IndigNation 2007

=Introduction=

IndigNation 2007, Singapore’s third LGBT pride season came around again in August 2007, organised by People Like Us and packed with exhibitions, talks, poetry, film, outdoor and social events. It was a time to renew the LGBT community's confidence in themselves.

All IndigNation events were open to the public, and everyone, straight, gay or transgendered, were welcome. If there were any limitations, e.g. minimum age for entry as required by the licence from the authorities, they were clearly stated in the blurb for the particular event.

Likewise, all events were free unless otherwise stated in a particular blurb.

Indignation events took place at various venues: 72-13, Free Community Church, PitchBlack Cafe, Action Theatre, etc. The advertisement for each event stated this clearly.

=Calendar of Events=

Wed, 1 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Opening reception All are welcome.

1 - 15 Aug 2007 Idiosyncracies An art exhibition.

1 - 15 Aug 2007 Kissing This photo exhibition has been banned by the MDA. See Kiss and tell instead. Review of Kissing

Thu, 2 Aug 2007 8 pm Paper Dolls Film (Hebrew/English/Tagalog with English subtitles). Event cancelled.

Fri, 3 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Walking out from the shadow The success stories of 3 transsexuals.

Sat, 4 Aug 2007 3 pm Bifocal A forum

Sat, 4 Aug 2007 3 pm My Brother Nikhil Film (Hindi with English subtitles). Screening confirmed.

Sat, 4 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Does likeness matter? Queer-themed Chinese writing. A forum in Mandarin.

Sun, 5 Aug 2007 3 pm Lost and found A forum for youth by youth.

Sun, 5 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Tall tales and short stories A talk by Ovidia Yu and Ng Yi-Sheng.

Mon, 6 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Relationship myths A talk by Anj Ho.

Tue, 7 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Sexual orientation in international law: the case of Asia. See Review

Wed, 8 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Troy Perry, My Life Story

UPDATE: event is pending approval. please read here for more details A talk by Rev Troy Perry

Wed, 8 Aug 2007 8 pm The Laramie Project Film (English). Event cancelled.

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 4:30 pm In the pink This picnic event is cancelled. Report of what happened next and photos

Thu, 9 Aug 2007 8 pm Paper Dolls (repeat) Film (Hebrew/English/Tagalog with English subtitles). Event cancelled.

Fri, 10 Aug 2007 7:30 pm “Wei Ming is a Chao Ah Kua” Forum: Equality and sexuality in the Singapore school.

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 Meet at 8:30 am The pink run Morning 5km Walk/Run. Update: Event cancelled. See Report

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 11 am Basketball 3-3 challenge Register with Adlus for limited slots.

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 2 pm Adlus Singapore hunt A fun way to spend an afternoon

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 9:30 pm Adlus 8th anniversary bash Join the Adlus boys and girls as they celebrate

Sat, 11 Aug 2007 3 pm Hitting (on) Women A new play by Ovidia Yu

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 3 pm Your relationships and you A forum cum workshop

Sun, 12 Aug 2007 7:30 pm ContraDiction Poetry and more.

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 7:30 pm Contending with consent A talk - a legal case study from Hong Kong.

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 8:00 pm Voices Chinese songs for us.

=Reviews=

The ADLUS Pink Run
By Alex Au

After the National Parks Board told us that we could not run at Botanic Gardens, it was decided to change the venue of the run. At first, the roads around the Botanic Gardens were considered, but from previous times, it was felt to be somewhat unsafe for a large group of joggers as there were many blind spots.

A new route along the Singapore river was chosen because 72-13 was the venue for most of the IndigNation events, it was more scenic and did not pose any logistical or safety problems.

The participants started arriving at 72-13 from around 8 a.m. onwards, with the organisers coming in at 8:15 with the goodie bags and T-shirts However, a few of the volunteers and runners were already dressed in pink.

Miak Siew immediately noticed a man in black polo loitering around and figured he was an undercover policeman.

As more of the runners trickled in, the police made themselves more visible, and one even started to film us.

Some of the runners could sense something amiss, but went on chatting.

Finally, Inspector Kelvin Yeo came up and identified himself and asked who the organiser was. Ethan Lim said he was and went off to speak to them in private.

From Lim’s account, he was told that the run would not be permitted because it would contravene the Miscellaneous Offences Act. However, when asked which item of the Act we were contravening, the police were unable to give an answer. However, Lim was told that the Pink Run would be considered an illegal gathering, since there were more than 4 people.

Lim told them that in that case, he would cancel the run, but he also asked if the individuals were free to do what they wanted. He was told yes. Then he further asked if the individuals were free to run on their own. He was told yes as well.

So after gathering the group and explaining to them that the run was cancelled, but they were free to run as individuals, everyone present elected to run.

Lim then gave Inspector Yeo a pink T-shirt, asking if the rest of the police there - there were about 10 of them, including some lurking in the shadows - if they wanted one as many extra pieces had been printed.

There was no official flag off, and the runners just started running at their own pace, with the police filming what transpired.

There were nearly 40 runners. It was a short run of about 4 km, and all finished in less than half an hour. After collecting their belongings, the runners headed off - some back home, some to have breakfast together nearby.

It was not until after most of the runners have left did the police leave.

Comments
Jeremy C

Aug 18th, 2007 at 9:52 am

"risible. i know hardly to chortle or weep."

Sexual Orientation in International Law: The Case of Asia
By Alex Au

Despite the absence of Prof Douglas Sanders, the event went on as scheduled. Russell Heng and Alex Au jointly paraphrased a recent paper by Douglas Sanders, “377 - and the unnatural afterlife of British colonialism”.

