1. May 5 – Email from Harmin Kaur
2. May 5 – Email from Steve Thio
3. May 5 – Email from Stephanie Chok, PhD Candidate, Asia Research Centre
4. May 5 – Email from Anu Selva
5. May 5 – Email from Kavitha Dorairaj
6. May 4 – Email from Kerry Wilcock, Manager of AWARE Direct Services
7. May 4 – Email from Suchen Christine Lim
8. May 4 – Email from Adeline Kueh
9. May 4 – Email from Indra R. L. Iswaran
10. May 4 – Email from Fanny Ler
11. May 4 – Email from Lenore Lyons

What i miss about AWARE is the passion of all you fantastic women.

From the bottom of my heart, THANK YOU. You begin to see the value of something when you are at risk of losing it. AWARE has touched so many women in different ways and the risk of losing that voice which fights for our rights was horrifying.

This is a big victory for AWARE, civil society and Singapore Women.

Once again thank you for keeping the flame alive. Your courage, spirit and fervor are inspirational. I look forward to seeing you all again soon.

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2. May 5 – Email from Steve Thio

It was an honour for me to help and assist an organisation that has done so much to further the cause of the minorities and marginalised. The little I did is nothing compared to all that AWARE has done through the years.

I can only hope now that the organisation will grow stronger, more respected and achieve its goals with the support of more people.

Congrats and well done!

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1. May 5 – Email from Stephanie Chok, PhD Candidate, Asia Research Centre

CONGRATULATIONS!!! To all of you and your amazing team!

What an incredible, inspiring and historic event.

Dana, Congratulations on being AWARE President! I was so happy and relieved to see up on stage at the end, and it was heartwarming to see the new Exco on stage, arms linked.

I was glued to my laptop all Saturday here in Perth, obsessively clicking on The Online Citizen and following the Twitter trail (the power of online media!). And Sunday I was obsessively watching all the online videos I could find, cheering and boo-ing in my living room. (Oh how I wished I could’ve been there!!)

It was truly wonderful to see all these women (and men) gathered to restore justice and I really thought the (old and now present!) AWARE team did an awesome job and provided such a direct contrast to the (new and now former) Exco!

It has inspired hope in many, judging from the burst of energy online and everyone’s facebook status updates.

Thank you! And all the best in the coming weeks and the work that lies ahead. There is much to look forward to!

Warm congratulatory hugs

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2. May 5 – Email from Anu Selva

It was the most inspiring day of my life and my hope in this country was renewed by the intelligence, passion and charisma of so many of the women I met and the men who put in as much heart and hard work. Thanks for allowing me the chance to do the wee bit I did.

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3. May 5 – Email from Kavitha Dorairaj

I too would like to thank you for the opportunity to do a small part. I am deeply honoured that I could help in what little way. It was amazing to see such strong, intelligent, articulate women and men coming together and standing up for what they believe in.

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4. May 4 – Email from Kerry Wilcock, Manager of AWARE Direct Services

As a staff member at AWARE, I appreciate the passionate work that has gone into reclaiming ‘our AWARE’ over the past 5 weeks. It has been an incredibly hostile space for us to continue to offer a place for women to ‘heal’. Despite this, our Direct Service team have continued to do their job and fight for safety for our clients. Clients have told us over and over again how important AWARE is to them and have even shown concern to our counsellors.

We have an exciting year ahead. I feel priviledged to be part of this organisation. I have no doubt that we are capable to stepping up to the challenge.

Let’s do it!

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5. May 4 – Email from Suchen Christine Lim

Greetings to new President and Vice President.

All of Singapore and the Maldives cheered and yelled ourselves hoarse when we heard the great news on the phone. We danced on the sand pit and hugged each other! I felt so proud of all of you, Singapore’s woman warriors.

It made me cry and laugh at the same time.

I am proud to be Singaporean!

Hugs to all my friends in AWARE!

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6. May 4 – Email from Adeline Kueh

Phrases from Maya Angelou’s Phenomenal Woman kept running through my mind when we-are-aware members spoke – their dedication, humility & tireless drive for the cause was awe-inspiring

Hat’s off to these women & the men who are there to support our cause!

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7. May 4- Email from Indra R. L. Iswaran

Dear Dana and Team,

Congratulations, congratulations, congratulations for a successful return of a more suitable team that will drive AWARE in a positive direction. Well done for a great job done for keeping the fires of progress burning for the Singapore women. I realise how much the organisation needs the support… each and everyone of us were mistaken and lulled into a sleep mode thinking there were many there to do their bit. Little did I realise till I watched the interviews and transmissions on RAZORTV that it was in dire need of support. Well here I am and would love to help where ever the need arises to help make a difference.

