In The Because I Love Her Project, guys make their personal video pledge to “never condone violence against women”. In the videos they include their favourite female – their mother, wife, sister, niece, girlfriend, best friend, colleague, daughter, grandmother, teacher…. whoever it is that moves them to rid the world of abuse.
The Facts:
One in 10 women in Singapore has been a victim of violence (International Violence Against Women Survey, 2010). Read that figure again. Think of ten Singaporean women you know. The figures say it’s very likely that at least one of them has experienced violence in some way.
8 per day. That’s how many Personal Protection Order applications are made by women seeking legal protection from abuse or physical threats. And for every protection order taken out, there are scores more victims who suffer in silence.
Although the majority of those committing violence against women are men, we know that most men are opposed to such abuse. The voices and protests of this non-violent majority of men need to be heard.
Take the pledge now, get it on camera and send it in to the Because I Love Her fanpage at http://on.fb.me/becauseiloveher. At the end of the video, tell viewers to visit the Facebook page, to encourage everyone to make the pledge.
The Because I Love Her Project is AWAREs contribution to the White Ribbon Campaign – a worldwide campaign by men working to end violence against women. Founded in Canada in 1991, it has since spread to over 50 countries around the world. The Because I Love Her Project was launched on November 25th, the International Day to Eliminate Violence Against Women.
The Because I Love Her Project has been extended due to popular demand, entries will now be accepted until 14th February 2011.
Celebrate! AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party is a day-long party that starts at noon and goes ’til 8pm. That’s a good eight hours of flea market mania, food galore and fun for the whole family. If the prospect of 40 stalls (almost a quarter dedicated to other non-profit organisations) selling apparel, handicrafts books and snacks isnt enough to lure you down on a Saturday, Tania De Rozario has three more reasons to get in on the action!
Excuse to Celebrate #1: Music is my life.
Sit back and enjoy or stand up and dance to our stellar line-up of talented home-grown acts.The programme includes well-loved alt rockers, Lunarin and rising folksy singer and guitarist Inch Chua. Also appearing are samba percussion group Barracuda Batucada, classical Indian dancer Aarthi Sankar, electro-funk band Like A Band and acapella group MICapella.
Lunarin, a three-person outfit that has been playing together for over 15 years and whose recording discography includes Universal Music and Aging Records, is known for rocking the stage with its unconventional riffs and lyrical melodies. Look forward to a set comprising heavy guitar riffs, evocative lyrics structures and a beat entirely their own.
Inch, whose growing popularity is very much rooted in the immense amount of power she can pack into that tiny frame, describes her music as a “schizophrenic potpourri of introspective acoustic tunes and chirpy electronica”. Formerly known as the frontwoman of alternative rock band Allura, she is set to wow audiences with her unmistakable vocals.
Excuse to Celebrate # 2: I thrive on intellectual exchange.
What are you passionate about? An idea that you think might change the world? Some new technology? The work of a charity you are involved with? At Ignite: The Unconference participants get a shot at swaying some hearts and minds, and also get to decide what gets said and what gets heard. This unstructured, participative format is modeled after BarCamp which has enjoyed success around the globe.
Its called an Unconference because, well, we cant exactly tell you what you are going to hear. Only you can decide. How it works is simple. Participants who would like to speak put up their proposed topics on a board, and everyone votes for what they want to hear. The most popular topics are scheduled for 30-minute talks and the least popular are invited to present a 5 minute lightning sessions. And at the end of the day, prizes are awarded for the best talks.
If you just want to listen, thats OK too. The format is informal enter and leave the presentation rooms at will vote with your feet.
Excuse to Celebrate #3: Creative expression is what makes us human.
Honouring AWARE’s past, present and future of women, our Interactive Art Installation is a series of three “talking walls” set to be completed by you, our guests
On the very shell of AWARE centre, we will create a large-scale paper mural featuring images of key moments in AWARE’s history. Visitors are invited to add their thoughts on the gender gap: then and now.
Through the second wall, stand to win a $100 shopping voucher by telling us what you think AWARE’s greatest achievement to date is and why. And last but not least, the kiddies get a shot at picking up box of crayons and drawing us a picture of their favourite woman. Each work of art will serve as a brick to create a hanging mural at fun fair.
All in all, a celebration not just of AWARE but of your voice and creativity as well!
What were the events that led to the founding of AWARE, 25 years ago? Lenore Lyons details The Birth of AWARE in the first of this two-part excerpt from Small Steps, Giant Leaps: A History of AWARE and the Women’s Movement in Singapore.
