The obsequiousness of the Straits Times
Newspapers are meant to disseminate news or information of public interest, but is the Straits Times conforming to this noble ideal? What has the failure of Dr. Lee Wei Ling in her MRCP examination in Edinburg in 1982 to do with public interest is something only the Straits Times is able to fathom. If Dr. Lee's missive is considered to be of public interest, then genuine letters of public interest should not be rejected out of hand. Is the public asked to believe that this is not because Dr. Lee is the daughter of MM Lee?
More than a month ago, the Sunday Times gave prominence to a missive by Dr. Lee purporting to give a low-down on her decision to remain single. Again, what possible public interest that this had on the general public will only be known to the obsequious Straits Times group. Even on that occasion she professed to be upfront on the reasons for her remaining single, but could she have left some important details out? It was common knowledge, especially among her contemporaries in Boston, USA, that she was romantically involved with a young Singapore Indian from a reputable judicial family in Singapore. It was a serious affair and could have led to a tying of knot but for an opposition from a not entirely unexpected quarter. Dr. Lee's mother,nicknamed the empress dowager, for some esoteric reason best known to herself, decided against the Indo-Sino romance which came as no small blow to the two love-birds, especially Dr. Lee. Being brought up in strict Chinese tradition, especially where filial piety was concerned,Dr. Lee had no choice but to show obeisance to her mother's wish. What role MM Lee played in all this was not very clear but he would not have the audacity to disagree with the dowager. There was no reason to think that, if not opposed, the marriage would not have been a happy one, but by this cruel twist, Dr. Lee is now consiged to a life of solitariness, perhaps not without some merriness.
It may be that Dr. Lee finds solace in sharing her solitariness with her readers and finds it convenient doing it via the Straits Times column. The Stratis Times may be doing a service to her because of her father but the newspaper should be careful of double standards. Would the
newspaper provide the same kind of service to other lonely hearts?
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Sunday, May 3, 2009
More than a thousand turn up for Aware EOGM
More than a thousand turn up for Aware EOGM
Saturday, 2 May 2009
BREAKING NEWS: The Old Guards of Aware have managed to gain majority support for their vote of no confidence in the new executive committee. The results of the vote is 1,414 in support of the vote, while 761 voted against it.
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New exco urges members to give a huge round of applause to outgoing exco (Josie’s committee).
New Chairperson Zaibu Siraj and NEW exco stand onstage and says to cheering audience: “Without you, the new exco would not be onstage.” You are brilliant! I thank everybody on behalf of the new Exco and the past presidents.” I am grateful to everyone of you, to create history in Singapore, to see civil society restored. And more importantly to see that the right voice of women has a place in Singapore.”
New President Dana Lam: “You know what’s the best thing today? Today we saw we have so many smart, witty, and gorgeous women in Singapore!” This win has been a win for the whole of civil society in Singapore. Singaporeans from near and far have come together to support the cause. Thank you.
Dana reassures the members: “We will work together to make the association even better.”
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In a dramatic turn of event, the Josie Lau’s committee is back!
Josie Lau: “We note the outcome of no confidence. The exco has decided to graciously step down and the team hopes that AWARe will return to its original roots in the Constitution”.
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NEW EXCO VOTED IN (we apologize if the names are spelled wrongly - we’ll change them when we receive confirmation)
Dana Lam voted in as President of AWARE.
Chew I Jin nominated by Poonan and seconded by Braema Mathi for the post of “Vice President”. Chew I Jin is voted in as Vice President of AWARE.
Honorary Secretary Yap Chang Wi
Corrina Lim voted in as Assistant Honorary Secretary.
Honorary Treasurer – Tan Jun Hin.
Assistant Treasurer - Lim Xiaoyun
Committee members: Joanna Decruz, Hafizah Osman, Margaret Thomas, Nancy Griffins and two others
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No one from the current exco (Josie Lau and gang) turned up by 8.50pm.
Zaibu Siraj is voted in as chairperson.
