We the shitizens

A petition entry on the petition against the link between upgrading of HDB flats and the PAP. Too funny not to share.

291. We, the citizens of Singapore, pledge ourselves as many divided people, according to party, wealth or status, to build an elitist society, based on money and leequality so as to achieve happiness, prosperity and progress for my familee.

You can check out other signature entires here, some of them are quite funny / bizarre. And while you're at it, go put down your 2 cents too¹.


¹Signature entries that are taken seriously tend to have correct full information, and a reasoned tone. (Just to throw that in.)
Technorati: Singapore, politics

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Activism gets the goods

And this is why.

All those damn sleepless nights, researching, coordinating, lobbying, writing, postering, strategising, petitioning, going a bit nuts.. was all worth it. Fuck yeah.

It's been 4 days now, and I'm still feeling overwhelmed by it all.

Just to add:
The work isn't over. This simply means there is a legal imperative to start the legislative amendment process. (Someone correct me if I'm off on terminology.) Not sure how long that will take, which is highly determinant on possible attempts to appeal the decision, and the amendment process in general. NLC, keep it up - the fight isn't over til we can walk up to the ticket counter, ask for a concession ticket, and not get rejected because we "ain't got no concession stamp".


Technorati: australia, international students, activist, NLC

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Touching Base

Apparently it's a phrase I've been using a lot.

Touched down about 12 hours ago.

Speaking at the UN Youth Conference was.. interesting. Age range wasn't too dissimilar from the delegates in Brasil - perhaps just not as wide - but they were quite a different lot altogether. Not having language translation issues made things a lot more candid, especially @Q&A. I did better in Brasil, and am thankful for the pointers JW gave me after. Among other things.

In 3+ hours I am facilitating at a workshop on the upcoming UN meeting on sustainable development in May, for civil society and youth groups in the enviroment and other sectors. Been thinking about lotsa random things to possibly say for the past hour, but nothing that picks my fancy. Bah.

I'm hoping that recently developed tensions with a colleague don't blow up in today's gig, especially since he's co-facilitating. That's a lot of interaction.

Beyond all those nitty gritties though, am hoping to generate good discussion on the issues today, and get people thinking about what they feel is important to bring to the table and Youth Caucus. If we actually get submissions during our post-workshop online consultations, we're on our way to building some solid cred with the establishment and - more importantly - the grassroots.

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Church, get real about condoms

Here's a question for condom condemners: What do you do when sticking to your beliefs means that half your nation's population may die from HIV/AIDS? (And that's only in the next 2 decades.)

***
[Transcript of an interview on the ABC radio current affairs program 'PM' broadcast from Sydney, Australia.]
PM - Wednesday, 15 March, 2006 18:41:44
Reporter: Dhana Quinn

MARK COLVIN: An Australian Catholic AIDS charity is calling on the Church to "get real" about the use of condoms to fight the HIV epidemic in the Pacific.

The issue has again flared after a Papua New Guinea Government minister asked for church groups to put aside their religious biases and support condom use in the country.

The Catholic Church in PNG has responded by saying the minister is asking the church to abandon its beliefs.

Dhana Quinn reports.

DHANA QUINN: Brian Haill is the President of the Australian AIDS Fund, a Catholic not-for-profit charity based in Melbourne, and he's tired of the Catholic Church's failure to change its stand on condoms.

BRIAN HAILL: Condoms do have a critical role in HIV prevention. It is true that the church has a hang-up over condoms, but that goes back 20 years or more before HIV was ever heard of. The church then railed against condoms as a birth control device – it blocked life. But today, with AIDS amongst us, the condom blocks death, and that's what the archbishops and the cardinals and the curates need to grasp and understand quickly.

DHANA QUINN: For 20 years Mr Haill's organisation has been involved in AIDS care work, including work in Papua New Guinea, where the issue of condom use has again been raised.

A PNG Government minister has asked church groups to put aside their religious and moral biases and support condom use. The President of the Catholic Bishops Conference in PNG, Bishop Francesco Sarego, has responded in a statement, saying the minister is asking churches to ignore their beliefs, in effect to act against their consciences.

The Bishop says churches cannot be expected to become agents for dispensing condoms.
Mr Haill.

BRIAN HAILL: The Bishop does wrong to intimidate his flock in this way. The reality is that the HIV infection rate in PNG has reached such a runaway situation that there is the real reality that half a million Papua New Guineans could be infected by 2025.

Figures from the Australian Government's aid agency AusAID show PNG has the highest incidence of HIV and AIDS in the Pacific region, and is the fourth country in the Asia Pacific region. AusAID funds a number of programs in PNG, but it was a condom promotion campaign which outraged some church leaders last year. Given the PNG Government also wants to promote condoms, is it possible for the Catholic Church to work in harmony with other agencies in the
region?

The Catholic welfare group Caritas Australia, which has worked in PNG for years, believes it is.

Its Chief Executive, Jack de Groot.

JACK DE GROOT: It's not difficult at all when the Church in Papua New Guinea and the churches of Papua New Guinea provide 40 per cent of health care services throughout the nation for us to be a very significant player in a comprehensive strategy to prevent HIV infection.

DHANA QUINN: He says the Catholic Church works closely with the Government, and each has its own areas of expertise to offer.

