into our schools, and taught to our children, we would like to invite you to join us in signing the letter (you will find it below).

We hope to send this letter, with all your signatures, to the good Minister for Education to express our concern about such programmes being actually conducted in our schools.
We are confident he will give it due consideration.

With your help, we hope that our children will get the best value-added education in our home we call Singapore. We also hope that we will all be able to work with our schools in the wholesome education of our children, not least of all in the area of sexuality education.

Thank you for your support!

K F Khoo (Mdm)

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To: The Minister for Education

Dear Sir,
We write to you as concerned parents.

We refer to recent reports in the press about AWARE’s ‘comprehensive sexuality education’ that has been conducted in no fewer than 12 secondary schools.

We do not wish to comment on the ongoing events in AWARE which we consider to be its internal matter. However we do wish to express our concern that its programme, which endorses homosexuality and has been reported to describe anal sex as ‘healthy’ or ‘neutral’, has actually been conducted in our schools. It is worrying to us as our children at that age are impressionable.

We are aware of the risks associated with homosexual practices, such as higher rates of sexually transmitted infections and HIV/AIDS among such groups, as seen in countries where homosexual practices are openly embraced. This is but one of the many concerns that we have about the endorsement of homosexuality in programmes that may be conducted in our schools.

We therefore humbly request that your ministry look into this matter and help address our parental concerns as follows:

• Can schools exercise greater care in bringing in sexuality programmes in future?

• Can schools inform us parents more accurately about the contents and values of such programmes that are conducted? To merely say that parents have been informed that a certain group is conducting a programme in the school is, in our opinion, inadequate. We shall be grateful if we could be informed about contents and thrust of such programmes first, in order that our consent given for our children to attend them is fully informed.

• Can schools develop programmes that engage us parents so that we can work together with them in the education of our children, especially so in areas such as sexuality education?

Thank you very much for your kind attention and consideration, and we look forward to working even more closely with your ministry in educating the future of our nation – our children.

http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/parents_sex_ed_appeal/

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=27734.180

Aware: Real Coup by Homosexual Activists

Aware: Real Coup by Homosexual Activists

For the past week they were blasted by members of the public for an aggressive 'takeover'.

But leaders of the 'coup' have revealed to the media that the actual takeover had occurred some years back when certain elements in the organisation had used it as a platform to promote homosexuality.

In an impromptu press conference conducted yesterday at Raffles Town Club, New Aware President Josie Lau opened up on the real crisis behind the NGO that had led the new team to run for leadership positions.

“I was being very polite when I said [that Aware had lost its focus]… It has really not lost its focus but I think it has gone further than that, much, much further than that,” she said.

“It has now become a single-objective organisation. So that's what the new team is here to do: we want to bring Aware back to its original, very noble objective, which is to represent all women, to advance their cause, all women whatever religion and race in areas such as professional development, their private life, their health... We need to look at ageism, all the problems... So we should be pushing those cause."

Lau and the other new leaders, who form a third of the entire exco, were democratically elected at the NGO's annual general meeting last month but have been accused of using strong-arm tactics to gain control of the organisation in what has been negatively portrayed by public media as an act of Christian fundamentalism.

Under the leadership of ex-president Constance Singam, Aware sponsored the screening of the lesbian-themed movie Spider Lilies at its charity gala in 2007. When a concerned parent wrote in to the media asking why Aware’s choice of movie for a charity show was a film about two lesbians who fall in love, Singam said Aware embraced diversity and individual choices and was glad Singapore is now more open to discussing diversity.

In the NGO’s comprehensive sexuality education programme conducted in 30 schools for young girls aged from twelve to 18, homosexuality is regarded as a neutral rather than a negative word.

