Women are always beautiful. - All Women`s Action Society

Waves
N E W S L E T T E R
O C T O B E R
2 0 1 0 ,
I S S U E
N O .
6
OUR ISSUES:
• Page 2: Editor’s pen
• Page 3: Rising above the
odds
• Page 4: Movie Night—At
the end of Daybreak
• Page 5: Make presentations come alive
• Page 6: Pinboardupcoming events
• Page 7: Towards FF 2011
• Page 8&9: Mad goose
chase
• Page 10: Berani Bersuara
• Page 11: “At AWAM I
observed passion every
day”
• Page 12&13: Experiences
at the Women & Leadership Training Workshop
17th & 18th July 2010
• Page 14&15:Same sex
marriages—Two Views
• Page 16&17: Building
bridges
• Page 18: Poem by Airyn
Lentija
Women are always beautiful.
~Ville Valo
The Editor’s pen
Another quarter and a new year beckons, but the Waves continue to be strong, albeit a little lethargic at
times! The momentum picked up when new faces appear or reappear (for some!) at AWAM and here we
are with the latest e-newsletter. It is not possible to capture all the happening activities at AWAM due to
constraints in resources but it does not mean things are not happening!
The Violence Against Women (VAW) committee has started its 101 series beginning with Relationships & Managing Money … watch out for more in the series. Solidarity Building Committee (SBC) continues with its Berani Bersuara series providing a forum to discuss current and sizzling hot topics! Of course,
the networking with JAG members, the Ministry and other partners continue. Ethnicity & Religion Committee (E & R) successfully ran a 9-week course on Ethnicity & Race which created awareness of understanding the concepts of race and ethnicity, Malaysian identity & the constitution, among other topics. Music which transcends race was also introduced as a means to unite (see inside story)!Then of course there
is the Organisational Development (OD) Committee – the “think tank” – who among other things, think
of ways to connect with members (Members-Meet-Members (3M) Night being one of them) Watch out
for more exciting happenings from these committees next year!
Here we can only give sneak previews or snapshots, hopefully to tempt members to raise some
curious questions on what’s happening and to arouse interest to come and join us.
Without the enthusiastic efforts of our new intern Samara and other members such as Smita, Farlina and other contributors, this creative newsletter would not have been possible. It is assuring to know
that Malati, Soon Chen and Suwisa will continue to be on board as contributors. Ribuan terima kasih.
As always, akin to a standing order, the invitation is constant : come and help us to continue waving!
Editorial team:
Bernie Chow (Editor)
Smita Sharma (Assistant Editor)
Samara Abed el Hafez (Layout)
Farlina Said
Kang Soon Chen
Hi !
I’m the new intern at AWAM and would like to introduce myself. My name is Samara Abed el Hafez and I’m
19 years old. After finishing my A-Levels in Germany, I didn’t want to go straight to university. So I decided
to make something completely new, and applied for a scholarship of the German government, that gives me
the opportunity to visit Malaysia and be a volunteer at AWAM. Luckily
everything worked out and I’m here now.
I hope to get to know all of you and have a good time here in Malaysia.
Have fun reading our newsletter !
Yours
Samara
PAGE 2
Rising above the odds
Dr. Chien-Shiung Wu (1912-1997) is perhaps not
so renowned a name as Albert Einstein in the
world. Her imprint in the world, quite like Einstein’s, takes the visual form of the mushroom
cloud of 1945. For that was the impact of the Manhattan Project, in which Wu played a crucial role.
The part she played in Physics on the other
hand, was the debunking of an age-old physics law,
known as the law of parity. She had migrated from
China to America to quench her thirst for knowledge, especially in the realm of nuclear physics. In
return, Wu was the first Chinese-American to be
elected into the U.S. National Academy of Sciences;
the first female instructor in the Physics Department of Princeton University, the first woman with
an honorary doctorate from Princeton University,
the first Female President of the American Physical
Society in 1975 and the first recipient of the Wolf
Prize in Physics.
Her achievements broke through many solid
walls, especially that of race and gender. America
was not the most progressive in gender equality of
the time, and the field she chose to dedicate her life
to is one considered male-dominated. However,
few words were heard from Wu concerning her
plight.
Her education
is one that can
be considered
as self-taught.
Although by
1911 girls were
given the right
to education,
cultural practices such as
binding girls’
feet were still
common. The
only school
that existed for
girls in her region was one formed by a revolutionary who believed in gender equality, Wu Zhongyi, Wu's father.