JACK DE GROOT: The Church's education program in PNG will be to educate about all means of prevention, including condoms. But it will not actually get into the business of promotion and distribution of condoms. It will play to its other strengths of the issues of the protection of family life values, the issues of fidelity, the protection of rights of women, and the addressing of violence against women. It will do those things that it does best and it will allow the Government to do the things it does best.

DHANA QUINN: Annmaree O'Keeffe is Australia's special representative on HIV/ AIDS at AusAID. She says the Catholic groups play a vital role in PNG and, regardless of the rhetoric, things are not as black and white on the ground.

ANNMAREE O'KEEFFE: There are certain parts of the Catholic Church that do distribute condoms and do it quite openly, and there are other parts that feel that this contradicts some of the requirements coming out of certain quarters, particularly the Vatican. But those that do distribute the condoms believe that it is very much in keeping with the 10 commandments to do so.

MARK COLVIN: Annmaree O'Keeffe, Australia's special representative on HIV/ AIDS, with Dhana Quinn.

Technorati: HIV/AIDS, Papua, Church

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Contempt of Court

A little late, but nonetheless.


The WMD's DemocracyNews
Electronic Newsletter of the World Movement for Democracy - www.wmd.org

***********************************************
(March 15, 2006) Democracy Alert:
Participant of the World Movement for Democracy Faces Imprisonment


Dr. Chee Soon Juan, leader of Singapore Democratic Party is under threat of imprisonment after he was charged with the contempt for court for making critical comments about Singapore Judiciary. The trial against him will begin on March 16. 2006.

Dr. Chee was sued in 2002 by former Prime Ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong for defamation. After a summary procedure, in which Dr, Chee was not allowed to retain counsel, the court awarded the case the plaintiff ordering Dr. Chee to pay $300,000 in damages. In February 2006, he was declared bankrupt and thus deprived of some of his civil rights, in particular the right to stand for office. At the bankruptcy hearing, Dr. Chee made a statement protesting the unfair trial and citing the patterns of such trials against many opposition figures. As a result of this statement, charges of contempt of court have been filed against him. The hearings on the case are due to start on March 16, 2006. Since there is no maximum penalty for charges related to the contempt of court, Dr. Chee could face a long imprisonment.

Dr. Chee is a participant of the World Movement for Democracy. Also, he is a member of Steering Committees of the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA) and of World Forum for Democracy in Asia (WFDA)

For actions you can take, please consult Amnesty International's Urgent Action Appeal:

"Singapore: Bankrupt Opposition Leader Now Faces Possible Imprisonment"

Please find below statements issues by WMD participating organizations:

Statement from the Alliance for Reform and Democracy in Asia (ARDA)

Statement from the World Forum for Democracy in Asia (WFDA)

Dr. Chee's statement at the Bankruptcy Petition Hearing

Technorati: Singapore, democracy, civil rights, politics

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Sydney once more

Yes, I am in Sydney, and in one piece. One stretched-out piece that is.

It was a whirl touching down from Sydney airport tonight and then going straight to 3 clubs, one after the other, for the birthday do of one of my best friends. Now, the ringing in my ears has subsided, the sky is starting to get light, and I type this from the apartment I would be staying at if I based here as originally planned.

It's weird to see Sydney again, in all its juxtaposed familiarity and simultaneous strangeness, of an uncle who migrated many moons ago struggling to retrieve the memory of the niece he used to carry atop his shoulders.

***
I am almost overwhelmed by the thought of seeing Coogee beach later - and the surge of associations that will bring.

I can't wait.

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Whazzup

Ok, so this space has sorta degenerated to personal updates. Maybe sometime the social/political rants will be resurrected at some point in infinity.

Anyway, for the benefit of friends and those wondering what the hell is up with me:

Organised a 2-part workshop series on sustainable development and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Got coverage for the project in the UN Millennium Campaign website, and got briefly quoted in TODAY (local press)

Working with UNIFEM Singapore to organise a film screening on human trafficking. It's showing March 15 @RJC.

Speaking at an Australian UN Youth Conference - this time on the MDGs, youth involvement in development, & the Singapore youth front of things. Sydney late March.

Representing UNIFEM Singapore at the upcoming UN Commission on Sustainable Development (CSD14). New York late April. This is part of a broader campaign to push for youth representation on Singapore govt delegations to the UN, eg. UN General Assembly, on an ongoing basis.

As part of the push for youth at CSD14, we are organising a grassroots workshop to skill-up and consult on relevant themes. We are coordinating a youth position, based on grassroots views and perspectives, which will be brought to the meeting. All part of abovementioned campaign.

Representing Singapore on the international youth secretariat of Halifax 2006 - series of global conferences on sustainable development. Halifax early July.

Going on a delegation to the inaugural Asia-Europe Youth Festival on Sustainable Development. Manila late July.

Also, recent weeks have seen major life decisions. Considering the possibility of basing myself in Singapore instead of Sydney, largely sparked by incidentally stumbling upon a job opening @Singapore International Foundation. I don't know if I can see myself working here and staying sane. But - as I often say - only one way to find out.

I'm also unsure about how SIF might take my wanting to go to all the upcoming conferences, but - maybe them dropping me like a hot potato in response to these networking opportunities will tell me enough about the kind of organisation they are. (Or maybe I'm just preparing to console myself.)

And then. The States. A tall, ancient, Irish, monumental figure located in Boston has captured my imagination, triggering an intense desire to locate there for a period of time - before circumstances get in the way. This is a potentially huge sliding door for me, and I'm not about to let it slide past me - as far as I can help it.

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