Good riddance, Siew Kum Hong
This morning brings the good news of Siew Kum Hong and his gay faction rejected from the parliament, and partially restores my confidence with the government.
As a Catholic in Singapore, I cannot say I have much love for the government. The Marxist Conspiracy/Operation Spectrum was a malicious and dishonest smear, and as far as I am concerned, directed at Catholics in Singapore. As the government never found the courage to set the record straight, there is not much reconciliation to speak of. For a Christian to speak up politically, one has to hide his/her Christian identity, or will risk having all sorts of accusations of thought crimes hurled at he or she.
As much as I disagree with Thio Li Ann, I feel she has a right to speak up without being accused of the crime of being a Christian. Somehow, the self-styled liberals in Singapore do not have any concept of this.
In stark contrast, the gays in Singapore, often comparing themselves with Jews under Hitler, suffer far less constrains. When was the last time anybody got in trouble with the law for peacefully advocating gay rights?
With this AWARE scandal, I have learnt that the liberals in Singapore, unfortunately, had been tainted by PAP rule. They may talk about human rights and freedom of speech, but are not the least interested in defending the rights of people who disagree with them. They have chosen to fight the devil by being a bigger devil.
While the AWARE takeover was orchestrated by just a few non-representative Christians, the entire of Christianity was attacked. While some of these are due to atheists taking advantage of the situation, the "liberals" seem to revel in the attention, and sent the lynching mob to organize boycotts of the employers of Josie, charging their opponents with frivolous thought crimes and intruding on their privacy, and acting like hooligans at the AWARE EGM.
If these "liberals" are put in government, I have little doubt that they will be even more ruthless in persecuting dissenters than the current government.
From what I have seen of Singaporebloodypore, TheOnlineCitizen, TheWayangParty and Singapore Democrats, I find it hard to feel safe to vote for the Worker's Party or SDP. Unless these parties clearly show that they are not hijacked by anti-christian liberals, I fear I may find myself forced into crossing the PAP box in the next election.
Jimmy, be honest. Thio Li Ann's position on homosexuality is based entirely on her religious belief. She was nominated as an NMP to speak for all Singaporeans, not to speak for Christian Singaporeans. If she wanted to speak up for Christian Singaporeans, then she should have clearly stated so.
ReplyDeletePeople didn't attack Christians holding on to their beliefs. They attacked because they perceived that some Christian Singaporeans were trying to impose their beliefs on the rest of secular Singapore. The fact is, most Singaporeans are indifferent to the issue. What Singaporeans care more about is the preservation of the secular space for everyone.
No one is denying you the right to speak out or to articulate your religion-based beliefs. Just don't expect the rest of us to respect that. Respect only extends to your right to practise your religion in private, not to your decision to act on them in public.
The decriminalization of the homosexuality is becoming a serious national liability. Those who oppose it can no longer appeal to the collective notion of Asian values since it is legal in India, Japan, Taiwan, HK, Thailand, etc. Although it is legal in those countries, they are no less moral than we are.
Thanks for your comments, Fox. Apologies I forgot to switch off comment moderation after my holiday and the waiting comments totally escaped my attention.
ReplyDeleteTo be equally honest, Siew Kum Hong's position on homosexuality is entirely based on his beliefs, except it is not categorised as "religious".
Religion-based beliefs are no different from non-religion-based beliefs. If I believe in the sanctity of a human life, I am hypocrite if I do nothing while, say, I watch a man get murdered. Now you are saying that if that belief is religiously motivated, I should practise it privately and do nothing?
I believe a Christian has every right to speak his or her mind, and can be attacked, on a secular basis, not because it is religiously motivated.
Therefore, a Christian must engage the secular world on secular terms, and never argue on the basis that "the Good Book says so".
Lastly, the court ruling applied to Delhi area only. Gay sex is still unenforced illegal in the rest of India, just as it is in Singapore.
I believe it is illegal in China and Malaysia as well, and that very much represents the demographics in Singapore.
Anyway, I am not against decriminalization of homsexuality in principle, but I now oppose it as I see it as a ploy by the Gay Lobby to intrude my private space inch by inch.
"I believe it is illegal in China and Malaysia as well, and that very much represents the demographics in Singapore."
ReplyDeleteJimmy,
Anal sex between men has been decriminalised in China since 1997. Homosexuality is legal in HK and Tawiwan. It is not even a major issue in our Chinese newspapers. At the height of the 377a debate in Singapore more than a year ago, I only remember reading one singe letter on the issue and it was one that pointed that homosexuality is legal in China, Taiwan and HK. The debate over decriminalising homosexuality is confined to English-speaking Singaporeans. Thio Li-Ann is seen by most Chinese-speaking Singaporeans as a figure of curiosity rather than as a beacon of moral opposition.
