Singapore gay conferences
Encyclopedia

1st Singapore AIDS conference

The 1st Singapore AIDS conference was held on 12 December 1998 at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the landmark event was organised by Action for AIDS (AfA) to coincide with its 10th anniversary, and the Communicable Disease Centre
Communicable Disease Centre
The Communicable Disease Centre is a hospital at Moulmein Road in Novena, Singapore. It is part of a division of nearby Tan Tock Seng Hospital....

/Tan Tock Seng Hospital
Tan Tock Seng Hospital
The Tan Tock Seng Hospital is the second-largest hospital in Singapore after the Singapore General Hospital, but its accident and emergency department is the busiest in the country largely due to its geographically centralised location...

. The Singapore AIDS Conferences were to become biannual meetings targeted at individuals and organisations involved in AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 prevention and education, and those providing support, welfare and care activities. They would serve as a forum for the exchange of ideas, sharing of research findings and experiences, and an opportunity to update knowledge and skills. The inaugural conference was opened by the Minister of Health, Mr Yeo Cheow Tong
Yeo Cheow Tong
Yeo Cheow Tong is a former politician from Singapore. A member of the governing People's Action Party , he served in the Cabinet from 1990 to 2006, and was a Member of Parliament from 1984 to 2011....

 and attended by over 400 delegates. The theme of the first conference was “Facing the Challenge in Singapore”.

In all, there were 4 plenary sessions and 29 seminar presentations. The keynote speaker was Prof Werasit Sittitrai, from the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS
The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS, or UNAIDS, is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV epidemic....

 (UNAIDS) who addressed the topic “Safeguarding Young People for the Next Generation”. Read a summary of the seminars: and the script of 1 of the plenary lectures by Alan John, a news editor of the Straits Times:

One of the highlights of the conference which attracted great media attention was the revelation by Paddy Chew
Paddy Chew
Paddy Chew was the first Singaporean AIDS victim to come out to the general public.-Early life:He attended St. Stephen's School and St...

 of his HIV-positive status to the general public, the first time in Singapore that a person with AIDS (PWA
PWA
PWA may stand for:* Patients' welfare association* Pacific Western Airlines* People With AIDS* Pirates With Attitude, a warez release group* Prince Willem Alexander, Crown prince of the Netherlands* Printed Wiring Assemblies, Printed Circuit Boards...

) had revealed his identity and allowed himself to be photographed. Read the script of Chew's lecture:

2nd Singapore AIDS conference

The second biennial conference attracted almost 400 delegates who met over one-and-a-half days at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre towards the end of November 2000. The keynote address was delivered by Datin Marina Mahathir
Marina Mahathir
Marina binti Mahathir is the daughter and eldest child of the 4th Prime Minister of Malaysia, Tun Mahathir Mohammad. She is well known as a leader in many non-governmental organizations such as the Malaysian AIDS Foundation and is currently an active socio-political blogger...

 of the Malaysian AIDS Council
Malaysian AIDS Council
Malaysian AIDS Council was established in 1992 under the Ministry of Health with a mission to represent, mobilise and strengthen non-governmental organisations and communities who were working with HIV/AIDS issues...

. There were 3 plenary sessions, and 10 symposia including 1 nursing symposium. In addition a special post-conference satellite symposium on MSM
MSM
MSM may refer to:in science and technology:* Methylsulfonylmethane, a chemical compound* Markov switching multifractal, a financial model of asset returns* Method of simulated moments, a statistical estimation technique...

 AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 and other related health issues was organised. Read AfA's reports on selected sessions:

3rd Singapore AIDS Conference

Held on 22 and 23 November 2002 again at the Singapore International Convention and Exhibition Centre, the theme of the year’s conference was "Change- Attitudes, Behaviour- the Future". The opening included a main speech by the Guest-of-Honour, Dr Balaji Sadasivan, Minister of State for Health and Environment and an address by the keynote speaker, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

's Senator Mechai Viravaidya
Mechai Viravaidya
Mechai Viravaidya is a former politician and activist in Thailand who has popularized condoms in that country.Since the 1970s, Mechai has been affectionately known as "Mr...

 who was the key architect of his government's response to HIV
HIV
Human immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...

/AIDS
AIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...

 in 1991-1992. Since then, there had been a 77% decline in new infections in the country.

