Apologies to our female readers for offensive words in comments posted here

Dear all,

We have received quite a number of complaints from our female readers here about the use of indecent or inappropriate words in some comments posted here.

We would like to offer our sincere apologies to those who are offended by these comments and we have moderated them already.

On average, there are nearly 500 messages posted here daily and we have only 3 moderators who can spend no more than 30 minutes a day on moderating and approving them for posting  (one of them is the Brotherhood who moderates only comments posted on their section).

It is impossible for us to read through all the comments thoroughly to weed out the undesired ones. Our focus is mainly on inflammatory and seditious words which may stir up racial and religious tension.

Please exercise utmost sensitivity to the feelings of others when you post here. This is not a forum for guys only. We have many ladies here, some of whom have contributed tremendously to the growth of this blog.

As far as we are concerned, we try our very best not to delete or censor comments posted here by our readers. For those of you who have protested against us blanking out certain words in your post, please reflect on why we do so.

We trust our readers to be mature and intelligent enough to engage in a civil, meaningful and stimulating discussion with one another here.

If you find any words, sentences or comments which are inappropriate, indecent, insensitive, inconsiderate or inflammatory in nature, please feel free to email us at wayangparty@hotmail.com and we will moderate or delete them immediately.

We will also welcome any ladies who are keen to join us as moderators.

 

ADMINISTRATOR

Statement from Church of Our Savior on Aware connection

As the media reported on the AWARE saga, it brought up the fact that several of the new exco are members of Church of Our Saviour. This has created the perception that the church was behind the move.

This is not true. Church of Our Saviour did not initiate or instigate any campaign to take over the leadership of AWARE. The church withheld comment but the allegations have continued. This statement is to clear the air so far as our alleged involvement is concerned.

 We have not, nor will we, allow our pulpit to be used to intentionally teach anything that would arouse social tensions, divisions and unrest.

Church of Our Saviour does not have an agenda against homosexuals. We are not antihomosexual. The Christian Bible says we have all committed sin in different ways – heterosexual and homosexual – against Almighty God. But God loves us so much that He sent Jesus Christ to take the judgment in our place. (Reference John 3:16, Romans 5:8). We believe homosexuals should be extended understanding, kindness and love like every other human being. No homosexual should ever be deprived of any right enjoyed by every other Singaporean.

However, Church of Our Saviour does have a stand against the agenda of activists promoting homosexuality as a normal alternative lifestyle. Just as much as the Bible commands us to love the homosexual person, it also states categorically that homosexual practice is wrong. (Reference Leviticus 18:22, Leviticus 20:13, Romans 1:26-27, 1 Corinthians 6:9, 1 Timothy 1:8-10)

Accepting homosexual practices and endorsing any education program that teaches our children that such practices are neutral or normal, would lead to the erosion of the sound family values on which Singapore society has been built.

We hope that AWARE members will go to their EGM without the wrong assumption that the exco is a pawn of the church or that it has intentions to turn it into a religious organization as that is totally untrue.

Senior Pastor Derek Hong

Source: Asiaone

Christians against AWARE takeover: an appeal by a Christian lecturer

By Dr Gwee Li Sui

[NOTE: Dr Gwee is a an assistant professor of English Language and Literature at the National University of Singapore. The following article was published on his Facebook and is reproduced here with his kind permission.]

Christians in Singapore, listen! You should not be this conflicted about the AWARE debacle. It appears that a few churches have already taken the opportunity to preach on the issue of homosexuality from the pulpit. Some Christians have also been rattling on about it being time to make a stand and be counted for what one truly believes.

So this is me making a stand right here. I have been a Bible-believing Christian for 25 years now. I want first to acknowledge fellow believers who, like me, are shocked, angered, and saddened by the takeover and feel that their faith has been hijacked and their views ignored. I know that a lot of such affected Christians are out there. There is also another group which may not agree with the new team’s tactics but admires its fervour or sympathises with it for the heat it has been getting.

But, most of all, I want to address a crucial third party: Christian women who have been encouraged to stand up and be counted for their beliefs. I wish to appeal to their good sense in these last hours. You may be one of these and have even joined, or are planning to join, AWARE to help swing the votes in favour of the new ex-co on Saturday. Especially if I am describing you, please read on!

