Offer of olive branch by AWARE President Josie Lau Meng Lee failed to convince sceptics; Old Guards gathering troops to fight back
By Eugene Yeo
In spite holding out an olive branch to disgrunted AWARE members during her interview with CNA “Talking Point” last Saturday, many remained sceptical of the agenda of new AWARE President Josie Lau.
During the interview, Ms Josie Lau says her priority is to reconcile members of the Association of Women And Research (Aware) following the controversial leadership change on March 28. (read report here)
She hopes that an extraordinary general meeting to be held soon will provide an opportunity for an open discussion.
‘The team has clearly fissured. I want to operate such that my members can support me, and we can all disagree in an agreeable environment,’ she said.
Josie claimed that she knew her new exco members only lately though 6 out of 9 of them attend Anglican Church of Our Savior at Margaret Drive.
Josie also made use of the interview to criticize the old exco for failing to bring AWARE forward after 24 years by highlighting its dwindling membership under the stewardship of the previous presidents.
She said change was needed because Aware had lost its focus and diversified too much, going into too many different areas. The result was that it did not have enough depth.
‘Like any good corporation, if you have diversified too much, consolidate,’ she said. ‘And as with any new committee, we know that resources are always limited, (so) let’s take a look and review what is done in the past that is good, let’s keep that, and what new ideas we have, bring on.’
More ominously, Josie chose to skirt the question about her new exco’s stance on sexuality when she could be more forthcoming with an answer to allay lingering doubts about their anti-homosexuality agenda.
Near the end of the programme Ms Lau was asked how her exco would respond to a woman facing discrimination at work because of her sexuality.
She replied: ‘Aware is a secular organisation. We are not there to push our personal religious beliefs. We do not discriminate against anyone of particular religion, whether you are a man or woman.
‘Talking about sexual discrimination, it is a very controversial topic, and the new exco will have to take a new look at this and see what is the role we want to take.’
Unfortunately, the old guard may not give Josie and her new committee much time to discuss about the role they are going to take.
Emails have been circulated to the community urging Singaporeans to join AWARE to “make their votes count”.
A facegroup has been set up to draw public attention to their cause here
If they want to push their agenda, let them form their own organisation.
If they truly care so much about women’s rights, they should work WITH AWARE, not against them.
If there is nothing sinister about their actions, they should stop their silence and explain to us why they did what they did and what are their plans for the future.
If they do not have anything to hide, they could have simply said “We will continue to do the good work that AWARE has been doing and improve on it.”
Instead, they have simply said “No comment”
As long as they continue to keep silent, we will continue to believe that their agenda differs from the current AWARE mission and we need to work together to get these group of people out of AWARE’s ex-co.
In order to help ensure that AWARE maintains in safe hands, a group of people are gathering women to sign up as members of AWARE. If you are a woman in Singapore and are keen to help maintain the mission statement of AWARE, please turn up during the coming EOGM to cast your vote.
Ordinary members who were previously inactive now felt compelled to speak out against the “hostile takeover” of AWARE:
“If you’ve read the Straits Times, TODAY, or have been in contact with an AWARE member recently, you’ll be aware of what has happened to our organisation. 150 members have recently submitted a petition to the new ExCo for an Extraordinary General Meeting to ask the new team about their motives and plans for the organisation. So far they have already removed chairpeople from key AWARE committees.
We are concerned what they’ll do about key aware programmes that don’t align with their undisclosed agenda. The EGM has been scheduled by the new ExCo for Saturday, May 2.(Happens to be on a holiday weekend, so we’re worried people won’t be able to attend…) Please attend and support the old guard of AWARE. We may have a vote of no confidence so we need you there. Rally as many of your friends to join AWARE and come to the meeting. This is extremely important if you care about the future of women’s issues in this country.”
It appears that the new exco’s reticence on feminism and their plans for AWARE’s future continues to be its Achilles Heel as it struggles to win over disaffected members who are still reeling from shock over the controversy which the organization now find itself embroiled in.
Another member expressed doubts over the sudden increase in AWARE’s membership this year:
“From January – March of this year, AWARE’s membership increased by over 100 members. Many of the new members submitted applications on photocopied forms, suggesting they had been given out at a large meeting. These new members showed up en mass at AWARE’s Annual General Meeting on March 28 and voted themselves in nine of twelve Executive Committee positons. They now hold the majority and decision-making power.