Warmest regards and a huge hug to the AWARE members
Indra R. L. Iswaran

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8. May 4 – Email from Fanny Ler

9. May 4 – Email from Lenore Lyons

I just wanted to pass on my congratulations and support for the new Exco appointed at the EGM. As a longstanding Friend of AWARE I have been watching events unfold with a growing sense of alarm and dismay. I have every faith in the incoming Exco and believe that they will do a fantastic job of continuing AWARE’s important work.

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Open letter by Tan Joo Hymn (past president and new Honorary Treasurer): The euphoria and the reality (3 May, 2:49a.m.)

We barely planned for Plan A. Honestly, we rehearsed and went through Plans B to Z, but barely spent time on Plan A. And then we won. Civil society won. It was almost beyond our imagination, especially by such a large margin of 2 to 1. One thousand four hundred votes in favour of Old AWARE!

Perhaps the statement from the National Council of Churches and the apology from Pastor Derek Hong ensured that bus loads did not arrive. With 4 Ministers and 3 Ministers of State speaking out on this issue, the writing was on the wall I suppose.

Amidst the euphoria, one thing troubled me. The men who spoke (the non-supporters of We-Are-Aware). A few were obviously from “their” camp, and a few were unknowns. They talked about such frivolous and irrelevant things, when a long queue of people were waiting patiently to make their point. Their remarks showed that they thought so little of women and women’s issues, trivialising the whole meeting even. Patronising and condescending.

That is why AWARE still has so much work to do.

On the flip side, oh, the women who spoke up. It appeared that many had not spoken in front of an audience, much less one this big. But they spoke with such conviction, such passion. It has been said that some fear public speaking more than death. Well, these women did it, to a crowd of over two thousand. Fueled solely by their sense of justice and conviction.
To paraphrase what Lotte said, we shouted and jeered and clapped because we are passionate, passionate about the issues, passionate about AWARE. Do you see passion in the faces of the new (well, now ex) Exco members?

The energy, the passion, and conviction of every person in that audience. People who left children and elderly at home, who sacrificed time away from work or their precious Saturday. Civil society really won big time today.

So perhaps we have to thank Josie and her gang, and their “Feminist Mentos” after all… They have galvanised previously apathetic people to turn out in force, brought long-time but lapsed members back into AWARE, so many passionate intelligent courageous new members to AWARE and ensured that truly, everybody in Singapore must now be aware of AWARE! And highlighted the potential fault lines in our multi-religious multi-ethnic society.

After the euphoria, we face reality today, and I confess I’m not looking forward to it. The big clean-up that we have to do, after just one month. The damage that some people can wreak in such a short time.

For now, For all women, trust, choice and respect. And sleep.

Most of you probably know how the EGM went. WE WON!!!!!!!! For those who want the inside story, here are some highlights:

We started gathering from 10am, forming lines for registration, which started a little after the scheduled 12 noon. The two parties could be distinguished, with the old AWARE’s group given a folder and badge with the we-are-aware logo. The other side wore red t-shirts that said “Pro Women, Pro Family, Pro Singapore.”

The meeting started after 2pm with the new exco behaving like policemen. They tried from the outset to limit our voice by shutting off the mikes until their president had made her speech. But our side, Braema, Margie, Dana, Halimah and others led us in a protest. (It turned out later that the exco had instructed the sound tech company to turn off the mikes on us!) As they introduced the exco members, we booed till we were hoarse. Earlier, they tried to make NMP Siew Kum Hong go over to the associate members’ section but he insisted that he could stay as he was our legal adviser, especially considering they had their legal advisers from Rajah and Tan. They had also prohibited the media from the meeting, but some journalists became instant members and got entry that way.

We were proud of the AWARE old guard. The exco thought we were there to listen to them! We interrupted their self-gratuitious speeches consistently with points of order, but they kept coming at us to stop speaking and listen to them.

At one point, one of the exco members, Sally Ang, screeched at us to “SHUT UP AND SIT DOWN!!!” She was forced to apologise, and eventually gave in, only to further harangue us to behave ourselves! She looked and sounded like a thug.

