AWARE saga

The sequence of events popularly knows as the AWARE saga, which took place in 2009, was a landmark in Singapore's feminist, human rights and LGBT history. It began as an orchestrated takeover of the leadership of Singapore's best known women's organisation, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE), by a group of women (and some men) with strong anti-LGBT and right-wing Christian leanings. It garnered intense publicity in the media and ended with the ousting of the new guard by hundreds of women outraged by the inexperienced executive committee's questionable actions and agenda.

=Dramatic leadership takeover=

In March 2009, AWARE saw a dramatic and unexpected changing of the guard which some members described as nothing short of a leadership grab, ). As a lead-up to the debacle, a sudden and unprecedented spike in membership had been noted since January 2009.



When AWARE held its annual general meeting on March 28, everyone expected the usual - no more than 30 or 40 members would turn up at its Dover Crescent centre, and a prepared slate of candidates would be voted into office easily. Instead, more than 100 people came (3 times the usual turnout), about 80% of whom had joined AWARE only in recent months.

When the election of office bearers began, almost every position was challenged by new candidates who won by wide majorities.

In the end, 9 out of 12 executive committee (exco) seats went to the newcomers. Longtime members took 2 other positions - Chew I-Jin as assistant honorary treasurer and Caris Lim Chai Leng was elected a committee member. The election results left longtime AWARE members in shock.

New executive committee members
The following were elected to AWARE’s new executive committee (exco) on March 28, 2009.

President: Claire Nazar

Vice-president: Charlotte Wong Hock Soon

Honorary secretary: Jenica Chua Chor Ping

Assistant honorary secretary: Sally Ang Koon Hian

Honorary treasurer: Maureen Ong Lee Keang

Assistant honorary treasurer: Chew I-Jin

Committee members: Caris Lim Chai Leng, Catherine Tan Ling Ghim, Josie Lau Meng Lee, Lois Ng, Irene Yee Khor Quin, Peggy Leong Pek Kay

Claire Nazar quits
One older member who had joined AWARE in January 2008 and who was elected unopposed as president was Claire Nazar, a former corporate counsel. She was nominated by outgoing AWARE head Constance Singam. But 11 days into her new term, and before making her first statement as president, Nazar quit suddenly on Wednesday, 8 April 2009.

Nazar confirmed with the media that she had resigned and initially declined to comment further. It was not known who would then become president. However, Nazar later revealed to The Straits Times in an article dated 20 April 2009 that it was because she 'did not want the hassle' of working with the new executive committee, which she felt was 'too gung-ho' for her with its 'Stormtrooper tactics'.

"For starters, the new exco did not seem to take kindly to having input from former president Constance Singam or any of the veteran members of the 24-year-old women's group, Nazar said.

She was also troubled by how at the first exco meeting - a 3 1/2-hour session - about a week after the AGM on March 28, the committee replaced almost all the appointed chairpersons of sub-committees based only on a majority vote.

That broke with AWARE's tradition of allowing chairpersons who were doing a good job to continue their work.

Worse, they kept Nazar, then 37 years of age, out of the loop on various matters, and even insisted she complete the AGM minutes within days.

The members visited the AWARE office so frequently that staff, who had not got used to the idea of the newcomers, were jittery and complained about their requests.

'They come in, take charge - almost every day they're at the AWARE office, getting hold of documents, reading them, making their presence felt.'

The irony was that Nazar had nominated six of the current remaining 11 exco members. This came about after Singam advised her to include fresh blood among the exco members who could then work with older members to ensure continuity.

Of the six, two were old-time AWARE members, Chew I-Jin and Caris Lim, and another was Nazar's former classmate, Catherine Tan. The other three - Peggy Leong, Lois Ng and Josie Lau - were acquaintances.

She picked them based on their credentials and 'the merit of their previous experience'. Besides, she added, 'they had expressed keen interest, and I thought they were people I could work with'.

Lau was in fact an acquaintance of Nazar's husband, lawyer Boaz Nazar, who was also a deacon at Cornerstone Community Church. He had met her in the course of his social work.

At Nazar's urging, Lau joined AWARE at the start of the year. Nazar said that since joining AWARE, she had made it a habit of asking women to sign up.

