The AWARE Training Institute (ATI) will be going full steam ahead to develop and conduct programmes in three areas – skills development, knowledge building, and self-knowledge. The aim is to educate, enable and empower women to achieve their highest potential in society. These programmes include:

• ATI’s Body Image Workshops will help young girls to reflect on body image, and concepts of attractiveness and beauty, to enable them to deal with body image and self esteem issues.
   
• Following from AWARE’s major recent report on sexual harassment which showed that more than 50% of respondents had experienced sexual harassment at work, ATI is currently developing workshops to train organisations to deal with sexual harassment and assault. The sexual harassment team comprising HR practitioners, lawyers and social workers target to provide by the end of the year a comprehensive package of services to train and advise companies on policies and practices to prevent and deal with sexual harassment and assault in the workplace.
   
• The financial training programme for women is being enhanced. The aim here is to help women with financial empowerment. Further announcements on this will be made shortly.
   
• Women in Conversation is an innovative approach to learning. ATI provides safe spaces for women to get together in small groups to learn from each other and to share their personal and common experiences in matters such as sex, dating, marriage, gender discrimination, career development, leadership.
   

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- AWARE Press Con Highlights
• July 6, 2009 -- AWARE Presscon: The $90k Question
• February 22, 2009 -- Corinna Lim File Photos
• July 2, 2009 -- Video: Yvonne Reflects
• June 25, 2009 -- Video: Hafizah Reflects

Tweeters Callan & June wait for the presscom to start.

Callan’s Report on the Press Con

June shows Twitter to Connie Singam

Corinna, Ching Wi, Dana & Joo Hymn just before kick off.

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

State of the Nation’s Women report

AWARE, Singapore’s leading women’s rights advocacy group, is launching a two-year project to reach out to a wide range of women in Singapore and gather their views on the issues that most affect them. These views, together with other research findings, will be published in 2011 in a report titled The State of the Nation’s Women.

In its scope, the State of the Nation’s Women (SNW) report will be similar to the CEDAW shadow reports that AWARE produces and submits to the United Nations. CEDAW, or the Convention for the Elimination of Discrimination Against Women, is regarded as an international bill of rights for women. Countries that sign the convention have to submit national reports at least once every four years on the progress they have made to remove all discrimination against women. Shadow reports are submitted by non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and are considered alongside the national reports by the UN’s CEDAW Committee.

Like the CEDAW report, the SNW report will examine the state of Singapore’s women in areas such as employment, health, family, leadership, and media. But a key difference is that the voices of Singapore’s women will feature prominently in the SNW report.

“Our CEDAW shadow reports have identified the inequalities that still exist and the many issues that need to be addressed, such as the lack of sexual harassment laws, stereotyping in the media, the need for more day care centres for young parents and for greater financial security for older women,” said Dana Lam, AWARE president.

“What we will now do, in parallel with our CEDAW work, is reach out to women in Singapore and get their views on all these issues. We want to get the women to talk and we will listen carefully. We want to find out what they see as the key challenges in their lives, what they would like to see by way of changed or new policies and laws. The State of the Nation’s Women report will cover largely the same ground as the CEDAW reports but it will be from the perspective of a cross-section of Singapore’s women.”

AWARE will reach these women in a variety of ways, including a forum series called ‘Stand Up and Speak Out’. There will also be talks and small group discussions, and at least one major conference. Joint projects and other forms of collaboration with the media and with other NGOs will be explored.

Millie (camera woman & editor extraordinaire) with Fizz and Nicole

Ching Wi, Rina, Kerry and Marisse

Margie and Nancy

Lelia and Joo Hymn

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes
• July 6, 2009 -- AWARE Presscon: The $90k Question
• May 31, 2009 -- Dana Lam: No Apologies
• February 22, 2009 -- Dana Lam – File Photos
• May 21, 2009 -- Response to MOE Decision

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.

___

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

THANK YOU,

May I ask your indulgence and invite the Exco of AWARE to join me on stage.

Thank you.

Good Evening ladies and gentlemen, friends,

The world is a stage. And AWARE is our band. And, more importantly, EVERYONE plays a part.

