Rejected by ST Forum
Sexual Discrimination by the Press
1. On People Charged for Sexual Offences
I had noticed a kind of sexual discrimination practiced by the local press in Singapore. When a man was arrested for a sexual offence, his photo was published in all the major newspapers in this country, in the case of Chinese newspapers, his photos will most likely appear on the cover page. He was shamed even before the court found him guilty. It is true that his photo will also be published when he was found to be innocent of the charges he faced but the damage has already been done. He has already been declared guilty by all the newspapers when they published his photos. It does not matter anymore even if he is found to be innocent by the court of law later. In the eyes of many people, he is guilty no matter what is the outcome of his trial. How is he going to face his family and relatives? What will his colleagues, especially the women, and his boss think of him when they saw his photos on the newspaper?
We have read reports in the newspapers regarding women who are convicted in the court of law in Singapore for falsely accusing a man for sexual offence. Now ask yourself this question, how many of you can recall seeing the photos of these women published in the newspaper? I, myself, cannot. Some people may argue that if you did not do anything wrong then there is nothing to be afraid of. Please remember that we are living in a small Asian country where the opinion of other people of you is not exactly unimportant. It is easy to tell yourself that it does not matter what people think of you because in the eye of the law, you are innocent but how many people can actually do that? I would like all the men in this country to imagine of this scenario: You are being falsely accused of a sexual offence. The day you were arrested, your photos appear on the newspapers. Then on the day you are being charged in court, your photos appear again. Your family and relatives saw the photos, your boss and colleagues saw the photos, and even your child's female teachers saw the photos and recognize you. Finally, you are declared innocent; your photos will be on the newspaper again. Will you feel happy? Will you be able to tell yourself that everything will go back to normal like before because you have been found to be not guilty of the charges you faced? What if you are found not guilty due to insufficient evidence? Keep in mind that the newspapers will also report this fact. Now for all the women in this country, try to imagine that the scenario mentioned above happen to your husband or sons. How would you feel?
The reason why I wrote this letter is to appeal to all the newspapers in Singapore to show some fairness. If you publish a man's photos when he was just being suspected of a sexual offence then I couldn't see any reason why you do not publish the photos of the women whom have already been convicted by the court for falsely accusing a man of a sexual offence. There are many reasons as to why a woman will accuse a man of such things and one of the reason is to ruined the man's reputation and live. Isn't it true that the newspapers are actually helping them achieve this goal by publishing the photos of those men? I am not a sympathizer of those sexual offenders, especially those rapists. If they were convicted, I would suggest they should be lock up for live in the prison in order to protect the women in Singapore, that is, when the court proves them guilty. I remember a judge once say that while we must protect our mothers, wives and daughters from those sexual offenders we must also protect our fathers, husbands and sons from those women mentioned above.
2. On Female Singaporeans and Gay Singaporeans
It seems to me that the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) has been constantly fighting for the rights of females in Singapore. I will like to believe that what they want is equal labour, equal rewards and to be treated equally by the government and the general public, regardless of their gender. Sadly, I feel that this is not the case. I can't help but have this feeling that they only fight for the kind of 'rights' that they will benefit from it. I do not think that they hope to be treated equally in all cases.
There are some laws in Singapore which I think are sexist. For example, female offenders will not be caned regardless of what their crimes are. I will interpret this as the government think the females are physically, the weaker sex and thus not able to withstand this form of punishment. If the females are capable of committing the same kind of crimes as their male counterparts why is it that they are being treated differently when it comes to receiving the punishment? Another example will be, when two consenting underage couple have sex, it is the male that will be punished. The female will not be punished at all. Again, I will interpret this as the government think the female is the weaker sex and this time, in term of mentally. The male is always the 'cheater' and the female is always the one being 'cheated'. All these laws view the female as the weaker sex and I have yet to hear any members of AWARE making any complaints.
Since AWARE is a registered organization, I can safely assume that the government agree with their movement and is also admitting that there is, indeed, sexual discriminations in Singapore. I will also like to add that one member of AWARE is an ex-Nominated Member of Parliament while another is currently serving her term as one. Let us now take a look at another group of Singaporeans which are also the victims of sexual discrimination. They are not being discriminated for their gender but rather their sexual preference. This group of people held decent jobs, pay their taxes and even serve their National Service. They are just like any average Singaporeans but they are constantly being made fun of, they are not allow to held any public forum, they are not allow to form any organisations that are related to their sexual preference and their sexual act are punishable by the law in Singapore. They are the homosexuals. There will be no argument here that we, Singaporeans, discriminate them. It doesn't matter how much they have contributed to the economy of this country or how much good deeds they have done. Once we know that someone is a homosexual, he will be treated as if he is a freak. It also doesn't matter that he actually led a normal life like any average Singaporeans.
I read about the report of a male Singaporean who wants to hold a public forum regarding homosexuality in Singapore and also to form an organization for the homosexuals in Singapore. He did not get the permits for both. I did not know him personally nor do I know what is his real intention of doing these things, I am just amused at some of the reasons given by the authority for denying him the permits. If the authority is worried that he may 'promote' homosexuality then I wish to inform them that most of them are born as one. Homosexuality is not like drug abuse whereby you can be influnced by your friends and decide to try it. As for their sexual act being illegal in Singapore, whatever two consenting party do in a private place and does not affect a third party, is absolutely none of my business or anybody's business, for that matter. The law is use to protect the people and the property of this nation. In this case, may I ask just what or who the law is trying to protect? Homosexuals are also being perceived as having big sexual appetite and are constantly thinking of having sex. Although, I do not have the statistic, I dare to say that a high percentage of those sexual offenders are heterosexuals. At the same time, can the relevant organisations please let the general public know what is the percentage of the Aids patients in Singapore, according to their sexual preference?
Here, we have 2 groups of Singaporeans who claimed that they are being discriminated in one way or another but they are getting different kind of treatment from the government. The reason why I wrote this letter is to appeal to the government to show fairness to all the Singaporeans in Singapore regardless of race, language, religion and sexual preference. Like all Singaporeans, the homosexuals have the right to be seen and heard. I am not an expert in this area. I do not hold any degree that is related to this field. To put it simply, I don' have a degree or even a diploma. I am also not a homosexual. I am just a 'kay poh' Singaporean.
Nick Sim