Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong’s wife, Ho Ching, has shared yet another pro-Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender (LGBT) post on her social media page.
Just a few days ago, Mdm Ho – who is well known for flood-posting her Facebook page with several links throughout the course of each day – shared an article on social media about how a UK citizen took his life after his strict Muslim family told him he needed to be cured of being gay.
Yesterday, Mdm Ho – who also serves as CEO of Singapore sovereign wealth fund Temasek – shared another LGBT-related post on Facebook. This time, she shared an article on how boys can wear skirts under a Taiwan school’s gender-neutral uniform plan.
This is not the first time Mdm Ho has posted pro-LGBT posts on her personal Facebook page. Last year, she surprised many when she shared an invitation to the Pink Dot event on her Facebook page, over the Chinese New Year holidays.
Less than one week after she made news for sharing the Pink Dot event page on her social media wall, Mdm Ho made heads turn when she shared an article entitled ‘The colourful origins of the gay pride rainbow flag’ online.
Pink Dot is an annual non-profit event held at The Speakers Corner in support of the LGBT community in Singapore. The Government of Singapore is widely perceived to oppose the annual event, especially after it enforced tighter security restrictions at the event in 2017.
The government said that the restrictions were meant to bar foreigners from assembling at the Speakers Corner, but people on the ground felt that the measures (like submitting to an ID check and increased security barriers) scared some individuals off.
Officially, sex between mutually consenting men is criminalised in Singapore. While Section 377A of the Singapore Penal Code – a British colonial-era legislation – is very rarely enforced here, a man found to have committed an act of “gross indecency” with another man could be jailed for up to two years under Section 377A.
The latest social initiative against Section 377A, the Ready4Repeal campaign, gained immense traction and even drew support from establishment figures like former attorney-general Walter Woon and distinguished diplomat Tommy Koh, but failed to effect change.
Last month, PM Lee quashed all hope that Section 377A will be repealed in Singapore anytime soon, as he asserted that the law criminalising gay sex will be around “for some time.”
Many find Mdm Ho’s pro-LGBT posts surprising given her husband’s stance and his Government’s refusal to repeal the law criminalising gay sex. -/TISG