Read reports of the symposia, testimonials from people with AIDS, a presentation on the legal reasons for the high cost of AIDS drugs in Singapore and the resolutions of the conference.

Homosexuality and Homophobia: Applied Psychotherapeutic Issues for Counsellors

A day-long conference held in August 2003, by SPACES
Spaces
Spaces may refer to:* Windows Live Spaces, the next generation of MSN Spaces.* Spaces , a virtual desktop manager implemented in Mac OS X Leopard* Gaps, a solitaire card game*Spaces, a 1974 album by Larry Coryell...

, a private counseling agency. It was groundbreaking in that it was the first widely-advertised seminar organized by a predominantly gay volunteer organization which dealt with homosexuality
Homosexuality
Homosexuality is romantic or sexual attraction or behavior between members of the same sex or gender. As a sexual orientation, homosexuality refers to "an enduring pattern of or disposition to experience sexual, affectional, or romantic attractions" primarily or exclusively to people of the same...

 in a scientific and balanced manner. Any previous public talk had to avoid portraying homosexuality as normal, or else the police would not issue a license to allow it to proceed.

3rd International Convention of Asia Scholars (ICAS3)

Held from 19–22 August 2003 at the Raffles City Convention Centre, it was hosted and co-organised by the National University of Singapore
National University of Singapore
The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

's Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. It drew over 1000 participants from around the world, almost all of whom were academics. Over 900 papers were presented. The conference was a landmark in that its programme included the most papers touching on sexuality and transgend issues ever assembled in Singapore. The 60-80 queer scholars who flew in for the conference were the largest group of queer academics meeting at a local venue at the same time.

Many felt that the theme of sexuality and transgenderism fielded more papers than any other, such as IndoChinese history or modern Chinese politics. Altogether 10 panels (each with about 4 papers) discussed topics on sexuality and transgenderism. They were:
  • Male same-sex cultures in SE Asia and the Asian American Diaspora
  • Gender and sexuality in recent Chinese cinema
  • Same sex cultures in Taiwan
  • Sexualities and transgenderism
  • Gender performance and identity politics
  • Asian transgender and transsexual cultures I & II
  • Asian homosexualities, globalisation and medicalisation
  • Sexual identities and social histories
  • Female same-sex cultures in East and Southeast Asia

Some of the academics from Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...

 and other Western countries had wondered, before the conference, whether their papers would be accepted, considering that the conference was to be held in Singapore, and the NUS would play a big part in its organisation. Academic and activist Russell Heng felt they need not have worried as NUS had actually pitched for it.

Homosexuality: Myths and Truths

Held from 25–28 November 2003 by the Singapore chapter of the controversial US-linked organisation Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family
Focus on the Family is an American evangelical Christian tax-exempt non-profit organization founded in 1977 by psychologist James Dobson, and is based in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Focus on the Family is one of a number of evangelical parachurch organizations that rose to prominence in the 1980s...

. This despite the organisers having received protest letters and a statement issued by the AFFIRM Network, a US-based group of psychologists, which highlighted "serious ethical and scientific concerns" about "reparative therapy
Reparative Therapy
Conversion therapy, sometimes called reparative therapy or reorientation therapy, is one type of sexual orientation change effort that attempts to change the sexual orientation of a person from homosexual or bisexual to heterosexual. These types of therapies have been a source of intense...

" for gays and lesbians. The letter listed three "serious problems" which the Singaporean public should have been made aware of if they were considering attending at the event. Recipients of the letter included The Straits Times
The Straits Times
The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...

, the Singapore Psychological Society, the California Psychological Association Ethics Committee and Melvin Wong, Ph.D., the California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

-based speaker of the seminars. The series of seminars, which was supported by the Metropolitan YMCA, the YMCA of Singapore, the Salvation Army, the Boys' Brigade and the State-run and funded National Council of Social Service
National Council of Social Service
The National Council of Social Service is a statutory board governed by the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports of the Singapore government....

 (NCCS), covered topics such as "Preventing Homosexuality", "Recovery Therapy" and "Unwanted Homosexuality
Ego-dystonic sexual orientation
Ego-dystonic sexual orientation is an ego-dystonic condition characterized by having a sexual orientation or an attraction that is at odds with one's idealized self-image, causing anxiety and a desire to change one's orientation or become more comfortable with one's sexual...

