Unpublished Straits Times letter by Lena Lim (founding Aware member and first president)
As a founder member of Aware, its first president, and long time volunteer on the Helpline, I would like to share with you what Aware means to me.
Aware gave me the opportunity to broaden my horizons beyond my immediate family and career as a publisher and bookseller. Aware gave me a third dimension – a feminist dimension. It taught me to see, to perceive and act; to listen, to hear and speak out. To be assertive without being confrontational, to empathise not pity.
We undertook many projects – public talks to raise consciousness about women’s issues, campaigns against domestic violence and sexist advertisements, research on population issues, and quality education, financial intelligence training are just some.
We were all workers, there was no queen bee, no bureaucratic procedures. The process of working as a team was as important to us as the end result. Along the way, Aware’s values of acceptance of diversity in ethnicity, religion, culture and sexuality were ingrained in our thinking, and all our programs.
This was an imperceptible process; there were no lectures, no undertakings that new members had to sign, no enshrined constitutional clauses. The Aware values that Constance Singam enumerated in her letter to members - these are intangible assets that cannot be just taken over, physically or constitutionally. They have to be earned.
I have known for a long time that I have gained a lot more from Aware than I can ever hope to contribute to it. Aware was our ‘finishing school’. It made us AWARE Women.
And so it is heartbreaking to realize that all this is now in jeopardy. That is why we are fighting so hard for OUR Aware.
Cheng U Wen Lena (also known as: Lena Lim)
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