Motion of removal was proposed and seconded by many members of audience. Those who are against the motion (by having the entire current exco removed and to hereby elect a new exco) were told to raise their hands. There were 2 people opposing this motion - and motion was proclaimed carried.
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The new exco is “on their way back” from deliberation. Another 5 minutes of deliberation will be extended to them. Braema apologizes if they appear “a bit silly” - by making pronouncements and going back on pronoucements - but qualifies that they are “trying to be kind”. Members, legal counsel and all have been notified that the new exco has until 8.50pm to return. It is 8.42pm now.
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“ON behalf of the 160 members, I declare that by their conduct and action, we declare that the current exco - the new exco - has indeed resigned.” says Braema Mathi, to cheering crowds. “And now we’ll take our seats and go to the next level”, which is to vote in the next committee.
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Whereabouts of the new exco appear unknown - the legal counsel is also trying to contact the current exco and there is no contact.
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Braema Mathi calling for Josie Lau and Maureen Ong and Lois Ng and the rest of exco committing to come back to resume their place onstage. The new exco has taken more than 15 minutes - till now - to deliberate, after the vote of no confidence. No one - till now - has appeared onstage to Braema Mathi’s calls.
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New guards leaves to consider resignation. Old guard will move motion of removal if they don’t resign. After the conclusion of removal, old guards will run another election to elect another exco.
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Old guards giving new exco time to step down.
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Old guards asking new guards to step down. New guards (namely Josie Lau) saying the motion might not be binding.
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Results:
1,414 votes in support of no confidence in the current exco.
761 votes not in support of no confidence in current exco.
The hall is going crazy with the audience screaming and shouting and cheering.
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Results of no confidence vote is about to be announced.
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Braema Mathi
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Director of HOME, the organisation for migrant workers, Bridget Lew, says moral leadership and the “spirit of Christ” is to embrace all. “Do not takeover an organisation using the letter of the law.” The crowd gives her a standing ovation.
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Counting of votes is still on-going.
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Braema Mathi says her dismissal was without any “due manners, due process” and also the dissolution of the CEDAW committee. Sally Ang, new exco, said Braema Mathi did not submit draft of CEDAW report to her when “it’s due”. Braema responded by saying that “we’re not late, not inefficient” and that Sally Ang’s words were “significantly defamatory”. She added that the report was not due until 2010 but that Josie Lau had disbanded the CEDAW sub-committee.
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Thio Su Mien addressing the audience earlier
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Braema Mathi was not sacked from her position in Aware, says new exco. She had not submitted the draft shadow report as requested by the new exco. Braema Mathi, however, says she did respond and asked for a meeting with the new exco and that she also offered to submit a “verbal report” which was rejected by the new exco. Braema Mathi was in charge of the CEDAW project.
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A member of Aware, in the audience, says never in her life has she ever been told to “shut up and sit down” and she’s appalled that in a grown-up setting, one exco member could shout this. “Today is the time to stand up and speak up, “she said, “not shut up and sit down.”
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Siew Kum Hong, legal counsel for the old guards
Results of vote of no confidence to be out shortly. Constance Singam is told results will be out soon. She urges members to take “result in good spirit” and that there should be a “good ending, whicever way.”
—–
Legal counsel to new exco says the general meeting must agree to exco’s expenses for the year by secret ballot.
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An academic on feminist theories, a member of the audience, says to the new exco: You cannot speak for one marginalised group, eg. women, if you exclude all others on the grounds of race, religion, linguistic orientation, sexuality orientation.” She went on to say that internatinal human rights activists have high regards for (old) Aware, which has been “chipping away like woodpeckers to make a dent.” “Please don’t undermine its international credibility by your thoughtless actions.”
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Maureen Ong estimates total cost for the new exco’s one month in office to be $100,000. audience members point out constitution which only authorises exco to spend up to $20,000. Audience members call for exco to reimburse the excess out of their own pocket.
—–
Maureen Ong, new exco, says the “rough estimate” for the total cost of holding today’s event is $90,000, which include the cost for engaging security personnel, sound system, etc.