: Steps to Early Detection and Prevention". People Like Us
People Like Us 3
People Like Us , is the main gay equality lobby group in Singapore. Having been twice rejected by the government board which approves or prohibits organisations, the Registrar of Societies, it is now in its third incarnation as "PLU3"...

 (PLU) had also sent a different set of letters to the NCCS, the Ministry of Community Development, volunteer organisations and the media highlighting that the claims purported by the seminar's organisers were contrary to the opinions of the mainstream medical community. One of the main points of contention was that voluntary welfare organisations were eligible to receive a 70% training grant from the NCCS if they attended, according to the seminar brochure. The NCCS subsequently withdrew its previously-offered training grant to participants on the grounds of the speaker, Dr. Melvin Wong's lack of qualifications.

The Lovers' Lecture series

In March 2004, The Fun Stage, a theatre group, applied to the Public Entertainment Licensing Unit (PELU), which is under the Singapore Police Force
Singapore Police Force
The Singapore Police Force is the main agency tasked with maintaining law and order in the city-state. Formerly known as the Republic of Singapore Police , it has grown from an 11-man organisation to a 38,587 strong force...

 and handles the licensing of public lectures and forums, for permits to hold three talks at SPACE 21, 21 Tanjong Pagar Road. These were to be lead-up events to their play "Lovers' Words", scheduled for mid-April 2004. The 3 talks entitled the "Lovers' Lecture Series" were meant for academics, arts practitioners and critics. Its scheduled programmed was as follows:
  • 6 March 2004- Same Sex Love in Chinese Culture (in Mandarin) by Dr. Tan Chong Kee (Chairman, The Necessary Stage
    The Necessary Stage
    The Necessary Stage is a non-profit theatre company with charity status in Singapore. Formed in 1987 by current Artistic Director Alvin Tan, The Necessary Stage has been identified as one of the Major Arts Companies by the National Arts Council. The company is also the organiser and curator of the...

    ) and Mr. Ng Wai Choy (Artistic Director, Wayang Merah).
  • 20 March 2004- The Politics of Gay Literature by Jason Wee (Editor of Vehicle, an arts magazine) and Alfian bin Sa'at (Playwright, Asian Boys Vol. 1 and 2 amongst others).
  • 27 March 2004- Open Forum: 1) Placement of the Minority (Majority) in the Majority (Minority) and 2) a discussion on the book People Like Us- Sexual Minorities in Singapore. Panelists were to include Jason Wee (Chair), Richard Chua (Artistic Co-Director, The Fun Stage), Lee Weng Choy (Artistic Co-Director, The Substation
    The Substation
    The Substation is Singapore's first and only independent contemporary arts centre. It was founded in 1990 by Kuo Pao Kun.The Substation is centrally located in the city's civic district. Venues at The Substation for hire include a black-box theatre, a gallery, a dance studio, the Random Room and...

    ), Lena Lim (Select Bookstore Singapore), Benny Lim
    Benny Lim
    Benny Lim is the Artistic Director of The Fun Stage.-Biography:Since 2001, Benny has produced over 50 arts projects in a non-profit environment. His works have also travelled to United States of America, China, Hong Kong and Malaysia. Benny has directed and performed in over 20 theatre productions...

     (Artistic Co-Director, The Fun Stage), Alvin Tan
    Alvin Tan
    Alvin Tan is Founder and Artistic Director of The Necessary Stage and co-Artistic Director of the M1 Singapore Fringe Festival. Under Alvin, TNS has grown from a society in 1987 to one of Singapore’s most prominent and respected theatre companies...

     (Artistic Director, The Necessary Stage
    The Necessary Stage
    The Necessary Stage is a non-profit theatre company with charity status in Singapore. Formed in 1987 by current Artistic Director Alvin Tan, The Necessary Stage has been identified as one of the Major Arts Companies by the National Arts Council. The company is also the organiser and curator of the...

    ).
The seminars eventually had to be cancelled because in a letter dated 4 March 2004, the Assistant Director of Operations, Police, replied to Richard Chua, the Artistic Co-Director of The Fun Stage, saying that it would be "contrary to public interest" to grant them the necessary permits.

Legislating sexual behaviour- should the State be in our bedrooms?