Unlike previous AGMs, where 30 or 40 people would turn up, the March 28 meeting was attended by more than 100. Many were new faces and new AWARE members.

Nazar said she at first put it down to a recent surge in AWARE membership. 'I just thought, 'Wow this is interesting.' Nobody thought too much about it.'

She won the presidency unopposed.

But when Chew was knocked out of the running for vice-president, it dawned on her that something was amiss, she said.

Nazar responded by nominating Chew for the post of assistant honorary treasurer. Chew was returned unopposed.

In the end, all six of Nazar's nominees got into the exco. Five others - all recent members - were also voted in.

She was shocked at the outcome, she said. 'Of course I was. Who wouldn't be?'

It soon became apparent that the new exco did not share many of her views, she said.

Being a member of AWARE for only a little over a year herself, she felt that she and the exco's newest members could use the advice of those more senior.

Ultimately, she said, 'the majority of the new exco members did not share my views or direction, particularly with regard to their call for an overhaul of existing chairs of key sub-committees to be replaced by new members. I personally disagreed with the exco's approach'.

She quit to avoid the 'in-house politicking'.

'I didn't want to waste my time. Every hour spent at AWARE means one hour away from my family and children...I'm quite happy to step out of the picture,' said the mother of two young children, who is also a marriage counsellor.

Josie Lau appointed new president
On Wednesday, 15 April 2009, the exco appointed Josie Lau, then 48 years of age and a DBS executive holding the post of vice-president of consumer banking group cards and unsecured loans, as its new president. She had been on the new exco but did not hold any office.

On Friday, 17 April 2009, Lau sent the media a statement in which she said, among other things, that the new exco was eager to start work but 'there were repeated delays in convening the first exco meeting. Nazar kept re-scheduling the meeting'.

Claire Nazar's reaction to the new exco
In response to Lau's comments, Nazar said: 'What delays are they talking about?'

She said potential meeting dates were being bandied about to accommodate the schedules of both the new and old excos, something that could hardly be called repeated rescheduling.

'In fact, when we finally settled on the date, I wrote to them half-jokingly: 'Can you please be living proof that women can work together?''

As to whether the new team had what it takes to run AWARE, Nazar said 'in terms of their work skills, yes'. But in terms of their people skills, she would only say 'no comment'.

Of the fear among veteran AWARE members that the new exco was out to change the group's all-inclusive stand on matters like sexuality, she said: 'So far, in my 11 days of dealing with them, I've not found anything negative in terms of their intentions.

'What people are most worried about seems to be whether they are going to be taking an anti-gay stance. In that sense, I highly doubt it. AWARE is all about being anti-discrimination.'

The Sunday Times tried to reach several exco members for their comments on what Nazar said, but all had either their cellphones switched off or were not picking up calls.

Nazar said she was motivated to join AWARE in January 2008 because it championed women's issues.

'I've always had a passion for advocacy because both my parents were born deaf-mute. I had to learn from a very young age to take care of them and speak up on their behalf,' said the only child of a seamstress mother and artist father.

She also wanted to contribute on matters related to family and marriage, especially the plight of working mothers.

Shortly after she joined, Constance Singam, then AWARE's president, invited her to be part of the exco. She accepted.

Earlier in 2009, when Singam mentioned she needed a successor, Nazar offered to stand.

'I wanted to continue the work that AWARE was doing. I saw it as my job to review initiatives which had been left on the backburner, and revive the ones that worked.'

She said the old guard was supportive, and had urged her to hang on to her position. They also do not seem to blame her for bringing in the new members.

'The first thing I did after I resigned was to call up Constance Singam and apologise.'

She added that she would continue to stay an active member of AWARE, but said the public fallout since then has been 'the most horrible thing that has happened to me'.

Indeed, after her resignation, questions about Nazar were also raised. The buzz surrounded a letter she wrote to The Straits Times Forum page in July 2007 in which she voiced her concerns about same-sex couples.

But she explained: 'My letter was against same-sex marriages and the impact on children. It was not anti-gay, which is discrimination against homosexuals.'

By association, her beliefs - that she is opposed to premarital sex, abortion and homosexuality - came to the fore.

Sighing, she said: 'For the record, I am not anti-gay.'

As to the speculation that she was part of a concerted effort by the new guard to oust the old, but who pulled out at the last minute, she replied in a word: 'No.'

