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05/03/2008: "Anger, sadness, and the horrible helpless feeling of being unable to change anything"
mood: Upset
As much as I love my country, one thing that's always chafed at me is its narrow-mindedness and disgustingly unfair attitude towards the issue of homosexuality. I don't buy the bullshit that the Government gives about "Singaporeans are very conservative and they want the ban on homosexuality to stay, so it will." So what, if Singaporeans got pissed at foreign talent for coming into the country and "snatching" their jobs away, and were vocal enough about their dissatisfaction, you'll listen to them and ban all foreigners from entering the country too? A government's role isn't to be swayed by public opinion, it's to do what is good for the people. And surely encouraging prejudice can't be the right thing to do.
But what is it that my country has done so far, you ask?
So first, it refused to repeal section 377a of the Penal Code which penalises homosexuality, even though section 377 itself is already done away with and it is now perfectly legal for heterosexual couples to engage in oral and anal sex. Just not (male) homosexual couples. How perfectly logical.
Then it turns out to be guilty of editing TV content that even so much as MENTIONS the possibility of homosexuals leading happy, well-adjusted family lives. Because as I'm sure we all know, that is a complete and utter lie. Homosexuals are all bad, evil people who are living miserable and wretched lives and dying alone of AIDs in dirty gutters.
Then there was the incident of a TV station getting fined for showing an MTV with a lesbian kiss in it. Because as the entirely enlightened Queen Victoria would have said, lesbianism is just a myth and a romantic relationship between two females can't possibly exist.
Now THIS.
I am seriously pissed. I am so angry at this that I almost feel like crying*. What the HELL is WRONG with my country!? >:(
This reminds me of how, when I was reading the transcript of Siew Kum Hong's excellent speech appealing for the abolishment of section 377a+, I came across this quote on one of the comments:
"If you care too much about Singapore, it’ll break your heart."
I agree. It's certainly breaking mine.
*Re: the wanting to cry thing, there's the possibility that that's just me being overly emotional since it's that time of the month. But that doesn't change the fact that everything I say in this entry is true to my feelings regarding the issue.
+I recommend reading that blog entry. It truly is wonderful. Reading some of the personal anecdotes of those who supported the call for the repeal actually made me tear up. And it left me with the hope that with people like that, perhaps sometime in the future, Singapore might change for the better.