He had encouraged her through the years, even
giving her the self-esteem to try for the National
Central University in Nanjing later on.
Her father's school
only provided education at
the elementary level. In order to pursue knowledge,
Wu enrolled in Soochow
High School, a boarding
school with an American
syllabus. However, in order
to receive a free education
and a guaranteed job upon
graduation, she had to sacrifice learning mathematics
and science for a teaching course. Wu, determined to learn the subjects, came up with the
solution of borrowing her dorm-mates’ books
and studying through the night. In her self-study
sessions she found that she loved the world of
physics. Her next stop was National Central
University, then the University of Michigan.
However, the University did not then allow
women in the Student Union, thus she opted for
University Berkeley. It was there that she met
her husband.
The world of science might seem impervious to
prejudice, but that is rarely the case. Women in
supposedly masculine courses such as engineering often have to deal with the societal pressures
that come with a course so wrought with gender
bias that even the act of attending class creates
tension. Wu might have been an outstanding figure of her time. Her father and his progressive
beliefs shaped who she was, yet so did the challenges of the time. Nevertheless, Wu pressed
forward with her love of quantum physics. On
one of the rare occasions when she spoke of the
challenge, Wu said, "... it is shameful that there
are so few women in science... In China there
are many, many women in physics. There is a
misconception in America that women scientists
are all dowdy spinsters. This is the fault of men.
In Chinese society, a woman is valued for what
she is, and men encourage her to accomplishments yet she remains eternally feminine."
BY FARLINA SAID
PAGE 3
VOLUME
1,
ISSUE
1
PAGE
4
Movie Night : At the end of daybreak
‘It was a Monday night (21 June) when we gathered in AWAM for Movie Sharing Night. The movie of
choice was a local production, “At the End of Daybreak”, directed by Ho Yuhang. We had popcorn,
longan juice, banana bread, M&M’s, and even Tau Sar Pneah to munch on while enjoying the movie,
just like in real cinemas.
The movie started with a real shocker, the scene of a captured rat
being scalded to death by Tuck Chai, one of the main characters in
the movie. Tuck Chai is a 23 year old man who seems lost in the
world and does nothing with his life. He gets sexually involved with an
underage girl he meets online, Ying. Tuck Chai is from a broken family. His father left his mother for her sister, and his mother turned to
alcohol to cope. Ying, on the other hand, comes from a seemingly respectable family, though her parents can be overbearing.
One day, Ying’s mother finds birth control pills in her drawer
and confronts her about it when she comes home. Ying’s parents
threaten to sue Tuck Chai for statutory rape, but after Tuck Chai’s
mother negotiates with them, they agreed to a monetary settlement.
Things start to go downhill when Tuck Chai finds out that Ying’s parents are still taking him to court
even though they have been paid. He and his two friends bring Ying and her friend to a park, and
Tuck Chai and Ying walk off to talk. When Tuck Chai reemerges, he
looked dazed. The rest go to look for Ying only to find her dead. To
shut up Ying’s panicked friend, Tuck Chai’s friends accidentally strangle her to death. They then strip them fearing that their ghosts will
seek revenge. The movie ended sadly with the mother being picked
up by the police, and when confronted with what her son had done,
tears rolled silently down her cheeks, her eyes looking forward as if
asking herself, where did I go wrong?
This movie talks about how poor choices can lead to tragedy,
as demonstrated by how the choices of two teenagers ended up
with the death of two girls. Other problems are also hinted at: failing
filial values, the rigid education system and tabloid journalism.
Moderator of the night was Shu Shi who got us thinking
about questions such as “How young is too young?” Most of us
agreed that people should reach 18 years of age before engaging in
sex and 21 before getting married. In addition, an individual’s maturity level should be taken into account. The issue of being stricter
with children was also raised, but when asked by the moderator I
commented that if it was me, I would rebel more because of that.
There will be a series of these Movie Sharing Nights, so don’t forget to come and join us!
BY SHERRY CHEAH SHU YI
PAGE 4
PAGE
5
Making Presentations Come Alive
“Speak up and get heard”
That was the phrase which was ringing in my head throughout the Presentations Alive!™ workshop
organized by People Potential in which I, along with eight other members of AWAM, attended on the
12th and 13th June of 2010. The workshop started early in the morning on both days and when I
reached the training room, I was surprised to see the speaker all prepared with the visual aids and
materials. The speaker, Mr. Lewis Chen, came an hour earlier that morning, and he even came to the
training room to prepare the materials the day before the program. I am not a morning person, and
yet his enthusiasm was able to energize me, making me feel
all eager to learn from this workshop.
