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Celebrate Performers: Baracuda Batucada


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 you’re 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.

Read other interviews with Lunarin, MICappella, Like A Band and Aarthi Sankar.

Celebrate Performers: Like A Band

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 didn’t 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.

Read other interviews with Lunarin, Baracuda Batucada, MICappella and Aarthi Sankar.

Celebrate Performers: MICappella

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 you’re 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.

Read other interviews with Lunarin, Baracuda Batucada, Like A Band and Aarthi Sankar.

Celebrate Performers: Lunarin

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.

Read other interviews with Baracuda Batucada, MICappella, Like A Band and Aarthi Sankar.

The Birth of AWARE: Part Two

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

Constant Braving

Constance Singam

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.

Constance Singam
15th November 2010

Celebrate Performers: Aarthi Sankar


Aarthi Sankar is one of six acts set to entertain you at Celebrate! AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party. The classical-Indian dancer has been performing since the age of three and sometimes dabbles in Bollywood moves on the side. She talks to Debbie Sim about dance, being an AWARE member and her mum, the superwoman.

While Bollywood is in the rage, why stay Classical? How do you feel you’ve managed to merge the two – is it difficult to do that?
I love Bollywood dancing too, I think it’s so immaculate, grand and theatrical. But classical dance is more rooted and there are more rules and principles to follow since its been around for eons now. I do not believe in diluting classical dance with Bollywood elements nor in making Bollywood dancing more rigid by infusing it with classical principles. Instead I keep them separate, perform them both and and enjoy both of them to the fullest.

You’re a NUS Sociology undergraduate, one of the champions of Vasantham Central’s Indian dance competition, and president of the Indian Cultural Society. Seriously, is there anything you can’t do?
I can’t sing for nuts, I can’t even swim nor can I even cycle (quite sad right??). I draw my inspiration from my Mum – I still secretly think she’s superwoman though she denies it. She has always taught me that if I am passionate about something, I should give it a shot and not come up with excuses about how I cannot do it.

You both sound like superwomen to us. We’re so glad you’re performing at Celebrate!
I’ve been a member of AWARE for 2-3 years now and my mum and both my sisters are also members. My mother always taught us to empower ourselves and remember that there is nothing we can’t do as women. I think AWARE embraces this exact spirit which must have been what drew me to join AWARE. When I was approached to perform and I knew it was for an AWARE event, I figured I could finally contribute back to to this society!

What does AWARE mean to you?
AWARE stands for empowerment, embracing your womanhood and standing up for what you believe in.

What can the crowd expect from your performance at Celebrate?
Lots of fun, energy and vibrance! See you at AWARE’s 25th Birthday Party!

Read other interviews with Lunarin, Baracuda Batucada, MICappella and Like A Band.

Is the Women’s Charter Unfair to Men?


In my experience as a lawyer, there are three main reasons that some men think the Women’s Charter puts them at a disadvantage. First there’s the name. Clearly a statute named “The Women’s Charter” must be about protecting women and be for their benefit, no?

Secondly, it’s to do with maintenance.
The Charter provides that only wives may seek maintenance from their husbands, and not the other way around.

Thirdly, there’s the custody debate. Many male divorcees claim (incorrectly, as I will later point out) that the Women’s Charter denies them the right to keep their children, and that because of the Charter, custody battles will almost always end in the mothers’ favour.

While I can understand why people think that the Women’s Charter is anti-male, this is really is a misconception. While some of the provisions are a little out of date, the Women’s Charter is NOT anti-male. The current exercise to update the Charter comes at a good time and we should use this opportunity to remove this misconception.

The Name

Part of the perceived imbalance is that there’s no Men’s Charter. The fact is that the Women’s Charter, passed in 1961, was borne out of a need to protect the rights of women. The regime prior to the Women’s Charter was extremely unfair to women. Men could legally take several wives. Women did not have the right to keep their maiden names and it was not clear if they could even own property. In the historical context, the Women’s Charter was an appropriate name in the ’60s as it provided women with some fundamental rights that women today take for granted but which were not available before the Charter.

However, the content of the Women’s Charter is not just about protecting women and conferring them with one-sided rights. The Charter essentially covers every conceivable aspect of marital and family law, from registration and dissolution of marriages, division of matrimonial assets, to maintenance provisions and the welfare of children.

So, really, the more appropriate name for this Act is the Family Charter.

This is why AWARE has recommended, in its Feedback on the Women’s Charter (Amendment) Bill to the Ministry of Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS) that it should change the name of the Act to the Family Charter. This will go some way towards removing the widely held misconception that the Charter only protects women.

Maintenance

Today, under the Womens’ Charter, only women are entitled to seek maintenance from their spouse. Yes, this does seem somewhat unfair and outmoded since, unlike 50 years ago when the Charter was passed, many women work full-time and there are wives who earn more than their husbands.

AWARE believes that the Women’s Charter should be updated to reflect the changes in society and to promote a more gender neutral approach to marriage. In AWARE’s feedback on the proposed amendments to the Women’s Charter:

“AWARE recommends that the Women’s Charter be amended to provide that in appropriate cases, where it is just and equitable, husbands should have right to seek maintenance from their wives, both during marriage and after the divorce. Examples of such situations include cases where the husband is sick or incapacitated and has been dependent on his wife.”

The emphasis is of course, on “appropriate cases”. In implementing this and in drafting the actual provisions, legislators must be mindful that this change should not be abused to allow irresponsible husbands who have not pulled their weight either at work or at home to make use of the ammended provision to get maintenance for themselves – which was the concern raised by some family lawyers. After all, there are far fewer househusbands than housewives in Singapore today. Furthermore, it is rare to find cases where husbands have been so disadvantaged by their family arrangements that they cannot maintain themselves in a divorce.

Child Custody

As for the contentious issue of child custody, care and control, the Women’s Charter currently states very simply that the paramount consideration in determining custody of the child is “the welfare of the child”. In a society where women are, in the majority of cases, the main caregiver of the child, the Court will often take the view that “the welfare of the child” demands that custody be awarded to the mother. There may be some gender stereotyping at play, but the Women’s Charter is not to blame, wrongly defined gender roles are.

Equal Partnership

One of my favourite provisions in the Women’s Charter is Section 46. This states that “the husband and the wife shall be mutually bound to co-operate with each other in safeguarding the interests of the union and in caring and providing for the children” and that “the husband and the wife shall have equal rights in the running of the matrimonial household”.

Certainly, there’s no unfairness or biasness here. The Charter was well ahead of its time in supporting gender equality in the household. I look forward to the update of the Charter and hope that the Charter will be revised so that it is as progressive today as it was when it was first enacted.

Corinna Lim is AWARE’s Executive Director and before that practised law for more than 10 years. She played an integral role in the AWARE sub-committee providing feedback on the Women’s Charter (Ammendment) Bill.