The atmosphere was raucious rather than tense. We were somewhat tense when the exco introduced their legal counsel Rajah and Tann. But they eventually turned out to be one of the day’s surprises. They were even-handed, fair. They explained that the AWARE constitution did not provide for a vote of no confidence, so that legally the exco did not have to resign even if our vote succeeded. But they stressed that this was their legal opinion and that it could be challenged in a court of law. As the meeting drew on, they clarified that they were AWARE’s counsel, not the exco’s.

But otherwise, it was fun. And cathartic. All the feelings and thoughts I had had throughout this saga were expressed today. We women were not taking orders from anyone but ourselves! We forced the exco to stand down other matters to get straight to the vote of no confidence.

Here are some highlights from speeches given to support the vote of no confidence:

• Zaibun Siraj, an AWARE founder member and former president, testified to her disappointment with the exco’s behaviour, and her fear that all AWARE’s good work was going to come to naught under this exco’s watch. An academic teaching a feminist course testified that AWARE had a great reputation internationally. She found this out on the academic circuit of conferences. She hoped the new exco would not tarnish its good name.
• Immediate Past President, Constance Singam, wanted to know where these exco members had been at crucial points of AWARE’s history, when AWARE was fighting for female civil servants to get equal medical benefits, for better protection of women against domestic violence, to lift the quota on female medical students and for government to recognize women as equal heads of households, etc.
• Braema Mathi and other members of AWARE’s CEDAW shadow report sub-committee asked if the exco had any understanding of UN requirements of the CEDAW report when they made the decision to dissolve the sub-committee.
• One woman spoke of their inability to grasp the difference between NGO culture and Corporate culture, and the inappropriateness of their style in handling matters. She referred us to the exco’s attitude that they were not answerable to members or the general public.
• One woman approached the matter of whether they had spent more than $20K in organising the EGM. She pointed out that under the AWARE Constitution, the exco needed permission from members before spending more than $20 K a month. Josie Lau and company finally admitted to spending $18K+$5K alone on hiring the Suntec City hall.

Later in the meeting, they were forced to say that they had spent $90K in convening the EGM (incl. lawyers fees, security services, and a professional scrutineering consultancy to count the votes)! It was pointed out to them that, had they cared to seek help from the old guard, they would have learned about cheaper premises, and that volunteers would have done pro-bono work with regard to providing other support services. Founding AWARE member Margie Thomas said she had offered help with logistics several times but was turned down. She also said that she could have helped them obtain a quorum for a meeting to approve the expenditure.

They were accused of having acted unconstitutionally. It was also suggested that they might find themselves paying for the difference out of their own pocket! Yeah!

• One woman attacked their lack of understanding of feminism. She linked this to their blinkered perception of discrimination against women as an issue as well as their poor attitudes towards gay women. She suggested they should bone up on feminist theory before taking on leadership positions in AWARE. Another woman said their rhetoric was all wrong, and that they needed to improve their command of the English language.
• Chitra Sankaran pointed out that it was just not the feminist way to discriminate against any minority, be it of sex, race, class or sexuality. She referred to the exco’s ambivalent attitude towards gays.
• Poonam spoke of how she had started AWARE’s legal clinic in the early 1990s, and how the exco’s installation of CCTV as well as the constant presence of the exco husbands at the AWARE centre were threatening to abused and other distressed women who used AWARE’s services.
• The loudest cheer of the evening was given to a woman who went up to declare that as a Singapore woman, she would not want Dr. Thio Su Mien as her feminist mentor!

Comic relief for the day was provided by Dr. Thio, who imposed upon us several times. She begun early in the event, trying to impress upon us what a great feminist she was because she was the first female dean of the law faculty at NUS! We failed to see the connection she was making. We heckled all through her stupid speeches. But the exco got real touchy about that, and wanted us to respect our elders!

Also providing comic relief were some male supporters of the exco, including Josie Lau’s husband, Dr Alan Chin, who actually referred to us as a “congregation” twice, and then switched to calling us an “assembly.”

We were scolded by these men for not behaving as women should!

A member of AWARE’s male chapter tackled the exco’s statement that AWARE’s move to give men voting rights was a mask to usher in homosexual activists. He announced that the only masks he wore were SKII, which he shared with his wife.

The voting took place at about 4pm. While we waited for the votes to be tallied, we continued to point to the failings of the exco. When Josie said that speakers could only speak once and for three minutes only, the old guard had to quit speaking for a while. However a long line of new members formed to speak in their stead, each one more eloquent , more passionate than the next!