We have been way too much in the news lately. We thank those of you who have continued to speak up for us. We have been busy house-keeping and planning ahead. In a few more weeks, you will likely hear from us.

For now, I would like to reiterate that AWARE has never deviated from her mission of promoting the development of a gender equal society. We do this by furthering the emotional, psychological, physical, intellectual health of women to enable them to contribute optimally to the development of a functional, and balanced society.

Therefore, we make no apologies for our programmes. We make no apologies for the support of straight, homosexual or any other members.

However, we do apologise to those supporters- the teachers, parents, students, a certain NMP and others whose association with us has drawn flak from employers and public.

We apologise to sponsors who have been funding our activities for a good 24 years. We apologise to our volunteers; we apologise to our members of staff for the inadvertent trauma of the past weeks.

Tonight, we celebrate these top girls and boys. Please join me in acknowledging their contribution.

It leaves me now to thank the organising committee, sponsors Bengawan Solo, Wine guru and Harry’s bar and the Wessex theatre’s talented cast and crew.

Tonight, unlike at the EGM, I promise you, there will be bad language and there will be women behaving badly.

Enjoy!

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- AWARE Press Con Highlights
• July 6, 2009 -- AWARE Presscon: The $90k Question
• May 21, 2009 -- Response to MOE Decision
• May 7, 2009 -- I am AWARE of Reflecting and Letting go
• May 3, 2009 -- Open Letter: The euphoria and the reality

It is regrettable that the Ministry has seen a need to make this move. However, we recognise that the ministry has been under considerable pressure from some parents on the matter and we can understand why it has taken this action.

AWARE still believes our Comprehensive Sexuality Education programme is a much needed resource for youths. It was drawn up by professionals and, during the two years it was run in schools, there was no negative feedback. During the furore of recent weeks, many parents made a point of saying they would be keen for their children to benefit from the objective and frank approach AWARE’s programme takes to sexuality. We will continue with our review of the programme, and this will be done in consultation with parents, teachers, counsellors and other relevant parties. At the appropriate time we may offer it again to the Education Ministry.

The CSE programme, however, is just one of AWARE’s activities. It has been given disproportionate publicity in recent weeks. It is unfortunate if there are now people in Singapore who associate AWARE only with sex education.

AWARE has three areas of activity – research and advocacy, direct services, and public education. The first, research and advocacy, has been AWARE’s hallmark from the start. The work goes on with the CEDAW shadow report, and research into issues such as sexual harassment at work, work life balance, the challenges faced by singles in Singapore, and the trafficking of women and children.

The AWARE helpline, along with our counselling service and the Legal Clinic, continues to be invaluable to women in distress. With our newly expanded membership, we have many new members who are offering to help in these areas and we hope to improve and expand these services in the course of this year.

We also plan to step up our efforts in public education, including reviving the talks and forums that we used to hold in the early years at public libraries and other community locations. The EGM on 2 May showed very clearly that the women of Singapore have strong views on many matters and that they want to stand up and speak out. AWARE will organise forums and other opportunities for them to do so. We will make greater use of new media to reach out to members and to create channels for them to express their views and to network with each other.

Dana Lam,
President

Related:

• May 7, 2009 -- Standing by the CSE
• May 4, 2009 -- We All Won!
• May 3, 2009 -- Open Letter: The euphoria and the reality
• April 30, 2009 -- Open Letter by Martha Lee
• April 30, 2009 -- Open Letter: Setting the record straight

It is urgent and critical that AWARE and our civil society transcend organisational norms and leadership structures, so as to seize the opening and momentum of May 2nd for the greater freedom and good of Singapore. In the spirit of working for all women and men with trust, respect and choice, I would like to voice out my honest observations and concerns. My deep apologies if I cause any misunderstand in this clumsy sharing.

Although I joined AWARE 15 years ago and contributed to its helpline and a few excos, I am not sure if I am an old-guard. When I was working with a passionate group of women and men for the past two weeks preparing for the EGM, I was not sure if I was old-new or new-new member. Does this identifying really matter? Of course not, so what really matters? AWARE and Singapore.

