AWARE

"Being liberal is one thing; but teaching young people that anal sex and homosexuality are normal, healthy and acceptable is just not acceptable to most parents...That homosexual acts remain illegal in Singapore should be sufficient grounds for the Ministry of Education, let alone Aware, not to proceed with such course content."

- Straits Times op/ed 6 May, 2009

Whoa. Where do I live?

If you recall, when we first moved here I worked for AWARE, a non-profit that works for women in Singapore. Though I had a hard time working there, I loved the organization and the experience.

March 28th, AWARE held their annual general meeting, and basically there was a take-over. A whole bunch of people became members in the month before the meeting, and they all voted each other in as the new executive committee. Over the next couple of weeks it came out that these women all went to the same church (for the most part), and it's a super right wing church. They are actively against homosexuality, and finally it came out that they were against AWARE's comprehensive sexual education program, which they implement in schools - basic sex ed. It has been ALL over the news here for the last month - including front page for most days. Saturday they had an extraordinary meeting, and there was a vote of no confidence, and the new exco resigned. "Old" people were elected to positions of the exco, and it seems like the event is over. There are still multiple page spreads in the newspaper. The quote above is by an active non-profit leader in Singapore about the happenings with AWARE.