A forum held on 29 March 2004, organised by the National University of Singapore Society (NUSS) at Kent Ridge Guild Hall. The main speaker was activist Alex Au
Alex Au
Alex Au Waipang, also known by his Internet nom de plume as Yawning Bread, is part of the Singapore gay equality movement.He is the author of a website, where he provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects.-Biography:Au, English-educated and of...

 who argued that resolving the question of whether the State should be regulating the sexual choices of consenting adults depended on whether the State was a paternalistic or liberal one. In the former case, the State's default tendency was to regulate, and one would have to present positive reasons for it not to. The opposite applied in the liberal paradigm. Au used the example of homosexuality to show how weak the arguments for regulating sexual behaviour in a liberal context were, even for such a contentious issue. The other speaker was Associate Professor Michael Hor, Faculty of Law, NUS
NUS
NUS may refer to:* Nu Skin Enterprises* Neglected and Underutilized Species, or Neglected and Underutilized Crops* National Union of Students * National Union of Students * National Union of Students...

 who dissected section 377
Section 377
Section 377 could refer to:* Section 377 of the Penal Code * Section 377 of the Indian Penal Code...

 and section 377A of the Penal Code, discussed some pertinent cases and also delved into constitutional principles involved. He touched on the reasoning used by the US Supreme Court in the Lawrence vs Texas case, and how such reasoning might apply in Singapore's constitutional provisions. (Read Alex Au
Alex Au
Alex Au Waipang, also known by his Internet nom de plume as Yawning Bread, is part of the Singapore gay equality movement.He is the author of a website, where he provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects.-Biography:Au, English-educated and of...

's presentation, the background to the organisation of the conference, the question and answer session which ensued and the Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...

 report:)

Singapore Forum on Politics 2005- Towards an Open and Inclusive Society

  • Held on Saturday, 26 February 2005, organized by the Department of Political Science, NUS
    NUS
    NUS may refer to:* Nu Skin Enterprises* Neglected and Underutilized Species, or Neglected and Underutilized Crops* National Union of Students * National Union of Students * National Union of Students...

     with the support of Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung. The five speakers were Nizam Bin Ismail (President, Young Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP)), Alfian bin Sa'at (poet and playwright), Alex Au
    Alex Au
    Alex Au Waipang, also known by his Internet nom de plume as Yawning Bread, is part of the Singapore gay equality movement.He is the author of a website, where he provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects.-Biography:Au, English-educated and of...

     (gay activist), Eleanor Wong
    Eleanor Wong (playwright)
    Eleanor Wong is a writer and playwright in Singapore. Her plays have been produced in Singapore and regionally. She is best known for "Invitation to Treat", her trilogy of plays centred around the experiences of the character Ellen Toh, a lesbian lawyer in Singapore...

     (Associate Professor, NUS Law Faculty) and Asad Usman (Senior Correspondent, The Straits Times
    The Straits Times
    The Straits Times is an English language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore currently owned by Singapore Press Holdings . It is the country's highest-selling paper, with a current daily circulation of nearly 400,000...

    ). It was chaired by Kenneth Paul Tan (Assistant Head, Political Science Department, NUS). Read the presentation by Alex Au
    Alex Au
    Alex Au Waipang, also known by his Internet nom de plume as Yawning Bread, is part of the Singapore gay equality movement.He is the author of a website, where he provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects.-Biography:Au, English-educated and of...

     and Channel NewsAsia
    Channel NewsAsia
    Channel NewsAsia is an English language pan-Asian news network based in Singapore and owned by MediaCorp. Started on 1 March 1999 based in Singapore by Television Corporation of Singapore, it was launched internationally on 12 February 2001 as the international broadcasting arm of Channel...

    's report on the conference:

Loving Myself - Two Gay Pilgrims Journeying Life

Held on Tuesday, 1 March 2005, it was the first workshop organised by Oogachaga-Looking Glass, the non-profit lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered and straight affirming counseling service. This was part of regular personal development and growth workshops for lesbians, gays and their friends which were to take place on the first Tuesday of every other month in 2005.

Clarence Singam and Eileena Lee shared their own journeys of growth into self acceptance and affirmation. Eileena and Clarence shared the lessons they learned about being human, being strong, finding empathy and learning to love from their unique and yet common journeys. They shared their ups and downs, their self rejections, their own healing and the celebration of their selfhoods. The sharing was followed by a question and answer session, to engage Eileena and Clarence further.

