Neglect Does Not Create Harmony

Neglect Does Not Create Real Harmony
This Wednesday, during lunch in canteen, I met a close friend whom I had known for almost 5 years. We were chatting about recent livings, and suddenly, he told me that he was a gay or bisexual. I was very shocked and amazed. Most of us here are raised in a comparatively conservative environment that is very different from that of west. Homosexuality, or even simple sex education, are very uncommonly seen in homes and societies. Homosexuality is particularly a taboo subject in most Asian societies. Although being such a highly internationalized and integrated country, Singapore’s social culture is still towards conservative and orthodox. Therefore, topics concerning homosexuality are hardly mentioned in any form of governmental or social media.

However, neglecting the topic of homosexuality does not mean homosexuality is not an issue here in Singapore. Homosexuals are often seen walking around us, on the streets, in shops, everywhere in our life.

“In Singapore, beyond a reasonable doubt, there is a good population of homosexuals and transsexuals. However, the society in general is not receptive to issues relating to homosexuality. This caused many gay people to relocate to countries like Australia, Britain and the United States. As many gay people are artistically inclined, we are losing a good number of talented individuals as well.”
(ST Forum Page, Aug 2, 2006 How to keep youth rooted to Singapore)

Being a very pragmatic government, Singapore sets most of its policies on a realistic basis. However it imposes a much harsher policy towards homosexuality. Mr Lee Kuan Yee once stated that, as long as the homosexuals, i.e. gays and lesbians, do not harm any other people in the society, they are relatively not a subject to be discussed for the government. On the other hand, the Singapore law still states homosexuality as a criminal offence, especially the very famous Section 377A (”Outrages on decency”):

“Any male person who, in public or private, commits, or abets the commission of, or procures or attempts to procure the commission by any male person of, any act of gross indecency with another male person, shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 2 years”
(http://statutes.agc.gov.sg/non_version/cgi-bin/cgi_getdata.pl?actno=1872-REVED-224&segid=888373002-001939#888373002-002615)

(The famous Section 337A has been subject to a great discussion in year 2007. There are some interesting stories regarding homosexuality in the following websites which I am sure most people will be very interested:
http://www.keep377a.com/Default.aspx
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2007/10/nmp-siew-kum-hong-turn-our-backs-on-prejudice-discrimination-intolerance-and-hatred/)

Whether being a heterosexual or homosexual is not a choice but a very innate property of people. However, the social acceptance of this conservative society to homosexuality is still under doubt. Many people, including the governors are not tolerative enough to homosexuals. There was a case in which a lawyer was charged even when he had consensual sex with another man, in a bedroom. Because the other man was the complainant, he was not charged. Therefore to know the degree of people’s acceptance towards homosexuals is the most important purpose of this survey research.

Besides social tolerance and acceptance, awareness about homosexuality is also a challenging topic. How much do people know about homosexuality? What are the differences between heterosexuality bisexuality and homosexuality? Why are there homosexuals? Are they scaring? Can sex orientation be persuaded and learned or are they innate? Therefore the measuring of the awareness of homosexuality among Singaporeans is another central topic of this survey.

Another possible research topic is the feedbacks from homosexuals in Singapore, including their own attitudes towards their sex orientation, their conflicts with heterosexuals, and their situations and so on. However, it will be difficult to collect data for this topic because firstly, a lot of homosexuals are hidden from most of us. Secondly, whether they are willing to give information is also an underlying problem. In addition, this topic is still very sensitive and too aggressive results may not be allowed to publish.

When people think of racial harmony in Singapore, they will be proud of this and will consider the racial policy in Singapore is very successive. However, there is a survey result published in the newspaper that shows the opposite. Most people, especially students, despite the fact that being raised in a multi-racial and multi religious environment, they know very little about other races and religions. They simply neglect them and do not talk about these topics in daily life. However, is this true social harmony?

The purpose of the report is to reveal most Singaporeans’ awareness, tolerance and acceptance towards homosexuality and to provide some possible suggestions for government to consider when they deal with homosexuality. People’s attitudes towards homosexuality will be an important message for their policies.

Hypothesis: Most Singaporeans know very little about homosexuality and they are not tolerative enough to accept homosexuas in public.

Problem Statement: The purpose of this research is to find out the acceptance level and releveat knowledge of Singaporeans towards homosexuality and possbilely the feedbacks from homosexuals in Singapore.

Purpose Statement: The objective of this report is to find out issues or conflicts that exists in policies and social attitudes towards homosexuality in Singapore and provide some possible suggestions for sloving them.