The Association of Women for Action and Research is Singapore’s most active and vibrant feminist organisation. It was formed in 1985 with the goal of promoting equal opportunities for all women in Singapore. Since then it has worked with dedication and tenacity to address many instances of inequality between men and women. It has helped to raise the profile of gender issues in Singapore and brought about significant changes in women’s status.
Why did Singapore need a Women’s Rights organisation?
“We must further amend our policies and try to reshape our demographic configuration so that our better–educated women will have more children to be adequately represented in the next generation. ..Equal employment opportunities, yes, but we shouldn’t get our women into jobs where they cannot, at the same time, be mothers….You just can’t be doing a full-time heavy job like that of a doctor, engineer and run a home and bring up children”. (Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in The Straits Times, 1983.)
In August 1983, in his National Day Rally speech, then Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew referred to Singapore’s falling fertility rate. Quoting from the 1980 census, Lee said that while less-educated women were producing the average of three children, those with secondary or tertiary education had only 1.65 children. He feared that a decline in birth rate amongst the well-educated would result in the “thinning of the gene-pool” and national economic disaster. Lee referred to this as a “lop-sided procreation pattern”, and the issue was dubbed the “Great Marriage Debate” by the local press.
Prior to Lee’s speech, the government had been emphasizing population control. The Singapore Family Planning and Population Board encouraged young couples to “Stop at Two” and space out their children. Women with two or more children were urged to seek sterilizations to keep their families small. By 1980 the total fertility rate had dropped to 1.82 from 4.62 in 1965. This rapid decline in birth rate was due not only to the government’s anti-natalist policies but also to increasing educational levels, widespread female employment, rising affluence and improvements in housing conditions. An accompanying trend of reduced birth rate was that women with higher education were having a smaller number of children than women with lower education levels.
To increase the birth rate, the government ran a series of mass educational campaigns using slogans such as: ”Are you giving men the wrong idea?” , “Life will be lonely without a family. Don’t leave it too late”, Why not reality? You could wait a lifetime for a dream”. In January 1984 the Social Development Unit was set up within the Ministry of Finance to matchmake male and female university graduates in the public service. Two years later the scheme was extended to graduates employed in the private sector. Two schemes for non-university graduates, the Social Promotion Section and the Social Development Section were also introduced to “O”-levels (secondary school) and “A” levels (college) certificate holders.
In addition to its matchmaking activities, the government introduced financial and social incentives to encourage graduate women to marry and procreate. First, in 1984 the Ministry of Education announced a new priority scheme for registration of Primary One Children called “the Graduate Mothers Priority Scheme”. In the past, priority was given to the children of parents who were sterilized after the first or second child. Under the new scheme, children of university-educated women who had three or more children were to receive priority. In 1984, the government also announced that that it would give S$ 10,000 to less-educated, low-income mothers below the age of 30 years if they were sterilised after their first or second child.
Lee’s comments sparked fierce debate in the forum pages of many newspapers and were a source of constant discussion in the boardrooms and dining rooms of the nation. Young women and men felt enormous pressure to marry early and have more children.
Reproduced from Small Steps, Giant Leaps: A History of AWARE and the Women’s Movement in Singapore edited by Mandakini Arora, Chapter VI by Lenore Lyons. Published in Singapore 2007. Copies of the book will be on sale for $15 at Celebrate! AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party
Baracuda Batucada is one of five acts who will be performing at Celebrate AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party. Vimal Veeran, 19-year-old lead percussionist from Ngee Ann Polytechnic’s percussion ensemble, tells AWARE’s Debbie Sim about the samba drum group that has a little bit of rhythm and a lot of soul.
What does your band name actually mean?
Batucada means Brazilian Percussion Band. The baracuda is a voracious predatory fish. We choose the name to portray a band thats filled with life, fire and thrill, incorporating samba music in the process.
Ngee Ann Business students are setting up 16 stalls at our bazaar, is that what made you perform at Celebrate and how will you support your schoolmates?
That’s not what made us want to perform for the event. We did this to help for a good cause and also to give our newer members a chance to experience the joy of performing outside of school.
You guys are going to be really, really loud while rocking those samba percussion tunes. Are we going to have some angry Dover Crescent residents on our hands?
The noise is always a double-edged sword. People are either enticed by it and gather around the music or they move away with their hands covering their ears. Whatever happens we just let the show carry on and perform the way that is intended. Anyway, the performances are early in the evening and not late at night!
What makes you want to support AWARE? Any particular cause youre passionate about?
