The AWARE saga
Subtitle: civil society and public morality in Singapore
By: edited by Terence Chong
Publisher: NUS Press
Published: 2011
Place of publication: Singapore
Language: eng
Number of pages: 181
ISBN-13: 9789971695514
Subjects: Civil society; Religion and civil society; Social ethics; Association of Women for Action and Research
Description: In March 2009, the Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) was briefly taken over by a Christian faction. Their coup was overturned within a matter of weeks, but the episode highlighted a variety of issues, including the role of religion in civil society, sex education, homosexuality, state intervention and media engagement. Although the immediate issue was control of an activist group concerned with women's rights, it has implications for the agendas and concerns of NGOs, 'culture wars', the processes of citizenry mobilization, mass participation and noisy democracy, and liberal voices in contemporary Singapore. In this book, academics and public intellectuals examine the AWARE saga within the context of Singapore's civil society, considering the political and historical background and how the issues it raised relate to contemporary societal trends. In addition to documenting a milestone event for Singapore's civil society, the authors offer provocative interpretations that will interest a broad range of readers.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Table of contents: title: Making Singapore's liberal base visible / Chua Beng Huat; title: Compensating for the abdication of the moral state? / Terence Chong; title: Not quite shutting up and sitting down, the Singapore government's role in the AWARE saga / Azhar Ghani and Gillian Koh; title: Who dragged Christianity into the AWARE saga?, observations on the role of Christians, value pluralism, and contestation in public discourse / Eugene K.B. Tan; title: Blame it on the bogery, the Christian right's construction of homosexuality and the AWARE CSE Programme / Dominic Chua, James Koh, and Jack Yong; title: The role of the media, investigative journalism in Singapore / Loh Chee Kong; title: Strength in diversity, organisational lessons from the AWARE saga / Alex Tham; title: Contesting feminism, the AWARE saga / Theresa W. Devasahayam; title: Shut up and sit down! Stand up and speak out!, the AWARE EGM as performance of civil society in Singapore / Lai Ah Eng; title: AWARE re-pluralised, re-secularised, transition to deeper awareness / Vivienne Wee.