—–
Results on the vote of no confidence expected to be out soon. Stay tuned.
—–
“We are passionate about our values,” shouts an audience member. “Do you see passion in the faces of the new exco?”
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Dana Lam, former president of Aware
Josie Lau says “circumstances” had forced the move to a new venue and that the exco had “discretion” to decide on this. She said it would have taken too long to seek members’ permission.
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“You are ultra-vires to constitution by spending more than $20,000″, old guard member who pioneered the Aware legal clinic.
—–
—-
Maureen Ng, new exco, explains that the Expo, which was the original venue for the meeting, rejected their application because the Aware membership was more than 2,000. She reveals that the booking of the “only location” suitable was at Suntec City and that it costs $18,000 to rent the hall. In total, it costs $85,000 to hold today’s event. “We have to find a venue to accomodate all members,” she says.
—-
Audience is demanding to know how much is being spent on the EOGM at Suntec City. The exco is not answering, not revealing how much it is spending. The Aware constitution says that if it’s more than $20,000, the members’ agreement will have to be sought. Crowd is shouting “Answer! Answer!” One person has been escorted out of the hall by the police for shouting and asking about how much it costs to book the exhinbition hall at Suntec for today’s meeting.
—-
Josie Lau says she was under the impression that she would be working with Constance Singam and Claire Nazar when she joined Aware.
Josie Lau clarifies but denies that she knows the other exco members intimately. She’s addressing some issues which have been raised, such as the lock change.
—-
The meeting is adjourned for 10 minutes.
—-
There’s wrangling over some constitutional amendments which the new guards want to put to the vote.
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Counting of votes in progress now.
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Ballot papers are being collected.
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Voting has begun.
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The vote is expected to be a landslide win for the old guards, judging by the overwhelming support for them among the audience.
—-
Proposer and seconder for the resolution on the vote of no confidence being asked for. Vote to begin shortly.
—-
Thio Su Mien calls herself a”lion-hearted pioneer”. She asks the audience to “respect your elders”. She explains that the reason she calls herslf a “feminist mentor” was because she was studied in a book which mentioned her. (It’s unclear what she actually said as the audience was shouting and screaming at her as she spoke.) The audience effectively shouted Thio Su Mien down.
—-
Audience jeers at Thio Su Mien.
—-
Thio Su Mien is called to speak.
—-
Haifzah, a new Aware member: “Where is the diversity?… [You] represent one race, one faith and most worship at the same church.”
—-
Josie Lau asks for right of reply to accusations, otherwise it is “undemocratic”, she says.
—-
Constance Singam: “Trust, respect and honour the achievements of past members. “Where were you when parents were confronted with work life issues… where were yo when women were being battered? Where were you?” The audience chants, “Where were you? Where were you?”
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Josie Lau's exco resigned "for the sake of AWARE"
Josie Lau's exco resigned "for the sake of AWARE"
By Alicia Wong, TODAY | Posted: 03 May 2009 0037 hrs
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 AWARE EGM on Saturday, May 2 | ||||||||||
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SINGAPORE : They decided to "graciously resign" from the exco although they were not legally bound to do so, said the AWARE exco which lost a no-confidence vote at its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Saturday.
"We need not step down, but we considered it and came to the conclusion that for the sake of AWARE, we would step down," said Ms Maureen Ong who had been the honorary treasurer.
Wishing the new exco "all the best," AWARE president of less than two months Ms Josie Lau said she hopes AWARE will return to its original roots in accordance to its constitution and continue to contribute to the advancement of women.
The bitter leadership tussle between the two groups - made up of the old guards including those who were AWARE's founding members, and the new guards - had led to the no-confidence vote at the EGM.
At a post-EGM news conference, Ms Lau also responded to criticisms raised over the S$90,000 spent in the past month under her watch, of which S$23,000 went to renting the exhibition halls at the Suntec convention centre for Saturday's meeting.
Ms Lau said: "I am sure we are very above board in those expenditures, given the circumstances surrounding events in the last few days. We had to spend what was spent."