None of these women had volunteered with AWARE before. When asked of their opinions on feminism their responses were noncommital. When asked about their plans for the future of AWARE, they also had little to say.
Several are members of a very anti-gay church and have been public about their hostility towards gays. Rumor has it that this takeover was stragetically planned because AWARE is an open and welcoming place for women, regardless of class, race, or sexuality.
In the little time these women have been in charge of AWARE, they have fired the highly respected chairs of several important subcommittees. These subcomms were conducting research for the United Nations and for Singapore, and now that research is in danger.”
Did the new exco win the election square and fair or is it a pre-mediated “constitutional coup” to seize control of Singapore’s leading women advocacy group?
Are the old guards hypocrites in employing the same method to oust their adversaries? Is this becoming a battle between the Christian conservatives and the secular liberals?
Regardless of the outcome, the acrimony resulting from the fallout will leave a bitter taste in the mouths of those involved for a long time to come.
Nevertheless, it may turn out to be a blessing in disguise for AWARE and Singapore civil society as previously apathetic members are galvanized and empowered to stake a claim to its ownership for their own beliefs and values.
Reference: Mathia Lee
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mathialee on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 4:21 pm
Thanks Eugene!
I’m aiming to provide as much details as possible here
http://mathialee.wordpress.com/2009/04/17/aware-agm-2009-eogm-may-2nd-do-something/
I’ll update continually
For newly joined members who have not gotten the official EGM notice, you can find it there.
Extraordinary General Meeting (”EGM”)
Saturday 2nd May 2009, 2pm to 5pm
(Arrive early: You might be stopped from entry if they claim place is too full)
First Choice Auditorium
3 Lorong 6 Toa Payoh
#01-01 HSR Building
Singapore 319 378
http://www.streetdirectory.com/asia_travel/travel/travel_id_44890/travel_site_144286/
Nearby MRT: Braddell , Toa Payoh,
( my personal email : mathialee@yahoo.com)
REMEMBER TO BRING :
1. Proof of membership:
AWARE membership card OR e-receipts from the AWARE website ( http://www.aware.org.sg/?page%20id=1078 )
Online registration by credit card, PayPal accepted.
2. Proof of registration for EGM:
You HAVE to register with manager@aware.org.sg or call 67797137 before 22nd Apr
I suggest EMAIL. Request for a DELIVERY receipt, and PRINT the delivery receipt as proof
(Also fwd email to olivia.tan@gmail.com . She’ll be keeping an independant list that can be counter-checked against the AWARE new Exco’s list)
They will be cracking down.
If the AWARE Website is down, you can also go down to the AWARE office to join as a member.
Address: AWARE Blk 5 Dover Crescent #01-22. Singapore 130005
Nearest MRT : Bouna Vista, Cross the road, take 196 or 74, stop after ACS.
Opening hours: Mon – Fri 9am – 5pm
Cost: $40/ year ($5 for full time students below 25 yrs old)
fish 'n' chips on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 5:18 pm
I’ll be as frank as I can be.
First, I do not know what all the fuss is about. The whole issue is getting out of proportion and it became news only because of one reason ie it has been granted so much space in the print media and hyped up by the MSM. All the major papers got involved and even the broadcast media got into the act too by giving so much airtime to it. Who could have orchestrated such a move? Please remember, news are expensive. There are squabbles everywhere everyday. You do not go around chasing after everyone of them and putting them up as news.
Second, although I’ve come across this name AWARE, I really do not know what they have been up to.
Third, a check around with my mom, sisters, nieces, female friends and colleagues, nobody seem to know what these people have done for the womenfolk in Singapore all these years.
I urge everyone to pause for a while and reflect on this.
If all those women I’ve mentioned do not know what AWARE has been doing and they numbered around 50, what do you say about this group which has been around for more than 2 decades?
Just ask around the people you know some simple questions about this group and you’ll come to the same simple answer as mine.
Am I not right?
I could only conclude that these are all self serving people praising themselves and patting each other’s back saying that they have done a good job.
You do not assess yourselves and proclaim to the whole country that you have done a fantastic job.
