Booted Out, But Josie Lau's Team Will Stay On

The Straits Times ran this story on 3 May 2009:

Booted out, but Josie Lau's team will stay on

They were booted out, but the executive committee headed by Josie Lau said last night that they would remain members of Aware.

In fact, they would even be willing to serve as volunteers if the newly elected executive committee would have them, they said.

Ms Lau, 48, and her team members Jenica Chua, 35, Lois Ng, 44, Sally Ang, 60, Irene Yee, 38, Maureen Ong, 55, and Charlotte Wong, 63, received an overwhelming vote of no-confidence from the 3,000 people at the extraordinary general meeting.

Outnumbered and out-talked

Overwhelmed in terms of numbers and words, exco opts for a graceful exit

They started the meeting brisk and business-like, but just minutes into the extraordinary general meeting (EGM), it was clear that Ms Josie Lau's team was no match for the old guard and its supporters, who outnumbered and outspoke them.

First, executive committee (exco) member Lois Ng, who was the master of ceremony, tried to assert herself by requesting Nominated MP Siew Kum Hong, who was seated among the women, to join the men on the other side of the auditorium.

Her request was met with loud protests by several old guard, who went up to the microphone to say that Mr Siew was their legal adviser and should be allowed to sit with them.

'Feminist mentor' responds to jibes

Senior lawyer Thio Su Mien stood up to respond to the jibes on why she had declared herself the 'feminist mentor' of the women who seized control of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) in March.

She had called herself that when she revealed on April 23 her key role in bringing about Aware's sudden leadership change.

Dr Thio, Ms Josie Lau and five others on the executive committee booted out yesterday all attend the Anglican Church of Our Saviour in Margaret Drive.

Yesterday, amid loud boos and objections, she held up a 2007 book that Aware had published on the women's movement here and pointed out that she was mentioned as the first woman dean of the Law Faculty - from 1969 to 1971 - at the then-University of Singapore.

New team spends $90,000 in five weeks

Wearing a black dress and a string of pearls, lawyer Karen Teoh, 30, queued up patiently, and when her turn came to speak, articulated a question that was already being muttered on many lips.

'How much money have you spent so far?' she asked the Josie Lau team.

Honorary treasurer Maureen Ong gave a long and detailed explanation of how Aware's skyrocketing membership numbers - which had gone from about 300 five weeks ago to nearly 3,000 last Friday - had prompted several venue changes.