Furniture retailer Ikea Singapore will not pull out of a tie-up that offers members of its loyalty programme discounted rates for a show that features a pastor known for his views against homosexuality.
The decision to continue the promotion comes after a thorough review, said the company in a statement on Tuesday.
It said: “We have spoken directly with the organizers, reviewed the content and confirmed that the Vision show offers high family entertainment value and, on that basis, we are continuing our promotional collaboration.”
Vision, a magic show performed by pastor Lawrence Khong of Faith Community Baptist Church and his daughter Priscilla, will be held at the Esplanade in July.
In its statement, Ikea Singapore added that it respects the diversity and equality of all people in the community.
“We also respect that all individuals have a right to their opinions and personal choices, including the freedom to choose their preferred entertainment,” it said.
The company thanked customers for their patience as the company deliberated over an issue that had “raised sensitivities in our community”.
Mr Khong is known for his strong views against homosexuals. Last year, he pledged support for a campaign to “wear white” in protest of the LGBT picnic Pink Dot.
Furniture retailer Ikea Singapore is reviewing its support for a magic show staged by a pastor known for his views against homosexuality, a spokesman told The Straits Times on Monday.
This comes after a backlash over the weekend from gay rights groups, who are unhappy that the retailer’s membership programme, Ikea Family, is one of the supporters of pastor-magician Lawrence Khong’s magic show in July.
Members of Ikea Family can obtain discounted rates for Mr Khong’s show, Vision, which he is staging along with his daughter Priscilla.
But Ms Jean Chong, the co-founder of women’s gay rights group Sayoni, said that Ikea’s support for the event “raises the question if Ikea is truly committed to diversity worldwide”, according to an article published on international LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) news portal Gay Star News.
In response to an unhappy customer on its Facebook page, Ikea said: “We are really sorry for the unhappiness this has caused. We have taken it to our management and they are reviewing it. We’ll come back when we have more information.”
An Ikea spokesman had reportedly told Gay Star News over the weekend that Ikea Family is promoting the show on its website, but not funding it.
“Vision is offering our Family members a discount on tickets to a theatrical illusion performance that offers high family entertainment value,” she said.
Mr Khong, the 63-year-old senior pastor of Faith Community Baptist Church, has been outspoken about his views against homosexuality. Last year, he pledged support for a Islamic religious teacher’s campaign to “wear white”, in protest against the annual LGBT picnic Pink Dot.
Thanks to a vigilant Singaporean, Rilek1Corner was alerted again on another racist and offensive comment by a male Chinese who goes by the name of ‘Issac Teck Shuean‘.
Issac who stated on his Facebook profile to be residing in Singapore and born in Johor, had called Malays “stupid and poor” and “extremist“.
Last month, another male Singaporean Chinese man, Peter Hu lodged a police complaint to say that he did not post an offensive comment on Muslims. In his attempt to cover up his insensitive remark, Peter Hu claimed that his account was “hacked”. In another posting he claimed that the image was “doctored”. Later on, he said that he was unaware of the offensive posting existence until his friends had informed him about it.
So which is the truth? One story, different information coming from the same guy.
Rilek1Corner was informed that Peter Hu who is openly gay, an avid PinkDot SG supporter and an LGBT activist, had previously argued with several anti-PinkDot activists in a Facebook group called ‘We are against PinkDot’.
Another female Singapore Chinese woman named ‘Kim’ who has an Instagram account ‘@kimmeeoow’ also said offensive remarks on Muslims and Malays.
She claimed her Instagram account was hacked. But preliminary investigations from netizens and tip-off from her friends have revealed that none of her social media accounts was hacked because she was posting as usual after she made those offensive comments. The police are also currently investigating this case.
Also in the hall of shame, we have Amy Cheong who was an employee of NTUC was terminated due to her tactless insensitive remarks on Malays.
Her insensitive comments have deeply hurt the Malay community and left a lasting impact thus far.
While we understand offensive comments made by non Malays/Muslims such as Peter Hu, Amy Cheong, Kimmeeoow, and now Issac Teck Shuean are not true reflection of majority, we the minority, cannot help but notice the increasing number of individuals who are unhappy towards both the Malay and Muslim communities.
Our advice: Keep those thoughts to yourself. Don’t share it on social media because chances are, you will be featured here. And the rest will be history.
