| |
SINGAPORE: The new executive committee (Exco) of Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) has been given a vote of no confidence, almost six hours after the extraordinary general meeting at Suntec City started.
The vote of no confidence was passed against the new Exco with 1414 votes to 761 votes.
Later, the motion to remove the new Exco from office was passed, and the motion to elect a new president was also passed.
Ms Josie Lau and her exco have stepped down.
Former president Dana Lam was elected as the new President.
The old guard of AWARE had tabled a vote of no confidence in the new Exco after the new Exco was voted in at an annual general meeting at the end of March amid much controversy.
Auditing firm Deloitte was tasked to count the votes at Saturday's meeting.
Only ordinary members are allowed to vote. AWARE has 3,000 members, up from some 300 members a month ago.
The new Exco said it wanted to bring AWARE back to its "original cause", as it alleged that the Old Guard was steering AWARE into becoming a single purpose organisation, overly concerned with promoting lesbianism.
It was dramatic marathon session which started at 2.40pm.
One Malay Muslim woman said she was not comfortable with an-all Christian and all-Chinese group representing a secular group like AWARE. And members of the Christian faith stood up and said the action of the new Exco set back constructive dialogue between Christians and secularists in Singapore.
Over 90 per cent of the people who spoke up said they were against the encroachment of religious values on a secular space.
"Race, religion were never an issue. We welcome women of all races, culture, religion and come and serve on the subcommittee," said former AWARE president Lau.
But clearly, the crowd was not won over.
"We are here because we were deeply troubled by how this executive committee came to power. We are here because we are deeply troubled by the usurpation of civic space, and the lack of respect for the values of pluralism, democracy that this new executive committee has demonstrated," said one member of the audience.
"AWARE is about inclusiveness, AWARE in helping women, helps everybody, male and female. And whatever their sexual orientation can be, it does not matter, because they are first and foremost a person. A human being and that's what AWARE is about," said another.
Emotions ran high and at times, Ms Lau called on security guards to escort members of the Old Guard out, though the order was not eventually carried out.
The new Exco had disallowed Channel NewsAsia from bringing its cameras in when the meeting started, but at 4pm, Channel NewsAsia's reporter managed to walk in unopposed as security guards were busy trying to control agitated members of the crowd.
And many members of AWARE were also twittering and updating their blogs from the venue.
Meanwhile, there may also be a financial dispute at issue.
Under the constitution, the exco is not allowed to spend more than S$20,000 and if they do, they must consult members.
The exco that was voted out declared they had spent S$90,000 in the last month since they took power some two months ago.
An outraged member of AWARE said the money could be put to better use.
"I am concerned, in fact saddened, to see the amount of money spent on this event that could have been directed to better causes," said one AWARE member.
They said such "cheque book" mentality is unacceptable in a non-governmental organisation (NGO), where every cent counts.
Members said the new Exco has to be individually accountable for that money spent, so there is a high chance there could be a lawsuit coming up.
For more discussion on AWARE's extraordinary general meeting, watch Talking Point on Sunday night at 10.10pm on Channel NewsAsia.
Host Debra Soon will speak to newly elected AWARE President Dana Lam, former AWARE President Braema Mathi and SMU's Assistant Professor Eugene Tan.
- CNA/ms/ls/yb
|
