The following are the full answers to the questions put to Margaret Thomas by I-S Magazine for their June 12 article. Margie is a member of the Aware EXCO.
Margie
How long have you been with Aware?
Right from the start. Was a speaker at the Women’s Choices, Women’s Lives forum in 1984 that led to the formation of Aware, and then a member of the pro-tem committee.
What is your role within the organization as an exco member?
Ordinary exco member.
Individually, what are you tasked to do in the next 12 months or so?
Communications.
What have you learnt from the recent Aware controversy?
Several lessons:
- Singaporeans are not as apathetic as they have sometimes been made out to be, judging from the turnout at the EGM
- Many Singaporeans see the vital importance of maintaining our secular society, and are ready to step forward and defend it
- There are, however, some who are so caught up in their religiously defined perspective that they will act in very questionable ways
- NGOs like Aware have to be alert to the possibility that people who disagree with their aims and activities will attempt to hijack their organisations
- If the hijack fails, these people may continue to snipe at the NGO and keep repeating baseless accusations about the NGO’s aims and activities
In your individual opinion, what misconceptions about Aware continue to remain after this saga?
That Aware now has a pro-gay agenda and has attempted to promote homosexuality.
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 as an individual, what are you doing about such perceptions?
If there is indeed such a ‘groundswell’ it is one that has been engineered by someone who, driven by her faith-based perspective, has decided that Aware needs to be fixed. She has completely misread Aware’s activities and continues to mislead the public on this.
It is sobering to see how mis-truths can spread and cloud public perception, and it is worrying to find that there are Singaporeans who will make judgments on the strength of these mis-truths.
What are some the biggest challenges faced by Singapore women today?
Lack of support for the multi-layered roles they play in society, compounded by the perception in many quarters that men should be the head of the household.
Has the recent controversy set the organization back? If so, how should the organization build itself up from here on in?
Yes and no. We now have 10 times as many members, and many more people in Singapore are now aware of AWARE. Unfortunately some of these people see Aware in the wrong light.
Contrary to what Dr Thio Su Mien continues to maintain, Aware does not have and has never had a pro-gay agenda. Aware has never promoted homosexuality. Aware has only ever promoted gender equality.
We just have to keep countering the mis-truths and misconceptions while continuing with our work. We have to stay connected to the many new members who signed up because they either believed in Aware’s cause or wanted to help maintain secularism in Singapore and the space for a diversity of views.
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