A few days before the workshop, we were informed
that we would be giving a 2-minutes presentation on the first
day of the workshop. This was not my first time presenting; I
had presented numerous times during classes in the university. Yet, this time, I felt nervous, as I had a different audience. Moreover, the fact that our presentations were being
recorded escalated my nervousness even more! We had the
chance to look at our videos, and comments were made. I
realized that I was talking really fast and that I made a lot of
meaningless gestures.
Something significant that I learned from this workshop was
how much clearer I can convey my message by organizing
and structuring my presentation text. We were given a text
template, in which we had to fill in information such as who
our intended audience was, an attention grabber, our points,
and the elaboration of our points. By structuring the presentation text, I realized that the messages that I want to convey can be delivered in a clearer and more organized manner.
Info:
•
People Potential was established in 1993.
•
They are focusing on human potential development
and offer a wide range of
services which include
leadership, management,
business presentations,
customer service and communication, and performance improvement programs.
•
Presentations Alive!™ was
developed in 1994 and has
been delivered to various
organizations.
On the second day of the workshop, we had to deliver a 3-minute presentation, utilizing the knowledge and information we had gained from the workshop. Our presentations were recorded again, and
the video of each participant was compared to the video of our initial presentation. There was a clear
improvement in everyone’s performance, and I could imagine the better presentations I could deliver
in the future.
I am really glad that I had the opportunity to attend this workshop as it was a learning experience that
gave me a great amount of knowledge that will surely benefit me in my future presentations. Now, I
have a more positive feeling about presentations and feel more enthusiastic about my coming presentations. I can’t wait to use the skills and knowledge I have gained from this workshop in my coming
presentations.
BY JENNIFER PILLAY YAU
PAGE 5
PAGE
6
UPCOMING EVENTS AT AWAM
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PAGE 6
Towards the FF 2011
Fiesta Feminista, a quadrennial nationwide feminist
conference, is an initiative by the Joint Action
Group (JAG) for Gender Equality which consists of
five women's organisations, including AWAM. The
idea was to hold a nationwide conference, modelled on the likes of the Feminist Dialogues, a
transnational feminist meeting that ran parallel to
World Social Forum meetings, and the Latin
American Feminist Encounters.
The inaugural Fiesta Feminista was hosted by University Malaya. It was a two-and-a-half-day event
held in June 2007 to celebrate women, activism,
and diversity, to educate
ourselves as women's
rights advocates, and to
engage others, especially
marginalised communities, on issues pertaining
to women's human
rights and the local social
justice and democracy
movement. Various activities including skillbuilding workshops, lectures, interactive presentations, exhibitions, a
marketplace, cultural performances, short film
screenings, and so on were held during the event.
FF 2007 was a resounding success and provided an
encouraging first step as women's organisations
attempt to forge alliances both within and without
the local women's rights movement.In June, the
new FF Organising Committee convened to start
planning the second edition of Fiesta Feminista,
scheduled for mid-2011.
AWAM is represented on that committee by
Abby, our Programme Officer, and myself. Thus
far, committee meetings have focused on getting
members who were not involved with planning the
2007 event up to speed on the whys and wherefores of Fiesta Feminista and its organising.
Abby and I created a short FF Handbook to capture those discussions. We have just shifted focus
to working on our proposal for next year's event.
Everyone's pretty excited about taking it outside
KL, and we're almost certain about holding it in
While preparing for the event, the committee is
also paying heed to our working processes, to ensure that we organise FF in accordance with our
principles and taking into account the feedback
received thus far from past and continuing FF
members. Abby and I have been trying to get ourselves educated about more efficient and productive ways of organising, and that's involved reading
a bunch of management books I never expected to
go anywhere near. But it's been useful, learning
that there are better ways to do things, that our
meetings don't need to last as long as they do, that
a good system eliminates so much chasing and
busy work. Of course, it's
a continuous learning process, trying to figure out
how to communicate effectively with one another,
how to work together in
non-hierarchical, efficient,
and productive ways, and
how to sustain our energy
and spirits through the
year ahead. I've asked the
committee to start a
working group within FF
on “New designs and processes,” and received the go-ahead. This means a
lot more focus on processes and issues arising
from now on. AWAM members with wisdom to
share on the subject: please get in touch with me!
