The following are the full answers to the questions put to Hafizah Osman by I-S Magazine for their June 12 article. Hafizah is a new member of the Aware EXCO.
Hafizah
What are the main issues faced by Malay-Muslim women in Singapore today?
Given the current economic climate, I believe one of the main concerns would be economic stability. While not a major over-riding concern, there is still, I believe the issue of domestic violence.
As the sole Malay-Muslim member on the exco how will you address the above issues?
As a member of Exco I contribute to discussions and decision making. I also lend my skills and advice on website management and design. I think one of the most important things is to help publicise the programmes that AWARE has to offer – for example the Helpline services. It is important that women in distress, regardless race or religion have access to services they need.
As a committee member on the new exco what do you expect Aware to build towards in the next 12 months?
AWARE has done great work in the past 24 years and she will continue to do great work in the many years to come. At the present moment, our challenge really is to keep our members engaged and to be able to respond to their immediate needs and concerns. For me personally, I would like to see AWARE and her members continue with the great energy and enthusiasm that had brought so many of us together.
Personally, what have you learnt from the recent Aware saga and how will you be putting those lessons to use in the next 12 months?
For me personally, it was a wake up call of sorts. While I have been supportive of AWARE and have been familiar with AWARE since the late 80s, I haven’t really felt the need to join as a member. With the events that took place pre-EGM, I felt the need to do something about it and started getting involved. Moving forward, it is important that AWARE remains an inclusive organisation that embraces diversity. We must be sensitive to the needs of the women that we are looking to represent.
There is also a sizeable groundswell of opinion that some of your policies are out of step of with Singapore’s societal values. What do you say about that? And what will you and the new exco be doing about such perceptions?
AWARE promotes gender equality, non-discrimination and non-violence against women. How are these against Singapore’s societal values? Having said that, as an advocacy group and agent for change we understand the nature of our work can put us “out of step” with the rest of society. While we remain sensitive to divergent views the nature of our organisation is that we push the boundaries ever so often.
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