... posted
at 12:03 PM by C.flava.
3 comments
Monday, April 18, 2005
i was just told that a kindergarden friend of mine is in critical condition. A viral flu has infected her intestines, lungs... her brain...
... posted
at 9:30 AM by C.flava.
3 comments
Saturday, April 16, 2005
When I look at the mirror for a long enough time, my facial features become mere shapes- meaningless in and of themselves... just as memories become mere stories of symbols engraved on tombstones... the minds eye is a mysterious entity that holds cemetaries of history... coded in DNA... energized as unfinished business over and over. My experience of expression has been mere symbols... interpreted through emotionally charged filters... through engraved values...schemas... humanly cognitions... stories once shared become mere incidences where both participated... i have come to learn that i am powerless in the face of the absurd... where mere language becomes nothing to another... where emotions become mere evolutionary functions of survival... where the heart is a mere construct of my imagination...
... posted
at 1:24 AM by C.flava.
0 comments
Tuesday, April 12, 2005
I was deeply moved by Cathy Buckle's blog. She is an author who wrote "Beyond Tears". A book about how the current political situation in Zimbabwe has led to the falling of the farming sector. Her blog has extensive and honest descriptions of her life in Zimbabwe.
Over the last year or so, there have been news articles written here and there about the agricultural sector of Zimbabwe. Much of life in these agricultural parts have been kept very secret and there is little information about what exactly is going on there. President Robert Mugabe's police have been keeping foreign media from entering the country and making reports. Several reporters have gone under cover to these parts and have discovered severe famine and suffering. The president's apparent underdeclaration of the need for food aid, has resorted to some inhumane ways of dealing with opposing parties. There was a feature on the BBC earlier this year right around the time of the tsunami. It seems that the only person who has gotten away with opposing the governing party has been a Catholic priest, Oskar Wermter.
I guess one of the biggest reasons I have been so drawn to the political situation in Zimbabwe is that I have, over the last couple of years, become profoundly disturbed by the political situations in ex-colonial territories. Many of these governments, just like Singapore, claim to be based on an ideology of democracy but seem to act otherwise. If I were to exagerate a little, I might say that warlords are running these nations in the name of 'democracy'. I don't know if I am for 'democracy' per say or if it is something for everyone, but, when I hear of dictator like governments using censorship, threats or propagenda to maintain 'votes', something in my tummy churns. The little girl in me feels lied to, feels like she's been taken for a fool.
In the 80s there was a huge cross-cultural study done across a number of countries by Hoffstede. One of the dimensions studied was called "uncertainty avoidance"- the need for rules, direction and instruction. Singaporeans rated #1 on the level of "uncertainty avoidance". When I think about it, the number of government symbols, signs and campaigns we have can be quite ridiculous. I always wonder how life was like before Singapore became this way. I wonder about the times when the streets in Singapore were filthy... where there were gangs, corruption, writers, artists, activists, rebels against the British rule...desires for independance. I wonder where all that went to... I wonder when the last kopidiam will be demolished and reconstructed for tourists....I wonder when we will begin to realise how much we have lost in the last 40 years of one-party ruling.... I wonder how much we have lost in the names of "political stability", "economic stability", "Asian democracy" and "industrialisation".
... posted
at 1:35 PM by C.flava.
0 comments
Monday, April 11, 2005
I've been wondering about my constant need for starting things over... about wanting to erase the past... there are some things I have, as yet, not been able to take responsibiliy for... parts of myself that I've blocked off...
... posted
at 3:24 PM by C.flava.
0 comments
Thursday, April 07, 2005
People Like Us (PLU) has been an GLBT unregistered organisation that has been around since 1993 with this cause:
PLU's Mission Statement
"We believe that everyone in Singapore should have a full and equal place in our society regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity, and to this end, we shall work for more informed understanding, the removal of barriers and a fuller integration of sexual minorities with the larger community."
The Singapore Registrar of Societies rejected their application to be a legal organisation in 1996, 2000 and 2003. So the organisation decided to add the number "3" to the name- "PLU3" to remind the world that they have been rejected 3 times.
Recently, a good friend of mine, Eileena became president of the organisation. I was told that some powerful letters were written to our members of parliment. Now, most times, you hear of letters being written and not getting anyone anywhere for anything. I think as Singaporeans, we have been socialized into this apathetic sense of helplessness. Any opinion expressed that is different is seen as terribly extreme. We are quick to call opinions extreme, paranoid or redundant. The word "activist" is almost unheard off. I think sometimes we forget that Lee Kuan Yew himself began as an activist, fighting for the impossible. It turns out, that a letter they wrotein response to Balaji's statements have somewhat paid off and they are going to have a meeting with the MP this week. The letter addressed concerns of HIV awareness and how many men who have sex with men (MSM) do not consider themselves gay, bi or homosexual.This is a group that Action for Aids has had a hard time reaching out to. You have to wonder if this group of men would even exist if homophobia didn't.
Here is the link to the letter written to Balaji:
"Singapore has prided itself as a nation that takes a pragmatic approach towards problems facing society. In terms of stigmatized sexual minorities, an admirable move in this respect was the Government's enactment of legislation recognizing the surgically assigned gender of post-operative Singaporean transgendereds. This pragmatic and reasoned approach alleviated the suffering of a silent segment of Singapore's population, and showed the way ahead for much of the rest of the world."
And this was one of the initial responses:
"18 March 2005, 08.12h
To: People Like Us 3
From Lim Boon Heng
Thank you for your note. However, Singapore is a multi-religious society. Many Singaporeans have strong beliefs on what is natural and unnatural, right or wrong."
I leave you to draw your own opinions from the reply above.
I think, PLU3 has been so tirelessly dedicated to their cause and YES, they do have a political agenda. The reason they have been given all these years for being rejected by the Registrar of Societies is that homosexual behaviour is a criminal act:
"Section 377A (Outrages on Decency): "Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission by any male person, of any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to two years."
This is a law carried over from the time our British colonial oppresors lived in Singapore. It is said that the law was made to prevent British soldiers from getting it on with each other. PLU3 hopes to decriminalize homosexuality
... posted
at 10:57 PM by C.flava.
0 comments