The Pink Dollar in the Singaporean context

A dialogue held on Saturday, 12 March 2005 as part of an event curated by Ong Keng Sen
Ong Keng Sen
Ong Keng Sen is a Singaporean director of the theatre group TheatreWorks, which was founded in Singapore in 1985.Ong is a member of the Asia-Europe Network, which promotes the artistic exchange between Asia and Europe...

 of Theatreworks
TheatreWorks
TheatreWorks may refer to:*TheatreWorks *TheatreWorks *TheatreWorks *Theatreworks *Theatreworks *Theatreworks USA*TheaterWorks...

, under the umbrella of the National Arts Council
National Arts Council Singapore
The National Arts Council of Singapore was established in September 1991 "to nurture the arts and make it an integral part of life in Singapore.-History :...

-funded Singapore Season. It took place at the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...

, London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...

, UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. PLU3's Alex Au
Alex Au
Alex Au Waipang, also known by his Internet nom de plume as Yawning Bread, is part of the Singapore gay equality movement.He is the author of a website, where he provides analyses of Singaporean politics, culture, gay issues and miscellaneous subjects.-Biography:Au, English-educated and of...

 was one of the panelists at the dialogue.

Coming Home To Our Families- To Tell or Not to Tell?

Held on Tuesday, 3 May 2005, the second in the series of Oogachaga-Looking Glass workshops. A panel of 3 gay persons (Kok Wei, Dominic Chua and Eileena Lee), 2 mothers and 2 brothers shared their journey of coming home to each other. What wee the challenges they faced when they found out their family members were gay? What made these three gay persons share their lives as gay people to their families? If they could do it all over again, would they? How would they do it differently?

Loving A Partner- What It Means and What It Takes

Held on Tuesday, 5 July 2005, the third in the series of Oogachaga workshops.

It explored the multitude of challenges, from a lack of role models and social support to dealing with one's own and one's partner's hangups. Questions tackled were: What makes a healthy relationship? How does one deal with trials that pop up in every relationship? How does one negotiate one's relationship commitments? What sacrifices does one have to make to maintain a relationship? How does one's biological families fit in, if at all? A panel of gay and lesbian persons shared the ups & downs and joys & sorrows of their relationships. Speaker Kim shared the twists and turns of his 20-year partnership with Leong. Jo and Jorg talked about their long distance stint and why they decided to get married after a 10-year partnership. The panelists shared the lessons they learned about being human, being strong, finding empathy and learning to love from their unique and yet common journeys.

Sexualities, Genders and Rights in Asia: 1st International Conference of Asian Queer Studies

Sexualities, Genders and Rights in Asia was organised by the Australian National University
Australian National University
The Australian National University is a teaching and research university located in the Australian capital, Canberra.As of 2009, the ANU employs 3,945 administrative staff who teach approximately 10,000 undergraduates, and 7,500 postgraduate students...

 and Mahidol University
Mahidol University
Mahidol University is a public research university in Bangkok, Thailand. Established back in 1888 as School of Medical Practitioners, Siriraj Hospital and reorganized in 1943 as University of Medical Sciences . The university originally focused on Health Sciences but also expanded to other...

 and held in Bangkok
Bangkok
Bangkok is the capital and largest urban area city in Thailand. It is known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon or simply Krung Thep , meaning "city of angels." The full name of Bangkok is Krung Thep Mahanakhon Amon Rattanakosin Mahintharayutthaya Mahadilok Phop Noppharat Ratchathani Burirom...

, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...

 from 7–9 July 2005. The conference had difficulties raising funds because many donors had been exhausted by the recent tsunami
Tsunami
A tsunami is a series of water waves caused by the displacement of a large volume of a body of water, typically an ocean or a large lake...

 relief effort. Furthermore, many of them also had policies where their contributions should be linked to health issues. This made it hard for the conference to include thematic streams that dealt with identity and representation not connected with HIV/AIDS. Singapore's People Like Us 3
People Like Us 3
People Like Us , is the main gay equality lobby group in Singapore. Having been twice rejected by the government board which approves or prohibits organisations, the Registrar of Societies, it is now in its third incarnation as "PLU3"...