1. The House of AWARE – Limitations of Inactive Members and Leadership Challenges

AWARE is not the only CSO or even civic organisation that faces the challenge of inactive members and leadership transition issues. In fact, I would venture to say most organisations face similar challenges. Let us examine the root causes. For the past 24 years, AWARE is a house where feminists try hard to co-exist and unite. Alas, feminists come in all ideologies and cultural backgrounds. No matter how you agree to disagree or not fight, there will be tensions and multiple positions. Our passions and anxieties were further heightened as we were “held ransom” by a singular identity that society “restrict” onto us – AWARE women.

The head of a household can only be an individual or a small team of leaders. Surely, it cannot be that everyone living in the house can be heads of household? Hence, over the years, the torch bearers for AWARE became the dedicated “old guards”. For all the years when AWARE did not have sufficient people running for exco, the “old guards” came forth to carry on the torch. Overtime, sub-cultures evolved among these regular leaders and new members. My personal journey in AWARE is such that I felt the shoes of the regular leaders too big to fill. I was not sure how much I should push for my ideas or introduce new ways of working as I respect the years of hard work and sacrifice that the regular leaders put in to grow AWARE. Hence we have this unfortunate situation where the regular leaders kept asking for more help while the new members do not dare to step up. This seems to be a common script in most organisations that are registered societies.

2. An AWARE Village with a Computer Server In the Rainbow Coalition

In 1999, when the working committee (TWC), a network of civil society activists from diverse fields was organically formed, I quickly got myself involved as I wanted to find out how else civil society activists could organise ourselves. I discovered there were other ways of organising, such as a company limited by guarantee or social movement coalitions. Internationally we witnessed the complex coordinated protests by the international civil society at the 2000 Seattle WTO meeting. Locally, we see groups such as Raleigh Singapore, Food For Thought, ECO, HOME and TWC2 innovating their leadership, membership, organisation, and coalition technologies. With the recent EGM, we-are-aware was able to mobilise, communicate and recruit in very short time and with great efficiency and tremendous fun!

There is much for the current AWARE exco to review, restore and engage our membership of 3000. It is a very happy challenge for sure and we can consider a hybrid organisational format of an interest group with the new social movements. NSMs emphasize civic aspects of social changes in lifestyle and culture, rather than restricting changes in the public and economic aspects. Hence, NSMs do not need to be formal organisations with members but informal, loosely organised social network of supporters. Interestingly, NSMs seem to last longer than single issue campaigns and aim at change on various issues in relation to their set of beliefs and ideals. This hybrid solves our leadership renewal challenge as we no longer need to restrict ourselves into one house but honour the blooming of a hundred flowers all at the same time(百花齐放).

Indeed AWARE can expand its house to include the diverse interests and concerns of its new members while staying true to its focus of research, advocacy and direct services towards gender equity – much like a village with a computer server, to link up on the internet. In this way, the AWARE values of trust, respect, choice, diversity, inclusiveness and openness need not contradict in physical groupings or cyberspace groupings. And AWARE can work creatively and strategically with other stakeholders in the Rainbow Coalition.

3. Healing After the Storm – An Inward Journey of Gratitude and Letting Go

As a civil society activist and social worker, I am so aware of the importance of self-care. In the past two weeks and coming months, I am so grateful for fellow activists who have cared for me and who will continue to do so. I will do the same for you all. Self-care at a personal level involves taking stock of our fears, anxieties and ego; and trusting a few people into our lives to love and support us deeply. Self-care at an organisation level entails members coming together to process hurt and affirm unity and love. Self-care at a civil society level requires us to be generous and respect differences.

4. Enjoy the Rainbow

There is really no point holding blindly on to anger, fear or ego, as we have learnt from our immediate past exco. Let it go, and be free and be alive to enjoy the rainbow!

The strength of civil society is exactly creative problem solving propelling by a sense of justice and truth. If a house does not provide for leadership renewal or multiple heads, then let’s build a village. If the village is too far to reach, let’s build a virtual community. Learning from the achievements of the EGM, as long as we are united, we trust and we respect, hundred flowers will bloom towards greater equity and compassion. The pot of gold at the end of this rainbow coalition certainly can be shared with all like-minded folks, disadvantaged people, animals and the entire eco system.

For all women (men, animals and plants) – trust, respect, choice.

