I’m sure a great many of you have heard of Singapore’s AWARE fiasco.For those who aren’t, this is why I’m posting this. Some things you should know, okay? THIS IS YOUR CRASH COURSE!

Basically, in April

1) a lot of antigay females of the same church (the homophobic Church of Our Savior) joined a feminist ngo, AWARE..

2) because they felt AWARE was too pro-gay. I wouldn’t say they had womens’ rights as their main concern.

3) They then voted their own people into the Executive Committee, and

4) fired AWARE’s staff and replaced them with fellow church members..

5) which is not the only crap they pulled (more on that later).

I mean, I’d heard of “working for change from within”, but this is “grab everything in your power-hungry fists, NOW”. I cringe just thinking of what damage they wreaked upon the work the feminists usually do with their one selfish power-grab.

You can grab some background from Donkeylicious: Can feminists take back Singapore’s AWARE from antigay church?

After this takeover, an AWARE EOGM (Extraordinary General Meeting) was called for, to take place during 2nd of May, 2009. The aim was to pass a vote of no confidence against the new AWARE leadership (am I the only one reminded of Perak right now?).

A few days before the EOGM was held, a friend of mine posted up this on her blog: Popagandhi: Possibly the most difficult post I have ever written.

Popagandhi is a Singaporean most known for not being in Singapore. She travels so much if there were an honorary degree for researching travel routes, it should go to her. This time around, she writes in response to the AWARE fiasco as, first and foremost, a Christian. You should totally read it.

By the way, yes, the new leadership was voted out in the EOGM. You can read an account and analysis from our dear friends over at Sayoni Speaks: AWARE EOGM, An account and commentary.

To cap it off, there’s an article from The Economist’s website, Singapore’s NGO furore.

Taken unawares

May 7th 2009 | SINGAPORE
From The Economist print edition

Liberals rally to take on the Christian right

A BLOODLESS coup instigated by a septuagenarian “feminist mentor”; a death threat sent to the new president’s husband by a self-proclaimed “jihadist sleeper”; a 3,000-person showdown. The tiny world of Singapore’s usually timid NGOs has never seen anything like it.

In late March a secretive group of conservative Chinese Christian ladies surreptitiously took over the executive council of AWARE (Association of Women for Action and Research), an advocacy group that has done much to promote women’s rights. Half of the new council attend the same church. They were jolted into action by AWARE’s alleged pro-gay agenda, particularly in sex-education courses taught at some schools. “Are we going to have an entire generation of lesbians?” bemoaned Thio Su Mien, their 71-year old matriarch.

Ms Thio’s disciples snatched control from a group of liberals who had served AWARE for years. The conservative new council and the liberal old guard traded barbs, exposing an ideological divide. Critics questioned the new lot’s shady tactics as well as their religious motives.

And so the old guard tabled a no-confidence motion, forcing an extraordinary general meeting. Ahead of it, politicians called for tolerance. And the new council’s pastor, Derek Hong, tried to mobilise support from the pulpit. Rebuked by leaders from a number of religions, he later apologised.

But the damage was done. At the meeting on May 2nd, the new council lost the vote and resigned. The question is why it staged the ill-fated raid in the first place. According to Alex Au, an online commentator, the Christian right will tend to use stealth to achieve its goals, because the discussion of religion is taboo in Singapore. They do not have well-established channels of discourse.

Yet the manner in which this conflict was resolved—through reasoned debate, without government intervention—is reason to cheer, says Braema Mathi, a former AWARE president. On May 7th, however, the government announced that AWARE’s programmes in schools did not conform in all respects to its guidelines and would be suspended.

Mr Au rejoices that the episode saw more people involve themselves in important issues. They are still, however, in a minority. In a survey, 70% of those polled said they did not care about what is going on at AWARE. But then, with Singapore’s trade-dependent economy facing its worst recession in history, most people have more prosaic worries.