“The suggestion is that in this programme, young girls from twelve to 18 are taught that it’s okay to experiment with each other,” said Dr Thio Su Mien, the founding partner of a local law firm and first woman law dean at the National University of Singapore. Dr Thio says Aware was started by her contemporaries and friends and as a concerned party she played a part in persuading the four new exco members, namely, Ms Josie Lau, Ms Maureen Ong, Ms Jenica Chua and Ms Lois Ng to join the NGO and is presently acting as their mentor.

“And this is something which should concern parents in Singapore. Are we going to have an entire generation of lesbians?” She added that the parents to whom she had spoken about the sexuality programme were indignant. Such programmes, she noted, are not new and have been taking place in the United States and Europe.

Dr Thio insisted that she was not anti-homosexual. “I have nothing against lesbians or homosexuals personally. On a personal front, I’ve ministered, I’ve counseled them. They are in pain. And very often from families where you have abusive fathers, they do things with their daughters and the daughters revolt, rebel against society. We understand this is what it’s all about.”

On the way the NGO had gradually become a platform for the homosexual agenda, Dr Thio expressed: “I find to my dismay that Aware seems to be only very interested in lesbianism and the advancement of homosexuality, which is a man’s issue,” she said.

“Can we re-focus on the excellent objectives of Aware? Go back to its original purpose for it being an NGO?” She asked, remarking that the organisation had done great work in many areas.

Aware had also invited a Finnish activist as its speaker. The man was known to be a gender activist and started the men’s sub-committee in Aware. Dr Thio said he spoke about sexuality and noted how Finland had once discussed state-funded artificial insemination for women, leading to questions such as same-sex marriage.

Moreover the NGO had been seeing repeated moves to give male affiliate members the right to vote. The new exco questioned if this was a way to allow homosexual activist men to come under the umbrella of Aware. They were also concerned about Aware wanting to give teenagers and foreign women the right to vote as well.

In 2006, Aware held an event featuring lesbian-friendly mothers and lesbian daughters talking about themselves. The NGO had also invited well-known gay activist Alex Au to conduct a health education course on HIV.

Last year, when ex-president Constance Singam wanted to raise membership she mentioned in a newsletter that she was going to talk to SG Butterfly, a group of transvestites.

Honorary treasurer Maureen Ong said that she joined Aware because she was alarmed at the direction the NGO was heading. “I am a mother of three children, so I’m concerned that going forward, what are the children going to be taught on as part of the so-called comprehensive sexual education? I don’t want my children to say that oh, it’s all right to go and experiment with homosexuality, to experiment with anal sex, to experiment with virginity or the pill or even pre-marital sex. I’m concerned. I’m a parent. It’s shocking. How can this be done in our Singapore society?”

The new team also spoke of how two of its members, Aware president Josie Lau and honorary secretary Jenica Chua, had received a death threat after news of them being voted into the exco and how the Aware secretariat and staff members had been hostile and uncooperative.

Ms Chua said that some days ago her company’s corporate communications person called her as someone had emailed her company to say her involvement in Aware was bad for its reputation and urged the company to take action against her. She said a weblog had been set up calling on the public to boycott her business and lists her working address.

Ms Lau added that there is a weblog detailing her children’s names and their schools and that the secretariat had locked her out of her official email address. The secretariat has since been fired.

Ms Ng questioned the media’s motives for giving so much coverage to the issue and for quoting the old guard, some of whom were formerly journalists. “I have a question for the media: Why is ST pushing the envelope on our anti-gay story? I’d like to ask ST: are you playing a role in this Aware saga as well?”

It is believed that many of the 120 members who have called for an extraordinary general meeting or EOGM next month are lesbians or homosexual activists making a bid to vote out the exco by sheer numbers.

About the Homosexual Agenda

Homosexual activists maintain that homosexuality is a genetic phenomenon and natural sexuality comparable to heterosexuality. While this is neither medically proven nor supported by common majority, the lobby has been actively campaigning for the legalisation of sodomy and same-sex marriage.