'I just want to see AWARE moving forward, and I really don't care who does it, as long as they can account for themselves.'"

Former president Tan Joo Hymn, 38, said that the big turnout at the AGM surprised her. “I arrived at the meeting late and found out that I was No. 100 on the attendance list. I’ve been a member for 10 years, and never before has there been such a turnout,” said the former lawyer who was then a full-time mother.

Another former president, writer Dana Lam, 57, said: “There were many faces I had not seen before, and I found that very strange. “In previous years, even if there were new members, they would be known to one or more of the older members.”

The first indication that something was afoot came when Chew I-Jin, an AWARE veteran, was challenged and defeated handsomely by new member Charlotte Wong Hock Soon for the post of vice-president.

Chew was later elected unopposed as assistant honorary treasurer. “It was alarming,” said Dana Lam. “How could a new member who had just joined for a couple of months, and whom we knew nothing about, be picked over someone who has been with AWARE for more than 15 years?”

Some of the older members immediately began checking the attendance list. Tan Joo Hymn said, “We found that about 80 of the 102 who turned up were new members who joined between January and March this year.” AWARE, a feminist group that had prided itself on being “all-inclusive”, had never vetted the people who applied to be members. Men could join too, as associate members.

As it dawned on them that a leadership grab was imminent, some older members at the AGM tried asking the newcomers who they were, what they stood for, and why they wanted to be in charge.

They got only the briefest answers, they said. Dana Lam said she tried suggesting that new members serve a stint on AWARE’s various sub-committees before standing for election to leadership positions. But such suggestions went unheeded as the election proceeded, with more newcomers winning executive committee positions by landslide margins.

Ironically, the old guard at AWARE had been working towards changing their Constitution to make it a rule that only those who had been members for at least a year would be eligible to join the exco. At the time, there was no rule to bar a brand-new member from seeking office, and that was what happened at the AGM.

Tan Joo Hymn said, “We were simply outnumbered. Technically, they got in legitimately.” She added that the way the election proceeded was so unusual, it was hard to imagine that the takeover was not a planned effort. “It could not be pure coincidence,” she said.

But little was known of AWARE’s new leaders, aside from the fact that they included women from the corporate sector, lawyers, company directors and academics. Older members said the newcomers spoke well but would not elaborate on their plans for AWARE.

“When asked if they believed in equality, they kept repeating they were there to support women and to make sure they got ahead and got all the opportunities given to them,” Dana Lam said.

Older members were keen to know if the newcomers shared AWARE’s vision and values, including equality for all regardless of race, religion or sexuality.

But one outspoken new member from the floor, who identified herself as Angela Thiang, said questions about the new office bearers’ religion and their stand on homosexuality were not relevant.

Former Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Braema Mathi, a two-term president of AWARE, like many other members, was concerned.

“If you are keen to serve, you don’t challenge every position. We do not know who they are,” said the former journalist who was then in Bangkok doing consultancy work for international women’s group Unifem.

“It is very troubling, more so, because I’ve heard the new president has resigned.” Almost a fortnight into their new roles, the new leaders of AWARE were not entertaining calls from the media this week.

New honorary secretary Jenica Chua Chor Ping announced that a press release would be issued “in a few days” and added that until then, the committee would not answer any questions.

A check showed that some of those at the AGM and on the new committee had appeared in The Straits Times Forum Page. Jenica Chua, Angela Thiang and Dr Alan Chin, a male member of AWARE who attended the AGM and supported the newcomers, all wrote letters to this newspaper between August and October 2007.

In a letter dated 17 October 2007, Jenica Chua said NMP Siew Kum Hong had overstepped his non-partisan role and advanced the homosexual cause by tabling a petition in Parliament to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalised homosexual sex between consenting men.

In another letter on Oct 25, she took issue with a Straits Times report which said NMP Thio Li-Ann had been “visibly distraught” when she opposed Siew’s petition vigorously.

Chua said Thio had dealt with several points succinctly, with humour and passion. Dr Chin and Angela Thiang both wrote letters to caution against the risks of promoting the homosexual lifestyle. Meanwhile, news of AWARE’s AGM had spread among older members who did not attend the meeting, as well as civil society groups.