Related:

• May 3, 2009 -- Open Letter: The euphoria and the reality
• June 5, 2009 -- They’re Coming to Get You
• June 1, 2009 -- How ST covered the story
• May 31, 2009 -- Dana Lam: No Apologies
• May 19, 2009 -- Being Culturally Aware

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.

Since a feminist is one who believes that women should have political, social, sexual, intellectual and economic rights equal to those of men, I was joining and taking action! Just why would I want to embrace a belief where women, myself included, were born inferior, naturally less capable and good for only cooking, cleaning and washing?

People have asked why I am fighting for women’s rights when we already have so much. I had to explain the basics of gender equality which is the equality of the genders or the sexes. Aware was advocating for not women but rather both men and women. Also until the day women really believe, and embrace the power that is already theirs in working alongside men, the work of Aware needs to continue.

I have been volunteering with Aware in different capacities in the last eight years: from publicity, writing, and fund raising. I found the women of Aware far from what is often perceived. They were highly intelligent, extremely articulate, and well-respected successful individuals comfortable in their skin. Coming from diverse backgrounds – age, race, and religion – we have worked alongside one another, and on serious issues and projects.

Aware has always had a fine reputation, successfully nominating not one but three of our candidates to be NMPs. Consider this: Which organization meets with the police to discuss how rape victims in trauma can be better treated? Which non-profit has been hearing the heartaches of women in Singapore for the last 15 years through their helpline? Which other group in Singapore has the guts and stamina to proactively advocate for women’s rights?

Lately Aware has been in the media for the wrong reasons. How was this hostile takeover even possible? Were the members sleeping? No. We have simply been too busy doing the work. We did not anticipate this would happen.

But why wash dirty linen in public? Sure we are embarrassed but do we have a choice? The new Exco has not been acting in the best interests of members and women at large with their hostile takeover, not to mention disbanding the various sub-committees without reason.

I have been proud to be associated with Aware and these courageous women. The takeover has not changed this. We are now doing what we can to save Aware.

Women of today can apply to be doctors, work in the civil service and enjoy the same medical benefits or choose to stay home to cook, clean and wash for the family. We have choices our mothers and grandmothers did not. Aware has made a difference to the quality of our lives.

Women of Singapore: Aware has served you for the last 25 years. I urge you to make a stand: join Aware today at www.aware.org.sg and make a difference with your vote during our EOGM on May 2.

As news reports get more sensationalised every day, I thought it would be helpful if you heard from directly from someone on the “inside”.

I joined AWARE in 1999 and have been on the Exco from 2000 to 2008. I was still active over the last year even though I’m no longer on the Exco, helping out in ad hoc projects etc.

To me, there are 2 separate issues here:

1. The way they took over the Exco
2. The allegations made by the new Exco about the old AWARE

____

1. From March 28 to 23 April, they claimed not to know each other before the AGM, and to have no agenda taking over AWARE. But what they said are full of contradictions. Please see www.we-are-aware.sg for more details, and I include some choice ones below.

Yes, I agree that the Old AWARE had many areas for improvement, just like many other NGOs, but that does not mean that we deserve to be taken over. This matter is all the more sensitive because it appears that it was engineered by members of the same church. Not talking about religion here is a bit like not talking about the great big elephant standing in the room. Let me give you 2 hypothetical situations:

• A group of atheists decided that they have had enough of people worshipping what they think is a non-existent God. So, on Sundays, a large group of them go to a church and occupy most of the seats in the church, denying regular church goers the space to sit and listen to the sermon, and receive communion.
• A coalition of butchers think that Buddhists and Hindus are the reason that the sale of beef has gone down, so they carry entire carcasses of cows to Buddhists and Hindu temples demanding that the followers be now allowed to eat beef.

Far-fetched? But not really that different from what’s happened here: A group of (Christian) women believe that homosexuality is a sin to be condemned and engineer a take over of AWARE to ensure that AWARE now sends a message that homosexuality, pre-marital sex and anal sex are now classified as negative (and presumably to say that abortion should be outlawed).