Yes, there are times when a Christian needs to make a courageous stand – but, in every event, always ask yourself: For what cause is this? What context does it serve? The current scenario is not one where we are being asked what our beliefs on certain issues are or whether Christianity and homosexuality are compatible or we are being mocked or discriminated against. It is a simple context where a group of well-meaning Christians infiltrated a secular organisation in order to be in a position to dictate their own values in its daily running. In this light, what a Christian may feel about issues like homosexuality is besides the point!

As a secular body, AWARE rightly cannot have a vision that treats women from different backgrounds through the outlook of just one religious system. Indeed, I dare say that an appropriate Christian response is to resist the actions of these Christians. Just as God gave every person free choice and the opportunity to believe, we ought to support the sanctity of this right for others to make up their own minds and live their own lives. Just as we do not force the Christian faith down someone’s throat against his or her will, we should not take over a non-religious organisation for the single purpose of making others unlike us behave as we believe. To do this would be a gross misapplication of the message of Jesus.

If you support the new ex-co’s actions, be aware that you are sending a string of possibly irreversible wrong signals to every Singaporean. Consider carefully whether you are willing to shoulder the responsibility of damages that would affect the longstanding good work of Christians in Singapore. Since the government has chosen not to be involved in the matter so far, whatever happens will be seen clearly by all as the response of particular sectors of society.

Here is my short list of obvious implications:

[1] Support the new ex-co, and you are effectively saying that you condone its quasi-corporate act of infiltration, with related strategies of secrecy, disinformation, moral coercion, and fear-mongering. You are saying that you support its less-than-Christian covert moves more than traditionally Christian ones like dialogue, open engagement, honesty, and clarity.

[2] Support the new ex-co, and we will go down a slippery road with wide-ranging repercussions for all. Don’t believe for a moment that the manoeuvring will stop here. What this invites others to see is that infiltration is the most effective way for small groups of like-minded individuals to seize power quickly — and where will this end? What is to stop any religious or ideological group from doing the same to any social institution at every level? In the long run, who do you think loses?

[3] Support the new ex-co, and you potentially make light of the freedom that is God’s gift to every human being. Against your best intentions, you may send out instead the message that we Christians think that we know better than everyone else and that we are willing to outflank, overpower, and overwhelm if we do not get our way.

[4] Support the new ex-co, and, if they stay and behave as predicted, you will be directly responsible for undoing the trust that many Christians have taken years to build with their non-Christian friends. This is a trust built on mutual respect. You will have made the Gospel of Christ more difficult to hear for years to come because people will think that they know what it is about. You will have created a new generation of Christ-haters.

This matter, in short, is not to be treated lightly. Jesus tells us all to be “wise as serpents, and harmless as doves”. There are times to be passionate and helpful in a gungho way, but this is not the time. Christians can be wrong about many things too. So please, by all means, pray for the AWARE debacle to be resolved amicably and for Christians in AWARE, but do not, in the name of our common faith, go in blind support of other Christians because you are Christian!

Yours Truly,

Gwee Li Sui

Source: Dr Gwee’s Facebook

Moderate Christians speak out against actions of AWARE new exco and COOS

By Eugene Yeo

Some of you must been wondering why there was a flurry of articles about the AWARE saga on our site lately when we had been pretty reticent on the matter in the past.

There were also leaks of emails purportedly circulated by COOS members to rally support for the new exco.

To tell you the truth, we have received numerous emails from Christians, some of whom are from COOS itself, imploring us to say something for them in order to protect the name of their religion.

They are equally as appalled and disturbed by the underhanded means in which the new exco seized control of AWARE supposedly to push for its own religious agenda in mainstream society under the guise of a secular cover.

In spite of their misgivings about the episode, they cannot expressed their real sentiments openly out of fear of being ostracized in their community.

We are grateful for the support moderate Christians have shown for our work. We expect a lot of brickbats thrown by us, but there were none save for some occasional criticisms posted on our site.

I urge all readers to regard this saga with some circumspection. This is the work of a small group of self-righteous moral vilgantes using the name of religion and morality to sugar-coat their own personal ambitions to impose their values and beliefs onto others.

A significant proportion of Christians do not share their views and neither will they heed their call to cast a vote for the new exco at the coming EGM.