We’re not passionate about any area in particular. All we know is that AWARE focuses on women’s rights. I see it as an organisation to protect women and help women who are victimised by society and that is a good cause to be a part of.
What can the crowd expect from your performance at Celebrate?
They can expect a very different and enjoyable performance. Baracuda Batucada will make them move to our grooves.
Like A Band is one of six acts to grace the stage at Celebrate! AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party. Drummer Muhammad Siraj explains the band’s electro-funk sound to AWARE’s Debbie Sim.
‘Like A Band’, seriously?
The name represents how different all of us are in the band. Sharon (vocals and keyboards) loves indie, Eugene (guitar) likes the blues, Brandon (bass) is all about funk and the disco era while I, Siraj (drums), am more into the rap rock craze. We couldn’t really agree on one name that represents all these dimensions. So when an ex-member suggested this name, we said: Why not?
You didnt mention any of your influences on your MySpace profile. Can you name a few?
Let’s see… John Mayer, and The John Mayer Trio, Crystal Palace, Red Hot Chili Peppers, The Roots, The Black Keys and The Killers.
In your bio you say that your sound is like golden beavers chomping trees. Please explain.
Well, have you ever heard or seen a golden beaver chomping a tree? It looks awesome and it sounds crazy.
[Laughing] Of course! You guys are pretty new, yet have already performed for the Youth Olympic Games, Gap and KFC. What do you think has helped you secure such high profile gigs?
Hmmm….unique music! And having the right contacts helps as well.
Well, we’re thrilled you’re giving your time to sing at Celebrate. What made you decide to support AWARE?
Basically, myself and the other Like A Band members feel we’ve been really fortunate. So if we have a way to give back to the society why not use it? Plus, we get to earn some karma points right?
Giving back to society is definitely great karma. So what does AWARE mean to you?
Honestly?
Yes!
Well, I believe AWARE is a place for women to gather together to share and discuss how to make the women of tomorrow face fewer problems than they face today. The rights and voices of today’s women will affect the women of tomorrow. I think that is a very noble cause.
We couldn’t have said it better ourselves, Siraj. Lastly, tell us, what can the crowd expect from your performance at Celebrate?
Be prepared to hear some familiar tunes and a few of our original tracks from Like A Band. Clap your hands, tap your feet, singalong and just have fun.
MICapella is one of six acts performing at Celebrate! AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party. Founder and vocal percussionist Peter Huang speaks to AWARE’s Debbie Sim about rocking the a capella genre and singing in seven (soon-to-be eight) languages.
You claim not to be an a capella group but a vocal rock band. What’s the difference?
We’re a vocal rock band as opposed to the traditional barbershop doowop idea of a cappella. We try to take a cappella to the next level and to make it more listenable to mainstream audiences. This has been at the back of my mind ever since I first heard an American group called M-Pact more than 10 years ago. After a few years of living, studying and working as a producer overseas, I came back and found like-minded a cappella lovers who share this vision of rocking out, a cappella style.
You have Mandarin, Hokkien and English songs in your repertoire. Any other languages we should know about?
We actually sing in a wide variety of languages such as Malay (all-time favourite Bengawan Solo). We’ve also done Japanese, Spanish, Cantonese and hopefully Korean soon!
What makes you want to support AWARE? Any particular cause youre passionate about?
One of AWARE’s roles is to be an avenue for victims of rape and spousal abuse to know their rights and how they can and should stand up against their perpetrators. This is so important in a society that is somewhat prideful. So many times, the trauma goes unnoticed because the first reaction is to cover up the pain. In supporting AWARE, we hope to encourage people to be more conscious and attentive to their surroundings and how they can prevent it from happening to loved ones or even themselves.
What does AWARE mean to you?
Empowerment and protection for women and children to be able to make a stand and live for themselves in the already high living standards and pressures in Singapore. The most important thing is that people are made aware of their rights so that they, or should I say, we, can fight for what is right.
What can the crowd expect from your performance at Celebrate?
The crowd can expect to hear the human voice in an unexpected way.
We hope what you’ll take away from our performance is this: that when it comes to your voice, the possibilities are limitless.
Lunarin is one of six acts set to rock the stage at Celebrate AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party. Vocalist and bass player (and full-time family lawyer) Linda Ong tells Debbie Sim why AWARE’s work is so important and gives sage advice to budding musicians.
I understand that the song Coralline is about a girl who was never born. What made you choose this track to be a free download on UNIFEM’s anti-sex trafficking website, Sound Out Singapore?
