Restore Reason, Civility to Debate

This letter, written by former AWARE President Constance Singam, was published in The Straits Times Forum page on 28 April 2009:

Restore reason, civility to debate

IN A climate of debate that has seen fear mongering, character assassination, heads of sub-committees sacked, employees fired, police called, votes of no confidence, churches weighing in and threats of violence, it is necessary to remind ourselves what being part of a civil society means.

A civil society is one where every citizen has an option to make her own life in a safe public sphere and where no one should be discriminated against or excluded because of her religion, class, race, sexuality, lifestyle, ideology or gender.

Given the political dominance of one party and Singapore's multicultural and multi-religious nature, groups like the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) are important for providing the expression of alternative views and hence for good governance.

The totality of Aware's work and the make-up of every executive committee (exco) since its formation are representative of a 'rainbow coalition'. However, and somewhat unfortunately, the current exco does not represent Singapore's racial and religious diversity. In that sense, one wonders to what degree it best represents civil society.

The second question is what are the tones and sensibilities of civil society? This is a far harder question to answer. But we have had clear, if unspoken, codes of conduct at Aware for many years. These codes have been replaced by mistrust, betrayal, misinformation and silence.

In this regard, character assassination of individuals shows the extent to which people will descend to sell their point of view. Misinformation about me is being circulated by text messages and the Internet that I have a homosexual brother and am working to turn Aware into a gay/lesbian organisation.

My maiden name is D'Cruz and my full married name is Thurairasingam and so Clarence Singam cannot be my brother (see http://sg.christianpost.com/dbase/society/1548/122336/3.htm ) .

I have emphasised that Aware will not be used as a platform for lesbian issues. I have stated categorically that Aware speaks for all women and we address issues of discrimination against all women. These are facts that can easily be verified. But facts are a casualty in this whole sad episode.

We must restore a sense of reason, civility and respect to a debate that is increasingly unproductive. This will surely be good, not just for Aware but for all women, families and Singaporeans.

In that sense, I am grateful for the statement by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, in yesterday's report, 'Keep religion above 'petty politics', says Vivian'.

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FORUM NOTE: The writer was president of Aware before the society's AGM last month. She quit as its adviser following the fallout between veterans of the society and the new executive committee, comprising largely new members led by Ms Josie Lau.