>SCWO (Singapore Council of Women’s Organisation) is facing its first major leadership tussle in 8 years – and AWARE is involved in that tussle. Let us recall how AWARE managed to infiltrate into our Education System, using its covert and odious Comprehensive Sexuality Education (CSE) Programme to teach young underage girls how to have sex and about homosexuality.
AWARE, as we all know, had its own leadership struggle last year. But this year, it appears that it intends to break into SCWO. That in itself does not appear to be anything fishy – except that AWARE and SCWO had always been working apart because of different ideologies. Now if that is the case, what is AWARE’s purpose of its key official trying to sit on the board of SCWO?
THERE has been a resurgence of interest in leadership at the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), the umbrella body for women’s groups here.Its annual general meeting last Saturday saw its first major contest for board seats in eight years. A total of 15 representatives from among its 51 member groups vied for 11 places on the board. Only the president’s post, which went to Mrs Laura Hwang, was uncontested.
The groups which sent candidates to contest SCWO posts included the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) and the United Nations Development Fund for Women (Unifem) Singapore, which last contested in 2002. That year, there were 20 nominations for 12 places.
Aware has traditionally not worked closely with SCWO, as the two took different approaches to promoting women’s rights and issues. Aware was embroiled in a high-profile leadership tussle last year between its more liberal incumbents and a conservative group of newcomers who feared that Aware was promoting a pro-gay agenda.
Aware’s current president, Ms Dana Lam, 57, told The Straits Times that she decided to run for a board seat this time as she was drawn to the council’s growing interest in research and advocacy.
SCWO president Laura Hwang believed that what ‘resonated with many’ who decided to seek a board seat was the council’s task force on the enforcement of maintenance support orders for divorced women, and its planned centre to assist claimants.
Members will decide who sits on the board tomorrow. Let’s wait and see the results.