The most frequently asked questions: Who were the new women in charge, why did they want the leadership, and what were their plans for AWARE? Braema Mathi said: “The building of an institution takes many years; building its value system is even harder. Why can’t they come in and be part of the process, and build it together and in a more evolutionary manner? That way, the comfort level will be high for everyone.”

Former newspaper editor and media consultant Peter Lim, a longtime associate member of AWARE, said he was very surprised to learn what had taken place. Asked why he thought a group of newcomers would want to take control, he said he did not know if it was an orchestrated effort.

But he thought AWARE would be attractive to those seeking to be in charge of an established institution. Setting up a new outfit would take too much time and trouble.

“AWARE has built up its credentials over the years and achieved more than a few things,” he said. 3 former AWARE presidents – Claire Chiang, Dr Kanwaljit Soin and Braema Mathi – had served as NMPs.

“AWARE is a brand name and most people regard it as the leading voice of the feminists and modern women in Singapore,” said Peter Lim.

Former president Dana Lam recalled, “It was alarming. How could a new member who had just joined for a couple of months, and whom we knew nothing about, be picked over someone who has been with AWARE for more than 15 years?”

Former president Tan Joo Hymn said, “I arrived at the meeting late and found out that I was No. 100 on the attendance list. I’ve been a member for 10 years, and never before has there been such a turnout.”

Former president Braema Mathi stressed, “The building of an institution takes many years; building its value system is even harder. Why can’t they come in and be part of the process, and build it together and in a more evolutionary manner? That way, the comfort level will be high for everyone.”

Of the other committee members, only Chew I-Jin and Caris Lim were longtime members of AWARE.

Chew had been nominated by the AWARE old guard for the vice-president’s post but was trounced by newcomer Charlotte Wong, and had to settle for the assistant treasurer’s position, which she won without a contest.

The Straits Times e-mailed AWARE that week requesting interviews with members of the new committee, but did not receive a reply. The newspaper also tried contacting some of the members – Jenica Chua, Josie Lau and Lois Ng – on their mobile phones, hoping they might shed light on who they were, how they were connected to other newly elected office-bearers, or what they were planning to do now that they were in charge.

Lau and Ng could not be reached. Chua confirmed that she was on the new executive committee and said AWARE would be releasing a press statement in “the next few days”.

But she flatly refused to take any more questions. The Straits Times also contacted two other new members who were at the AGM: Angela Thiang, who spoke up in support of the newcomers who stood for election, and Dr Alan Chin, who helped to count the votes.

Thiang said she would return the call, but did not. She could not be reached subsequently. Chin confirmed that he was an AWARE member but, like the others, refused to answer any questions. The position of the new guard was: No comment, for now.

DBS Bank displeased over Josie Lau's appointment
Shortly after Josie Lau announced that she was AWARE's new president, posed for pictures and made brief comments to reporters, her employer, DBS Bank, expressed unhappiness that she had taken the top post.

DBS said it had told her just before the Aware exco meeting on 15 April 2009 that it did not support her running for president. The bank said it supported employees' participation in community work, but they needed approval before taking on external appointments.

And Lau did not have the green light to be Aware president.

'We believe that as a vice-president in DBS, she already has a challenging job with many responsibilities, and the role of president would demand too much of her time and energy,' a DBS spokesman said.

Lau could not be reached to comment as the new team wanted media queries to be channelled via the Aware office.

Checks by The Straits Times revealed that she was married to Dr Alan Chin Yew Liang, who owned several clinics under the Lifeline Medical Group. They had two teenage daughters, and Lau was also listed as director and shareholder in some of her husband's clinics.

A beaming Lau refused to take questions from reporters when she emerged from the exco meeting which lasted nearly four hours. But she said she was pleased and delighted to be president.

'Together with the new exco which was duly elected under the Constitution, I will build on the good work of the past Aware members who advanced the causes for women in all areas of society through advocacy, research and community work,' she said.

On 15 April 2009, Lau was chosen leader from the exco members who did not already hold a position.

The evening was not without drama. Immediate past president Constance Singam had come for the meeting, but that she walked out just as it began.

Three hours into the meeting, exco member Caris Lim, a long-time member and volunteer, also walked out.