If you are a Christian who disagrees with the actions of the AWARE new exco and wishes to share with us your views on this matter, please post your comment directly here or email us at wayangparty@hotmail.com

Let me share with you a few thoughtful comments left here by our Christian readers:

From Dawn:

I am a Christian (and incidentally married and a woman) and I think what the new Exco who took over AWARE did is appalling. Yes, it is ‘legal’ but is it right?

I am also a long time AWARE member, and volunteered there many years ago briefly. During this time, I saw volunteers running language classes for people who wanted to learn English, and women running the helpline for women in need.

This isn’t an issue of Christian versus Gays – this is an issue of fair play to me.

AWARE is an organisation whose aims the new Exco presumably views as being ones they cannot entirely agree with (though, incidentally, they’ve only ever focused on the homosexual issue, which to me was never the first thing that cropped up when I thought of AWARE).Of course, they are entitled to their own opinion, just as everyone else is. Then why not start their own organisation to promote their own aims?

Above all, I believe in tolerance. Some people seem to confuse tolerance with having their own lifestyles under attack. Just because someone believes that gays are people and should not be discriminated against, doesn’t mean that they are ‘anti-family’. In fact, it doesn’t even mean people who are gay are anti-family!

If anything at all, Jesus was tolerant and compassionate. He didn’t shun or discriminate against prostitutes, tax collectors, etc. He didn’t tell them that they were wrong but embraced them AS THEY WERE.

Please don’t think all Christians support them, or have stayed silent. I have been asking everyone I know to please go for the EOGM.

 

From S K Tan:

The minister has spoken. We should build a “rainbow coalition”. Building the rainbow coalition is for the interest of our nation.

I hope members of the new exco of AWARE understand, resign and leave. This is a sensible thing to do.

The AWARE saga shows the danger of religious brainwashing making highly educated people to lose their sensibility. It is good to be moderately religious but dangerous to be extremely religious. Extremists tend to lose their heads in heaven forgetting that their feet are still on the ground.

We need laws when we discard the values. According to the law, members of the new exco have won but according the ethics and values, they have lost. It is a sad thing that their lives are guided by laws and not by values. As Christians, it is a disgrace that their lives are not guided by values. God guides them through the values. Throw away the values and they will be guided by Satan in the name of God.

 

From innocent:

I’m a Christian but I support the old guard, simply because:

1) I can’t stand the way they used the church to orchestra a coup and still lied that the church is not invovled.

2)They had only one argument, there is it’s not alright to say homosexual is neutral. The keyword is neutral and that argument had been proven invalid by moe statement.

3) They put us Christians in a very bad light. They claimed they are upholding God’s principle yet all the same they disobeyed God’s Word by discriminating and judging other people.

4) The way they can sack people because of disobedience and yet at the same time their leader disobeyed DBS instruction. And after that still have the cheek to replace the manager with their own church member.

 

From JL:

I am a Christian, and it makes me very very sad to know that the new exco has garned supporters using the faith.

AWARE is a secular group, not a religious group.

There is a chinese saying – 贏了還慘過輸，meaning it’s worse off by winning.

If they really win, I believe that’s where the nightmare really begin

Call for ROS to step in and dissolve AWARE for breaching provisions under Societies Act (CAP 311)

By Eugene Yeo

Last week, Dr Vivian Balakrishnan indicated that the government will not intervene in the AWARE saga as the Societies Act clearly spells out how associations should conduct their affairs and the association’s constitution also regulates arrangements between members. (read report here)

The minister also emphasised that it is important for all Singaporeans to remember and also remain sensitive to the fact that they are living in a multi-racial and multi-religious society.

Though Dr Vivian has been circumspect about the controversies which the new AWARE exco found themselves embroiled in, he had strong words for all parties concerned that it is important for organisations to keep religion above the fray of petty politics.

May I ask Dr Vivian if religious organizations are allowed to interfere in the internal affairs of a secular NGO?

Recent events have more than adequately demonstrated the prominent roles of COOS and its pastor Derek Hong in the coming EGM of AWARE.

The Church of Our Saviour (COOS) have been encouraging people to join Aware and support the new team. There were unconfirmed rumors going around that COOS is paying for transport to bring busloads of supporters to the Singapore EXPO to vote at its EGM.

The venue of the EGM has been changed abruptly to the Singapore EXPO Hall 2 only this week which is within walking distance of the Max Pavilion where the “Transformation Conference 2009″ co-host by COOS and 40 other churches will be held.