It has been doing this subtly and insidiously by repeatedly emphasising the ‘stigmatisation’ of homosexuals especially by conservative Christians, who are often depicted negatively and simplistically as ‘homo-phobic’ or those who seek to bring harm to homosexual persons. This situation of ‘persecution’ is given public prominence by the secular media in its attempt to lay hold of sensational news.

By portraying the debate as an effort by ‘intolerant’ and ‘exclusive’ Christian fundamentalists to impose their religious beliefs on society at large, the lobbyists seek to shift the attention of the public from the question of their morality to the ‘danger’ and ‘threat’ of religious fundamentalism in society, against which laws should be put in place to ‘protect’ homosexual persons who are being ‘victimised’.

The stereotyping of evangelical Christians as the homosexual persecutors and homosexuals as victims of religious fundamentalism paves the way for the eventual legalisation and mainstreaming of all aspects of the homosexual lifestyle.

Activists first seek the decriminalisation of sodomy. A pivotal stage, this removes the obstacle to demands on government funding to advance 'homosexual rights'. In the U.K. government funded programmes are geared to finding the best way to familiarise school children as young as four with homosexual relationships.

The next step is to get the age of consent for heterosexual sex and homosexual sex equalised. Thirdly, anti-discrimination laws are passed to promote homosexual rights, in many cases becoming oppressive laws that infringe on the rights of others.

In the U.S. a father was arrested for criminal trespass when he refused to leave the school where his six-year-old son was studying until the principal assured him that his son would be taken out of the class where the teacher teaches on homosexuality. He filed a federal civil rights claim against the school but the judge reinforced the right of schools to teach homosexuality without parents' consent or choice to opt out.

In another case, a Canadian human rights tribunal ordered a Christian pastor to renounce his faith and never again to express moral opposition to homosexuality. He had written to the local newspaper in Alberta denouncing the advance of homosexual activism, stating: "children as young as five and six years of age are being subjected psychologically and physiologically damaging pro-homosexual literature and guidance in the public school system; all under the fraudulent guise of equal rights." He was ordered to pay $5,000 for pain and suffering caused to the complainant even though the tribunal conceded the complainant was not injured.

In the fourth and fifth steps same-sex marriage or civil unions are legalised, followed by homosexual parenthood and adoption rights.

This system has been successfully implemented in the U.S. and in Europe and Christian leaders have reason to believe that it is being aggressively initiated in Singapore.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=27734.179

Aware Executive Committee

Aware Executive Committee

Josie Lau - President

Josie, 48, is a working career mother, with two daughters aged 17 & 15. She is married to a doctor who is in private practice. She is most concerned about work-life balance and the role of mothers as a stablising factor in a family.

She is the Vice President & Head, Marketing, Cards & Unsecured Loans, Consumer Banking Group, DBS Bank Ltd.

She is responsible for driving retail usage on the credit/debit cards, through partnerships with retail merchants for offers and privileges for its base of > 1million card members. She was previously responsible for the premium segment of customers, and she launched the Treasures Amex Black Elite Card for DBS Treasures Priority Customers. To further engage this group of high net-worth customers, she regularly helped organise high-end parties/dinners/activities, such as fashion shows, private preview sales and Gala Shows such as The Phantom of the Opera.

Prior to joining the bank in 2004, she was with the Singapore Tourism Board for over 15 years, largely in the area of Events Marketing of Lifestyle Events. She was instrumental in developing iconic tourism events such as the Singapore Food Festival, Great Singapore Sale, World Gourmet Summit, etc. She wrote the blue print for the staging of Singapore Fashion Festival, with the key objective of making Singapore the window to the world’s latest in fashion trends for the region.

She co-chaired organising committees with key industry representatives such as Dr Jannie Tay, Mr Tang Wee Sung and other government officials from IE Singapore, Spring Singapopre etc.

