| November 2004
'Minority rights' should know their limits source: Lianhe Zaobao, translated by Russell Heng
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The Hongkong current affairs magazine Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) recently had a cover story on homosexuals in Asia with the focus on how economic consuming power has enhanced gay rights. A collection of special reports with Singapore as a starting point went on to touch on South Korea, Hongkong and Indonesia, etc., and it even included a tragic personal account of a North Korean homosexual.Launched in 1958, the FEER is a trenchant magazine, adept at challenging governments in many places and has a formidable reputation throughout the region. This collection of reports is no exception when it brands Singapore political leaders as "mandarins". Referring to the government's recent loosening of restrictions against homosexuals by allowing them into the civil service and making it easy for gay people have their party, the magazine was snide when it pushed the line that the stern and strait-laced island state was merely chasing "pink dollars"; that those in power have wised up to the gay community's growing buying power. The gay party mentioned in the reports was an event called Nation. Timed to celebrate National Day with wild abandon, it was a tad playful. This gathering of muscled men with bare torsos and tight pants attracted 2,500 foreign visitors and added US$6 million to Singapore's tourism revenue. Spouting a tone brimming with sarcasm, a local gay activist told the magazine that "economic imperatives" has meant the lure of money was too hard to resist. To be frank, calling Singapore "money-faced" will not find many people in disagreement. But it would not be entirely fair to present Singapore's recent attempts at relaxing some of its policies as merely a pursuit of economic interests with scant regard for any principle and not an effort to move towards a more tolerant and civilized society. To get to the crux of the issue, the issue of homosexuality has wide-ranging ramifications. It is definitely not a simple accountancy process of adding up one and two dollars to make three. I remember a piece I wrote in 1998 for this same Sunday Topic column entitled "Bring a normal heart to bear when relating to gay people". It brought two extreme reactions. An old classmate, after reading it, chided me to my face, "Your article is guilty of endorsing homosexuality!". At the same time, the rainbow community sent me emails to complain that I misunderstood them and gave me a tongue lashing. Here I definitely have no intention to say who is right and who is wrong. I only want to make clear that the attitude towards homosexuality varies from person to person. From my observation, should a child say he is gay, most parents would feel disappointed and also at a loss. Lee Ang's movie "The Wedding Banquet" has this old father character played by the actor Lang Xiong who captured this profoundly. |
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In the long process of history, homosexuals have been an oppressed group especially in the Middle Ages when monarchy and religious authority held the monopoly of power over everything. Hence by the late 19th century when the human rights movement emerged, gay intellectuals in Britain such as Wilde and
Woolf (see translator's note on the right) made it clear in their literary works that they were determined to free themselves of the shackles. In reality in the 21st century, homosexuals as a social minority have their rights widely respected. What we need to avoid currently is to over-compensate for past injustices or what is known as positive discrimination. When minority rights expand with no restrictions, they can affect a fragile social balance and cause unrest. Ten years ago I lived in London for a period and was a member of the British Film Institute (BFI). Paying an annual subscription entitled me to buy discounted tickets for screenings. However due to the vociferous gay lobby, one month in the year was reserved for movies about gay men and another month for movies on lesbians. I personally did not have much interest in these movies and so for a 12-month subscription fee I only attended 10 months of BFI screenings. Of course to enjoy a more tolerant society, it is worthwhile to put up with differences. However for those claiming minority rights to monopolize a certain circle and abuse people who disagree with them would give birth to another kind of unreasonable hegemony. Society will react and produce a new counterforce leading to an undesirable division.
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When referring to what Singapore's ex-PM Goh Chok Tong said, that "homosexuals are
like you and me", the FEER was quoting out of context to make it seemed as if Goh was "forced by circumstances" to make this decision. In actual fact, those words were said by him in the August National Day Rally speech of last year. There was more to it if you considered what he said as a whole. The then Prime Minister Goh said that homosexuals exist in every society and "we have to accept that they are human beings like you and I, that they are also Singaporeans. If the public service does not hire them, the private sector may also do the same. But homosexuals also need to earn a living. They have also contributed to Singapore's development." Goh Chok Tong stressed that he did not encourage or support the gay lifestyle. "Singapore is still a traditional and conservative Asian society. Homosexuals should know that the more public space they want the stronger the reaction they would receive from the conservative mainstream. That will lead to the shrinking of their public space." Last year, Singapore media also interviewed the Minister in charge of Muslim Affairs, Dr Yaacob. He believed that in accepting homosexuals for public service, the government was responding rationally to new societal trends. However he added, "But we have a bottomline. We are only liberalizing the policy on the hiring of homosexuals. The Community Development Ministry I am in charge of continues to promote the importance of the family. It will not allow family values to be undermined." Yaacob said, "It very easy to blame the Muslims. Yes, Muslims do not approve of homosexuality and do not support R(A) movies and gambling. All these are against our religious teachings. But we do not impose our views on others. Nor have we prevented the government from liberalizing these policies so long as Muslims are given a choice. For instance, if we still have movies suitable for the old and the young we will not insist on our rights." Thinking over this carefully, we should realize that racial harmony in Singapore is not to be taken for granted. Every community should be tolerant. Every community should be rational. It is not such a simple task. As for that FEER cover story, if those foreign visitors enjoy their rights in an orderly manner, party through the night with gay abandon, do not make a nuisance of themselves, do not harass the people living next door, what is there to make a fuss about? But if after a night of frolic, they then claim victory for themselves as the rebels of society, turning arrogant and provocative with deliberation, what positive contribution would that make to the moderate and benign image of a majority of homosexuals? 
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Footnotes None Addenda None
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(Wang Er De) and
(Wu Er Fu).
