SlutWalk – No need to get your knickers in a twist.

I don’t know what I’ll be doing this Sunday. I may be working, I may not. But if I can, I’ll be at SlutWalk SG.

Before I go any further, please read this, taken from the official website (there are many people who appear to be confused about what SlutWalk is all about, which makes many discussions/debates pointless because everyone’s talking at cross-purposes):

We seek to:

• Challenge the sentiment that it is acceptable to live in a victim-blaming society as we do, where we are taught “don’t get raped,” instead of “don’t rape.”

• Emphasize that no means no, yes means yes, and that only our words can consent for us — not our bodies or our clothes, and regardless if we participate in sex for pleasure or for work.

• Fight the stereotypes and myths of sexual assault (e.g. men jumping out of bushes) and supporting a better understanding of why sexual violence happens (not limited to physical violence), supporting victims and survivors.

• Create an understanding that sexual assault affects all genders, while acknowledging the fact that it disproportionately affects women.

• Create a network of safe spaces for survivors of sexual assault to seek solace and empowerment.

• Reclaim the right to express our sexuality without fear by critically examining the value system imposed upon the word ‘slut’. One does not need to identify as a ‘slut’ to be part of SlutWalk — our ultimate goal is not to reclaim the word, instead we are reclaiming the right to express our sexuality without fear.

“Come, to the streets” – A message to friends across the Causeway

Tomorrow, Malaysians will take to the streets to walk for freedom. “I haven’t seen social media platforms so fired up since Bersih 2.0!” says my friend Cindi.

This time, they’ll be protesting the Peaceful Assembly Bill. The Bill, which is expected to be pushed through in Parliament tomorrow, is seen as more restrictive than current Malaysian laws for public assemblies and protests. As Cindi writes,

Among the provisions introduced includes organisers of assemblies having to give the police 30 days’ notice, in which whether the assembly can go on is subject to their approval, disallowing teenagers under 15 years-old to participate in any form of assembly besides religious and cultural events, and those under 21 years-old from organizing and participating in assemblies. Of course, the most damning provision was that street protests in any form will be disabled under this new Bill, if it was passed in the Parliament (you can read the full Bill here or the simplified FAQ here).
- ‘Not at peace with the Peaceful Assembly Bill’, SEA Youth Say So

You can’t arrest the racist out of someone.

NOTE (added 24th November): It has been brought to my attention that the offensive posts made recently were comments on religion, not race, and are therefore technically not racist. Race and religion are two different issues that should not be conflated, and I agree. It was a mistake on my part to have overlooked that while first writing this post. However, the discussion that sparked from the three posts have also somewhat expanded to include issues of racism, and I feel that public discourse on race is in a rather similar situation to discourse on religion. Also, the Sedition Act as discussed here applies to both comments on race and religion, so I think the points made here still stand.

I was born Chinese in a majority-Chinese country. Obviously, I didn’t ask for it to happen this way; it just did. Apart from three-and-a-half years overseas I’ve never actually had much experience of being part of a minority group, and even in New Zealand I was lucky enough to never have experienced racism*. Because of this (I guess you could call it) privileged position, I’ve always felt like I shouldn’t comment too much on issues of racism or discrimination, for fear of speaking out of ignorance.

But the recent spate of racist and insensitive postings that have surfaced online – and the subsequent outcry – has led me to begin thinking about my attitudes to race and religion in Singapore, and the Sedition Act.

Seksualiti Merdeka – Who’s hurting who?

I’ve recently been following the ban of Seksualiti Merdeka, an annual LGBTIQ festival held in Malaysia since 2008. It’s been fascinating, not the least for the stunning display of hysteria and paranoia. And I thought Singapore was bad.

The Home Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein said that it would “affect the stability of the nation”. Former Prime Minister Dr Tun Mahathir Mohamad said that Malaysia doesn’t need “this sexuality thing”, what would happen if people decided to start going butt naked on the streets? A Malay education group has even started demanding that Datuk Ambiga Sreenavasan’s Malaysian citizenship should be revoked* because of her support for the festival. They said that she should not longer be called a human, because she has gone against “human norms”.

WOW. Really?

Domestic helpers are people, not robots.

‘Comments about maids by employers in Singapore‘ is a blog where employers post entries about the domestic helpers (a.k.a. maids) they have dismissed. It is one of the most disturbing and sickening blogs I have read in a long time, and I’m saying this as a person who recently got linked to this site (NSFW) by a friend who thought it would be funny for those images to be burned on to my retinas.

In the blog, the full names, nationalities, addresses, descriptions and Work Pass numbers of the domestic helpers are listed. Some of the posts even have photographs attached to them, so that it will be easier for prospective employers to track the “defective” maid and stay away from her.

In other words, it’s like CNET, only not for electronics and machines, but for human beings. It’s like a human meat market, where people are bought and returned and complained about, as if they are just there to serve, and have no individual qualities or personalities or emotions in themselves.

As one anonymous commenter on the blog says,

i’d put my money on them japanese research on robots. The minute those ‘domestic bots’ are out on sale, i’d be the first in line to get myself one!

Which, I think, gives you a rough idea of how domestic helpers are perceived.