This is a task best left to the people to judge and turn in the report card. People who have been made aware of your existence, your struggle to bring about the common good to the people, your earnest and unyielding commitment to serve, your failures and successes and your continued efforts to champion the unfinished work.
But sad to say, I do not see all these happening. Now what I’m seeing are only some sinister power at work behind the scene.
I believe that the old guard are well connected that they are getting the press and GLC involved to rally behind them.
My advice to both new and old teams, it’s time to show hands now. No more tricks up the sleeves. Just come clean with what is there in this group? Money? Power? Or what? It can’t be for the love of the work, right???
desperately seeking the brotherhood inc on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 6:06 pm
Dear sir / madam,
We are looking for darkness of the brotherhood aka vanquisher of the planets.
We represent a group of very concerned civil rightist who need some urgent advice on strategy. Since we are all ladies, we dont have any experience in mounting seiges, let alone anything near a full scale invasion. Besides we all have terrible eye and hand coordination.
I have enquired around the WWW and it seems the name of darkness and this shadowy grp called the asdf keep cropping up. It seems they have waged over a hundred campaigns and internet legend has it, he has not even been defeated so much as even once.
We also heard, they can be hired for the right price to counsel us all helpless souls who remain terminally clueless abt how to approach this most vexing matter.
Many thanks.
P.S do speak to them dotty, things dont look very bright.
Alwin Loi on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 10:43 pm
josie and her pussycats should just set up their own organisation instead of invading AWARE
reply from darkness on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 10:49 pm
I forwarded your mail to darkness; this is his reply – singaporedaddy.
“I think, I know who you all are. You have been spamming my mailbox. Lets dive in. First of all, I would strongly recommend that you all abandon this vote of no confidence; at best it’s likely to amount to nothing more than a great diffusion of nervous energy. At worst it may even precipitate an arms race and exacerbate the current impasse.
One thing is for certain, if people can plan this with stealth, then it’s conceivable they would have also provisioned sufficient reserves to blunt this vote of no confidence very easily.
You see all of you have already publicized your intention with great fanfare; and all warfare is based on deception – you cannot win decisively without the element of surprise. That cannot be done.
Even if you manage to win this round – what about the next round? – besides they are already in the system; so even if you win; you may very well end up with a coalition committee; in which case, you may still not have the quorum to see your plans through – so it is fair to say, that you are very likely to end up with a veritable Vietnam – a quagmire.
I do not believe the positions held by both factions can be realistically harmonized and reconciled, not within the time scale that will threaten to do irreparable damage to the organization; to exacerbate the matter religion is thrown into the medley so that complicates all hopes of finding a happy resolution within the short term. Some I have no doubt will advise you to pursue this course of action; but it is only because they do not fully comprehend the magnitude of the divide. Nor do they appreciate the complexity of the matter – they are unrealistic as they are foolhardy to even attempt such a feat – they might as well go and plough the sea.
Another thing, this impasse cannot continue for perpetuity; what all of you do not realize is where religion features – then it contains in itself, as the seemingly harmless rifle holds, the fatal powder, and the ball, and the explosion – it is only a matter of time if you don’t put your house into order; the govt will step in and do it for – this is 100%. I guarantee you.
So to summarize; you have no time, no latitude and almost no options – conclusion: it will be a war of attrition; one that is likely to be prolonged and bitter with no prospects of resolution.
The best thing to do under the present circumstances is to close this chapter and start a new organization and compete directly with AWARE, my feel is one reason why the old guard were so complacent was partly due to the absence of competition – by having two womens organization, this would inure both organizations with a healthy spirit of competition and drive out what once riven the old AWARE so completely – under this new competitive backdrop; they would have to jockey for funding, jostle for advertising space and dedicate themselves to what they set out to do in a manner where their performance can be appraised by the general public, that can only sharpen their relevancy and inure it with a high level of effectiveness – ultimately the beneficiaries of this two horse race would be the constituency of women they aspire to serve – that to me is the most important thing, the rest is mere commentary.
Now go and leave me alone, I don’t want to get involved in your petty cat fights; besides this is free, so what did you really expect?\
Darkness 2009”
reply from darkness on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 11:02 pm
“I was not here; I did not say these things; do you all understand?”
dreamingpunk on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 12:22 am
This is to Fish n Chips:
Just because your mum and sisters do not know what has been done for them does not mean these people have not done any work.
