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Tag: wearwhite

  • Pink Dot Packs Hong Lim

    Pink Dot Packs Hong Lim

    Describing Pink Dot as having had a “record turnout” is starting to become old hat, as organisers say 28,000 people joined in on the annual gay rights rally this year, breaking the record of 26,000 in 2014.

    Hong Lim Park was once again packed with pink-clad supporters from Singapore and overseas, although only Singaporeans and Permanent Residents were able to form the lit-up human pink dot at the end of the night.

    Yet many challenges still remain for the LGBT community. With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong still insisting that Singapore is “not ready” for same-sex marriage, LGBT activists are no closer to getting Section 377A of the Penal Code – which criminalises sex between men – repealed.Growing in size and scope every year, this year’s Pink Dot featured speeches from LGBT individuals and allies such as Vanessa Ho from Project X, Avin Tan from Action for AIDS and long-time gay rights activist Russell Heng. Performers in the well-received concert included singer-songwriter Inch Chua, rapper ShiGGa Shay and dance group Plus Point.

    The Media Development Authority (MDA), too, has remained steadfast in its treatment of media with LGBT themes. Taiwanese pop star Jolin Tsai’s song and music video We’re All Different, Yet The Same – which depicted the discrimination that LGBT people face in not being able have their families formally recognised – was recently banned from mainstream broadcast.

    Pink Dot’s spokesperson Paerin Choa revealed at the press conference that a 15-second promotional video made for screening in cinemas was yesterday refused a rating by the MDA. This means that the video, which contained footage of last year’s lit-up Pink Dot, cannot be screened in Singapore and is effectively banned.

    Organisers said MDA’s cited reason was that “it is not in the public interest to allow cinema halls to carry advertising on LGBT issues, whether they are advocating for the cause, or against the cause.”

    “After the setbacks that we had experienced over the last 12 months, giving up and losing hope would have been the easy thing to do. But we also know that Singapore’s LGBT community are a very resilient bunch, and in view of these challenges, we still have much to celebrate,” Choa said.

    As he stood in the hot, humid crowd, long-time LGBT ally Reverend Doctor Yap Kim Hao believed that the growing crowd indicated a “very promising future” for the LGBT community.

    “This shows a lot of public support,” he told The Online Citizen. “It shows a public awareness of the injustice faced by the community. And the LGBT people are also no longer hiding themselves, they are out and proud.”

    Olivia Chiong, whose blog on same-sex parenting was recently picked up by Buzzfeed, said she and her partner Irene has watched the numbers at Pink Dot grow. “It’s a nice time to catch up with friends, some of whom we only saw last year!” she said. “Pink Dot is like Chinese New Year for gay people!”

    That said, Chiong would prefer not to have need of an event like Pink Dot at all: “We need to do this now, but I hope we eventually grow [in acceptance of LGBT people] until we no longer need Pink Dot.

     

    Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

  • Yaacob Ibrahim’s Lack Of Action Against Pink Dot Sg Will Cost Him Politically

    Yaacob Ibrahim’s Lack Of Action Against Pink Dot Sg Will Cost Him Politically

    Assalamualaikum Dr Yaacob,

    I am writing to you, as the Muslim community in general feels very distressed that not only is an immoral activity about to take place contrary to the democratic wishes of the silent majority but also an illegal one too. Illegal in the sense that it infringes on Section 377A of the penal code against homosexual practices in our country (and that of neighboring Malaysia, Indonesia & Brunei)!

    What is particularly alarming is that Mediacorp Artistes under your watch are being appointed as their licentious ambassadors as well. Is this the best you can perform as the minister in charge of both communications and Muslim affairs? Never mind that you have failed for decades to fight for Malay/Muslim rights in this country but you have now failed to stop plain challenges to Islamic principles and its holy definition of what constitutes normal, healthy functioning families likewise?

    In a lot of areas are Muslims already being deprived, from loudspeakers in mosques to readily available Halal food in NTUC Foodfare/government institutions to total segregation of hawker food stalls and wet markets selling Muslim foods to prevent contamination from Haram stuffs and not forgetting, the Hijab issue at workplaces. Instead, we have witnessed more and more gay themed spas being opened across the island along with their fornicated pubs and HIV rates have shot up as a result. Is this not a clear enough indication to halt such abomination?