[Note: the venue has been changed abruptly yesterday to Suntec Exhibition Hall 402 after we spilled on their ploy with the choice of EXPO as a venue]

In a weekend sermon posted on its website, Pastor Derek Hong urged the women in his flock to ‘be engaged’ and support Ms Lau and ‘her sisters’ at Aware. 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.’ (read article here)

Emails have been circulated by COOS members urging fellow Christians and friends to sign up for AWARE membership and turn up to support the new exco, one of which is by Dr Alan Chin, the husband of AWARE President Josie Lau. (read letter )

Under provision 24 of the Societies Act (CAP 311), the minister may order dissolution of any society whenever it appears to the minister that:

 (a) any registered society is being used for unlawful purposes or for purposes prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore;

(aa) the registration of any society has been procured by fraud or misrepresentation;

 (b) any registered society is being used for purposes incompatible with the objects and rules of the society;

[source: Statues of Singapore]

The present actions of the new AWARE exco have contravened the above three provisions under the Act:

1. Singapore is a multi-racial and multi-cultural society. The mobilizing of large numbers of Singaporeans in the name of religion to support the new exco at the EGM is prejudicial to public peace, welfare or good order in Singapore.

2. Many new members of AWARE have been urged by faith-based groups to sign up to support their religion. There is obvious misrepresentation of the values, principles and mission of AWARE as a non-religious, secular group whose purpose is to serve the interest of the women community in Singapore and not any particular religion.

3. AWARE is now used for purposes incompatible with the objects and rules of the society which is to promote an anti-homosexual agenda under the guise of a secular organization.

Furthermore, ROS needs to investigate possible misuse of AWARE funds by the new exco to ensure it stay on in power under provision 19 of the same Act:

Penalty for misuse of money or property of a registered society.

19. —(1) Where on complaint made by a member of a registered society or by the Registrar it is shown to the satisfaction of a District Court or a Magistrate’s Court that any officer or member of that society has in his possession or control any property of the society otherwise than in accordance with the rules of the society, or has unlawfully withheld any money of the society or wilfully applied such money to purposes other than those expressed or directed in the rules of the society and authorised by this Act, the Court shall, if it considers the justice of the case so requires, order the officer or member to deliver all such property to the trustees of the society or such other persons as the Court may appoint and to pay to them the money so unlawfully withheld or improperly applied.

AWARE is a NGO whose funds are contributed by many organizations including Buddhist temples. The cost of renting Suntec convention hall for its EGM is exorbitant and it must be justified by the new exco.

AWARE has no more than 500 members in the last 24 years of existence and its AGM is usually attended by less than a hundred people.

The sudden increase in membership over the last few weeks raised the question if the new members are joining AWARE out of a genuine interest to serve the society or are simply there to make up the numbers to support the new exco.

The hasty last minute change in the EGM venue would have caused AWARE to lose a few thousand dollars in forfeited deposit.

The engagement of Rajah & Tann to observe the proceedings at the EGM will probably run up to a few thousand dollars in legal fees.

The new exco needs to explain why AWARE has to incur such expenses in such a short span of time. Are the funds used to serve the interest of the society or to keep themselves in power?

In such a scenario, the actions of the new exco would have “wilfully applied such money to purposes other than those expressed or directed in the rules of the society.”

Therefore, there is a case for the Registry of Societies to dissolve AWARE with immediate effect and to conduct an investigation into the accounts of AWARE.

Concerned AWARE members may consider lodging a complaint directly to ROS to conduct a probe into the society’s accounts should the authorities continue to procrastinate.

Another “wayang” by Thio Su Mien? Parents’ appeal to Education Minister to express concern about CSE

From The Informant Network Team

We have received a tip-off that an online petition has been set up by a group of “concerned parents” to lobby the Education Minister to review AWARE’s CSE.

It is not known if the originator, K F Khoo, is a member of COOS.

Since AWARE is now led by a new exco which is against the contents of the CSE in the first place, it is highly likely that they will scrap the programme altogether which obviates the need for these parents to petition to the Education Minister to do so.

Also, the CSE has been around for 2 years and there were no complaints from the public. Neither was there a petition like this to convey parental concerns to MOE.

This is obviously a ploy to deflect intense public scrutiny of Dr Thio Su Mien’s role in the saga after MOE release an official statement in support of the CSE.

