[Reader-list] Fwd: News: Christian fundamentalists hijack Singaporean feminist group

[Shilpa Phadke]



----- Original Message ----- *From:* Ramlath Kavil<ramlathkavil at yahoo.co.uk>
*To:* Feminists India <feministsindia at yahoogroups.com>
*Sent:* Monday, April 27, 2009 11:02 PM
*Subject:* [feministsindia] News: Christian fundamentalists hijack
Singaporean feminist group




Christian fundamentalists hijack Singaporean feminist group Posted by Cory
Doctorow<http://dynamic.boingboing.net/cgi-bin/mt/mt-cp.cgi?__mode=view&blog_id=1&id=1>,
April 23, 2009 1:35 AM |
permalink<http://www.boingboing.net/2009/04/23/christian-fundamenta.html>


AWARE, a 25-year-old Singaporean women's right organization, recently found
itself in turmoil after a coup orchestrated by conservative fundamentalist
Christians who signed up in large numbers just before the annual general
meeting, then elected a new executive that immediately purged the
organization of all its traditional leadership down to the subcommittee
chairs.

AWARE held its annual general meeting (AGM) on 28 March 2009. There were
over 100 people present. Of them, about 80 had only joined the organisation
between January and March, one to three months before the meeting. Nine out
of 12 executive committee (EXCO) places, including four Office Bearer
positions, went to newcomers, who were voted in by wide majorities. There
are wide-ranging suspicions that this "leadership grab" has been
orchestrated by a well-organised group who do not share AWARE's values and
who are seeking to use the name and the resources of a well-respected
institution to further their own agenda. These concerns have been expressed
not only by onlookers, but by older members of Aware...

The new president, Josie Lau and 5 other Exco members belong to the same
church, Church of Our Saviour. Given this, it is very likely, in our view,
that they have acted in concert to take over AWARE. We do not know why as
they have refused to disclose their reasons to either members of AWARE or to
the press and this makes us even more worried. They, or persons whom they
have been associated with, have written homophobic letters to the press.
While that is their personal conviction to which they are entitled, we do
not want AWARE to be made into a vehicle for any hidden agenda.

Josie Lau, was in charge of the DBS Charity Drive in support of Focus On The
Family, US-based Christian organisation that is opposed to abortion and
equal rights for sexual minorities. This created a controversy last year
which was well-documented.


160 members, including former AWARE committee members and founder members,
petitioned for an extraordinary general meeting to consider a vote of no
confidence in the New Exco on the basis that the New Exco has not acted and
is not acting in the best interest of AWARE; does not appreciate or share
the values of AWARE and does not have the requisite experience of carrying
out AWARE's work or is otherwise inadequate to further AWARE's objectives.
An EGM will be held on 2 May 2009.




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