    Therefore, I cannot understand how you and your PAP leaders can allow this kind of lewd event to take place at Hong Lim Park when the law clearly stipulate prohibitions of matters on “Race, Language, Religious and illegality”? Since this present government is afraid to uphold the wishes of the conservative majority and maintain the status quo of a decent, virtuous “Asian society” like Mr Muhamad Faisal of the Worker’s Party did by participating in the “wear white event” then I think its for the long term good that we the people including your good self, prepare for shake ups starting from Moulmein Kallang where Mr Faisal’s party previously contested and obtained quite a good result.

    Muhd Irfan Abdul Halim
    A.S.S. Contributor

    Source: www.allsingaporestuff.com

  • Alfian Sa’at: Nobody Cares About #Wearwhite

    Alfian Sa’at: Nobody Cares About #Wearwhite

    Dear ‪#‎WearWhite‬

    Nobody cares.

    About your antics to illustrate some kind of ‘pushback’ against Pink Dot. About your majoritarian argument of ‘look at us we are greater in number so we get to decide what kind of society we want for everyone’. You think looking like a bunch of hissy, reactive drama queens endears you to people? And why do you have to be so lazy? You have an entire year to organise whatever to set forth your position–you can stage a ‘One man, One woman, One family, One People, One Nation, One Singapore’ festival or a ‘Straight & Lovin’ It’ carnival or an ‘OMOW, no HOMO’ acronym slogan competition or even a mass wedding (why let the Moonies have all the fun?). Who’s stopping you? But you’d rather ride on the publicity for Pink Dot and squeeze your faces into the camera. Because who cares if 99% of the stuff in movies, TV programmes, magazines, advertisements etc all uphold and celebrate those heteronormative values you hold so dear? That one single day in a year when LGBT’s could appear in broad pink daylight in a safe, affirming space? No way, they must be bleached out like a stain! But I guess you’re kiasu and mean-spirited that way.

    The problem with these kinds of manufactured clashes is not that Singapore is supposedly becoming ‘more polarised’. The problem is that it leads people to subscribe to binary thinking. Pink versus white. With us or against us. But gay people aren’t anti-family. Actual one man-one woman families (some bringing their kids) are, in fact, turning up for Pink Dot. And among those wearing pink there are many who are also religious. It’s not about a pink team on one side and a white team on the other in a tug-of-war for their souls. Because people know how to integrate their multiple identities and reconcile the contradictions within themselves. It’s what makes us human.

    In writing two paragraphs it might seem like I actually give a toss about your chromatic sartorial tit-for-tat but getting back to my main point, nobody cares. Really.

     

    Source: Alfian Sa’at

  • Will Lee Hsien Loong Attend Pink Dot This Saturday?

    Will Lee Hsien Loong Attend Pink Dot This Saturday?

    Pink Dot, the annual gay celebratory event of “the freedom to love”, will take place this Saturday at Hong Lim Park for the seventh time since its inauguration in 2009.

    Each year, the event is headlined by celebrities and has attracted global brands as sponsors. It has also seen an increasing number of people turning up to give it support. Last year’s event reportedly attracted 25,000 people.

    “Pink is the colour of our ICs,” the group’s Facebook page says. “It is also the colour when you mix red and white – the colours of our national flag. Pink Dot stands for an open, inclusive society within our Red Dot, where sexual orientation represents a feature, not a barrier.”

    An inclusive society is also the aim of the Lee Hsien Loong Government which has repeatedly urged Singaporeans to see one another as one people, and has boasted of its inclusive policies.

    Mr Lee, however, raised recently some ire among those in the gay community for comments he made about same-sex marriage and the gay community.

    In an interview with ASEAN journalists in Singapore earlier in June, he said Singapore society “is still conservative although it is changing gradually” and that it is “not ready” for same-sex marriage, as the Straits Times reported.

    But, Mr Lee said, the gay community have the space to live their lives in Singapore.

    “We do not harass them or discriminate against them,” he explained.

    This seemingly more conciliatory position of the Government first came into the spotlight in 2003, when then-prime minister Goh Chok Tong caused a bit of an uproar among conservative circles when he said the government was employing openly gay people in the civil service.