MOE has contacted Dr Thio to seek clarification and facts to substantiate her claims. So far, Dr Thio has not replied.

We cannot rule out that this latest petition is another “wayang” orchestrated from behind the scenes by certain people in order to garner support for the embattled Thio.

If there is anybody who knows the identity of the writer, please contact us immediately at wayangparty@hotmail.com

 

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) 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 at

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

Please do so by 10 May 2009.

We hope to send this letter, with as many of your signatures as possible, 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!

Drowning in the Nonsense age of AWARE, Swine flu etc – How do we cope with living in the age of nonsense?

 

Written by Darkness of the Brotherhood / It’s a simple question: how do you cope in the age of nonsense? How does one actually rise above the contrived reality of what’s going on around us to even begin to make sense of our age? - Einstein, once said, his greatest fear wasn’t a nuclear war, but it’s the end point when technology superseeds humanity – that according to him would spawn the age of nonsense.

What’s the solution? How do we get on top of this problem?

Question: how often do you flush the recycle bin in your head? – its something to consider seriously against the backdrop of what’s happening in AWARE, Swine flu and the meteorite that barrelling towards earth somewhere in outer space – yes, you get my drift – these days, a man can hold on to 10, 20 or 30 opinions all in one swipe and not even have one opinion to call his own - you could even say that’s a pithy summary of our times - these days, we are just inuadated with nonsense, up to our neck with it.

 

That’s one of the things that I struggle with constantly – garbarge disposal; I need to remind myself constantly; my room like my head is not a place where clothes go and die; my own nonsense must be recognized as nonsense – it may have served me well once upon a time; but with chastening passage of time it has become nonsense and it doesn’t pay to hold on to broken logic – it’s no good, it just doesn’t come around.

 

Once I am prepared to see it as nonsense – my mind’s eye throws it out in a flash – I don’t even feel the need to defend what I once said or wrote so passionately. That’s not necessary. There’s no need to even re-invest my reputation into the path of reinforcing nonsense. I can forget about it and move on with the rest of my life, the power of nonsense has no dominion over the rest of my life; I am free to set a new course and change direction even to journey away from nonsense towards the truth – it can never come back to bite me.

 

This applies to most things in life; broken relationships, unfulfilled dreams and even the whole idea of leading a purposeful life – recognizing and throwing nonsense is necessary – that’s why I feel very sorry for people who regularly go around perpetuating the myth of the cult of infallibility – that has to rank as one of highest forms of nonsense on this planet, especially when you put it besides the mega losses that we have incurred lately as a nation – it beggars the imagination.

 

As I said, nonsense is nonsense; it’s like shit; it doesn’t pay to step on something brown; wipe it all over your face and say. “it feels like shit.” Take a bite of it, “it even taste like shit.” Only to comfort oneself by proclaiming to the whole world – “luckily, I didn’t step on it!”

 

That’s what happens when one tries to fashion reality by using the cult of infallibility, simplification or any other crowbar that attempts to render the complicated simple – the art of nonsense is elevated to a veritable science.

 

No, once you surround yourself with nonsense; it dictates every though and action; you’re in the gyre; you’re not going anywhere; it’s a merry-go-round; its not how well you play the game; it’s how well the nonsense game plays you; you can never win in life when you invest so much of your being in nonsense – worst still, you may just have to bite the bullet and invest more of yourself into it, like a gambler who puts his last chips on a number to try to get back what he once lost; and that’s sad; its sad because it’s unnecessary and self inflicted; and the worst is yet to come; because that is what happens when you put your hopes in nonsense; doesn’t matter whether it’s a relationship, business venture or just simply signing on to something that you should have taken more time about – eventually when nonsense permeates your being; no one is going to believe you; you’re going to be like a piece of camphor giving yourself up constantly to the atmosphere; it may take years; but it’s a slow rot that guaranteed to be a sad enterprise – one where you will get smaller and smaller, till one day you just give yourself up the chastening winds of history – to be forgotten forever like a piece of dried up shit.

 

No, like I said, nonsense has to be seen as nonsense; it matters little whether you happen to be policeman or someone who going places; if you don’t know this, you just have lived and you better laminate this and carry it around in your wallet – it may not be page turner; but I assure you; if used wisely, its certainly a life changer.