Red-eyed and with voice trembling, she said: 'I'm very disillusioned. I don't like what's going on inside, so I'm walking out.'

She would not say more, and left hurriedly.

That left only one Aware veteran, assistant honorary treasurer Chew I-Jin, with the rest of the all-new team.

Despite repeated attempts by the media, the new women in charge of Aware refused to disclose who they were, how they were connected, or what prompted them to launch a takeover of the association.

After midnight, in the early hours of 16 April 2009, Aware issued a press release announcing Lau's appointment as president.

It acknowledged the contributions of Aware and its past members and pledged to build on their work.

The new team did not indicate what they intended doing differently from the previous leadership.

Nor did they deal with the buzz over their takeover of Aware, in particular concerns expressed about their conservative views on sexuality.

Approached to comment on Caris Lim's exit from the meeting last night, Constance Singam said: 'We are not resigning. It's an organisation we've been committed to for a long time.'

=Old guard calls for Extraordinary General Meeting=

Cyberspace was abuzz with rumours about hidden agendas stemming from the religious and allegedly anti-gay views of the new exco members after the debacle was reported in the press. It was also revealed that some of them, including honorary secretary Jenica Chua, as well as Dr Alan Chin had written to the media about homosexuality.

Chua had written in October 2007 about Nominated Member of Parliament Siew Kum Hong petitioning to repeal Section 377A of the Penal Code which criminalises homosexual sex between consenting men. Chin had cautioned against the risks of promoting the homosexual lifestyle.

Against this backdrop, some 150 longstanding members AWARE called for an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) that included a motion of no-confidence in the new executive committee (exco).

“We don’t know who these people are. We’ve not heard a word from the new exco for the past two-and-a-half weeks,” said Corrine Lim, a longstanding member of Aware. Lim was one of the 150 signatories calling for the EGM.

“It didn’t help that people were speculating all kinds of things on the Internet. In fact, in times like these, the exco should come out to respond quickly,” said Lim.

Aware’s new vice-president Charlotte Wong was tight-lipped when TODAY newspaper met her at the group’s office on 14 April 2009.

“None of us can answer your questions until the exco meets. We’re just following the rules. They are in the constitution,” said Wong. “We’ll be releasing a statement after we meet.”

However, a check with Aware’s constitution turned up no such rule.

Responding to comments in TODAY by veteran journalist P N Balji that Aware should live up to its spirit of “championing the need for choices in a pluralistic society” and so accept the new line-up, Lim said the EGM would precisely serve this purpose.

“It will be an opportunity for members to raise their concerns with the Exco and also for the new exco to explain their values and vision of Aware. If the general meeting is happy with their goals, we’ll go along. If not, we’ll put (the matter) to a vote,” she said.

Members of the old guard asked that the notice to call the EGM be issued no later than 14 days from the date of the request. This was the first time that the society had called for one.