Coralline is a song about the loss of a human life and the pain of a mother coping with that loss. I thought it was suitable for the UNIFEM cause because I believed it was important to bear in mind that every victim of sex trafficking is someone’s child, sibling, friend. We leapt at the opportunity to be able to have our music be put to good use and it was an honour for us to be able to contribute to the Sound Out cause.
We’re so glad you’re giving your time to sing for us. What makes you want to support AWARE?
I am a family lawyer and have done my fair share of taking out applications for personal protection orders and maintenance summonses for clients. I wish more could be done, especially to help women from low-income backgrounds to understand their rights better and have more access to help. As a band, we all feel strongly about discrimination against groups of people based on gender and sexual orientation.
What does AWARE mean to you?
AWARE has always been at the forefront of pushing for gender equality. It may be viewed as a tad too progressive or controversial by some right-wing traditionalists but my personal take is you need a group like AWARE to constantly push the envelope in order for change to take place.
We completely agree! What can the crowd expect from your performance at Celebrate?
Our drummer can’t make it for the show, so we have no choice but to play a quiet acoustic set. We will be playing some B-sides off our new album Duae and will be assisted by our friend Natalie Soh on violins and my brother Victor on cello.
Wow, violins and cello? How did an alt rock band incorporate strings?
Natalie is a violin player for local band called Serenaide and played in two songs on our first album. We’ve known her for years and thought it would be a fun addition. She has done a wonderful job so far, so we can’t wait to let you guys hear them.
My brother Victor recently picked up the cello. I sent him a rough MP3 recording of a new song we wrote and he immediately starting playing along to it on his cello. We thought we’d get him in to try and work out some cello parts for us, given his interest. To our surprise he was able to accompany almost all of our acoustic songs. The cello has certainly added a new dimension to the music.
Last question: If I want to start a new band, what advice would you give me?
You need to really love music and be prepared to continue playing even if no one is listening. Playing original english music is tough in Singapore because mainstream media is not receptive to it. You have to know the true reasons why you play music otherwise you will get easily discouraged and disband. The three of us have been playing together for almost 16 years now. The reason why we still keep doing this is because we love playing music and creating music together. We know that we will continue playing music together for as long as we can even if no one buys our music.
What were the events that led to the founding of AWARE, 25 years ago? Lenore Lyons details The Birth of AWARE in the second of this two-part excerpt from Small Steps, Giant Leaps: A History of AWARE and the Women’s Movement in Singapore. Continued from The Birth of AWARE: Part One
It was against this backdrop that in November 1984 the National University of Singapore Society held a forum titled “Women’s choices, women’s lives”. Organised by Zaibun Siraj, an active member of NUSS and Vivienne Wee, a faculty member at NUS, the forum brought together women from different professional backgrounds to talk about the issues facing modern Singaporean women. In addition to Siraj and Wee, the speakers included Kanwaljit Soin, an orthopaedic surgeon, Hedwig Anuar, the director of National Library, and Margaret Thomas, the deputy Sunday Editor of The Singapore Monitor.
The women were chosen specifically because they were not the current women leaders of the time – the organisers wanted fresh faces and new perspectives. Although few of the speakers knew each other, and most had never before spoken at a forum on women’s issues, they were all passionate about women’s right to choose their own destinies.
The forum attracted a crowd of several hundred women and some men, all keenly aware of recent controversies surrounding Lee’s statements about “graduate mothers”. Many were angry that the government seemed to be suggesting that women’s primary role was of a wife and mother. They argued that women had diverse aspirations – some wanted to pursue professional careers, while others wanted to stay home and look after their families: some women wanted to marry, and some wanted children. But all wanted to make decisions for themselves.
Participants were also angry with the government for singling out women (rather than men and women) as the cause of fertility decline. They further felt that the focus on women with secondary or tertiary education devalued the important contributions of women with less education as wives, mothers and workers. They were concerned that these class divisions disadvantaged women from the Malay and Indian minorities, who tended to have larger families and lower education levels.
Other issues raised at the forum were the problem of working mothers, shared parenting and home management, birth control and health, sex education, the Social Development Unit, compulsory domestic science for girls, and sexism in advertising. Many of these issues continue to be important today.
At the end of the forum an audience member, Evelyn Wong, provocatively reminded the assembled group that talk was well and good but “what are we going to do now?” The speakers and several members of the audience took up the gauntlet. They met frequently over the next few months and, taking their challenges seriously, these women studied all the women’s organizations in Singapore to determine whether or not a women’s association was needed. Their survey showed that although there were many women’s organizations in Singapore, none focused specifically on trying to improve women’s social and legal status. So they decided to start their own organisation.