After all, how many Singaporean woman even know about the significance of the 1961 Charter? But the fact remains that it happened because of a few and until today, it protects women.
While I agree that this entire issue is out of proportion, I asure you that any fundamentalist stance this organization will take in future will not benefit anyone.
And don;t get me wrong here, I am not one of their activists and in fact I am not even a woman, but these assumptions you make reminds me of the masses on the whole who don;t see the details in teh big picture due to pure ignorance.
After all, it was not LEE but Lim Chin Siong who had the charisma to galvanize our grandfathers to push for independence right?
Rainnix on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 2:35 am
Old guards said “If they truly care so much about women’s rights, they should work WITH AWARE, not against them.”
But what have they done so far? Resigning and giving AWARE to the press dogs? Spreading bad news on the new exco? Even the old guards gets back AWARE on 2 May, its name had already been tarnished.
Women, stupid women.
questions to darkness on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 7:10 am
reply from darkness on Mon, 20th Apr 2009 10:49 pm
Tq. Only we require a few points of clarification. Do try to be patient with all of us as we are new to this.
What do you mean when you say.
a. “At worst it may even precipitate an arms race and exacerbate the current impasse.”
b. Wouldn’t this retreat mean weakening the position of the people who once started aware? And giving added legitimacy to the new entrants? How is this to be dealt with in the long term?
c. You spoke abt a public square in one of your write up’s. Now you are saying there is absolutely no possibility of resolution. Is conflict the only way to resolve this matter?
“I was not here; I did not say these things; do you all understand?”
We understand.
Brightness on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 10:25 am
Stealth is a common strategy deployed by weaker or equal-strength party in a conflict. A more effective strategy for stronger party is openness. Make your opponent play by your open rules. To keep damage to the minimum, the main keys are to be swift, build up the momentum and don’t give your opponent any breathing space.
Out of the three success factors in a conflict (’time’, ‘place’ and ‘people’), the old exco has both ‘time’ and ‘people’ factors while the new exco only has ‘place’ factor.
The downside of allowing your opponent any chance to become legitimate, build up their strength and set up new defence lines is quite obvious. The strong will become weak after forsaking the ‘time’ and ‘people’ factors.
The Singapore Daily » Blog Archive » Daily SG: 21 Apr 2009 on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 11:07 am
[...] – The Kent Ridge Common: To AWARE’s new exco: Please leave out your religion! – The Wayang Party: Offer of olive branch by AWARE President Josie Lau Meng Lee failed to convince sceptics; Old Guards … – Random Thoughts Of A Free Thinker: “We didn’t start the fire…” – [...]
world of warcraft 2 on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 11:51 am
Dear ladies,
Allow me translate. As I happen to be an avid gamer and I know they ways well.
When he says.
“At worst it may even precipitate an arms race and exacerbate the current impasse.”
In brotherhood parlance “arms racing” is a gaming term. It is something like this, I get a stone, you get two stones, I get a catapult, you fashion a bow and arrow, I get a crossbow, you get a musket, I get a machine gun, you get a tank and it ends when someone gets hold of an atomic bomb.
So what I think, Darkness is trying to say in 20th Apr 2009 10:49 pm is, if you all think, you can succeed in a vote of no confidence, it will essentially boil down to a numbers game. hence that is why he used the term at the end, “war of attrition.” In other words he is saying it all boils down to numerical superiority and you will lose as their network will always be better than yours.
I agree with some of the recommendations. Only I want to know whether if the old guard set up a new organization would they have to give up the good will along with all the guanxi they have build up all these years? Wouldn’t that in the long run work against them?
world of warcraft 2 on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 11:58 am
To darkness & company,
I was just mulling, wouldn’t a better strategy be to work with the current members of aware and gain their trust and respect in the way brightness @ 10.25 am mentioned. It seems a trifle waste to throw everything and start all over again.
Maybe if the old guard stay and fight it out. They will as brightness say me able to prevent the new team from establishing a solid legitimate ground to speak on behalf of their community?
I am not trying to criticize you darkness, but I feel you may have been too hasty in your recommendations.
