AWARE: The next 25 years begin now

That was the core theme of AWARE's new plans, unveiled in a press conference at the AWARE Centre on Monday, July 6th, 2009. I was one of three persons from the New Media team, along with Robin and June, to cover the presser, live tweeting the proceedings as they happen "to the world", as AWARE President Dana Lam so succinctly put it. The press releases, along with some videos and photos, are up on the WAA site.

Compared to the atmosphere at the height of the post-AGM, pre-EGM emotions, this presser was very calm. The entire AWARE Exco was present with the exception of the Vice President, Chew I-Jin, as she was at home due to a H1N1 self-quarantine. This was no time for frazzled emotions or outbursts, but rather one which exemplified the steely determination of these women, who were returned to office by a passionate crowd on May 2nd, to get on with the program in full comprehension of their responsibilities in service of a soon-to-be 25 year old organisation. There were a lot of accomplishments, but there is still much to do, and that was the message they came out to convey, successfully in this author's opinion, at the press conference.

The $90,000 Question

This was also an opportunity to close the chapter of the fractious events that led up to, and including, the EGM. One of those issues has become known as "the $90,000 Question" has been a constant talking point since the EGM, and the final numbers were announced in a press release: the previous Exco spent a total of $99,291.28 on the EGM, and the total was not completely covered by membership fees that came in during the time of the previous Exco, headed by Josie Lau, between March 29th and May 2nd, which amounted to $98,765.70. Despite the claims that the membership fees would cover the cost of the EGM, this was proven to be untrue. However, Dana announced that they will not "be taking any action against the previous Exco", for several reasons, a decision arrived at after an internal review team had looked into the matter. "We recognise that they were handicapped by their lack of experience in the NGO culture", and that they were able to recoup some of the costs "through the generosity of some of the vendors".

Among these vendors are the law firm Rajah & Tann LLP, who waived $17,641.50 off their consultation fees, and donating $5,000 to AWARE; Boardroom Corporate & Advisory Services who waived $9,000 in fees, and who have pledged a donation; and accountancy and auditing giant Deloitte and Touche, who provided a discount of $74,355 for their services and further donated $3,000 to AWARE. Suntec Singapore, whose premises held the EGM, and Ape Communications which organised the event, charged a total of $53,931.30, which was a discount of 26.5% of their facilities and services. Kudos should be given for their generosity, especially from Rajah & Tann, Boardroom and D&T.

"Most importantly," Dana elaborated on their decision, "we want to get on with our work - which is to identify and help remove the obstacles that prevent women from realising their full potential. This is, and has always been, AWARE's agenda." This was a timely reminder of what they have stood for in the past 24 years, regardless of what has been conveniently misrepresented by certain segments of society. Corinna Lim, AWARE's Assistant Honorary Secretary, also explained that while the previous Exco did not adhere fully to the organisation's constitution and established practices, such as trying to acquire pro bono legal advice, they want to "close the chapter". She also mentioned that they have found some of the associated costs of the EGM to be "reasonable".

You can watch the video where Dana explains their decision on WAA or Youtube. I have also embedded it below.



The Comprehensive Sexuality Education program

Another major talking point has been AWARE's Comprehensive Sexuality Education program, and MOE's flip-flopping between support and suspension of the program. The suspension is still in effect, after Education Minister Dr Ng Eng Hen said AWARE must regain "parents' trust" before the program will be accepted again. While AWARE has not given up on the CSE, MOE's acceptance of the program is no longer a top priority. There are plans to develop the CSE to involve both parents and their children, but they are happy that MOE is looking into the scope of the offered programs and will be offering more than just abstinence-only sex education.

The CSE has drawn very unfair criticism in the recent saga, and it is in fact one of the many programs AWARE developed to fill a need that was not fulfilled. Prior to AWARE's CSE being rolled out 2 years ago, all available sexual education programs were abstinence-only; this approach is not effective in preventing unwanted teenage pregnancies and spread of STIs. Now that the government is taking this up, AWARE no longer needs to be at the forefront of the CSE.