    Mr Goh famously said then: “In the past, if we know you’re gay, we would not employ you. But we just changed this quietly.”

    “Expecting much indignant resistance from conservative quarters, Goh attempted to placate angry citizens by resorting to essentialist notions of sexuality. He added ‘we are born this way and [gay people] are born that way, but they are like you and me’.”  – [“But They are Like You and Me”: Gay Civil Servants and Citizenship in a Cosmopolitanizing Singapore.”]

    Critics, however, point to the presence and retention of Singapore’s anti-gay law, section 377a of the Penal Code. The law criminalises sex between adult males.

    Mr Lee said that the gay community “should not push the agenda too hard because if they push the agenda too hard, there will be a very strong pushback.”

    “And this is not an issue where there is a possibility that the two sides can discuss and eventually come to a consensus. Now, these are very entrenched views and the more you discuss, the angrier people get,” he said.

    Pink Dot, in response to Mr Lee’s remarks, said that while it acknowledged Mr Lee’s concerns – given Singapore’s unique position as a multi-cultural, multi-racial and multi-religious society, there will be a plurality of viewpoints, some deeply entrenched – it nonetheless feels that “it is not a topic that can be swept under the carpet and allowed to fester.”

    Lee
    Lee

    “We firmly believe that dialogue is our best way forward,” Pink Dot said. “As such, we would like to invite Prime Minister Lee to join us in celebrating the Freedom to Love, this Saturday, June 13, at Hong Lim Park, and meet with the individuals, families, and loving couples who form a vibrant part of Singapore’s social fabric.”

    Mr Lee’s office has not responded to the invitation publicly.

    Pink Dot also noted that racial and religious minorities are protected under the constitution.

    “Whether Singapore will eventually abolish Section 377a and create a society truly based on justice and equality, that values all contributing citizens regardless of race, religion, sexual orientation or gender identity; a lot will depend on fostering goodwill and encouraging respect among groups and individuals.”

    Will Mr Lee accept Pink Dot’s invitation and turn up at Hong Lim Park on Saturday, in the name of inclusiveness or fostering an inclusive society? Should he?

    Well, if we go by what his government itself has said – that it wants to build an inclusive society – and what is declared in our National Pledge – that we “pledge ourselves as one united people… to build a democratic society based on justice and equality” – then there is no reason for Mr Lee to decline the invitation.

    But of course if Mr Lee accepts the invite, it will be seen by the conservatives as a sign of support, or at least of tacit endorsement of the gay community.

    Indeed, Pink Dot’s invitation could also be seen as putting Mr Lee on the spot, perhaps nudging him to take a stand, instead of the fence-sitting one he currently adopts when it comes to gay issues.

    Whatever it is, it will an interesting Saturday indeed.

     

    Source: www.theonlinecitizen.com

  • What Are Weird Holes Doing In Cubicles Of Men’s Toilet At Woodlands Swimming Complex

    What Are Weird Holes Doing In Cubicles Of Men’s Toilet At Woodlands Swimming Complex

    A regular swimmer was worried when he spotted holes on the walls of the cubicles of Woodlands Swimming Complex, which looked like they have been drilled in by someone.

    After a swim session just last Saturday (Jul 12), Stomper Richard noticed a hole on the wall of the showering cubicles of the men’s toilet .

    Upon closer look, he realised three of the cubicles had the same hole and that one could peek through them.

    He wrote:

    “I am a regular swimmer in Woodlands Swimming Complex and my son also attends swimming lessons regularly in the same pool. There are times he will attend the lessons by himself because we are staying opposite the swimming complex.

    “When I was showering in one of the cubicles at the male changing room that is furthest from the exit, I noticed some greyish spots on the cubicle wall.

    “I took a closer look and realised it is a small hole that one could peek through to the adjacent cubicle. The greyish spots looks like cement that had been used to cover the hole but was dug out again.

    “The location of the peek hole is purposely positioned at the crotch level and one can only imagine the “uses” for this hole.

    “I checked the walls of other cubicles and was shocked to discover the other cubicles walls all had similar peek holes.

    “As a father, how can I let my primary school age son use the shower facilities in the men’s toilet with a peace of mind when there are potential sick perverts peeking at their private parts? Our children’s modesty is at stake.”

     

    Source: http://singaporeseen.stomp.com.sg