 rendered financial assistance which made possible the "Cinema and Media" thematic stream, in particular the panel on Asian Queer Filmmakers, by funding scholarships for speakers from poorer countries who would present papers on this subject. Fridae
Fridae
Fridae is a diversified media and services company that caters to the gay and lesbian community of Asia. Its strategy covers the Internet, Broadcasting, Publishing and Events. Its slogan is "Empowering Gay Asia"....

 was also another proud Singaporean sponsor of the conference. Over 200 papers were presented, including studies by Singaporean and Singapore-based researchers.
  • Singaporean PhD student (at the University of Illinois
    University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
    The University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign is a large public research-intensive university in the state of Illinois, United States. It is the flagship campus of the University of Illinois system...

     in the U.S.
    United States
    The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

    ) Christopher Tan Kok Kee presented a paper entitled "Pinking the Lion City: Interrogating Singapore's Gay Civil Servant Statement". Abstract: Even though it has been 20 years since the separate emergence of queer and Southeast Asian studies within anthropology, the state of being queer and Southeast Asian is still heavily under-articulated. This paper seeks to fill this gap by critiquing the survivalist strategies of Singapore's 2003 statement that promises equal employment opportunities to gay civil servants. Singapore embrace of sexual minorities is indicative of a move by neoliberalist states to attract the 'creative class' by being highly tolerant of 'difference', similar to what Richard Florida
    Richard Florida
    Richard Florida is an American urban studies theorist.Richard Florida's focus is on social and economic theory. He is currently a professor and head of the Martin Prosperity Institute at the Rotman School of Management, at the University of Toronto. He also heads a private consulting firm, the...

     (2002) argued with respect to American cities. Despite the significance of this measure, this paper argues that it is not only ineffective because of its inherent contradictions, it is also politically problematic. Homosexuality still remains criminalized in Singapore because of antiquated British colonial laws. The state-regulated media also continues to demonize homosexuality as a symptom of Western decadence as it valorises the heterosexual patriarchal family as a prop to a declining birth rate. Interrogating Singapore's gay civil servant statement can not only reveal the state of being queer and Southeast Asian, it can also illuminate the limits of neo-liberal policies that embrace 'difference' within the confines of the capitalist logic.
Tan argued that Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong
Goh Chok Tong is the Senior Minister of Singapore and the chairman of the central bank of Singapore, the Monetary Authority of Singapore. He also served as the second Prime Minister of the Republic of Singapore from 28 November 1990 to 12 August 2004, succeeding Lee Kuan Yew, the former Prime...

’s June 2003 statement, that the Government would employ gays even in 'sensitive' positions provided that these civil servants openly declared their sexual orientation, was not a discourse of tolerance. Data gathered from Tan's fieldwork suggested that while gay Singaporeans welcomed the statement, they also strongly doubted the Government’s sincerity. When civil servants in Tan's survey pool were asked whether their individual ministries or statutory boards had done anything to realise the statement, the answer was a uniformly resounding 'No!'
  • Clarence Singam (Oogachaga Counseling and Support) presented "Developing LGBT Affirmative Support Groups within Singaporean Postmodernity". Abstract: Singapore today, stands between modernity and post-modernity where contradictory narratives of identity battle for dominance. Two increasingly dominant narratives are that of the nation as a successful economic entity and that of Christian fundamentalism. The former asserts that Singapore's survival requires her to become a creative society open to diverse ideas. However this requires celebrating diversity; including sexual diversity. Thus the issue of gay freedom of expression has been a focal point in the public debate on societal diversity. This push towards diversity has however thrown segments of Singapore's population into identity crises. It has resulted in the growth of a minority though vociferous Christian fundamentalism that adopts the discourses of the religious right wing in the United States. Vocal segments of this population believe they are divinely mandated to stem the rise of lesbigay acceptance in Singapore. These battles are often fought in the public sphere via the discourses of Asian and family values, sexual abstinence as the primary anti-HIV message and allowing religious voices in the political space. This paper will trace the evolution of gay support groups within this terrain of meta-narrative conflicts. It will explore the types of support groups in existence, the strategies employed in planting and nurturing these groups, the obstacles faced and the impact these groups have had on the Singaporean discourse on diversity. The paper will explore the development of religious and social activity based lesbigay affirmative support groups as well as recent community experimentation on straight-gay partnerships.
  • Andrea Goh, Melissa Say, Gerald Tan and Frederick Tong, (Nanyang Technological University
    Nanyang Technological University
    Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...