By the time I write the next installation of this column, I expect we'd be nearing crunch time and
getting the specifics figured out. We'll soon be
forming other working groups to deal with the
different aspects of organising an event like this
(volunteers, media, finance, etc.). We're especially
desperate right now for people who are good at
and enjoy web design (our website needs updating). If you would like to be involved, get in touch.
Drop me an email at [email protected].
And keep watching this space for more
news about Fiesta Feminista, and how you
can get involved.
BY SMITA SHARMA
PAGE 7
Mad goose chase
“” I was most
impressed by
the willingness
of those who
attended to
remain
afterwards to
discuss the
issues raised”
Despite having studied a unit
called ‘Law and Society in Malaysia’
whilst at NUS, I felt very unsure of
what to expect from living in such a
diverse city as Kuala Lumpur. I have
visited the city a few times since I
arrived in Asia last July, but often felt
my visits were quite detached. It was
only on my most recent visit to KL,
where I stayed close to Chinatown
and began travelling round on public
transport by myself, that I realized
how exciting (and frustrating!) living
in KL can be. It was then that I decided to pop down to the AWAM
offices to find out if there was anything I could do. Finding the office
turned out to be a bit of a mad
goose chase despite arriving on the
LRT into Paramount station. A very
helpful taxi driver took me on a
twenty minute tour of the area asking directions along the way, until
we eventually realised the offices
were located about a minute’s walk
from the LRT station. Bernie explained had I just phoned in before I
came I could have been easily directed! But after a brief chat I left
with handfuls of leaflets about
AWAM and promised to send in an
email with my CV attached.
Refreshing experience
Coming from a legal background,
it made sense to set me to work on
legal research and I found it very
enlightening putting into practice
knowledge I had gained through my
PAGE 8
studies of Malaysia. I began working
on a case involving constitutional issues of gender equality and was soon
pleased to discover the depth and
availability of knowledge that AWAM
has on this issue. Coming from a society where women’s rights are almost
taken for granted (despite them still
not being equal!), it was very refreshing to meet other women so dedicated to change despite the constant
set-backs and mishaps the system
throws at you.
I attended AWAM-organised
events such as the film night, I was
most impressed by the willingness of
those who attended to remain afterwards to discuss the issues raised, offering us all a chance to discuss our
views and opinions. On this occasion
the discussion revolved around transsexuals, and it was very interesting to
hear each person’s take on such a
controversial issue.
Ethnicity
From an academic point of view I had
learnt of the ‘One Malaysia’ drive, and
I think I was led to believe that ethnic
separation was something of the past.
However, having spoken to locals
here, they admit that this is still apparent in everyday society and often the
young through to older generations
will prefer to remain in groups containing their own ethnicity.
From my own observations—in the smaller community of AWAM—this distinction quickly
disappears.
This was clearly demonstrated to me in a ‘Woman’s and Leadership Training Workshop’ in
which I participated along with about fourteen other women from different backgrounds,
religions and races. Perhaps this shows the capability for change.
“Their attitude is infectious !”
Potential
One word that will always spring to mind
when I think back to my time in Asia will be
‘potential’.
Throughout my travels and particularly during
my stay in Kuala Lumpur I could not help but
be affected by the drive for improvement that
oozes from all corners of Asia.
There is a certain excitement in the air; although people are proud of the progress that
has been made so far, there is still anticipation
about what is to come. Coming from a society
that has grown almost stagnant regarding important political and sociological issues, it has
inspired me to continue research and development in these areas. My time at AWAM has
shown me that generally, Malaysian civil society seems to be very active and responsive to
change. The women I have worked with give
off an air of ‘the sky is the limit’ as they go
about the campaigns, and their attitude is infectious! BY ALEXANDRA CHAPMAN
Info:
Alex is a student at Bristol
University in the UK, pursuing a
degree in Law. She has spent
the previous year on exchange
at the National University of
Singapore; studying South East
Asian Law and Sociology Units.
Her interest in Gender Equality
and Women’s Rights lead her to
AWAM.
PAGE 9
BERANI BERSUARA FORUM
AWAM, in celebration of national day, held a forum on Sept 23, bringing
together marginalised groups who rarely have their voices heard. This
time space was given to the transgendered group and the urban poor.
