finally, the Aware exco breaks its silence
if you ask me, the recent brouhaha over the hostile takeover (henceforth referred to as 'the coup') is really quite entertaining for us newswatchers and gossip-mongers. clearly the entire exco were the pawns of Dr Thio to further her anti-gay issues. oh wait, she's not anti-gay. she's just concerned about the erosion of traditional family values and marriage by gay advocacy groups. whatever it is, she is clearly the mastermind behind this coup. this is the classical situation which came to signify Empress Dowager Cixi's iron fist in politics whilst remaining demurely unseen in the courts, and which in literary epics is elegantly described by the Chinese phrase "垂帘听政", or 'reign behind the curtain'.
while a change in direction of Aware's focus could hve been brought about by less confrontational and more socially-acceptable means like a slow succession of new leaders who were elected after several more years on the board, Dr Thio has to stage a coup where there was a hostile takeover of the entire exco. well, almost -- I pity the poor 'old guard' who was relegated to the relatively expendable post of Assistant Hon Gen Treasurer. they clearly wanted none of the old exco, and only gave her a teeny post as a token gesture that they still 'accommodated' the old guard. well, they excluded her from the media interview, and made her look bad in the of the public -- while the rest of the exco were poised for the media interview and smartly-dressed, a jeans-clad woman turned up at the door and started ranting and causing a ruckus. my say: she might as well have quit. and that's probably what the new exco were hoping for, so they don't have to axe her themselves and get even more bad publicity.
anyway. Dr Thio decided to stage a coup overnight. which means that she is desperate to see change, and also not very confident at all that the rest of Aware would agree with her agenda; hence she has to win by a vast majority margin, so as to be able quash any opposition. an she did just that. well, I must give her due credit, for pulling off such a dowager-like stunt so splendidly. after all, she had to get more than a hundred new members into Aware over the past one year, all secretly under the radar so as not to alert anyone to her plans, and all of them must have been convinced to vote for the new guard at this year's AGM. She must also have spoken to each new exco member at length and convinced them to run for the posts together. what a mean feat!
what does it mean for Aware? this coup leaves a bleak page in the organization's history. observers a century from now will probably associate the 'new guard' with the following words: 'aggressive', 'arrogant', 'hostile', 'anti-gay', 'hush-hush' and 'Christian' -- not all of them positive. to the casual observer, that's probably what the new exco is about, until they prove themselves otherwise. Dr Thio herself said that Aware has been focusing on all the wrong values in recent times, and not what her peers had set out to do in her time ie. focus on feminist issues. that is all very noble. but, society changes, and so will social mores. in time to come, Aware may become an exclusively-female bra-burning group with pro-family, anti-gay and pro-Christian values, and may even become 'exclusive' and 'archaic'... BUT. they should be allowed to stand on their own and fight for what they believe in, just like any other politically-minded groups in Singapore. the rest of the 'inclusive and gay activist' members -- if there are indeed such members -- will simply leave this group and set up one of their own, under another banner. it's not like there's any lack of such groups in Singapore already. (by the way, I disagree with Dr Thio's 'understanding' that homosexuals are 'in pain'. but this post is not about that... I digress.)
but what I really don't get about the new guard is their naïveté. I mean, they staged A COUP, for goodness' sake. in medieval times, after you stage a coup and usurp the throne of a kingdom or empire, you don't sit around and expect everyone to smile and continue like nothing happened, do you? the old guard's loyal subjects will come looking for you, and try to assassinate or capture and torture you at every possibility. a coup is, by nature, violent and hostile and bloody. you bring your own soldiers and weapons and defend what you usurped until such a time as the old guard dies off, moves elsewhere, or you prove yourself worthy of a new allegiance from them and the rest of the citizenry. until then, expect more bloodshed and hostility.
the new Aware exco simply does not understand that they are the pawns behind Dr Thio's design. they are now crying foul and asking why they are receiving death threats to themselves and their families. obviously their EQs are not very high. what they did was high-handed, aggressive, yet secretive and exclusive, and left a political massacre on their hands. it was a highly emotional act calculated to affront, confront and make a statement. hence it was no surprise that the group left themselves open to speculation, doubt and even fear from the public and the other Aware members. they wouldn't even say who they are and what they stand for, even to the other members of Aware - the very group they were purportedly elected to serve. all that everyone knew was that the takeover was swift and deadly, was very ugly, and left a bitter taste in the mouth. of course they'll get a witch-hunt if they started off acting like a mysterious coven.
my take on it? if you don't want death threats, if you want life to go on as normal, then you should not have participated in The Coup. even if we analyse the situation without factoring in the anti-gay or religious overtones, the politically-incorrectness of the move is enough to set off everyone's hate-alarm. a coup is only peaceful when the military is involved to 'enforce' peace, and that peace is given only grudgingly. just watch as the rest of Singapore goes up in arms against this new batch of exco, who apparently expect peaceful and happy acceptance immediately after the equivalent of a revolution and guillotining of the old exco. who were they kidding? themselves?
the exco maintains that they had never known each other until this AGM. be that as it may, since Dr Thio had probably spoken to them individually, 'counseled' them, and told them of her grand plan to win back the stewardship of this organisation and "regain its focus". they may never have been privy to what she had been planning. to these women who have unfortunately been 'mentored' and become pawns of Dr Thio: once you're part of it and you believe in what it stands for, then prepare to stick with it and fight for your cause. everyone is entitled to his or her own views, and I do respect that Dr Thio has her own agenda to table. we must allow for different viewpoints, opinions and beliefs if we want our society to become inclusive and progressive. i agree that not all conservativism is bad and not all liberalisation is good... but this world is not all black and white, and there is room for everybody to exist together with a healthy dose of debate.
in the end, these poor women never expected to stand siege and fight. well, too bad. you're in it, up to your eyes and ears. and so are your husbands, and your loved ones. so stand up and stick it like a man. errm, woman.