Going forward, Ms Charlotte Wong Hock Soon who stepped down as vice-president said she would be happy to contribute to AWARE in the area of education if invited to do so by the newly elected exco.
Ms Wong is a former sociology lecturer at the National University of Singapore. - TODAY
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Newly-elected AWARE Exco to amend constitution
Newly-elected AWARE Exco to amend constitution
By Loh Chee Kong, TODAY | Posted: 02 May 2009 2250 hrs
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SINGAPORE : Future candidates seeking office on the executive committee (Exco) of AWARE may have to be a volunteer with the women's group for at least year before they are eligible to do so.
The newly-elected president of AWARE, Ms Dana Lam, said this is one of several more stringent criteria in the constitutional amendments her Exco will be looking into.
This is to prevent another leadership grab similar to the one that happened on March 28, when a group of unknown faces who had joined the women's organisation in recent months, gathered enough votes to take over the leadership at AWARE.
Ms Lam, 56, was speaking to the media after a marathon six-hour extraordinary general meeting on Saturday which saw that Exco resign, and Ms Lam's Exco elected.
The most immediate tasks, said Ms Lam, are to reclaim ownership of its Dover Crescent premises, including removing the CCTVs put in place by the new guard and to revive the work of the sub-committees which had stalled as a result of the saga.
"The biggest challenge is to restore confidence within AWARE itself and the people outside. We will have to do a lot of work to reassure our supporters, members and staff that things are just not going to be the same, that we are moving forward," Ms Lam said.
The new Exco - hailed by Ms Lam for its diversity of races and religions - sees the return of several Old Guards to the helm, but half the 12-women line-up were new faces, including fresh graduate Joanna D'Cruz, doctorate student Martha Lee and new media practitioner, Hafizah Osman.
Meanehile, the Singapore Council of Women's Organisations (SCWO) said it is pleased to note that AWARE has reached a resolution in a democratic manner.
In a statement, President of SCWO, Dr Ann Tan said SCWO would like to underscore once again the need for civil societies to function as and remain as secular organisations so that all will stand to benefit from their good works. And that it trusts that AWARE will fulfil the mandate that they have been given to carry on with their work.
SCWO looks forward to working with AWARE to achieve their common goals for the well being of the women of Singapore. - TODAY/ms/ls
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AWARE's new Exco has spent some S$90,000 since taking office
AWARE's new Exco has spent some S$90,000 since taking office
Posted: 02 May 2009 2050 hrs
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Josie Lau at the AWARE press conference | ||||||||||
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SINGAPORE : The President of the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) Josie Lau has said the new executive commitee (Exco) of AWARE has spent some S$90,000 since it took office in March.
It spent some S$20,000 hosting the extraordinary general meeting (EGM) at Suntec on Saturday.
Ms Lau disclosed these figures after members asked the new Exco to explain the expense of hosting the meeting at Suntec.
Under AWARE's constitution, the organisation can spend up to S$20,000 a month.
Members said their approval was not given to allow the Exco to spend beyond the capped amount.
The Old Guard said the new Exco had refused to meet them to discuss the logistics of hosting the EGM.
The new Exco's legal counsel said the new EXCO has to be accountable for the money spent if it is members' request. - CNA/ms
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New Exco of AWARE given vote of no confidence
New Exco of AWARE given vote of no confidence
By Pearl Forss, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 02 May 2009 2015 hrs
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SINGAPORE: The new executive committee (Exco) of Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) has been given a vote of no confidence, almost six hours after the extraordinary general meeting at Suntec City started.
The vote of no confidence was passed against the new Exco with 1414 votes to 761 votes.
Later, the motion to remove the new Exco from office was passed, and the motion to elect a new president was also passed.
Ms Josie Lau and her exco have stepped down.
Former president Dana Lam was elected as the new President.
The old guard of AWARE had tabled a vote of no confidence in the new Exco after the new Exco was voted in at an annual general meeting at the end of March amid much controversy.