Khartini Salmah and Tan Jo Hann were the panelists.
PAGE 10
“At AWAM I observed passion every day”
As part of a study
abroad program for
international studies
students in the School
of International Service at American University in DC, I was
able to intern for All
Women’s Action Society (AWAM) for a
period of five weeks.
Starting mid-May,
2010, my main project
was looking at the issue of rape in Malaysia and why it is underreported.
I initially began by reading through The Rape Report:
an Overview of Rape in Malaysia, which was originally
published by AWAM in 2002. The Rape Report examined the issue of rape in Malaysia by looking at
the dynamics of rape, the legal process, an evaluation of various service providers such as the police,
the medical system as a whole, medical officers
(accident and emergency department), obstetrics
and gynecology personnel, forensic clinicians and
forensic pathologists, pediatrics departments, psychiatric departments,
medical social workers, and social
welfare departments, the rape survivors themselves, and an analysis
of rape statistics.
After reading through the report, I
produced a short write-up centered around possible ideas if the
report were to be completely updated. Thereafter, I began an extensive research project, looking at
the general literature on rape. To integrate a Malaysia-specific perspective, I consulted every major
newspaper circulated throughout the country in an
effort to learn more about how rape is reported
and how the incidents are handled. Lastly, I surveyed all rape case files from AWAM’s Counseling
Center in order to indicate general trends, if any, in
the reporting and handling of each case.
The finished product included both a proposal for a
future more large-scale project involving the utilization of area hospital crisis centers, and a short writeup analyzing my findings and conclusions, taking a
rights-based approach. In addition, I also completed a
sample anonymous survey to be used either in the
local newspapers or possibly on AWAM’s website,
which would survey rape victims on the details of
their rape and why or why they did not report the
incident.
Other small assignments included, a short write-up on
a visit to a counseling center in Ipoh that works with
people living with HIV. My write-up commented on
my reactions and thoughts on my visit and also analyzed the current situation women face in terms of
their vulnerability to HIV/AIDS in Malaysia. I was also
able to take part in a meeting with the Joint Action
Group on Sexuality, which involved other local
women’s organizations.
In reflecting on my overall experience at AWAM, the
one aspect that will stick with me the most is the
level of determination, drive, and passion I observed
each day. After working for an NGO in Washington
DC, which also addresses women’s
issues, I was surprised to find such a
difference between the two. All the
women working for AWAM seemed
to be so passionate about their work,
and the cause they were contributing
to. I am not sure if it is due to the nature of the challenges women face in
Malaysia being different from those in
the United States, but either way, it is
something I truly admire.
Working for AWAM has been an
amazing learning experience. Aside
from the valuable experience of working in a foreign
country, and of course, the knowledge gained through
my assigned projects, just coming to work each day
and exchanging views and ideas with everyone was
extremely beneficial. Thanks to my time at AWAM, I
will leave Malaysia with a better understanding of
both the socio-cultural makeup of the country, and
more specifically, the challenges women face and the
obstacles they overcome on a daily basis
BY SARA PAPPA
PAGE 11
Experiences at the Women & Leadership
Training Workshop, 17th & 18th July 2010
Day 1
I was told to arrive at 9am on Saturday
morning (a slightly daunting prospect!) and
given a map. Having forgotten my map, I
was lucky I remembered which LRT station to get off at, and even more lucky that
the building sports a huge ‘MENARA
PKNS’ sign on the 19th floor, highly visible
to the otherwise lost observer.
We began the session with an introduction and ice breaker; each person had a
different reason for attending—from those
with a steady career to those who took on
more traditional roles such as housewives—all were keen to learn more about
important sociological issues raised by the
imbalance of the male/female workforce. I
was also impressed to discover quite a few
were not at that point AWAM members
(though many of them were by the end of
PAGE 12
the weekend!).
Our first session concerned ‘Gender,
Women’s Rights & Leadership’. Under the
category of ‘men’ we were asked to write
words that described the opposite sex. We
came up with words such as ‘lazy’ and
‘selfish’ (in true feminist style!☻), but when
at the end we were asked to decide which of
the characteristics were also true of women,
we couldn’t help but tick all of them. The exercise was effective in demonstrating the difference between ‘gender’ and ‘sex’ and made
me question my own attitude towards these
two concepts.
