Death Threat Allegedly Received by AWARE Exco Member

Today ran this story on 24 April 2009:

Death threat allegedly received by exco member
By Zul Othman

THE controversy at the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) has taken a vicious turn, with death threats apparently having been issued to the husband of new president Josie Lau, and to honorary secretary Jenica Chua.

At a two-hour press conference last night at the Raffles Town Club — where passions boiled over and revelations came one after the other — Ms Lau described her one-week presidency as nothing short of emotional.

“So far I have kept a stoic and dignified silence … (but) to date I have only been met with hostility and intimation. My family received death threats and it is now a police case. Each day, I fear for the safety for my children and my family,” she said with passion.

Today understands that Ms Chua and Ms Lau’s husband, Dr Allan Chin, received the threat on April 14, and made a police report on the same day.

“The person who sent the threat said he has joined a jihadist group and ... will find ways to harm my loved ones,” said a visibly upsetMs Chua. “And all I did was join a women’s association. I couldn’t sleep for many nights.”

Ms Chua also said three days ago, someone had written to her company about her involvement in Aware and asked them to take action against her.

Ms Lau said she still couldn’t comprehend why their election to Aware’s executive committee at the March 28 annual general meeting “has sparked this sort of irrational fear”

“I feel so indignant. All I wanted to do was serve the community and be a member of Aware to push for the cause of women. Do I deserve this a death threat? What has Singapore become?”

Ms Lau, who was appointed to the post of president at an exco meeting last week, also claimed that she had been locked out of the organisation’s email system by the secretariat.

“I have confronted the secretariat and the person has been fired,” revealed Ms Lau. “All we wanted was to push forward and get going with our work. But they didn’t allow us, instead badgering us all the time.”

Also at the press conference was self-described “feminist mentor” Dr Thio Su Mien, who said she was “absolutely outraged” that the new exco had been “ferociously attacked”.

The former law dean and her daughter, Nominated MP Thio Li-Ann — who received a death threat last year after opposing a proposal to decriminalise gay sex — are related to Ms Lau’s husband, Dr Chin.

Admitting that before the March 28 AGM, she had emailed people she knew to point them to “what was happening” at Aware, Dr Thio said she felt the organisation had lost focus amid dwindling membership.

“To my horror I found out they wanted to introduce men into a women’s society,” she said. “And to my dismay, Aware seemed to be only interested in lesbianism and the advancement of homosexuality, which is a man’s issue.”

Despite this, honorary treasurer Maureen Ong denied allegations that their concerns about Aware’s direction had anything to do with their religious beliefs.

“I’m not afraid to say I’m a conservative person. I go to church yes, but that … is personal. I did not go to Aware to push my religious beliefs, I went to Aware because I was concerned (as a parent) with what’s happening."

Members also took issue with what they felt were some one-sided and inaccurate media reports. For instance, said Ms Chua: “At the AGM, none of us talked about our religious beliefs, although there was a lot of talk in the press.”

The Straits Times had quoted one old guard as saying that, when asked if she accepted homosexuality, Ms Chua had answered “no”.

She said: “We are now getting the audio transcript out. But in no way, in the AGM, did I say anything about homosexuality. No way … I’m very puzzled why the press has picked up this slant, when all I did was join a women’s association.”