Vice President Charlotte Wong - Vice President

Charlotte started her career in academia. She taught at primary and secondary schools and went on to lecture Sociology and Anthropology at the National University of Singapore Sociology Department. She has a PhD from the University of Kent at Canterbury UK as a Ford Foundation Scholar.

She worked for ExxonMobil for 21 years as the Recruitment, Training and Organizational Effectiveness Advisor and managed the Asia Pacific Training Centre,

the China Training Centre in Taicang, and the China Training Centre in Guangzhou. Since retiring from ExxonMobil 5 years ago, she remains a preferred consultant with the company, and also had worked with several multi-national organisations and government linked organisations.

Charlotte was the President of the Singapore Training And Development Association (STADA) for 6 terms, and the first and only Honorary Member. She was the Chairperson of the National Productivity Board Task Force on the professional Development of Trainers in Singapore 1989, and an Advisor to the Ministry of Manpower National Council for Certification of Trainers 2002. She is certified in MBTI, and Blessing & White Professional Leader of Managing Personal Growth Program.

Internationally, she was Visiting Faculty, Gestalt Institute of Cleveland International Organization & Systems Development Program 2000 to 2006.

Honorary Treasurer Maureen Ong Lee Keang - Honorary Treasurer

MAUREEN holds a First Class Honours degree in Accountancy from the University of Singapore and is a Fellow Certified Public Accountant member of both the Institute of Certified Public Accountants of Singapore and CPA Australia.

She has 30 years of experience in finance, tax and treasury management in various industries, having started her career with DBS Bank before moving on to Deloitte& Touche and the SembCorp Group.

Maureen’s last appointment was Executive Vice President where she was responsible for corporate planning, mergers & acquisitions, project financing and performance management of the SembCorp Group of companies. Prior to assuming this office, Maureen was Group Chief Financial Officer of SembCorp Logistics from 2004 to 2006 after spending 10 years in SembCorp Utilities where she last held the position of Group CFO. She was the key driver behind the successful project financing of SembCorp’s integrated utilities and energy business in Singapore, the United Kingdom, Vietnam and China.

She is interested in community work and wishes to serve in areas where women and children are concerned. She is currently a volunteer with CITY Community Services and works with primary school pupils in neighbourhood schools.

Asst Honorary Treasurer Chew I-Jin - Asst Honorary Treasurer

I-JIN graduated with a master degree from Cambridge University and is currently a lecturer in architecture.

She has been a member of Aware since May 1995 and previously served on the Exco in 1995/96 as well as 2008/9 as the Honorary Treasurer.

She is proud to have been part of Aware and amongst women of strength, compassion, intellect and integrity. She is a dedicated feminist and would like to contribute to the eradication of all forms of discrimination.

Her contributions to AWARE include:
a) Honorary Treasurer (1995/6 term).
b) Member of Media Watch sub-committee headed by Braema Mathi.
c) Member of Fund raising sub-committee e.g. Walkathon headed by Zaibun Siraj.
d) Contributed to “Population Research” headed by Tan Joo Hymm and forum, “Beyond Babies: National Duty or Personal Choice?”.
e) Coordinator for relocation from Race Course Road to Aware Centre at Dover Road (1998).
f) Honorary Treasurer (2008/9 term).
g) Coordinator for Centre renovation in 2008.
h) Coordinator of “Singles in Singapore” research project (2008/9).
i) Asst Hon Treasurer (2009/10 term).

Honorary Secretary Jenica Chua - Honorary Secretary

Jenica is a management consultant with a top-tier business technology company. Her customers are mostly MNCs, and she helps them to review their business requirements and enablement and help them to save millions of dollars a year.

She believes her business background would be useful in communicating and reaching out to other women in the corporate world, and also help create initiatives for the betterment of women. When she looks at the society, she thinks our young women have been hit very hard by commercialism and there needs to be more healthy role models. This is something which she hopes to help improve.

