* * * * *

 
This kind of unthinking, kneejerk association, is a handicap to a country. It prevents truly able people from reaching positions of responsibility, whether in the public or private sector, just because they do not conform to widespread notions of "normality". Of course, they would use the words "decency" or "morality", but frankly, these are loaded terms. They are subjective, arbitrary, and not amenable to rational dissection, relying merely on popular buy-in for legitimacy.

Spurious arguments will and have been made -- it reflects poor judgement to allow such things to happen if one knows that society cannot accept it -– but such arguments can go too far. The tighter the straitjacket we put on people in public life, the fewer there will be who'd choose to offer themselves for such a life. And we're all the losers in the end, depriving ourselves of capable leaders.

Talent comes in many forms. People may be eccentric, physically handicapped or thrice divorced. They may be brown, and yes, they may be gay.

* * * * *

Triathlete Mok Ying Ren

Singapore too is not immune to similar over-reaction. Our top male and female triathletes, medical student Mok Ying Ren, 20, and post-graduate education student Dinah Chan, 22. were slapped with a competition ban for being caught alone in a hotel room. [3] 

I can't see from any reports though, how long the ban is for.

The Triathlon Association of Singapore (TAS) slapped the ban on them after discovering the two in the same hotel room last October in Bali, during the Asian Beach Games. The association's code of conduct forbids male and female athletes from sharing a room and requires the door to be kept open when there is a visitor of the opposite gender. They had been assigned separate rooms but their coach Guo Weidong, chanced upon their being together while calling on Mok at his room.

This is really ridiculous. They are both over 18, and even if they were having sex (bear in mind: no claim is made that they were), so what? It would be legal for them to do so.

Even if they technically broke the rules, isn't a ban too harsh? Don't we deprive young people of their dreams and Singapore of sporting honours when we get so moralistic about such nonsense?

Moreover, as readers of this site, by now sensitised to the gay angle of most things, will no doubt have wondered, what would happen if the athletes were gay, and two men or two women spent a night together in the same room?

* * * * *

A picture of the Holland Village couple circulating on the internet. I don't know who took it.

There there's also the case of the couple who walked stark naked down a street in Holland Village, on the evening of 24 January 2009, in what was probably a stunt. A "leonardtan" posted his eyewitness account on the forum of jobscentral.sg:

I was in Holland Village at around 11pm last night, when me and my friends saw two naked people walking towards us near NYDC!

One was a tall Caucasian man, and the other a petite woman who looked Japanese. They both had footwear on, and the girl was wearing a slingbag, but other than that, they were completely nude!

They looked really comfortable walking down the street, which led to many curious stares. Interestingly enough, the couple walked towards 7-11, and must have made their way around the entire Holland V, because they eventually appeared again near Wala Wala!

They stopped at one of the tables to chat with a group of people and were still naked! Even when a crowd gathered and some people started taking photos, they didn't bother to cover their private parts or run away.

Minutes later, they put their clothes back on, and left the area to walk towards 7-11 again. Quite a few people in the crowd cheered them on, and the girl even waved back haha.

But not everyone thought it was a thrill. Someone in the crowd called the police, who arrested the two. According to news reports, if convicted under Singapore law, they could face a fine of maximum fine of S$2000, up to 3 months imprisonment, or both. However, I haven't seen further action on this case.

More public nudity... though not in Singapore in this case.

 
Predictably, letter writers to the Straits Times and some online forummers bemoaned the decline in moral values and hoped they'd be thrown in jail.

"Reliance" wrote on jobscentral: "Now it is nudity, next it will be copulation in public. Whoever called the police did the right thing. Want expression? Do it in your own bedroom."

Fortunately, others spoke up against such tight-arsed attitudes.

"Valhalla" pointed out the typical slippery slope argument used above. He said in response, "What's with the 'Now it is nudity, next it will be copulation in public' argument? perhaps the police should also arrest and jail jaywalkers based on that; 'now jaywalking, next it will be arson.' "

He also wrote: "We ought to take ourselves a little less seriously sometimes; appreciate a little spontaneity; be amused rather than start moralizing based on 'asian values'. what are 'asian values' anyway?"

Singapore's thousands of leaflet distributors might learn a thing or two from these guys on how to get people's attention....

Agreeing, jobless27 wrote: "Too many Singaporeans are hypocritical prudes. And it's a shame that the 'asian values' construct created by the government to defend some archaic policies is being espoused by citizens too."

* * * * *

Indeed, governments and politicians have a huge influence on a society's idea of "decency", but it is often done for self-serving reasons. They use a pre-existing bias in society and then play it up for political gain, in the process adding hysteria to the mix. In the end, it is the people as a whole who pay the price through the sacrifice of leadership (or sporting) talent when otherwise capable people are ruled out for all sorts of silly reasons.

© Yawning Bread