We live in a multi-religious, multi-cultural pluralistic society. It is very dangerous when a vocal minority is allowed to take over another group to silence them and to subvert their mission.
____

2. The allegations made.

The Comprehensive Sexuality Education is but one programme out of many that AWARE does. Homosexuality takes up all of 2 sentences (and less than 5 minutes) in a workshop that lasts 3 hours, 6 if you include the advanced module.

The 2 sentences that have so many people up in arms are: Homosexuality is normal – true. (discusses as a variant like left-handedness). Homosexuality as a word is neutral (not positive or negative).

Taken in the scientific context, these 2 sentences are accurate. We believe in providing as accurate and up to date information as possible for young people to make up their own minds. For eg. Christians believe in the Creation. But evolution is taught in schools. Are schools then teaching children not to believe in the Creation?!

We also tell the students that some religions have their own views about homosexuality and sex, and that they should respect their own religious and cultural norms, but not to impose it on others. Ie. We believe that it is up to parents and families to provide moral and spiritual guidance to students, while we give information.

In any case, this completely detracts from the 24 years of work done by AWARE. See http://www.we-are-aware.sg/achievements
____

Yes, I am emotional and upset because I had spent the better part of the last 6 years at AWARE, working for free, sacrificing time with my children and family because I believed in the cause, in what I was doing. It was bad enough to have the Exco taken over by people with no idea of what AWARE is about, and who were absolutely rude and nasty to staff and volunteers, but to have such lies thrown at us is really adding insult to injury.

If you care about this issue, if you care that Singapore remains pluralistic, where civil society means people can speak up and be heard, and dialogues and arguments be had, where nobody takes over another group to silence them, please join AWARE and vote at the EGM on 2 May. You have to be female, PR or citizen and above 18 to be able to vote. Details of EGM below, but please check http://www.we-are-aware.sg/calltoaction for further updates and in case of change of venue. If you click subscribe to updates, it will help us keep track of who is coming. Please also send me a mail if you’ve joined as a member and are coming for the EGM. (to join as a member, go to http://www.aware.org.sg/?page_id=1078, and print all the receipts and bring to the EGM along with NRIC card).

Date: Saturday 2 May 2009
Time: 2 – 5pm (good to arrive early)
Venue: to be confirmed – check www.we-are-aware.sg

*******
Some snippets about the AGM and what they said:

• Jan to March 2009 – AWARE received around 120 new applications to be members. About 40 were on photocopied forms.
• Nearly 80 of these new members attend the AGM on 28 March 2009. They sat staring straight ahead with no expression, not responding even when older members make small talk such as, isn’t the bee hoon delicious? (I mean, how many Singaporeans you know won’t even respond to a comment about food?!). They sat equally expressionless when passionate speeches were made about needing to have some experienced members on the Exco, but then raised their hands emphatically during voting time.
• In the end 9 out of 12 Exco seats went to newcomers, 9 people that NONE of us had ever heard of, much less seen before.
• In press releases, and the interview on Talking Point shown on Sunday 19 April, Josie claims not to know any of the other Exco members. But at the press conference on 23 April, they revealed that Dr Thio Su Mien had encouraged them for years to join AWARE. 6 of the 9 are also from the same church.
• In press releases, and on Talking Point, Josie said that they will honour and build on the history of long time AWARE members. But they sack all the sub-committee chairs, including Braema Mathi, arguably the most experienced person in Singapore on these matters, and also bar Immediate Past President from being advisor to their second Exco meeting.
• In press releases and on Talking Point, Josie said that they came to take over AWARE because AWARE had become too diversified. On 23 April, they said that AWARE had become a one issue organisation – to promote lesbianism.

I am writing in support of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware). Before joining Aware in 2002, I was asked if I really wanted to be associated with a group of pot-banging, men-hating feminists who were bitter with their lot and had nothing better to do.

Since a feminist is one who believes women should have political, social, sexual, intellectual and economic rights equal to those of men, I was joining in and taking action.

People have asked why I am fighting for women’s rights when we already have so much. I had to explain the basics of gender equality, which is equality of genders or sexes. Aware advocated not for women, but both men and women. Also, until the day women really believe and embrace the power that is already theirs in working beside men, the work of Aware needs to continue.