Auditing firm Deloitte was tasked to count the votes at Saturday's meeting.
Only ordinary members are allowed to vote. AWARE has 3,000 members, up from some 300 members a month ago.
The new Exco said it wanted to bring AWARE back to its "original cause", as it alleged that the Old Guard was steering AWARE into becoming a single purpose organisation, overly concerned with promoting lesbianism.
It was dramatic marathon session which started at 2.40pm.
One Malay Muslim woman said she was not comfortable with an-all Christian and all-Chinese group representing a secular group like AWARE. And members of the Christian faith stood up and said the action of the new Exco set back constructive dialogue between Christians and secularists in Singapore.
Over 90 per cent of the people who spoke up said they were against the encroachment of religious values on a secular space.
"Race, religion were never an issue. We welcome women of all races, culture, religion and come and serve on the subcommittee," said former AWARE president Lau.
But clearly, the crowd was not won over.
"We are here because we were deeply troubled by how this executive committee came to power. We are here because we are deeply troubled by the usurpation of civic space, and the lack of respect for the values of pluralism, democracy that this new executive committee has demonstrated," said one member of the audience.
"AWARE is about inclusiveness, AWARE in helping women help everybody, male and female. And whatever their sexual orientation can be, it does not matter, because they are first and foremost a person. A human being and that's what AWARE is about," said another.
Emotions ran high and at times, Ms Lau called on security guards to escort members of the Old Guard out, though the order was not eventually carried out.
The new Exco had disallowed Channel NewsAsia from bringing its cameras in when the meeting started, but at 4pm, Channel NewsAsia's reporter managed to walk in unopposed as security guards were busy trying to control agitated members of the crowd.
And many members of AWARE were also twittering and updating their blogs from the venue.
One member said: "We are here because we were deeply troubled by how this Exco came to power. We are here because we are troubled for the usurpation of civic space and the lack of respect for the values of pluralism, democracy that this new Exco has demonstrated."
Another member noted: "AWARE is about inclusiveness. AWARE helps everybody, male, female, and whatever their sexual orientation is, it does not matter because they are first and foremost a human being. That is what AWARE is about."
Meanwhile, there may also be a financial dispute at issue.
Under the constitution, the exco is not allowed to spend more than S$20,000 and if they do, they must consult members.
The exco that was voted out declared they had spent S$90,000 in the last month since they took power some two months ago.
An outraged members of AWARE said the money could be put to better use.
"I am concerned, in fact saddened, to see the amount of money spent on this event that could have been directed to better causes," said one AWARE member.
They said such "cheque book" mentality is unacceptable in a non-governmental organisation (NGO), where every cent counts.
Members said the new Exco has to be individually accountable for that money spent, so there is a high chance there could be a lawsuit coming up. - CNA/ms/ls
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Some 3,000 people turn up for AWARE EGM
Some 3,000 people turn up for AWARE EGM
By Cheryl Lim/Tan Yew Guan, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 02 May 2009 1833 hrs
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SINGAPORE : There was an overwhelming turnout for the extraordinary general meeting of Association of Women for Action and Research on Saturday.
As a result, the meeting venue at Suntec City had to be expanded to accommodate some 3,000 people.
Most people turned up to have their voices heard.
One person said: "I have a stand, I am here to voice it."
Another added: "I just find that AWARE is an all-inclusive group and they should stay as such."
A third commented: "I don't like what I am seeing. So I am here to vote."
Queues started forming as early as three hours before the meeting was supposed to start.
It is a members-only meeting. Just about a month ago, AWARE's membership stood at just 300. But on Saturday, almost 3,000 people turned up.
The meeting has been dubbed a showdown between the Old Guard and the New Exco.
Supporters of the new Exco, wearing red shirts, had accused the Old Guard of straying from women's issues and promoting homosexuality.
Supporters of the Old Guard, wearing white T-shirts, had alleged that the new Exco members have brought the issue of religion into the secular organisation.
The meeting started about half hour late. But everyone who turned up was admitted. - CNA/ms
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