Getforme Singapore Blog

The dust seems to have settled on the Section 377A debate — at least, in Parliament anyway. Despite a citizens’ petition to repeal Section 377A, The Penal Code (Amendment) Bill has been passed; Section 377A stays. But, the Prime Minister has also pointed the Government’s stand on homosexuality in Singapore with the following comments:[1]

“Homosexuals work in all sectors, all over the economy; in the public sector as well, and in the civil service as well. They are free to lead their lives, free to pursue their social activities.

“But there are restraints and we do not approve of them actively promoting their lifestyle to others or setting the tone for mainstream society.

“They live their lives, that’s their personal life, it’s their space. But the tone of the overall society, I think it remains conventional, it remains straight and we want it to remain so…

“De facto, gays have a lot of space in Singapore. Gay groups hold public discussions, they publish websites, I’ve visited some of them. There are films, plays on gay themes… There are gay bars and clubs… Everybody knows where they are. They don’t have to go underground. We don’t harass gays. The Government does not act as moral policeman. And we don’t proactively enforce Section 377A on them…

“It’s a difficult subject. Not everybody supports the Government, but we decide what is right, we move.”

Elsewhere, in the newspapers and online, both pro- and anti- gay individuals and groups have had their say on the subject. The chairman of National Family Council said in the forum page of The Straits Times [2] that “the majority of Singaporeans would be concerned about exposing their children to alternative family values that they themselves do not espouse”.

A Straits Times reader wrote that “Husband and wife in a family setting is the foundation of our society. Destroy that unit and we destroy our society. To push their cause will further allienate gays from society.”[3]

Another, who took issue with NMP Professor Thio’s comments in Parliament, said that “It was entirely unnecessary to highlight bedroom practices and refer to anal sex between men as ’shoving a straw up someone’s nose to drink’.”[4]

It seems there can be no end to the debate. But, move on we must. We have to get on with daily living and not let such things distract us from living our lives to the fullest every single day. It’s great to be able to wake up to a bright new day. Some of us might not get to see tomorrow. But, for the rest of us, homosexuals and non-homosexuals, moving on with our personal lives is important. So is not stirring the dust on the ground on which we stand. We all share the same ground. Let us not try to affect each other with our emotions. Live and let live, I say.

Sources:

[1] The Straits Times 24 Oct 2007 (H5) “Why we should leave Section 377A alone: PM”

[2] The Straits Times 20 Oct 2007 (H16) “Not the right time to review Section 377A”

[3] The Straits Times 25 Oct 2007 (H14) “Govt did the right thing in keeping gay-sex law”

[4] The Straits Times 25 Oct 2007 (H14) “NMP Thio’s comments were inappropriate”

I was at the library near home yesterday, accessing the Internet on one of its multi-media workstations. It was noisy as there was chattering from three middle-aged aunties and their young children all of whom were hovering around one of the workstations.

Despite this, I managed to shut out the noise from my mind as I concentrated on reading a Website I was visiting. When I next looked up from the screen, I realised this group was now occupying three workstations — two of which were on my side of the counter.

But, the children seated at each of these two workstations were not using the terminals — they weren’t even logged in. They were just plain sitting there, playing on the keyboard. Standing around the workstations in the multi-media section were some teenagers waiting for their turn to use the Internet. But the young children did not bulge from their seats. Apparently, they were under instructions to ‘chope’ the seats till 3.30pm when they would need to use the Internet.

It was only 2.50pm then. So from 2.50pm to 3.30pm nobody else could use the two unused workstations. At about 3.10pm, some of the teenagers were ‘negotiating’ with one of these aunties for the use of the workstations. The auntie would only agree to letting these teenagers use the two workstations provided the teenagers logged out at 3.30pm — the time when the aunties would need to use these two workstations.

I was appalled at such selfish behaviour. It was bad enough when you saw these chaps ‘chopeing’ the seats at hawker centres and food courts. But, this one took the cake.

What could I do? It wasn’t my business. The teenage girls were meek. When I had finished using the Internet, I logged out and stopped by the customer service counter on my way out of the library. I approached a librarian at the counter to voice my displeasure that such things were happening in the library. Another librarian, sitting next to the one I was talking to, immediately leapt to her feet, saying these people had no right to do such things. I saw her walk briskly towards the group of aunties.

Having said my piece, I walked out of the place. This certainly was home here in Singapore.

‘chope’: reserve (local slang)

auntie: housewife (local slang)

The property market here in Singapore is getting hot. In Hougang, where I live, I get flyers screaming ‘Hougang 3-room flat $200,000′ thrown at my doorstep every other day. In the lift the other day at Hougang Mall, two women were in animated conversation about their HDB flats. One was lamenting that she had sold her flat a year ago and could not cash in on the current good prices.

Just imagine, a year ago, a 3-room resale flat in Hougang fetched $145,000 and last month, a similar flat behind my block was sold at about $200,000. The market’s so good that everyone wants to jump in.

A brother-in-law of mine has been spending the evenings and weekends looking at 3-room flats near my block. He currently lives in a 4-room flat across the street and intends to downgrade to a 3-room flat. And he hasn’t even found a buyer for his 4-room flat yet! His wife has been talking about taking a holiday overseas with the proceeds from the sale of the flat.

In all the euphoria, perhaps, he might have forgotten that he just may not make any money from the downgrade. Granted the property market has shot up the last few months, but he is not selling his present flat and moving in with relatives so that he can pocket the money. Instead, he is buying another smaller resale flat. It is true that his 4-room flat has moved up in value, but so has the 3-room flat that he wants to buy.

The present flat was bought at a premium in the resale market. My brother-in-law did not buy it from HDB directly. So, in the end, after paying back the interests to his CPF account, is there any surplus left? He also has to do some renovations to make the new place comfortable for the family. Have both husband and wife factored these in their calculations before making the plunge?

Also, this chap took a subsidised HDB loan for the present 4-room flat. So, when he buys the resale 3-room flat, he has to take up a bank loan. In future, if he cannot cough up the monthly loan instalments, he could find himself in trouble — his 3-room flat could be repossessed. I wonder whether the couple have thought of all these nagging details.

I have another brother-in-law who had sold his 4-room flat in the vicinity some years back and bought a 3-room flat two blocks away from my block. The family made some money from the transaction, but that was because the flat they had sold was bought directly from the HDB many, many years ago. It has been three years since this brother-in-law moved into the 3-room flat. He is now a casual worker with no stable income. His wife is a housewife. The money from the proceeds of the sale is almost running out. Nowadays, the couple are worried that the money they have may not last till early next year. They are afraid the flat may be repossessed by the bank if they fail to meet the monthly instalment payments.

Why do we people think of short term benefits and neglect to look at the bigger picture? Here I have an older brother-in-law having bank mortgage loan problems weighing heavily on his mind. And there I have another one who could, some years ahead, be in similar dire straits. Mind you, both meet each other every single week without fail. Yet, this one living across the street doesn’t seem bothered by the other’s predicament as he goes on his flat-hunting rounds.

Are you also thinking of selling your HDB flat? With the current property craze getting into everyone’s head, some may have lost sight of reason and come scrambling aboard lest they get left behind.