Close to home, Singapore is actually far far behind most of our *major* ASEAN neighbours. Homosexuality is no longer illegal in Indonesia, Vietnam,the Phillipines and Thailand. Yes, homosexual physical behaviour is legal even in Muslim-majority Indonesia. If we really took our cues from our fellow Asian countries, then homosexuality would have been decriminalised a long time ago. We are almost Talibanish in this respect.
I find it difficult to believe suggestions that there is a radical gay lobby in Singapore. There is nothing radical about what they suggest. Homosexuality is not illegal in China (and the rest of the Chinese-speaking world) and Indonesia.
If anything, the evidence suggests that we are held back by a small conservative mostly Christian English-speaking minority who simply refuse to keep up with our Asian neighbours and persist with imposing their religious views on the rest of Singapore under the cover of speaking up for the mystical 'silent majority'.
When anyone criticises Israel, he will be smeared as an anti-Semitic Nazi. For African Americans, member of the KKK. For women, a MCP.
ReplyDeleteAnybody foolish enough to resist the Gay Lobby will be labelled as ....
Do you have any problem filling in the blank?
What the Gay Lobby wants to do, is to attack anyone who dares speak up against their wishes and smear them as hate mongering homophobes.
This is hate speech sugar coated in the name of anti discrimination. And according to you, apparently the target community of this hatred is defined as the English speaking Christian Chinese in Singapore.
You seriously think 0% of the Muslims or the Chinese speaking Christians (they exist, believe me) are against decriminalization?
Let me explain to you why the debate is conducted in English. The vocal elements of the Gay Lobby in Singapore have a poor command of the Chinese Language. Take a look at yawningbread.org, and see how many times he blogged about his displeasure about non English speaking service staff in Singapore, despite his professed "love" for foreign talents.
If the Gay Lobby speaks mandarin, the backlash will be in mandarin too. Do you seriously believe a gay man feels safer in China than in Singapore?
If the Gay Lobby wants genuine political change, knocking the Christian minority would hardly make a difference. The truth is the Gay Lobby wants to censor criticisms and together with other anti Christian groups, are out to attack Christians, and you are manipulated into joining their cause.
Everybody likes to believe they are doing good, they are advancing society to higher ideals.
"The path to hell is paved with good intentions."
You are not answering my question: What kind of privileges is this so-called gay lobby fighting for?
ReplyDeleteWhat kind of hate-speech has been made against Christian Singaporeans by this gay lobby?
"What would abolishing 377A change? Nothing."
ReplyDeleteSo why are the likes of Pastor Derek Hong and Dr Thio Li-Ann against the repeal then?
"The pushing will not stop there. Gay marriage, gay adoption, gay pride parades, gay history month? Fine. What's next? Anti-discrimination legislation to make gay employees almost unfireable? GRCs to include gays? Measures to compensate gay pay gap?"
Proof, proof, proof?
In case, you didn't notice, no one can hold parades of any kind in Singapore. We have no anti-discrimination laws for any group.
"You accuse Thio Li Ann's position on homosexuality is based entirely on her Christian beliefs."
She is a very intelligent woman and yet her arguments are deeply intellectually flawed. She confessed to being deeply religious. Of course, her views are informed by her religious views.
"What makes you so sure she even represents a significant portion of the Christian community?"
I don't. I have never made the assertion that she does.
"And yet you still direct all the blame at Christians."
The core of the anti-homosexual lobby is identifiably English-speaking mostly Christian Chinese. Do you dispute that, Jimmy?
Who sent out emails to organize the opposition to the repeal? The Mufti of Singapore? Reverend Ming Yi? Pastor Derek Hong?
"You may not be conscious of it, but you are just a cog in a movement to attack Christianity, to turn Christians into caricatures of backward thinking and conservatism."
There is no need for me to do that.
Dr Thio Li-Ann is already doing a fine job.
Do you suggest that the "anti-homosexual" lobby were to keep quiet, 377A will automagically go away? The Thios and friends are just naive people who play right into the hands of the Gay Lobby. That much I agree.
ReplyDeleteIf it is up to me, I will want to change 377A from something unenforceable and barely reflective of the majority of Singaporeans, to something enforceable and representative.
I want it to be changed from banning anal sex to banning the promotion of anal sex, and I believe this view is representative of the silent majority.