    ) presented "Probing Pink Porn: The perceived value of sexual content for homosexual and heterosexual audiences". Abstract: Singapore law requires consideration of the literary, artistic, social, cultural, educational and scientific value of media content in deciding whether it is objectionable. Responses to structured depth interviews with 40 adults aged under 30 (equal numbers of homosexuals and heterosexuals) were analysed to determine the perceived value of sexual content targeted at homosexual and heterosexual audiences. Input from lawyers, media practitioners and members of the Media Authority's various committees was also analysed.
  • Ying Wuen Wong, (National University of Singapore
    National University of Singapore
    The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

    ) presented "The Making of a Local Queen in an International Transsexual Beauty Contest". Abstract: This paper analyses the situation of an international transsexual beauty contest in a discourse of imitation and approximation dominated by Western notions of beauty and femininity. Transsexual beauty contests provide a stage to perform transsexual femininity on the one hand, but subject its participants to imitation of mainstream notions of beauty and femininity on the other. Although transsexual beauty contests market and project a transsexual identity for its participants, pageant participants are expected to perform and imitate femininity and are assessed based on their ability to transgress the gender boundary. A local beauty contest is then compelled to imitate an international one, in a bid to produce a "winner" that matched the mould of beauty constructed by this assessment. Such notions of aesthetics and representation (of one's country and culture) is determined by the discourse of power, both within and without the beauty pageant. This paper will use ethnographic details of both local and international transsexual beauty contests held in Thailand and Singapore in 2004.
  • Dr. K.K. Seet, (National University of Singapore
    National University of Singapore
    The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

    ) presented "Progression or Regression? - The 'Gay Teen Summer Romance' as Popular Phenomenon in Taiwanese Cinema".
  • Brian Curtin, (Raffles LaSalle International Design School) presented "Thailand's Gay Male Sexual Cultures and the Problem of Visual Representation".
  • Kenneth Chan, (Nanyang Technological University
    Nanyang Technological University
    Nanyang Technological University is one of the two largest public universities in Singapore with the biggest campus in Singapore and the world's largest engineering college. Its lush 200-hectare Yunnan Garden campus was the Youth Olympic Village of the world's first 2010 Summer Youth Olympics in...

    ) presented "Rice Sticking Together: Desire and the Cinematic Representation of Caucasian-Chinese Relationships".
  • Day Wong, (National University of Singapore
    National University of Singapore
    The National University of Singapore is Singapore's oldest university. It is the largest university in the country in terms of student enrollment and curriculum offered....

    ) presented "Beyond Identity Politics - The Making of an Oral History of Women who Love Women in Hong Kong".

IndigNation

In August 2005, gay activists, bolstered by broad-based grassroots support organised Singapore's inaugural month-long gay pride
Gay pride
LGBT pride or gay pride is the concept that lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people should be proud of their sexual orientation and gender identity...

 celebration called IndigNation. The latter moniker was a clever play of words representing the gay community's displeasure at the unexpected official ban of the annual Nation mega-parties which had been approved and held without incident 4 years in a row prior to 2005.

Same-sex love in classical Chinese literature

The first talk of the "festival" was delivered in Mandarin by Dr. Tan Chong Kee to a capacity audience at 7:30pm on 2 August 2005 at Xposé Café, Bar and Restaurant. Its management allowed free use of the premises to conduct the historic event, namely, the first widely-advertised talk on homosexuality, open to all and held in a public indoor venue ever to take place in Singapore since Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong
Lee Hsien Loong is the third and current Prime Minister of Singapore. He is married to Ho Ching, who is the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of Temasek Holdings. He is the eldest son of Singapore's first Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew....

's 2004 liberalisation of the rules governing public talks in indoor areas. Dr. Tan, who had conducted extensive research into Chinese civilization
Culture of China
Chinese culture is one of the world's oldest and most complex. The area in which the culture is dominant covers a large geographical region in eastern Asia with customs and traditions varying greatly between towns, cities and provinces...

, challenged the notion that same-sex love was contrary to Asian culture
Asian culture
Asian Culture may refer to:*Culture of Asia*Asian Culture , the official journal of the Singapore Society of Asian Studies...

. He traced and explored various ancient classical Chinese texts to demonstrate that same-sex love had been an integral part of Asian life. (View photos of the event. Download an .mp3 file of the lecture in 3 parts.)
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