Do have a nice day
Oh Tham Eng on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 2:45 pm
{”Rainnix” wrote on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 2:35 am: “Old guards said “If they truly care so much about women’s rights, they should work WITH AWARE, not against them.”
But what have they done so far? Resigning and giving AWARE to the press dogs? Spreading bad news on the new exco? Even the old guards gets back AWARE on 2 May, its name had already been tarnished. Women, stupid women.}
Well said, “Rainnix”. Agree absolutely!
fairplay on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 2:56 pm
Oh Tham Eng on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 2:45 pm
Mr.Oh – you have your opinions and others have their opinions so don’t impose your views to others. By reading the papers and the group of militant takeover, you know they have hidden agenda which they dare not share. This is despicable! Absolute dubious personalities.
fish 'n' chips on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 2:57 pm
Replying
dreamingpunk on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 12:22 am
Thank you for taking an interest in whatever I’ve written.
But please refrain from commenting out of context.
I wrote
“Third, a check around with my mom, sisters, nieces, female friends and colleagues, nobody seem to know what these people have done for the womenfolk in Singapore all these years.”
You wrote
“Just because your mum and sisters do not know what has been done for them does not mean these people have not done any work.”
1. Now where are the rest “nieces, female friends and colleagues”?
2. Where and when did I say that these people have not done any work?
In fact, I also wrote
“This is a task best left to the people to judge and turn in the report card. People who have been made aware of your existence, your struggle to bring about the common good to the people, your earnest and unyielding commitment to serve, your failures and successes and your continued efforts to champion the unfinished work.”
Do you care to reply?
You wrote
“And don;t get me wrong here, I am not one of their activists and in fact I am not even a woman, but these assumptions you make reminds me of the masses on the whole who don;t see the details in teh big picture due to pure ignorance.”
Since when have I made an assumption? Please enlighten me. What I have mentioned is gathered from my casual conversation with at least 50 women and the unanimous answer is what I have jotted down in my little passage.
Oh Tham Eng on Tue, 21st Apr 2009 3:40 pm
Correction for my foregoing post:
Should be “and be self-condemned into the darkholes they have created for others.”
Anonymous on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 1:39 am
Oh Tham Eng
What a piece of bullshit. Keep your religious views to yourself. Oh, on second thoughts, keep rambling – people need to be informed that there are religious bigots like u around. The old AWARE has done much good. Just do your research. They are volunteers who have contributed their time and energy for no rewards. The new AWARE has…uh…denied the past president her right to attend Exco meetings, sacked all the committee heads, evaded questions, acted sneakily and the president has breached her own company rules. They have also made clear their aims, visions, agenda – NOT! You have stooped to making ridiculous insults – which aren’t even original – borrowing from Arnie Scharwzengger (did I spell that right).
As far as I can see, Josie and the Pussycats sneakily won the election by padding the membership. If the old AWARE was unfocused, why didn’t they say so before the election and let the members (all of them) make an informed decision? They were welcomed in by the new members and then turned on them. It is a base dog that bites the hand that feeds it. Josie and the Pussycats really should be sent to outerspace.
fairplay on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 9:35 am
Anonymous on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 1:39 am
I totally agree with what you say. Our Christian fundamentalist, Mr Oh is such a virtuous god-inspired Christian. With his deep religious knowledge,he commits no wrong when he criticises. Read the nasty remarks he made on Mdm Singam and you can see his one-track mind. He will be back with more fire.
Honesty on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 11:02 am
fish ‘n’ chips
Would you put your trust in someone who has not been honest and sincere about the whole saga.
Josie and Co. should be a role model for young ladies to look up to. But where their her moral standing and Josie disregarding her employer code of conduct.To top it all, Josie and Maureen being dishonest during their interview on CNA.
fish 'n' chips on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 2:48 pm
Replying
Honesty on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 11:02 am
Thank you for taking an interest in whatever I’ve written.
For your information, I’m neither pro-old team nor pro-new team.
I wrote
“My advice to both new and old teams, it’s time to show hands now. No more tricks up the sleeves. Just come clean with what is there in this group? Money? Power? Or what? It can’t be for the love of the work, right???”
