I begin with a quote from Manifesta: Young Women, Feminism, and the Future by Jennifer Baumgardner and Amy Richards (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2000).

Those who label us ‘hooligans’ have very little understanding of feminism nor of the history and culture of civil society nor indeed of how democratic institutions work. They have (which is a lot of women) grown up with the social mandate that says “be nice”. History has taught us that being nice got us nowhere.

Another confusion is with regard to AWARE as a women’s organization. What is AWARE? Is it a welfare organization? Is it a social club?

It is both. But AWARE is more than that. AWARE’s founding members realized that AWARE needed to go beyond maintaining the status quo if women’s aspiration to be treated as equals to the men were ever to be achieved.

AWARE, then, set out to follow the feminist ideology and mode of action. It became a movement for social, political, and economic equality of men and women. Equality, in these terms, is a balance between the male and female with the intention of liberating the individual.

Feminism’s goals are social and political change. This means one must be engaged with the government and law, as well as social practices and beliefs. And implicit to these goals is access to sufficient information to enable women to make responsible choices.

Take for example one issue that AWARE pioneered and feminist organization the world over) and promoted – domestic violence. Until feminism, there was no word for battered women or domestic violence, no legal protection and no shelter system. AWARE needed to raise consciousness of the public, policy-makers and the victims to succeed in raising the issue as a serious concern and lobby for laws to garner mainstream support and provide victims with support.

But unfortunately when the concern becomes mainstream, as it has in Singapore, the resulting social programs are reduced to treating the symptoms rather than curing-or preventing-the disease. This is the mode of action of welfare organizations.

In order to have a robust movement, domestic violence and economic development need to be re-identified as feminist issues and victories.

Take all the concerns that AWARE has pioneered and promoted – citizenship rights, equal medical benefits, one-third quota in the medical faculty and others – have all since become mainstream issues.

Another case in point is sexual harassment. This was again not recognized nor acknowledged till AWARE did the survey two years ago. The feminist mode of action for AWARE would be to lobby for laws against sexual harassment, public policies and protocol to deal with harassment in the workplace, trainings for implementation of these laws, and process to help women through the process.

Feminism requires action and responsibility for oneself. A feminist organization such as AWARE is required to work for political and social change; campaign for laws and policies that support individuals toward equality; provide individuals with the knowledge, skills and power to make their own choices and respect each other as equals.

This is why AWARE can never ‘be nice’. If it becomes ‘nice’ it would have failed in its mandate.

Constance Singam
July 8 2009

Related:

• July 11, 2009 -- Rawkin’
• June 5, 2009 -- They’re Coming to Get You
• June 1, 2009 -- How ST covered the story
• May 28, 2009 -- Sin Boon Ann: AWARE & Failure of the Media
• May 28, 2009 -- Koo Tsai Kee: Tolerance & Diversity

Nevertheless the current EXCO would prefer to move forward instead of pursuing action against Josie Lau and her team. The present EXCO has since asked various service providers for discounts and donations and has reduced costs by $8,000.

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At the 2 May EGM several members queried Josie Lau and her Exco about the cost of the EGM. Calls were made, both at the EGM and in media forums subsequently, for the money to be recovered from the members of that Exco.

After taking office, the current Exco formed an internal review team to look into the expenses incurred by the previous Exco and determine whether their decisions and actions adhered to the AWARE Constitution and other established practices.

The EGM cost a total of $99,291.28. This was not quite covered by the $98,765.70 in membership fees paid by the 2,748 people who joined AWARE or who renewed their membership between 29 March and 2 May.

The current Exco wrote to all the companies that provided services at the EGM, explained the financial situation and asked them to consider making a donation to AWARE. Rajah & Tann have donated $5,000 and Deloitte & Touche $3,000, while Boardroom has indicated that it will be making a donation. Suntec and Ape Communications declined on the grounds that they had, in total, given AWARE a 26.5% discount on the facilities and services provided.

The review team found that the previous Exco did not adhere fully to the AWARE Constitution and established practices. Also, they could have avoided some of the costs, for instance, by trying to get pro bono legal advice and asking AWARE volunteers to act as scrutineers.

“We will not, however, be taking any action against the previous Exco,” said Ms Lam. “There are several reasons for this. We recognise that they were handicapped by their lack of NGO experience. Secondly, we have been able to recover part of the costs through the generosity of some of the vendors.

“Most importantly, we want to get on with our work – which is to identify and help remove the obstacles that prevent women from realising their full potential. This is, and has always been, AWARE’s agenda.”

Related Coverage:

• ST Breaking News – New Aware team sets goals
• Channel News Asia – AWARE proposes changes to its constitution
• ST Breaking News – No action to reclaim $100k
• ST Breaking News – Josie Lau’s team won’t be sued
• ST Breaking News – Aware to report on women

Press Kit:

• PressKIT EXCO Profiles
• Aware Media Con 6 July – Dana’s Opening Remarks
• AWARE Media Release 6 July 2009
• AWARE Media Release 6 July 2009 – EGM costs

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes
• July 7, 2009 -- AWARE Press Con Highlights
• May 31, 2009 -- Dana Lam: No Apologies
• February 22, 2009 -- Dana Lam – File Photos
• June 18, 2009 -- IS Interview: Dana Lam

Hafizah (“Fizz”) was elected to the AWARE EXCO at the 2nd May 2009 EGM

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Give us your feedback: who else would you like to see interviewed?

Related:

• July 2, 2009 -- Video: Yvonne Reflects
• June 18, 2009 -- Video: Aye See Reflects
• June 10, 2009 -- Video: Meera Jane Reflects
• June 14, 2009 -- IS Interview: Hafizah Osman
• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes

 
A warm thank you to everyone who made the day possible.

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes
• July 2, 2009 -- Video: Yvonne Reflects
• June 25, 2009 -- Video: Hafizah Reflects
• June 18, 2009 -- Video: Aye See Reflects
• June 10, 2009 -- Video: Meera Jane Reflects