Racism is not confined to one race – all communities need to join hands to end it. It is an issue ignored, downplayed and denied.
Let’s move forward. Let’s end racial prejudice and religious discrimination.
The accused, who cannot be named due to a gag order, pleaded guilty last month to having oral sex with the victim outside a toilet cubicle at the children’s home in June last year. Both were then staying at the home.
A district court heard that the victim was about to take off his clothes and put them in the laundry basket outside a toilet cubicle when the accused entered the toilet.
The accused asked the victim if he was all right and the boy replied in the affirmative. The accused came nearer to the victim and asked him to perform oral sex on him.
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SEORANG lelaki berusia 20 tahun dijatuhi hukuman menjalani latihan pemulihan padi tadi kerana membuat seorang budak lelaki berusia 12 tahun melakukan seks oral ke atasnya.
Kededua tertuduh dan mangsa merupakan penghuni sebuah rumah tumpangan kanak-kanak di sini, dan kesalahan itu berlaku di rumah tumpangan itu Jun tahun lalu.
Tertuduh, yang mengaku bersalah bulan lalu, telah mengadakan seks oral dengan mangsa di luar sebuah kubikel tandas.
Superintenden rumah tumpangan tersebut membuat laporan polis pada 19 Julai tahun lalu selepas mangsa mengadu kepadanya tentang kejadian itu.
Timbalan Pendakwa Raya, Cik Siti Adrianni Marhain, berkata tertuduh telah mengambil kesempatan ke atas mangsa yang muda, yang tujuh tahun lebih muda daripadanya.
Mangsa juga belum cukup matang untuk melakukan kegiatan seks, apatah lagi kejadian itu berlaku di sebuah rumah tumpangan kanak-kanak, di mana mangsa seharusnya berhak berasa selamat, kata Cik Adrianni.
Menurutnya, laporan Institut Kesihatan Mental (IMH) menunjukkan mangsa telah melahirkan rasa bersalah dan malu akibat kejadian itu.
Dalam rayuannya untuk meminta hukuman diringankan, tertuduh berkata dia tidak mendapat kasih sayang daripada ibu bapa.
Dia ditinggalkan ibunya semasa kecil lagi sementara bapanya telah meninggal dunia.
Since the launch of the Wear White campaign, there has been many stubborn Muslims who still support Pink Dot and attack the Wear White movement.
I wrote before in a previous article that these Muslims who support Pink Dot should be charged for spreading False Doctrine under AMLA S139.
“Section 139 of AMLA states that “Whoever shall teach or publicly expound any doctrine or perform any ceremony or act relating to the Muslim religion in any manner contrary to the Muslim law shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.”
Those people encouraging Muslims to attack the #wearwhite movement and to support Pink Dot are clearly teaching a false doctrine that is contrary to Muslim law. They should thus be punished with the maximum fine of $2000 and a prison term of 12 months to send a clear message to fellow Muslims that they must respect Islam and not attack our pro-natural family message.”
What is worst though that there are some “Muslims” who claim to be Muslims but are actually gay. Islam forbids homosexuality so they are clearly not Muslims, and they are confusing the community by calling themselves Muslims. I think the time has come for Muslim gays to be charged under Section 377A.
PM Lee once said 377A will not be “proactive enforced”, but I believe that for Muslim gays who claim that they are Muslims, we should punish them under 377A. As anyone who knows Islam will tell you, if you are Muslim, you cannot be gay. Hence, 377A should be actively enforced for Muslims. Those “Muslims” who are gay but want to call themselves Muslim do not have the right to do so, because Islam does not allow that. Applying 377A on gay “Muslims” will help to uphold the morality of the community. This proposal can be extended to the Christians as well, as they are also strongly against homosexuality.
I hope the relevant authorities like the police and government considers this seriously, because it has a duty to protect the Muslim religion and community.
Also, I support the call by our brave Bro Syed Muhd Bashir AlAzmatkhan to file police report and complaints to the subordinate Courts against the LGBT/Pink Dot movement. He has shared with us some tips and he said that the I.O. was very encouraging and helpful: “hi …police i.o did mention a few valid stuff..example ..the merit of my report,the potential danger..and the need for public to come forward if the felt the same……and their need to review pinkdot/lgbt permits applications…among some of the things the i.o mentioned.”
