SINGAPORE — Two books pulled off the shelves of the library’s children’s section will not be pulped, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim told the Straits Times. Instead, they will be moved to the adult section.
“I have also asked NLB to review the process by which they deal with such books,” Dr Yaacob said in comments which were also posted on his Facebook page today (July 18).
The two books — And Tango Makes Three and The White Swan Express — were withdrawn after a complaint on the public “We are against Pinkdot in Singapore” Facebook page. Among the concerns were the depictions of families with same-sex parents. It later emerged that a third book, Who’s In My Family, was withdrawn in May following a complaint made to the NLB.
“Many objected to the idea that the books would be pulped after being withdrawn from circulation. I understand these reactions, which reflect a deep-seated respect in our culture for the written word,” Dr Yaacob posted on Facebook.
“Who’s In My Family had already been disposed of as the title had been reviewed earlier. But I have instructed NLB not to pulp the two other titles, but instead to place them in the adult section of the public libraries.
“The decision on what books children can or cannot read remains with their parents. Parents who wish to borrow these books to read with their children will have the option to do so.”
He reiterated his support of the library’s stand to withdraw the books.
“We stand by the NLB’s decision to remove the three books from the children’s section. As I said earlier, the NLB has to decide what books should be made readily available to children, who are usually unsupervised, in the children’s section of our public libraries,” he said.
“The NLB will continue to ensure that books in the children’s section are age-appropriate. We have a much wider range of books in the adult section of public libraries.”
I received a msg from the wearwhite folks earlier in the day, requesting me to meet up with a person who was asking for help with Same Sex Attraction (SSA) my task was to befriend and recommend him to other agencies for follow-up.
He recounted his early years of grappling with SSA. It’s the classic story of an absent father figure and a domineering mother. Growing up, he too suffered from being bullied.
Amazingly, he had the force of will to not immediately succumb to the attraction. He read up and researched the issue, finding out a lot about it. It helped him grapple with the SSA, finding solace and comfort through worship and spirituality.
He’s a strong advocate of the view that SSA is primarily due to socialisation issues, not inborn. We were then met with a guy fr the entertainment industry, who recounted incidents whereby people he knew with SSA returning to fitrah, the natural disposition inherent in humanity. All he did was put the hashtag #wearwhite on his FB pg. they Came to him, he connected them to others and they too returned to fitrah.
They plan. And God plans. And God is the best of planners.
I believe tonight’s gathering was planned by God. To make people of very varied backgrounds and interests, come together with the intent of helping humanity.
I speak to all of us here. We are reaching out to one and all, regardless of your religion or race. If you are battling with SSA, and are looking for help, go to the wearwhite page, make contact. They can help you get in touch with sincere people who have gone through what you are going through. They have gone through the darkness and have seen the light. They are more than willing to help.
You can also PM me.
I make a special request. Can all here please share this posting on your walls? Wearwhite is here for you.
Come back to fitrah. Come back to the natural disposition and inner purity that God has created you with.
Sad that police can come over to stop someone who’s trying to raise awareness on mass killings happening in GAZA.
Trying to stop something that is the responsibility of all mankind to do. But it’s ok for police to grant permits for GAY TO HAVE RALLY ON GAY RIGHTS SOMETHING THAT IS already not permitted in Singapore. An offense under the penal code.
Ok to have gay protest but wrong to voice out that killing of innocence woman and children is wrong.
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.
Yes there are these bunch of people whom always get treated badly because of their appearance / attitude / behaviours , because they are DIFFERENT. Yes , they are loud and party people and fun to hangout with . Yes , they SEEM to not know anything about stuff where the ” REAL ” Couple go through. Yes , they seem to go to a path differently from the “origins” path WHICH doesnt even EXIST cause really , the path that each of us are walking will always be the true one. Many people say , you are confused thats why you are like this , whereas we are’nt . We are the LBGT Community. IN FACT , I dun even wish to categories.We are the normal human beings that you also see everyday in your lives. We are the human being with feelings too , we are NEVER A TOY to PLAY. We Get Criticize Alot Thats True but we really don’t care about the things that they THE IGNORANCE were saying. We just play along with the words they say and act as if it never happened. Though sometimes it kills to hear those harsh words from them.
DO YOU EVEN KNOW WHATS DISGUSTING?!! Seriously. The way we walk , talk , dress and our lifestyle are DIFFERENT. Yes it is different. When we walk outside , dressing up as a Metrosexual , putting on Makeups to boost our confidence , there you go EYES STARES everywhere , and then came gossips here and there . The malay aunties will go preech the OMG , the uncles will just shaked their heads . The normal aunties will just brag about the way we dress and stuff. And the teens , they will just look at us as if we are some kind of FREAK. The friends that you are not close to / expose to , will give weird comments and even questions that you don’t even wish to hear. Will just have to pull it off and make fake smiles to them or in other words SLY. This is roughly the daily basis of our lifestyle which applies to those who aren’t comfortable with us or still not accepting us.