I have volunteered with Aware in different capacities in the past eight years, including publicity, writing and fund-raising. I found the women there far from what is often perceived. They were highly intelligent, extremely articulate and respected successful individuals comfortable in their skin. Coming from diverse backgrounds – in terms of age, race and religion – we have worked side by side on serious issues and projects.

Aware has always had a fine reputation, successfully nominating not one but three candidates to be Nominated MPs. Consider this: Which organisation meets the police to discuss how rape victims can be better treated? Which non-profit group has heard the heartaches of women in Singapore for the past 15 years through its helpline? Which other group in Singapore has the guts and stamina to proactively advocate for women’s rights?

Lately, Aware has been in the news for the wrong reasons. How was this hostile takeover even possible? Were the members asleep? No. We have simply been too busy doing the work. We did not anticipate this would happen.

But why wash dirty linen in public? Sure, we are embarrassed but do we have a choice? The new executive committee has not acted in the best interests of members and women at large with their hostile takeover, not to mention disbanding various sub-committees without reason.

I have been proud to be associated with Aware and these courageous women. The takeover has not changed this. We are now doing what we can to save Aware.

Women today can apply to be doctors, work in the civil service and enjoy the same medical benefits as men, or choose to stay home to cook, clean and wash for their family. We have choices our mothers and grandmothers did not have. Aware has made a difference to the quality of our lives.

The link is here.

When I was in primary school, my father rounded up his three daughters and asked if we wanted to learn how to change a light bulb.

We were not enthusiastic, so my father asked if we would rather our mother cooked for us in the dark. We quickly learnt that girls can and have to do “boy things”.

I discovered the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) in the National University of Singapore library. Its views and initiatives were so refreshing and empowering. They actually provided explanations behind seemingly natural feminine behaviour such as wearing high heels and keeping quiet.

After graduation, I joined Aware and volunteered in its advocacy initiatives and helpline. I have become so much more confident and alive thanks to the friendships of so many great women at Aware. It has groomed me into a more competent worker, caring daughter and respectful wife. It has also given me the inspiration to contribute towards Singapore’s nation building.

In its 24 years, Aware has also contributed towards changing the way the police handle rape cases, laws allowing women to sponsor their foreign spouses for citizenship or permanent resident status, and bringing about a constitutional amendment to accord the same citizenship rights to the children of Singaporean women.

A lot more can be done to improve gender equality, encourage change and achieve gains for women – not at the expense of men, but in ways that benefit families and society as a whole. Aware’s takeover is a wake-up call to Singapore. Living in a society that Aware has helped made more inclusive and diverse, how can we show our gratitude?

The link is here.

When news about the takeover of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) first broke, I was a little curious. Then, more information came to light and my curiosity became a deep-seated concern.

I am concerned that under the new leadership, Aware is moving towards being an organisation of exclusion. To me, Aware has always been an organisation of inclusion, one that fought for women’s rights and helped all women – in whatever shape or form.

The work of Aware has brought about significant changes to the lives of Singapore women – women who may not be members, but enjoy the fruits of the labour of its founding and veteran members.

The Singaporean woman who is married to a foreigner and can now sponsor him for citizenship has Aware to thank. The Singaporean woman in the civil service who now enjoys equal medical benefits as her male counterparts has Aware to thank. The Singaporean woman who is now better protected against domestic violence has Aware to thank.

Twenty-four years of serious work may now be threatened by a group of women whose religious affiliation may lead to an exclusionary Aware. It is sad that veteran members now have to fight against possible marginalisation of women by women.

The one good thing that has come out of this is the fact that women like me who have been passive supporters are now galvanised to join Aware and make our voices heard.

Yes, I am a new member of Aware. And yes, I firmly believe it must stay true to its original guiding principles of ‘promoting gender equality and inspiring every woman to reach her full potential’.

The link is here.

Dana Lam is the President of AWARE.

Related:

• July 7, 2009 -- AWARE Press Con Highlights
• July 6, 2009 -- AWARE Presscon: The $90k Question
• May 31, 2009 -- Dana Lam: No Apologies
• July 7, 2009 -- Video: New AWARE Training Institute Programmes
• June 18, 2009 -- IS Interview: Dana Lam