The next session concerned ‘Who is A
Leader? Am I A Leader?’. We were blindfolded and lead into the ‘jungle’ obstacle
course by one team member who was not
blind-folded.
I have to say I felt very uncomfortable at
first with the blindfold on, so for me the
session highlighted the importance of learning to trust those who are in positions of
leadership.
dates. We had to choose one to be put on a ‘New
Planet’ (as our planet was unfortunately about to explode and the new planet could even more unfortunately only take four candidates). What started as a
very amiable session soon became rather heated, as
each of us defended the rights of the person we had
Afterwards, we discussed the role of
chosen to go to the new planet, whilst arguing rea‘female bosses’; many of us
sons why the others deserved not to go.
agreed on the stereotypical We're here for a
Not surprisingly, we all unquestionably
view of a woman boss who
agreed on the need for ‘a world class chef’;
is angry, emotional and irra- reason. I believe a bit of very early on Betty had made the observational—generally a scary
tion of how food driven we were as a group!
the reason is to throw
authoritative person who is
After another very large lunch we launched
difficult to work with. I think little torches out to lead into the final two sessions, ‘What Is Our
it is a shame that this is how people through the
Plan of Action and How Do We Mobilize
we regard successful female
For Action?’ and ‘How Do We Define A
workers, and we all agreed dark.
Successful Organization/Project?’.
to the need for us to go out Whoopi Goldberg
and change this stereotype.
We were fed and watered very well
throughout the day, sitting down at around
midday to a well-earned buffet lunch! Following this we completed the ‘What is My
Vision Session?’ and ‘How Should We Communicate?’; the former concerning our own
visions for the future and how to achieve
them, the latter involving constructing models from play-dough. It was very amusing to
observe the obvious enjoyment that we all
had from this childish past time! We ended
the day with a coffee break, feeling satisfied
with the day’s work.
During the first session we watched an inspirational
short film about the struggle of a Malaysian community to stop the building of a harmful waste control
unit next to their village. During the final session we
got to build our own coffee shops (I did say we were
a food-driven group!) and discussed the successes and
obstacles behind a project described by certain group
members. I think by this point our energy was waning
but we still managed to draw some thoughtful conclusions and a couple of groups even managed a short
sketch!
Day 2
Over the weekend I felt confidence growing in
both myself and other members of the group. By the
end, those who had started in a rather reserved manner were happy to express their opinions and take
control when it was needed. What I really loved
about the weekend was the way that everyone naturally took turns to speak; it was almost an unspoken
agreement that no one person would ‘hog the limelight’ or ‘hide in the shadows’; everyone was given the
chance to demonstrate their leadership skills.
The second day began rather terrifyingly;
again we were blind folded, but this time
shouted at unrestrained by a seemingly furious Betty. It illustrated very effectively how
submissive women can become when
treated aggressively. Many of us felt uneasy,
bordering on scared; a natural reaction
which is one we should never have to feel in
the workplace.
The second session, ‘How Can We Serve
Diverse Interests?’, was one of my favourite
sessions. We were divided into groups of
three people and given a list of three candi
Conclusion
BY ALEXANDRA CHAPMAN
PAGE 13
On equal rights for LGBTQs : Two views
Smita Elena Sharma: The difficulty of making a case against same-sex marriage
Under a newly proposed column for
the AWAM newsletter, For &
Against, Fung Ying and I were going
to debate the case for same-sex marriage in Malaysia; she would argue
for, and I was to argue against, legalising such marriages.
Full disclosure: we have both been,
from the start, proponents of such
marriage (to the extent that we can be seen as
proponents of marriage at all), and I agreed to argue against my own position only out of a personal
conviction, somewhat premature and owing to high
school debating days, that every position that could
be argued for, could just as easily be argued against.
And yet, a week spent mulling over the topic, I still
had no good argument for opposing the legalisation
of same-sex marriage. At least, none better than a
smart-alec position that marriage was a social privilege, and democracies ought to extend such privileges only when the majority supports such extension. But that position ignores an integral feature of
democracies and what differentiates them from
majority-tyrannies: respect and constitutional guarantees for minority rights and equality before the
law.
In addition, we had chosen this topic during a hiatus in gay-bashing in the media. That
proved an all too short respite. Malaysiakini's coverage of a gay-friendly church was met with a backlash from various homophobes, most claiming to
be god-fearing Christians. With so much selfrighteous vitriol spewing from within the mainstream, it seems laughable to try and have a rational debate on same-sex marriage as a matter of
public policy.