=See also=


 * AWARE

=References=


 * Wong Kim Hoh, The Straits Times, "Unknowns knock out veterans at AWARE polls", 10 April 2009,.
 * PN Balji, TODAY, "Ladies, have you forgotten your narrative?", 13 April 2009.
 * Ho Chi Sam, Straits Times forum letter, "Keen to know what AWARE's plans are now", 14 April 2009.
 * Esther Ng, TODAY, "Old guard calls for meeting", 15 April 2009.
 * Tan Dawn Wei, Wong Kim Hoh & Yen Feng, The Straits Times, "DBS exec is AWARE's new head", 16 April 2009.
 * Alicia Wong, TODAY, "New guard consolidates", 16 April 2009.
 * Benson Ang, The New Paper, "New woman in the hot seat", 17 April 2009.
 * Conrad Raj, TODAY, "What’s good for the goose ...", 17 April 2009.
 * Channel News Asia, "DBS "reviewing" employee's appointment as AWARE president", 17 April 2009.
 * Wong Kim Hoh, The Straits Times, "DBS tells why it rebuked Josie Lau", 17 April 2009.
 * Cheryl Lim & Pearl Forss, Channel News Asia, "AWARE president questions intentions of veterans unhappy over election outcome", 17 April 2009.
 * Tan Dawn Wei, The Straits Times, "AWARE's power couple", 18 April 2009.
 * Tan Dawn Wei, The Straits Times, "Sociable, chatty and a lover of good food", 18 April 2009.
 * Tan Dawn Wei & Jamie Ee, The Straits Times, "Some attend the same church", 18 April 2009.
 * Josie Lau, The Straits Times, "New guard's response", 18 April 2009.
 * Robin Chan, The Straits Times, "Bank's public criticism of a senior officer sparks debate", 18 April 2009.
 * The Straits Times, "Sacked by a terse e-mail", 18 April 2009.
 * The Straits Times, "Old guard's response", 18 April 2009.
 * TODAY, "Why she quit", 18 April 2009.
 * Tan Dawn Wei & Jamie Ee, The Straits Times, "Some attend the same church", 18 April 2009.
 * The Straits Times, "Old guard's response", 18 April 2009.
 * Tan Dawn Wei, The Straits Times, "Quiet, devoted to religious activities", 18 April 2009.
 * Benson Ang, The New Paper, "'What did she do to deserve position?'", 19 April 2009.
 * Channel News Asia, "AWARE president says will not back out despite pressure", 19 April 2009.
 * Wong Kim Hoh, "AWARE chief wants to heal rift with upset members", The Straits Times, 20 April 2009.
 * Wong Kim Hoh, "Constance Singam quits as AWARE adviser ", The Sunday Times, 19 April 2009.
 * Wong Kim Hoh, "Claire Nazar: Why I quit as AWARE president", The Sunday Times, 19 April 2009,.
 * Nur Dianah Suhaimi, "Old guard supporters rallying the troops", The Sunday Times, 19 April 2009.
 * Loh Chee Kong, "AWARE: More than a numbers game", TODAY, 20 April 2009.
 * Loh Chee Kong, "AWARE: The new exco speaks", TODAY, 20 April 2009.
 * Loh Chee Kong, "AWARE president says will not step down despite pressure", TODAY, 20 April 2009.
 * Benson Ang, "Fight Over AWARE Leadership", The New Paper, 20 April 2009.
 * Ho Lian-yi, "Fight Over AWARE Leadership: Both parties marshalling members for EOGM", The New Paper, 20 April 2009.
 * Pearl Forss, "AWARE old guard says debate is healthy", Channel News Asia, 21 April 2009.
 * Hedy Khoo, "Few straight answers in AWARE interview", The New Paper, 21 April 2009.
 * "Save AWARE" petition, 23 April 2009.
 * Alexandra Serrenti, "An Ethicist speaks out on AWARE", 23 April 2009.
 * Channel News Asia, "New exco wants to bring AWARE back to its "original cause"", 23 April 2009.
 * Ong Dailin, "Locks changed, AWARE centre manager fired", TODAY, 24 April 2009.
 * Zul Othman, "An ugly turn of events", TODAY, 24 April 2009.
 * Zul Othman, "Membership shoots up", TODAY, 24 April 2009.
 * Cheryl Lim, "New exco wants to bring AWARE back to its "original cause"", 24 April 2009.
 * Zakir Hussain, "Lawyer's key role in AWARE coup", The Straits Times, 24 April 2009.
 * Sandra Davie, "New exco members tell of death threats", 24 April 2009,.
 * Derrick Ho, "Leadership change at AWARE", The Straits Times, 24 April 2009.
 * Transcript of new AWARE leadership's press conference, 24 April 2009.
 * Ravi Govindan, "Govt should ensure AWARE stays secular", Straits Times forum, 24 April 2009.
 * Wong Kim Hoh, "Old guard members counter allegations of a pro-gay stance", 25 April 2009.
 * "AWARE's old guard defends its activities", TODAY, 25 April 2009.
 * Chua Mui Hoong, "AWARE saga: A new militancy emerges", The Straits Times, 25 April 2009.
 * Debbie Yong, "Centre manager sacked for insubordination, says vice-president", 25 April 2009.
 * Nur Dianah Suhaimi, "Way power was seized is criticised", The Straits Times, 25 April 2009.
 * Wong Kim Hoh, "'Too diversified or too focused? Which is it?'", The Straits Times, 25 April 2009.
 * Robin Chan & Jamie Ee, "AWARE rift: Govt leaders call for tolerance", The Straits Times, 25 April 2009.

=Acknowledgements=

This article was written by Roy Tan.