WHATS THERE TO ACCEPT OR NOT TO ?!? IS THERE EVEN A CHOICE WHEN COMES TO ACCEPTING ANOTHER BEING? You ask yourselves that , in terms of LBGT , you can ask them why they become like this , or what made them like that , but really there is never a fixed answer to that , NEVER , cause they themselves are not sure of what to reply back to you cause really , they are born that way or the lifestyle around them which helps them to shape up to what they have become now , and they have NEVER taken it for granted , they only can accept the fact of what they have done and accepting the reality and goes on in life to what they are. Yes we do have choices in LIFE that you can’t deny , but if we are comfortable with who we are and that people around us or our loved ones accepts the way we are , we will never hesitate to be more passionable and more fruitful in life than ever.
Muhammad Khairul IkhwanMuhammad Khairul Ikhwan
THE FAMILY , its a tough tough situation when comes to this , and it will take years to get accepted or will NEVER be accepted. Its hard for people in LBGT to get accepted and love from families due to the status that they are in, even I myself am still stuggling to get my family accept the way I am. They would always ask why you have chose to be this way or that way and that the fact is we don’t choose , we just feel ourselves when we are that and GOD loves each and every one of us.Though there are some parents whom still accepts their child for who they are and supported them. My mum supports for what I’m doing and stuff , but still there is always a nudge sometimes .. I really hope she does. They were many obstacles that people like us have to think of besides thinking of how to feel or be accepted in the public.
ASIAN OR AMERICANS , IT DOES NOT MATTER WHERE YOU ARE OR RELIGION YOU ARE?! Its the same everywhere or anyone, you will just feel disconnected from the society or sometimes feel not being socialize to your family members due to some circumstances. Firstly , you do not want to have an impression where they will just like hates the way you are , and being in that situation , you try to avoid them and spend more time with your friends . Secondly, sometimes going to your own worship places , you will feel uncomfortable due to stares received , and people whom are Homophobic / or people whom are noble . Though there will be some of the nobles that will come and talk to you and try to be understanding yet very rare to find those noble people these days. Which is why sometimes , its hard for us to go there .
THE SOCIETY . Teachers , friends family members ,SAID JUST BE YOURSELVES AND NEVER LIE TO IT , I’m not sure whether the things they say the MEAN IT. When we be ourselves , we get criticised , we get bad comments , we get haters , we get stares , we get teased , we get DEHUMANISED to the extend , some of us Commited Suicide due to overly depressed about not being able to get accepted for being themselves. Should we Discreet and LIE to ourselves the whole LIFE we live. Should we do dirty stuff and things that we should not do and make ourselves uncomfortable and “GET USED TO IT ” to the situation or the appearance of the people . Should “FIT IN ” to please or respect others people demand whereas they dont even respect and disgusted towards us? Should we?? Should we live a life with 2 faces ? or even deny the things that we like and rejects everything we love to and passionate about?
THERE GOES , they will then say , not that we don’t accept you or whatever you are doing BUT…BUT….BUT.. There will always be a BUT , …just stop SLY~ing we had enough of it. Appreciate us. We are Nevertheless The Same As You. If you think that we are that disgusting , think again , the worst and sick people are out there somewhere , you shall know when time comes…
Lastly for the last part of this note , this goes to all those people whom you think you are having a hard time getting accepted just because you are Different . This note Is Especially For You Isaac Hasan<3 .
NEVER REJECT YOURSELF, I WANT YOU TO REJECT ANYONE OR ANYTHING THAT EVER MAKE YOU FEEL LIKE YOU ARE AN OUTCAST OR MAKE YOU FEEL THAT YOU WILL NEVER BE GREAT OR YOU ARE NOT FIT ENOUGH , YOU ARE NOT GOOD ENOUGH OR YOU CANT SING WELL ENOUGH OR YOU CANT DANCE WELL ENOUGH OR YOU WILL NEVER BE A STAR YOU JUST REMEMBER THAT YOU’RE GOD DAMN SUPERSTAR AND YOU WERE BORN THIS WAY – LADY GAGA – MY INSPIRATION.
SINGAPORE — Two books pulled off the shelves of the library’s children’s section will not be pulped, Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim told the Straits Times. Instead, they will be moved to the adult section.