The results were announced at 8pm. You should have seen the exco’s facial expressions change when the voting sheets were delivered to their table at the podium. At last, Jenica Chua’s smirk took a rest. Josie looked like somebody had clobbered her over the head. Maureen Chua looked like she had died–and had found out she wasn’t going to heaven.

The results: 1,414 for us, and 762 for them!

Margie Thomas demanded they resign immediately. They wanted to consult their legal counsel. Who advised them that legally they were not bound to do so, but that in such situations, it was usually considered common sense and courtesy to resign.

Siew Kum Hong said they had not lost in a court of law but in the court of public opinion.

Other lawyers on our side also pointed out to their legal counsel that in the AWARE Constitution, the will of the general meeting prevailed over that of the exco. Thus, within the constitution, they had to resign because we had voted for this.

The crowd kept chanting “Resign! Resign! Resign!”

We were kind and Constance Singam told them to take five minutes to deliberate among themselves off-stage.

They did not return after about 15 minutes. We were just about to move a motion that they had “abdicated” their position when they sent word they were returning.

But once again, they went MIA. So we made a motion rejecting them as our exco, and proceeded to elect a new exco.

Dana Lam (President), Chew I-Jin (VP), Joanne de Cruz, Hafidah, Margie Thomas, Ching Wi, Constance Singam as Immediate Past President, and a few others now form the new exco.

You should have seen Constance Singam on stage with the new exco–she was happy as a child is with a new toy, waggling her hands, waving at us! What a welcome change from the woman who had cried more than a week ago about the loss of trust and respect at AWARE.

In the midst of the election, Josie and Maureen returned to find their place at the podium taken, and their replacements being nominated! Josie said she had come to “graciously” resign. Then they left.

The old guard feted the newer members, and thanked them for their support. They were gratified to find many eloquent voices among the younger members.

After the meeting, many of us, including the old guard, convened at New York, New York, for dinner and yam sengs.

What a day! We went home psyched, knowing that anything is possible in civil society if we all put our mind to it. We witnessed the courage, the passion, the eloquence of our society. Let nobody say henceforth that Singaporeans are politically apathetic.

But then again, we’re not expecting the upcoming national general elections to be more exciting than today’s EGM!

I’m privileged to have lived, breathed, whooped and hollered during a landmark piece of Singapore history and I’ve never felt prouder of my country and the people — both men and women from all walks of life — who stood up for the greater good than today. Yes, the AWARE EGM.

• Pride in the people who gave up a whole Saturday to show up and stand in line for ages to get in.
• Pride in those who willingly agreed to be interviewed on video.
• Pride in the passion, intelligence and eloquence in the people who stood up at the EGM and spoke up for what’s right (and I especially remember the Malay Muslim ex-law enforcement father of 3 teenage daughters).
• Pride in the decency that was shown despite the adversity.
• Pride in the media and our lawyers…and so much more.

Hours later I’m still buzzing from the events of the day…some infuriating, some funny…but the one thing that stands out is the solidarity and fervor that I saw in the majority who were fighting to preserve and further the mission and work of AWARE as an inclusive and secular organization.

I went in today hopeful but a little bit nervous, not knowing if it was going to turn into a bloodbath, but I came out of it high on the happiest vibe ever. It was obvious to me that supporters of the old guard knew exactly what they were there for and knew exactly what they wanted to say, backed by a passion that you don’t often see here in SG. And they were FAIR. Unfortunately, I can’t say much about the almost clown-like “speeches” of the new guard supporters, who showed up in bus-loads, didn’t have anything useful to contribute and started leaving after casting their vote.

But I will not dwell on that. Everything’s out in the news and online for the world to see (yes, our manic Twittering made #awaresg a top-trending topic for the day).

This is not a war so I won’t call the majority no-confidence vote a victory. I prefer to see it instead as a milestone marker that will hopefully be the start of much bigger and better things to come for AWARE.

To everyone who recently joined as a member (myself included), don’t let your passion end today because what lies ahead is when it really counts and starts to make a difference. Tell your friends about AWARE, volunteer your time and continue to do what you started doing when you showed up at SUNTEC.

Yes, the old guard has done a great job so far. Imagine how much more we can achieve if we all contribute.

I’d like to end with my fav funny quotes from today’s EGM:

• “Sit down and shut up”
• “I’m on page 73…show your elders some respect”
• “We’ll refer to legal counsel…”
• “I’m a man, don’t harass me”
• “Women are emotional and irrational”
• “I’d like to say to the CONGREGATION…”
• “We’ll help transsexuals according to what’s stated on their IC”