Balaji had told Parliament that these parties might be the reason for 28 per cent spike in Aids cases last year
By Sarah Ng

They come to party, but many end up pairing up and going off to hotel rooms.

These goings-on at the annual Nation parties, which attract mainly gay men from Singapore and overseas, appear to back up what Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan said in Parliament last week that the Nation parties might be the reason for the spike in Aids cases last year.

Calling it an 'epidemic', Dr Balaji told Parliament on Wednesday that the number of new Aids infection cases rose by 28 per cent last year, from 242 to 311. Nine out of 10 of the new Aids sufferers are men, a third of them gay.

He added that the link between the upsurge of new cases and 'gay parties' is a hypothesis suggested by an unnamed epidemiologist and more research needs to be done.

Held in August near National Day on Aug 9, the yearly Nation parties started in 2001 and attract a predominantly homosexual crowd.

As many as 8,000 people from the region attend, and the parties are organised by gay and lesbian Web portal Fridae.com.

Last year, it was a three-day festival; with an opening bash at Suntec City on Aug 7, the main event at the Sentosa Musical Fountain the next day, and a wrap party at Zouk on National Day.

Packing the parties were men clad in sleeveless T-shirts, tight tees, jeans, boardshorts or tiny Speedos. Some turned up dressed as fairies or sailors, and others bared their chest to show off their sculpted abs and biceps.

They danced to the beat of techno, house and trance music spun by international DJs.

People - both homosexual and heterosexual - who have attended the parties told The Sunday Times that couples, both same sex and otherwise, lock lips and grope each other discreetly on the crowded dance floor.

But the real action happens outside the party or when it ends at 5am. David, 30, who works in the IT industry, said 'After a few drinks and with hormones pumping, people slip away to hotel rooms or their homes for sex.'

Sam is one of them. He attended Nation.03, where he met a man from Hong Kong. The 38-year-old customer service manager told The Sunday Times that the Hong Konger bought him a drink and they were soon dancing together.

Later, without telling their friends, they sneaked off quietly and headed back to the Hong Konger's hotel room in Orchard Road. Said Sam 'When there are so many beautiful bodies around, and everyone is so friendly, sparks will fly.'

Although he insisted that he always uses a condom, even with his steady partner, and that he is HIV negative, his behaviour is cause for concern.

A Ministry of Health update on HIV infection in 2003 showed that about 88 per cent of Singaporeans who caught HIV through sexual contact got it from casual-sex partners and prostitutes.

Mr Benedict Jacob-Thambiah, executive director of Action for Aids, said 'Blaming the gay community will only further stigmatise the disease and the people suffering from it. We need to arm our people with education and awareness. We must be more open about spreading the message of condom usage, abstinence and monogamy.'

But family life educator Koh Su Yin said 'By having the parties, we are sending the message to young people that such a lifestyle is okay. It also desensitises and normalises a behaviour which would be construed intuitively as unnatural.

'We would not want young people to be attracted to the gay lifestyle as it undermines the basic family value of committed love, the importance of marriage and the stability of a family that constitutes mother- and father-love.'

The man whose name has been on the tip of many an angry tongue for attributing a spike in HIV cases to a recent gay party on Sentosa yesterday defended his statement.

Speaking to reporters after a charity event, Senior Minister of State for Health Balaji Sadasivan said he intended his remark in Parliament to be a wake-up call for gays to go for HIV screening.

'If the gays who are at risk know about it, they can go to Kelantan Lane and get themselves tested,' he said, referring to the sexually-transmitted disease centre off Jalan Besar.

More dialogues and discussions on the rising number of HIV infections will be held among various groups in the next few months, he said, but declined to elaborate.

Last week, Dr Balaji told Parliament that the number of new Aids infections rose by 28per cent last year, from 242 to 311. Nine of the 10 new Aids sufferers are men, a third of them gay.

He said an epidemiologist had suggested to him that the increase might be linked to the Nation parties, held every August on Sentosa and which attract mostly gays. But he qualified that this remained a 'hypothesis' and more research was needed.

His remarks caused a stir. Fridae.com, the organiser of the Nation party, rebuked his statements as 'sweeping' and 'irresponsible'.

Yesterday, Dr Balaji stressed the need for 'hard scientific facts'. He said medical experts, epidemiologists and the Communicable Disease Centre (CDC) should collect and collate data on how HIV is being spread.

He acknowledged, however, that this would be difficult, as HIV patients may unwilling to reveal how they might have contracted the disease.

'Contact tracing is a very slow process which can take several months and results are very poor because the study is limited,' he said.

Experts currently studying the incidence of HIV do not have the legal power to obtain such information, he said, adding 'They're doing it blindfolded.'

His suggestion is for the experts, epidemiologists, and CDC to work out what legal or regulatory powers they would need to obtain the data.

'Then, the Ministry of Health will consider whether we should legislate it, or whether we still need to see more hard scientific data,' he said.

Fridae.com's chief executive officer Stuart Koe said he agreed with Dr Balaji on the need for a comprehensive study to formulate a strategy that encompasses prevention, care, support and treatment of HIV.

'But until such research is done,' he said, 'it's premature to forward any hypothesis, as it taints the public's perception of HIV. His statements were very damaging.'