[Ed: And the rest, as they say, is history. Happy 25th Birthday AWARE!]
Reproduced from Small Steps, Giant Leaps: A History of AWARE and the Women’s Movement in Singapore edited by Mandakini Arora, Chapter VI by Lenore Lyons. Published in Singapore 2007. Copies of the book will be on sale for $15 at Celebrate! AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party
Reflecting on the last 25 years, past president Constance Singam says the mark that AWARE has left on Singapore, on women, and on herself, is indelible.
I remember the day I received the invitation to the launch of a new women’s organisation called the Association of Women for Action and Research. It was 1986, and AWARE had by then been registered as a society for one year. The launch was going to take place at the Cairnhill Community Centre. I didn’t go for the launch. I was too shy; too intimidated. It was to take me another year before I felt comfortable enough to become a member. There were many women like me who, for many different reasons, kept their distance from AWARE. AWARE was too loud, too feminist; too bold; too daring. I was to realise then that this was no ordinary women’s organisation. But because of that AWARE was going to stand out as being courageous. This in turn won the respect of many Singaporeans.
After the campaign to end polygamy, and the enacting of the Women’s Charter in 1961, the founding of AWARE on 25th November 1985 was the third-most important event in the history of Singapore women. The very establishment of AWARE challenged Singapore’s patriarchal values and public policies – because AWARE’s baseline was that there is inequality, and we want to address it. AWARE became the first non-governmental organisation in a long time to question the state’s policies. A good example of this is domestic violence and rape. That was a very important contribution to civil society.
At the time domestic violence was seen as “a private matter”, something authorities preferred not to interfere with. In response, AWARE said in no uncertain terms that the personal is political, framing inequality and oppression in family as concern of the state. AWARE opened up unprecedented public discussion of issues previously seen as private, and therefore beyond public scrutiny.
Twenty-four years later this courage to stand by our convictions, consistent hard work and tenacity of purpose came to the fore during a time of crisis – when a group of women surreptitiously joined AWARE and voted themselves into office attempting to take over and push their own pro-religious, anti-feminist agenda. The takeover not only threatened all the values that AWARE stood for but also Singapore’s secular society. We fought tooth and nail to reclaim AWARE. In what was dubbed the “AWARE saga”, over 2000 women gathered in a historic May 2nd Extraordinary General Meeting at Suntec City Convention Centre, and 1414 of us cast a vote of No Confidence, ousting the group, and re-instating AWARE’s rightful leaders.
Constance at the 2009 EGM. Picture: The Online Citizen
During the entire process, AWARE gained overwhelming support from many Singaporeans, the event was considered a watershed in civil society and showed that we, as a people, are far from apathetic and willing to fight for what we feel is right.
Both these historical markers – the founding of AWARE and the “AWARE Saga” – revealed the exceptional ability of Singapore women to rise above Singapore’s “inhibiting” political and social culture and to suspend their individual discomfort in participating in a very public political event when something threatens their values. Equally important for AWARE is that after 25 years, the AWARE Saga has re-energised AWARE members and supporters and compelled it to re-affirm its democratic feminist values of gender equality, egalitarianism, respect for the individual and individual choice.
AWARE’s values, are based on its feminist belief in women, in women’s ability to strike a healthy balance between their public and private lives as well. We also believe that we can draw strength from the commonalities that bind us regardless of our social, cultural or economic backgrounds. All of us are vulnerable to rape, to sexual harassment, to physical and psychological abuse, to discrimination, and to exploitation. Whatever culture or place we come from we share this vulnerability and our experience as women. We also share the ability to fight it, to protect and help ourselves and one another.
Becoming an AWARE member leads to what feminist Pearl Green calls “a transformation of consciousness”, and the way one looks at oneself, the way one sees the world and everyday activities is forever transformed by this consciousness. This describes my AWARE experience perfectly.
Constance with Corinna Lim
Today I am a different person from the one that joined the association 24 years ago. I am more confident as a woman, more sure of my potential to make a difference, and more aware (pun very much intended) of my reposibilities to my community and society. AWARE blazed the trail and showed me, and many others, the way. It must continue to do so. In a political culture dominated by one ideology, AWARE must continue to demonstrate that there are different ways of seeing the world and different ways of defining ourselves as individuals. I remain grateful to AWARE for doing that for me.
I wish AWARE a very Happy 25th Birthday and best wishes for another 25 trail-blazing years. Be bold. Be fearless.
Like A Band is one of six acts to grace the stage at 
MICapella is one of six acts performing at 
Lunarin is one of six acts set to rock the stage at 