Alwin Loi on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 3:42 pm
oh tham eng, i goggled your name and can easily find your name mentioned and badly scolded in a pakistan forum. i’m just starting to wonder who you really are and what you represent. may i ask if you are actually someone who wants to incite hatred and bigotry in secular society like singapore? reveal yourself!
The link is below:
http://www.topix.com/forum/world/pakistan/T7BU6Q7GIGMJE6VRH
micacika on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 6:45 pm
I dont know why WP cont to entertains Mr Oh, all he does is drive out the good people from here. Maybe that is his intention to divert traffic to TOC. As any new reader to WP will certainly feel this a site for only the lunatic fringe after reading his post. Leave that is it may. I am here to talk abt the fuss over Josie, but I have forgotten what I wanted to say.
admin on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 6:48 pm
Hi micacika,
Thanks for your feedback.
However, please understand we cannot ban him completely for posting.
Rest assured we will exercise extreme caution in approving his comments.
infp on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 7:29 pm
fish n chips
wrote
“My advice to both new and old teams, it’s time to show hands now. No more tricks up the sleeves. Just come clean with what is there in this group? Money? Power? Or what? It can’t be for the love of the work, right???”
i am not challenging your assessment. i am just curious: why do you say it can’t be for the love of work? the new exco, i can understand, but the old exco? please share, i am interested to hear your ideas.
Singaporedaddy on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 8:58 pm
micacika,
If you want to understand why Oh Tham Eng does what he does – wonder no more – his mission is to promote the whole idea of online registration. And how does he do it, by being a bastard.
This is if you didnt know is how you sell the whole idea of a gold plated fire engine – start fires.
His secondary mission as you correctly pointed out is to tag this site as a place where the lunatic fringe usually hang out. And this as you rightly pointed out is accomplished when first time readers come here only to be put off by his long comatose inducing rants (we have already taken the trouble to warn ALL our readers in Ekunaba regarding this matter)
So Oh Tham Eng, pls continue; dont stop; bc you seem to be letting up somewhat (you should earn salary); his other mission of course is to give much need credence to theonlinecitizen which is presently occupied by 5 full time sock puppets who do nothing all day, but create the impression, there is a real conversation going on there; when infact, all they are really doing there is to sell us all the illusion there is a real online discourse – once again the goal is to shore up their fledging readership which they were not able to augment despite reams and reams of free advertisement in the ST, courtesy of that hack Jeremy Au – that of course is to pave the way for you know who? That other lame duck…who we all know as none other than…you guessed it.
Prove me wrong; as I said, we are always two or three steps ahead of these people. I only wish they will give us something harder to hack. As I said, we know how to play this game very well
Happy reading all,
SD (Internet Liaison officer of the brotherhood)
Singaporedaddy on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 9:05 pm
If you think I am making up stories here, all of you ladies can go and ask Darkness directly – he even has all proof to substantiate what I have just said.
Go on. Have we ever been wrong?
As I said, we are always two or three steps ahead of them…always!
SD(Internet liaison officer of the brotherhood)
Singaporedaddy on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 9:21 pm
I want all of you to think long and hard about the curious case of Oh Tham Eng.
(A) Where does he get the confidence to say what he regularly says from, where? UNLESS of course someone upstairs has given him the green light and even immunity from prosecution. Otherwise why is he so brazen?
(B) How can someone have so much time in his hands; I for example only can spare 60 minutes; darkness at most 30 (and that accounts why all his essays have so my spelling mistakes and all of us have to help him correct it like a wiki)
(C) Why does he constantly cite ministers, religious texts etc – what is trying to do? Is he trying to reverse psycho us all to the idea online registration may perhaps be a cure to the malady of our times?
I want you all to consider this next time when you read what Oh Tham Eng has to say; it is not what he says that is significant, but how he says it – and that of course should provoke us all to consider who are is masters? What do they want to do here?
You see Oh Tham Eng, two can play the same game here; like I said, you are slacking. You better shovel some coal into that furnace.
SD (Internet Liaison officer of the brotherhood)
fairplay on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 10:58 pm
admin on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 6:48 pm
Singaporedaddy on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 9:21 pm
Admin – Thank you for exercising extreme caution in approving Mr. Oh’s comments
Singaporedaddy – Thank you for you enlightening to netizens here about Mr. Oh.
Lets see what Mr. Oh’s rebuttal is.