In this paper, Sanders traced the origins of this law to King Henry VIII’s campaign to disestablish the Roman Catholic Church and appropriate church properties in England. A major turning point came in the 18th century with the idea of codification. This eventually resulted in the Indian Penal Code of 1861. Its section 377 spread far and wide to other British colonies.

Section 377A arose quite separately from the Labouchere amendment in the 1880s, enacted by the UK Parliament. It was never incorporated in the Indian Penal Code, but in 1938, it was added to the statutes of Singapore and Malaya.

Sanders noted that throughout the centures, enforcement of laws against homosexual sex was always rare, except for short periods here and there. The paper then discussed some of the more recent events in Australia, India and elsewhere, where the law has been challenged.

During Q&A, a question from the floor asked why Sanders didn’t go into detail with respect to countries such as Korea even though he made a passing mention of social and legal challenges there. Russell Heng, in response, made the point that “this is where the absence of Prof Sanders matters. If he were here, he would have been able to answer your question in some detail, and we would have learnt something from him.”

Sanders chose to stay away from Singapore after the police withdraw the permit they had earlier approved for this lecture. The approval was given in mid July, but after controversy broke out over a similar lecture Sanders was to give at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies, the police cancelled it. The immigration department also told the organiser that they would treat the application for a Professional Visit Pass as “cancelled”, meaning they would not make a decision on it.

In the middle part of the evening’s proceedings, Miak Siew was invited by the panel to give a report about the ban on the picnic to be held on 9 August at the Botanic Gardens. He explained the chronology of events starting from a phone call from someone there informing him to expect a letter.

In the thrid part, George Hwang joined the panel for a discussion about the prospects of repeal of 377A in Singapore (the government had earlier proposed repeal of Section 377). With much interaction from the floor, the discussion touched on various factors, such as the government’s concern about HIV - but not enough to do much about it - and the influence of the Christian rightwing.

Tall Tales and Short Stories
Ovidia Yu presented a reading of “Pierced Years”. It’s a short story set at a moment when there’s a death in a family. Old friends rally around, and while there may be a little friction, what with different personalities involved, eventually things resolve with understanding and not a little good humour.

Ng Yi-Sheng was not allowed by the Media Devlopment Authority (MDA) to present his work “Lee Low Tar”. Instead he gave a talk about why he wrote what he wrote and his feelings about the MDA’s decision.

There was a lively Q&A and much light-hearted banter.

There were some 70 - 80 in the audience.

There was much spontaneity during Ng Yi-Sheng’s talk, and Teng Qian Xi came up to kiss his koala hand puppet.

1 Response to “Review: Tall tales and short stories”

Ng Yi-Sheng Aug 16th, 2007 at 2:59 am Ovidia’s work was entitled “Pierced Years”, and it wasn’t a play - it’s a short story. Alex and I helped out by reading bits of the dialogue.

Voices
Tin gave a lovely evening of Chinese and English songs, with the help of Shawn on the keyboard and guests Henry, Shirlene and Kim. It took a while before the 50-strong audience warmed up, but when they did, they joined in heartily.

In the Pink
“In the Pink” had to be cancelled when the National Parks Board wrote to say they would refuse to allow “organised gatherings” using the Botanic Gardens as a “venue for interest groups to politicise their cause”. The religious rightwing had orchestrated a complaint to the police and all the way up to the Deputy Prime Minister; orders were sent down to the Botanic Gardens to stop the event.

This news upset many people, who then went to the Botanic Gardens on their own anyway to hold their private picnics. An estimated total of 150 turned up, most wearing pink or carrying something pink, far more than the organiser had ever expected. Some came with their straight friends and families, and everyone had a lovely afternoon.

The various groups were scattered around the grounds. “There were many straight families there too with their kids,” reported Jean Chong, “playing with frisbees and goofing around. Nobody batted an eyelid even when we were so obviously gay.”

Undercover police officers were observed watching from a distance.

Wei Ming is a Chao Ah Kua
The turnout, at something like 110, was much more than the organiser expected for this session.

The panel comprised 2 teachers and 5 young men who can freshly recall their teenage years.

The teachers spoke about what they observed as the schools’ ways of handling sexuality education. For example, in some schools, sexuality education was conducted at ’school assembly’ with a talk being given to a few hundred students at one go. Obviously, few pupils would be able to raise any “embarrassing” questions in such a setting. In another school, sex education was the responsibility of the IT specialist, who simply refered the pupils to look up certain websites.

In many instances, teachers were uncomfortable talking about sex. And schools generally had little expertise in dealing with pupils who were gay.

The 5 young men shared with the audience their experiences discovering themselves to be gay, in school environments that did little about peer homophobia and taunting, and often had teachers uneqipped to deal with the issue.

The Q&A was lively. A member of the audience spoke up to explain the existing sex education package - one where homosexuality was only discussed in the Sec 1 and 2 syllabi (and then 70% of the content was simply to reinforce the point that it was illegal). The subject is not mentioned again the the course material for the older students. Instead, for the Sec 3 and 4 students, the issue discussed is Gender Nonconformity. Does this lead to pupils confusing sexual orientation with the (quite different) issue of gender identity?

Other members of the audience recalled a school making a disciplinary issue of girls with short-cropped hair.

Much of the Q&A focussed on how schools could do a better job of it, by talking an approach coherent with the notion of tolerance and understanding of differences.

1 Response to “Review: Wei Ming is a Chao Ah Kua”

Kelly Aug 15th, 2007 at 11:37 pm Hmm… no female teachers on the panel.

=See also=

IndigNation: Singapore's first gay pride month

IndigNation 2006

IndigNation 2008

IndigNation 2009

IndigNation 2010

IndigNation 2011

IndigNation 2012

IndigNation 2013

IndigNation 2014

=External links=

The IndigNation website

=Acknowledgements=

This article was compiled by Roy Tan