And indeed, of all the reasons proffered in
opposition to same-sex marriage, notably in countries where legalisation has been on the table, none
seemed free of a fundamental reliance on the belief
that homosexuality is abnormal, immoral, decadent,
and/or “gross” (ironic how large a role the “yuck
factor” plays in calibrating the moral compass of
homo sapiens). In addition, opponents of same-sex
marriage often tend to rely on the assumption that
any practice that was not traditionally accepted and
specifically those condemned by religious scrip-
PAGE 14
tures should continue to be rejected, except they
are hardly consistent with deciding when to accept
the tradition and reject the practice,
and when to ignore the tradition for
the sake of the practice. After all,
mainstream tradition has hardly approved of women taking leadership
roles in the political arena and scripture is known for castigating those
who would work on the Sabbath,
and I could go on with examples ad
nauseam.
There are also those who think that legalising same
-sex marriage would sound the death knell against
heterosexual couples and their marriages, because
apparently modernity, the 40+-hour working week,
and skewed and unequal gender roles aren't taking
care of that just fine already. Even if we were to
grant some credence to this paranoid idea, society
is hardly prepared to and nor can it be expected to
roll back every other reason heterosexual couples
aren't sticking together these days.
If same-sex relationships are not to share
in the same privileges as heterosexual ones, I feel
there needs to be better reasons to support such
inequality. And make no mistake about it, our failure to decriminalise same-sex relationships and to
legalise same-sex marriage upholds inequality and
discrimination against LGBTQ citizens. We have
two Malaysias, and the one for LGBTQs is a circumscribed space indeed.
Anyway, better reasons for this gross inequality were not forthcoming. The For & Against
column is meant for debate on topics of current
interest and relevance to the women's movement
when one can reasonably take either side of
a debate without having to resort to odious and anti-feminist
arguments.
I concluded that we had made a mistake in choosing
this topic. Either that or we should have found a member
who feels she can make the argument against same-sex marriage while keeping to feminist principles. (Any such member
should write in with their arguments which can be included in
the next newsletter.)
And so, my apologies to all, but an actual debate will have to
wait until the next edition of this lovely newsletter.
Smita believes that arguments should
further understanding and encourage
the examination of personal beliefs.
Tai Fung Ying Tan: Intolerance
has no place in a pluralistic society
Malaysia is a fantastic representation of a country that is composed
almost purely by the diverse cultures and beliefs of its people. On
the surface, we pride ourselves to be a “multi-ethnic, multicultural and multilingual society” and we are not ashamed to
admit that it is because of this ability to accept people who
are of a different religion, or ethnic group that our society is
able to function the way it does. 1Malaysia, a campaign that is
widely recognised can be seen or heard on our radios, newspapers, billboards, road
signs, almost everyday, to
encourage ethnic harmony
and national unity among our
fellow citizens.
But through all our
efforts to teach our children
to accept people that are
culturally different, our own
generation is on a set back.
We tell our children to accept those that are different,
to look past prejudices and
bigotries and yet how far do
our own sights extend to?
Different sexes? Different
races? Different religions? Different sexual orientations?
Homosexuality is a near taboo topic to bring about in Malaysia. Those who display the slightest inclination of having an
attraction to another person of the same gender are treated
with open discrimination by our government, our law and
our people. Here, it is a ‘sin’ and a ‘crime’.
Why? Because the Qur'an says so; because the Bible says
so; because it just goes against the principles of human
nature. But contrary to popular belief, I don’t think that
God would reject God’s daughters or sons because of
the people they fall in love with, I don’t believe that
those who support, or are part of the homosexual
community would be denied entrance into Heaven just
because he or she is not of the ‘norm’.
And then I suppose we could argue the fact that being
a LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transsexual and
Queer) goes against the very stem of human nature;
and that we, as human beings are physically and psychologically made to be heterosexual and this is the
key to the survival of Homo sapiens. But aren’t we already complaining about over-crowding and the booming population? 6.7 billion people are currently sharing
this one tiny planet; personally, I think we do need a
few homosexuals out there, we’ve already multiplied
enough! Anymore and we could probably suffer the
serious consequences of pushing each other into extinction.
