http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_371765.html
May 3, 2009 AWARE SHOWDOWN New guard ousted Exco of women's group steps down after raucous seven-hour meeting and control goes back to the veterans By Wong Kim Hoh, Senior Writer THEY came to reclaim what they had lost, and they did. In a big show of solidarity, stalwarts of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) and their supporters turned up in force and won it back. Nearly 3,000 people attended an extraordinary general meeting and over nearly seven action-packed hours, blasted away at the team of unknowns which snatched the Aware leadership on March 28. Then they voted resoundingly to oust the team led by DBS Bank vice-president Josie Lau and inspired by senior lawyer Thio Su Mien. The final tally that they should go: 1,414 to 761. Outnumbered, and out-talked THEY started the meeting brisk and business-like, but just minutes into the extraordinary general meeting (EGM), it was clear that Ms Josie Lau's team was no match for the old guard and its supporters, who outnumbered and outspoke them. First, executive committee (exco) member Lois Ng, who was the master of ceremony, tried to assert herself by requesting Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong, who was seated among the women, to join the men on the other side of the auditorium. Booted out, but Josie Lau's team will stay on THEY were booted out, but the executive committee headed by Josie Lau said last night that they would remain members of Aware. In fact, they would even be willing to serve as volunteers if the newly elected executive committee would have them, they said. Even then, Ms Lau and her team did not step down immediately. They consulted their lawyer, ignored calls to resign, then were told they could retire for five minutes to decide. When they did not return, the meeting elected a new executive committee headed by former president Dana Lam. It was half an hour before Ms Lau and her exco reappeared to say that they had decided to step down. Saturday's meeting at Suntec City Hall 402 drew Aware founders, past presidents and long-time members, as well as many women who joined only in recent weeks. Many said they had been moved by the tumultuous events since March 28, when a team of new members seized nine of the 12 positions on the exco. New president Claire Nazar quit 11 days later, to be succeeded by Ms Lau. It then emerged that several of the new leaders attended the Anglican Church of Our Saviour, and were strongly against homosexuality. Then, Dr Thio revealed that she had encouraged the women to join and change Aware because she felt it was promoting lesbianism and homosexuality. In particular, she attacked an Aware sexuality programme for schools, saying it too promoted homosexuality. She called herself a 'feminist mentor'. Over the past five weeks, the Aware exco shrank from 12 to eight as members resigned. There were only seven present yesterday, as the eighth, Ms Peggy Leong, did not attend. Saturday's marathon meeting, which started at 2.30pm, was dominated by Aware stalwarts and their supporters, who criticised the newcomers and Dr Thio for the way they took over the association, disregarded older members and sacked staff. They also criticised the team's lack of diversity. Ms Lau's team had several hundred supporters at the meeting, but mostly the sparring was done between the audience and the exco, and Dr Thio. There were some tense moments at the start of the meeting, when Nominated Member of Parliament Siew Kum Hong was told to sit with the men and expatriates in one side of the hall. He refused, saying that he was there as a legal adviser for the old guard. - Show quoted text - On Wed, Apr 29, 2009 at 6:00 PM, Maya <> wrote: > > Christian fundamentalists hijack Singaporean feminist group > > Posted by Cory Doctorow, April 23, 2009 1:35 AM | permalink > > AWARE, a 25-year-old Singaporean women's right organization, recently found itself in turmoil after a coup orchestrated by conservative fundamentalist Christians who signed up in large numbers just before the annual general meeting, then elected a new executive that immediately purged the organization of all its traditional leadership down to the subcommittee chairs. > > AWARE held its annual general meeting (AGM) on 28 March 2009. There were over 100 people present. Of them, about 80 had only joined the organisation between January and March, one to three months before the meeting. Nine out of 12 executive committee (EXCO) places, including four Office Bearer positions, went to newcomers, who were voted in by wide majorities. There are wide-ranging suspicions that this "leadership grab" has been orchestrated by a well-organised group who do not share AWARE's values and who are seeking to use the name and the resources of a well-respected institution to further their own agenda. These concerns have been expressed not only by onlookers, but by older members of Aware... > > The new president, Josie Lau and 5 other Exco members belong to the same church, Church of Our Saviour. Given this, it is very likely, in our view, that they have acted in concert to take over AWARE. We do not know why as they have refused to disclose their reasons to either members of AWARE or to the press and this makes us even more worried. They, or persons whom they have been associated with, have written homophobic letters to the press. While that is their personal conviction to which they are entitled, we do not want AWARE to be made into a vehicle for any hidden agenda. > > Josie Lau, was in charge of the DBS Charity Drive in support of Focus On The Family, US-based Christian organisation that is opposed to abortion and equal rights for sexual minorities. This created a controversy last year which was well-documented. > > 160 members, including former AWARE committee members and founder members, petitioned for an extraordinary general meeting to consider a vote of no confidence in the New Exco on the basis that the New Exco has not acted and is not acting in the best interest of AWARE; does not appreciate or share the values of AWARE and does not have the requisite experience of carrying out AWARE's work or is otherwise inadequate to further AWARE's objectives. An EGM will be held on 2 May 2009. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth?hl=en-GB -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