Jaunty Jabber on Wed, 22nd Apr 2009 11:32 pm
I am sick seeing the old guards of AWARE who are too eager in forcing a “wayang” after they faced the exit door of AWARE without “sayang”. Some advices for the old guards, if you respect the system and believed that AWARE was built with clean hands, do respect the AGM vote result and respect the authority.
Some of the dishonorable methods that you are using and are planning to use will just prove to the public that you aren’t fit to remain in AWARE. Please keep AWARE clean and free of dishonors. The more you, the old guards tried to work your ways to overturn the new team, the more the public feel disgusted.
How would the public be convinced by you people who use dishonorable methods and plots to gain back those lost chairs for your derrière to be planted? Some of your dishonorable methods like boycotting DBS, canceling your DBS credit cards and also encouraging your supporters to the same is not fighting the battle with righteous. I hope DBS is not fooled by your lame plot, even with your secret letter of protest to them complaining against Josie’s position. If DBS is a good bank and is confident of their robust service, they will be able to distinguish that losing a few customers out of this matter is not due to their poor service or staff member’s involvement in AWARE, but merely a lame tool you used to fight your bitter battle. Thus the bank is still sound.
Your action to blanket collect new members in order to build your vote numbers is against the mission of AWARE to help women with volunteered service. You are using the new members as digits to build your numbers. These members, joining AWARE without intention to contribute to the organization, might just jeopardize the organization’s orderliness and objectives. They have joined only for 1 reason, to achieve only 1 purpose; they are like disposable material, good for 1 use only. After the EOGM, what are these members going to contribute to AWARE? Some of you, the old guards, have even offered to help fund the $40 membership fee for new members, in this care are you BUYING VOTES?
Old guards, you have gone over burn too much, working too hard just to win. Who is the one having some hidden personal agenda? The public is not blind.
Anonymous on Thu, 23rd Apr 2009 6:23 am
What is there for Mr Oh to rebut? He and his entire team has been caught red handed by the brotherhood liaison officer. They paid out rope, they got cocky and hung themselves.
So if he replies, it will be with more or less the same nonsense. Do you really expect an intelligent rebuttal?
What is important for me is the brotherhood have now formally issued out a reader advisory warning to every netizen. We should all exercise caution and learn to read between the lines and ask ourselves further, why does Oh write the things, he writes? Who is he working for? What is his agenda?
I once asked SD how did he know their methods so well. He told us all, this is what they learnt when they studied how the chinese govt tries to control the internet. They frequently use this type of reverse psycho method as one of the ways to shape public thinking and opinion. Where did this people learn how to do this? That is the question we all need to ask ourselves.
The way I see it, these people cannot find a way to break the credibility of the BP and some of the guest writers here. As the BP is quite a strange press, although it is anonymous it is also very well respected by most netizens as being accurate, true and intelligent, that I think has to be a threat, especially, when so much has already been invested in the belief anonymity = no credibility. So what better way to advance that reality than to recreate exactly the same conditions where all of us may eventually come to regard all anonymous post are nonsense by posting nonsense regulary in the way Oh normally does. The whole exercise is to repeat the lie again and again, till it becomes the truth.
We all have to learn to be more intelligent that is all.
citizen too on Thu, 23rd Apr 2009 6:32 pm
Why need there be all this big fuss about the whole issue? Small fuss, yes okay. But it’s about time we move on to other more important things.
The old guard must simply face the stark reality that we, as a ‘clean-living’ society on the whole in this part of the world, may simply not be ready for this kind of full tolerance and even advocacy of ‘unhealthy tastes’, specifically unnatural male/male sex practices. In this regard, I am agreeable with the ‘new’ org (but not their religious views). After all, they are actively promoting wholesome family life, aren’t they?
Let us not waste anymore time on this ‘issue’. Furthermore, what certain individuals do in private can be their own private business, but for a high-profile institution to condone, empathise with, or even promote certain fetishes, as it were, on a public basis is not something that we as a society is ready for at least at the present stage of our social evolution.
When all fails, just blame it on the devil - the art of the mufflement of the truth. « on Wed, 29th Apr 2009 6:52 am
[...] 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 [...]
anon on Tue, 5th May 2009 1:42 pm