 

Darkness 2009

 

You are reading the Brotherhood Press 2009

 

Side reads: Find out who is Oh Tham Eng! Find out what is his real mission in the internet? Scroll down the thread and read for yourself, pay special attention to what the internet liaison officer has to say about the subject - learn how to defend yourself online: http://wayangparty.com/?p=8002

 

Unbecoming for new exco to use AWARE’s official website to attack old guards as “against family values”

By Eugene Yeo

It has come to my attention that the official website of AWARE contains a baseless slur against the old guards:

 [Source: AWARE]

 The title of the pdf file which details ’events and information that show AWARE old guard hijacked against family values’ is:

“On AWARE’s changing slant towards homosexuality and comprehensive sexual education (CSE) in recent years”

The presentation took issue with AWARE’s liberal stance towards sexual minorities and in particular the CSE which was conducted by Ms Mathia Lee and Ms Tan Joo Hymn.

Particular statements were deliberately highlighted and distorted to with the intention of misleading readers into believing that the old guards are pro-homosexuality and against family values.

For example, a statement in CSE that anal sex can be healthy or neutral was misrepresented as teaching and promoting anal sex to school children.

Another page criticized the old AWARE for inviting a local gay activist Alex Au to give talks to women on HIV.

In his speech, Alex called for the decriminalization of homosexuality which might lead to greater openness and willingness among the closeted gay community to come forward for HIV testing.

How does inviting a gay activist to give a speech show that the old guards of AWARE had “hijacked family values”?

Deeksha Vasundhra of the AWARE CSE Development Team (2006 -2 007) wrote a letter to ST Forum today to explain more about its programme: 

“Aware’s CSE approaches all the issues from a health perspective. Our approach is to provide students with up-to-date information so they can make sensible decisions that will help them stay healthy – physically, emotionally and psychologically.” (read letter here)

The Ministry of Education has also issued a statement on the same day which reveals that they did not receive any complaints from participants or parents about Aware’s CSE:

“The schools that engaged Aware found that the content and messages of the sessions conducted were appropriate for their students and adhered to guidelines to respect the values of different religious groups. The schools did not receive any negative feedback from students who attended the workshops and talks or their parents.” (read letter here)

These replies from MOE and the old AWARE are conveniently left out of the new AWARE’s website to paint a one-sided picture of the programmes conducted by the old AWARE.

It is downright despicable, disgusting and deplorable for the new AWARE exco to launch a vicious, slanderous and unsubstantiated diatribe against its predecessors!

This group of women has lost all moral authority, decency and respect to helm the leading female NGO in Singapore.

The brand-name of AWARE has been completely destroyed by their blatantly displayed arrogance, dishonesty and intolerance which runs contrary to the teachings of their own religion.

From their attitude and behavior so far, can they be exemplary figures for our younger generation to emulate and follow?

The old guards of AWARE should consider taking the author of this defamatory presentation to court to clear their name. (no names were put on the presentation).

By attacking the CSE conducted by the old AWARE, isn’t the new exco tarnishing the reputation of MOE too? After all, it was MOE who allowed AWARE to conduct the programme in the schools under its watch.

It appears that words alone are not effective deterrence to a group of moral vilgantes who is determined to distort the truth in order to serve their own personal agenda.

Perhaps MOE can apply for a court injunction to stop them from spreading and propagating these frivolous allegations to prevent further damage done to its name.

In the meantime, we are still waiting earnestly for the “feminist mentor” of the new exco Dr Thio Su Mien to reply to MOE’s questions.

一位对政治有兴趣的年轻人去信陈钦亮

Original letter published in Tan Kin Lian’s Blog HERE

亲爱的陈钦亮先生，

我看完了你网站的读者意见调查报告，并且阅读了一些读者对你文章的评论…我只想加一点以下的意见：

我现时27岁，是个一般技术的工人，持有(理工学院)文凭，每月入息二千多元。我象以前多数的新加坡少年一样，我对政治没有兴趣，也不甚了解那些白衣的不朽者(white immortals)推行的政策。我总是想 ：这些政治东西与我有什么关系呢？我毕竟只是另一个普通人，对那些例如电脑的东西感兴趣，但对政治则无兴趣。

若把时光快速向前推进20年，我们然后才体会到：这些政治东西与我有什么关系呢？原来一切都有关系。

我近年来逐渐体会到： 每份计划、每项政策、每次行动，无论如何微小也会影响我们。我看见当前的政府是多么的无能使我心痛。这可不是开玩笑的事：每当你寻求帮助或答复时，你将被推上一连串的旋转木马，每个接见你的人都宣称其他人要负责任。

