SINGAPORE: A group known for its conservative views raised eyebrows last month after publishing a “scorecard” on its website showing the top five Members of Parliament for “Pushing Back LGBTQ Ideology.”
Leading the pack is none other than Prime Minister Lawrence Wong, who, like the others in the top five, received a full five-star rating based on the following categories: Support Definition of Man-Woman Marriage, Protect Policies From LGBTQ+ Ideology, Support Freedom of Religion & Conscience, Never Attended Pink Dot, and Spoke About Harms of LGBTQ+ Ideology.
While two other MPs from the ruling PAP are also in the top five, Masagos Zulkifli (Tampines GRC) and Alex Yam (Marsiling–Yew Tee GRC), the other two are from the opposition Workers’ Party, Gerald Giam (Aljunied GRC) and Dennis Tan (Hougang SMC).
There are no MPs from the ruling party in the bottom five, however, all of whom were given a paltry half-star. All three WP MPs from Sengkang— He Ting Ru, Louis Chua, and Jamus Lim— together with Progress Singapore Party NCMP Hazel Poa and Nominated Member of Parliament Tan Mia Swam, received the lowest ratings.
On July 23, 2022, a group held an event called Protect Singapore Townhall at the Singapore Expo convention center to urge the government “to maintain the current political package and not to repeal Section 377A.” It was attended by 1,200 people and was organized by Jason Wong, the founder of the Yellow Ribbon Project as well as the Dads for Life movement, and Mohamed Khair Mohamed Noor, the CEO & Founder of The SuChi Group.
“We urge the Government to maintain the current political package and not to repeal Section 377A unless and until there are adequate safeguards for our marriages, families, and freedom of conscience.
This includes enshrining man-woman marriage in the Constitution,” the two men wrote at the time.
Less than a month later, then-Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong announced during the National Day Rally that the government intended to repeal Section 377A.
Nevertheless, Protect Singapore has kept on with its so-called “fight” for “family values,” and appears to continue to enjoy a degree of support from at least some Singaporeans as this Reddit thread and the social media pages of the group and its founders.
The rhetoric against LGBTQ+ groups, meanwhile, is largely perceived as harmful by many as it can lead to not only hate speech but even hateful and dangerous actions, as has been seen in other countries. Transgender individuals, in particular, are more likely to be victims of violence.
And in the end, isn’t Mr Wong the Prime Minister for all Singaporeans, not just those who may conform to his particular belief system? /TISG