Former AWARE President and current Advisor to the Exco, Constance Singam, also made it clear that AWARE has always been a catalyst in its history; through the organisation's work society have made great strides forward in women's rights issues. The CSE is just another example of this.

State of the Nation's Women report

Instead of directing efforts at developing the CSE for MOE acceptance or recovering the $99,000 from their predecessors, they have determined to forge ahead with new programs. One of these is the State of the Nation's Women (SNW) report, slated to be published in 2011. It is similar to the CEDAW reports that AWARE submits to the United Nations, with the key difference being the outreach in an effort to really listen to the voices and stories of women in Singapore. The SNW report is a canvassing of Singaporean women's views on national policies and laws and the challenges they face as women.

To facilitate this outreach, AWARE has planned a forum series named "Stand Up and Speak Out", small group discussions and talks, as well as at least one major conference. They are also exploring possibilities of joint projects with the media and other NGOs.

This project in my opinion places the emphasis on the typical Singaporean women and their lives, and looks like a major challenge even with the 2011 deadline. However, it is also my view that this is a long overdue project; far too many people in this country are not mindful of the discrimination that happens, even when it happens to them. Many just live with it, thinking that it is the "price of admission". Only by documenting these events and incidents, and airing them publicly for intelligent discourse, can these prejudices be exposed and overcome.

AWARE Training Institute (ATI)'s New Programs

The ATI is also moving ahead with several new programs this year, centered around the goals of skills development, knowledge building, and self-knowledge. This is done in line with AWARE's goals to "educate, enable and empower women to achieve their highest potential in society". Among these programs are Body Image Workshops, tailored to help young girls deal with body image and self-esteem issues, which is very much needed in these times when we are assaulted with an unrealistic view of what a woman should look like; as well as an enhanced financial training program for women.

But the major program this year appears to be one targeting sexual harassment in the workplace. In a survey done in June 2008, approximately 54% of the respondents indicated that they have experienced sexual harassment at work. Whatever excuses we can think of, the number remains shocking. The ATI is currently developing workshops to train organisations to deal with sexual harassment and assault, and have assembled a team to design a "comprehensive package of services to train and advise companies on policies and practices to prevent and deal with sexual harassment and assault at the workplace". This program is slated to be unveiled by the end of this year, and will be formalised by a team of HR practitioners, lawyers and social workers.

They have also started "Women In Conversation", which provides a chance "for women to discuss and explore their thoughts on various issues in a supportive environment". What was originally a simple way "to gather info and feedback which could be used in aware talks and workshops" has taken a life of its own, spawning the blog site and bitingly honest discussion among women. Posts are already up on the site and there is more to come.

You can hear Corinna talking about the new programs in this video on WAA and Youtube.



Changes to the Constitution

Another major announcement was made regarding proposed changes to the AWARE Constitution, which seemed mostly in reaction to the events at the AGM. First of all, to run for an Exco position, you will need to be an AWARE member for a minimum of 2 years. This one is obvious and straightforward, and would prevent the easy takeover that happened.

To reinforce that, the elected Exco have also been given the authority to dismiss any member from AWARE for acting against the interests of the organisation. This one though, is not so straightforward; the civil libertarian alarm bells go off in my head whenever authority phrased in such a way is given to anyone, and despite the takeover and the EGM, the alarm bells went off nonetheless. This sentiment was also shared by some on Twitter, as it is not clear who defines "the interests of the organisation".

Thankfully, I was able to clarify that statement with several members of the Exco after the presser had concluded, including Dana, Hafizah and Margie, as well as Constance Singam; the "interests" of AWARE would be the constitution of the organisation itself, and the values that are enshrined in that constitution. This makes me feel better about the change, but I believe the Exco will clarify this further soon.

However, there are no plans to allow male members to vote at the AGM. This is a personal bone to pick for me, since I am a man, and I don't think that denying men the right to vote is an expression of equality or progress. If equality is the goal, then we should not deny these rights to anyone. If, and when, it changes, perhaps we can hail that as a triumph. Your guess is as good as mine as to when that day will arrive.

Posted via email from trapper's posterous