官方媒介对此更加帮忙，通过媒介拉扯一些不相干的东西或者完会改变主题，使政府相关的团体看起来很有效率。

就看看最近的多宗时事。那个政府机构或那位领导人曾经宣称：“这是我们的差错。我们将会做任何我们可以做得到的事情去学习这次教训和不再重覆同样的差错“？

他们每一个都首先宣称“我没有缺点。其他所有的人要受责备“。然后设法找个代罪羊(scrapgoat)，如果找不到便宣称“大家是放开眼睛，然后才参加的”。在政府内无论发生了什么事情都应该以服务人民为目的，而不是现在的本末倒置。

新加坡己经堕落至一个令人哀伤的状态，那些象当今的Obama一样激动人心的领导人去了那里？甚而以前的李光耀也去了那里？ 现在，他们只会“整肃反对党并且收买选票” (fix oppositions and buy votes)。如果无效，便宣告修改“公共秩序法”(Public Order Act) ,并且万一他们选举失败便出动军队。 这是什么？这不是我更年轻时我所认识的新加坡，或者我可能当时很年少无知。

更加年轻的一代… 他们看不见这些事物。 我更年轻时也是一样，您毕竟不可以责备他们。十几岁的少年会关心什么东西呢？例如:体育、大减价、娱乐、电子游戏等等。 政治是‘成人’的‘乏味的东西’。至少我以前也认为如此。

如果现在给我一个机会参加政治，我会马上接纳，不是因为名望或财富。 我烦恶名望，并且我认为我已经是(物质上)幸运的了。我为什么想参加政治的唯一原因，将是代表被压迫和被抑制的人民发出声音，使部长们受到人民的控制，或者最少使他们保持诚实。 我并不是一个高尚的人，只是一个正常的平凡市民，但我烦恶不公道，并且我曾经认为这样不公道的事件通常不会发生在我们极端廉洁的新加坡。

但是我们每一天都看见不公道的事件，并且他们仍然想要粉饰每宗事件,突出他们的“成就” ,和贪婪的盯着他们的薪金。 6倍美囯总统的薪金？那里有6倍的责任？ 我所看见的只是6倍的“太极”，或许较高薪水和较少责任之间有一种交互作用(correlation)。 如果无交互作用，怎么有人可以身兼多个董事职位并且同时管理每间公司？一定要有人去促使他们保持诚实，并促使他们为他们的薪金而尽力工作。

我希望新加坡永远不用体验泰国现在的动荡困境… 但我认为，他们象许多人一样在爬上象牙塔顶之后，他们有时需要好好的跌一跤使他们更加脚踏实地。把树支弯得太曲，它最终将折断。 那些人正在做着不稳定的平衡动作，要再等多久，“群众”(mortals) 便会十分厌倦被视为蠢才和受欺骗呢？对我来説，现在让我对政治发言大概已经太晚。 如果我以前一早知道我现在才知道的东西，我会选择了一条不同的道路。王鼎昌总统退位的那天正是政府‘战胜’ 的一天。以后留下给我们的总统，只是一个吉祥的代表者，他专替幕後策划人做奌门面工夫吧了。

电影动作片的某一个人物曾经对该片的“英雄”关于他战斗贪污有以下的见解： “您将身为英雄而丧命，或因保住性命太久而变成恶棍一名”。

对我来説，我正等待新的黎明来临新加坡政府之中。若果事与愿违，我将计划前往新西兰。 我听説那里的草不仅更加碧绿，而且生活也相当的不忙碌。

(本函作者名字被删除以保密)

BREAKING: Change in AWARE EGM venue to Suntec exhibition hall

Dear all,

We just receive a tip-off from one of our informant that the AWARE EGM venue has been changed due to intense pressure from the new media after we exposed that the “Transformation Conference 2009″ co-host by COOS will be held at the Singapore EXPO too on the same day.

The new venue is:

Exhibition Hall 402
Suntec Singapore 
International Convention & Exhibition Centre
1 Raffles Boulevard, Suntec City ,
 Singapore 039593

The date and time remain the same.

Please disseminate the message.  We will be keeping you posted here on the latest developments in the AWARE saga.

 

ADMINISTRATOR

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