Jenica Chua also has previous experience in community work, having spent 2 years providing support and counselling for women in prison aftercare, and also served in the capacity of secretary for a group of volunteers. She hopes her contribution to AWARE will bring about the betterment of women in Singapore.

Asst Honorary Secretary Sally Ang Koon Hian - Asst Honorary Secretary

Sally holds a Second Class Honours degree in Law from the University of Singapore.

She has more than 30 years of experience in the legal sector. Having started her career with the Legal Service Commission, she served as a legal officer in different postings in the various government legal sectors.

She served as an Assistant Director of Legal Aid Bureau, an Assistant Official Assignee & Public Trustee and as Deputy Registrar of Trade Marks & Patents before assuming the post of Registrar.

Sally served also as a Legal Officer in the Land Office dealing with all legal matters concerning State land, land acquisition, alienation of land etc. In 1998 she left the Legal Service to join the private legal sector as a consultant with Messrs Fong Partners & Associates. Her area of practice covers family law cases, property, trade marks, bankruptcy, liquidation, contracts, probate and administration and accident claims.

She was appointed a Commissioner for Oaths and a Notary Public. In 2004 she established her own legal practice. Sally is interested in the plight of women who are financially unable to afford legal advice/counsel in fighting for their rights in matrimonial matters. She has acted as counsel for women in matrimonial cases assigned by the Legal Aid Bureau.

Executive Committee Member Peggy Leong - Executive Committee Member

Peggy holds a Bachelor of Arts degree with double majors in Psychology and Sociology from the National University of Singapore and a post-graduate diploma in education from the National Institute of Education.

She is a very experienced educator who has taught thousands of students in her 16-year teaching career. She started teaching in a primary school and subsequently moved on to teach tertiary students. She had been awarded twice the Teaching Award which celebrates outstanding tertiary educators.

Peggy is interested in youth and community work. She has conducted numerous counselling and helping workshops in both English and Chinese in Singapore and overseas.

Executive Committee Member Caris Lim - Executive Committee Member

Caris is a freelance social worker/counsellor/trainer. She has a degree in social work the University of South Australia and a diploma in counseling practice from Counselling and Care centre in Singapore.

She has 9 years of experience in social service and has worked with a diverse group of clients eg inmates and their families, women, single parents with children, teenagers and elderly women.

She has been a member of AWARE since 2000 and was a member of AWARE
Executive Committee 2008/9. She is a co-ordinator of AWARE Direct Services – Helpline and Support Services. Helpliner and Counselor.

She is a member of CEDAW, Workplace Sexual Harassment, AWARE Training Institute sub committees. She is also a trainer of AWARE Comprehensive Sexuality Education programme.

Executive Committee Member Lois Ng - Executive Committee Member

Lois is a social entrepreneur and she spent the last 7 years making a difference to the lives of the disabled through her business, Studio You Pte Ltd. She hires people with different disabilities to work together to produce gifts for the tourist and corporate markets, and competing on quality and creativity.

Her signature range of gift-with-tile is called Tile Story, changing the appearance of a plain dull tile and creating a use for it, to tell the story of empowering the disabled who have low education and little work experience to learn a skill.

She has a Bachelor degree in Business Administration from the National University of Singapore and a professional diploma in creative entrepreneurship.

She is an ex-journalist with Singapore Press Holdings. She worked in China and Australia for a total of 5 years, as an advertising manager and volunteer worker respectively.

Executive Committee Member Irene Yee - Executive Committee Member

Irene has more than 10 years of professional experience in the financial services industry in both foreign and Singapore firms. Her career in the financial sector includes banking, investments advisory and personal financial advisory. She holds qualifications as a certified financial planner (CFP), and in training and assessment.

She holds a Masters degree in Business from an Australian university, and an Economics degree from a liberal arts university in the United States. Irene has been involved in community volunteer activities since 1988. Irene enjoys travelling, music and a good book.

http://forums.delphiforums.com/sunkopitiam/messages?msg=27734.178