We are hypocrites bringing up hypocrites. Despite all
the hard work that we do to defend ourselves it all
boils down to one cold, hard truth; that unless we forget or do something about our intolerance and our
inability to empathise, we will never be able to truly
live with one another in harmony. Why should a man,
just because he loves another man, be denied the basic
human right to fall in love, engage in sexual activity, and
get married? Why should a woman, just because she
loves another woman, be treated
any differently from the other
heterosexual females out there?
Homosexuality is not a choice. A
person can’t choose the gender
they fall in love with just like
how they can’t choose who they
fall in love with; and who are we
to tell our children that they
cannot love the people they do?
Are we to shun our future generations just because they have
fallen in love? No.
“Out with the old and in with
the new.” Isn’t that what we’re all obsessed about
nowadays? It’s the 21st Century, time to rise and shine
people, we’ve got a lot of work to do before we can
truly say that we are proud of the world that we live
in. No change can happen overnight, but some things
are definitely worth fighting for.
Fung Ying is a 16 year old student doing her A-Levels at
Garden International School.
PAGE 15
Building bridges
It’s a normal Sunday morning when our
group — 20 women and one man —
meet in the Annexe Arts Gallery to attend the AWAM-workshop “Building
bridges thru music and Arts”.
We start with an icebreaker to
create a good atmosphere.
Info:
•
Aim of the workshop is, to
bring people of different
ethnicities, genders,
backgrounds and religions
together.
•
The leader of the workshop
are Prof. Tan Sooi Beng and
Toh Lai Chee from Penang
sounds and putting them “on stage” so
heard on our little jouneythat the other
group gets an impression of what we’ve
This was pretty much fun! The two
groups have to put all of their creativity
and power together and this finally leads
to two really good and creative presentations.
I think, this workshop has given every
member of the group a good understanding on how similar we are, despite of our
different backgrounds. Thanks to all the
motivated members of the group, we
spent a great time and had lots of fun.
Thank you all !
This workshop was organised by
AWAM’s Ethnicity & Religion Committee
as part of its efforts to bring people of
different religions, ethnicities, social
Full of energy and motivation, our misbackgrounds and gender together to learn
sion starts with small exercises on how about our multicultural heritage through
to make sounds. For this, we don’t only the process of making music with everyuse things we brought with us, such as
day objects and body parts, collecting
bottles, small drums or cups, but also
sounds and stories through fieldwork and
composing small pieces using materials
our bodies. After creating our first
collected.
rhythms, we look at the video of a the
children’s group, who has also done this BY SAMARA ABED EL HAFEZ
workshop, to get an idea on how they
made sounds and built bridges through
this.
Now that we have the necessary knowledge, we start the most exciting and important part of the workshop: we go
outside in groups and collect sounds.
One group goes to Chinatown,
the other to Little India, where we have
lunch and capture all the sounds,
rhythms and voices we hear. For all of
us, this is a great experience and a good
chance to get more conscious about all
the sounds that are surrounding us.
Two hours later, the two groups meet
again in the Art Galley to bring all the
experiences together by reproducing the
PAGE 16
It was a new experience for me and it was fun! It was an exercise in paying attention
to the sights and sounds around us in our daily lives and knowing that they can be
captured in music was exciting! It also made me realize that diverse lives can be lived
in harmony and everyone has a space in the sun, if only we respect each other as
human beings and take away our bias mindsets and stereotypes of people who are
different from us!
~ Bernie
PAGE 17
Crown for Charity Fund-Raiser
Through the collaboration of Alex Lim, owner of La Mode Coiffure, AWAM was able to raise the
projected target of RM25,000. We take this opportunity to express our thanks to Alex Lim and all
our friends and supporters who took part in this event. Ribuan terima kasih.
Girl Child seller father - poem by Airyn Lentija
How could you sleep
When she's in pain,
Her spirit crushed
You, her father, whom she trusted
Sold your young daughter to sharks.
Did being a father
Matter to you?
Does fear, guilt and shame
Sometimes stir
Your polluted heart?
She lays there;
Hugging her customer
Hating this reality.
When will it stop
And you remember
You are her dad?
You sigh on your own hardships
Like you justify, rationalize
Betrayal of your girl child.
And still
You sit there
Jobless
Mastering sloth
Blind eyes, face inert,
Immune to her hurt.
You call
Her next user
For a few dollars.
Are you human?
To see your daughter's
Prostitution for your beer?
PAGE 18