Section 377A and the 'island mentality'

Okay, thanks to Singapore Daily, I read a number of posts  by other bloggers who have responded to Pastor Lawrence Khong's hateful homophobic tirade on the issue of section 377A and I want to bring a bit of common sense to the debate. I recognize that this is a divisive issue and Singapore Daily has done its best to address both side of the divide by posting links to both pro-gay and anti-gay articles: fair enough. However, this is what irks me about a lot of people when it comes to the issue of S377A. Singapore is not this little bubble isolated from the rest of the world - Singapore is on planet earth, where there are many other countries. Some of those countries like Sweden, the Netherlands and Belgium have very liberal laws on the issue of gay rights, whilst others like Saudi Arabia, Uganda and Iran have the death penalty for gays - and there's everything in between.

Why do so many people discuss the topic as if, "oh we have no idea what will happen to Singapore if we repeal section 377A... we will be plunging into the unknown..." Rubbish. Nonsense. There are so many countries who have made the move towards a more gay-friendly society (and indeed, there are countries like Russia and Uganda who have moved in the opposite direction) - this is hardly uncharted territory. There are so many examples for you to compare and contrast Singapore with and see exactly what happened in those other countries when you make a change like repealing a law like section 377A. Singapore is hardly unique in that aspect and the consequences of repealing section 377A are very predictable indeed - it will simply follow the pattern of many other countries who have already done so. I'd like to address this 'island mentality' found amongst so many ignorant Singaporeans.

Do you see Singapore as so cut-off and different from other parts of the world?

I have traveled very widely since my university days, I have lived and worked in a number of countries around the world. One of the key things that struck me about encountering different cultures in these countries is the similarities they have once you get over the superficial differences in languages or the way people dress - when I was in Oman recently, I was approached by a woman at the Sultan Qaboos mosque in Muscat. She spoke English fluently and was a volunteer with the mosque and she merely wanted to have a conversation with me to 'demystify' Islam. She made no attempt to convert me to Islam per se, but she just wanted to see how much I knew about Islam and if I had any misconceptions, she wanted to address them.

I told her that I grew up in Singapore and have worked in Dubai, hence I have always had Muslim friends and she tested me, "Okay then Alex, name me the five pillars of Islam." I managed to rattle off all five without hesitation and she was impressed. I then asked her if other tourists she encountered were ignorant about Islam and she gave me a knowing smile, "I'm just glad they are here to see this beautiful mosque and that I have the opportunity to speak to them... To tell them about our mosque, about Oman and about Islam." We then had a conversation in general about Oman and I told her a bit about what it was like growing up in Singapore where we have always had a respect and awareness of Islam because of the Malay community there. She then compared it to the time she studied in England and what it felt like to be a Muslim at university there.

At the Sultan Qaboos Mosque in Muscat, Oman

Here's my point: when I was traveling in Oman, I was so aware of the differences at first. Women were often covered up in traditional Islamic dress and as a visitor, I was so careful to be respectful to their local customs. And as the volunteer approached me at the mosque, the first thing that struck me was the way she was wearing a tightly woven headscarf that covered most of her face from her eyebrows to her chin - my first thought as she approached was, "Why is she approaching me? Who is this woman? Am I allowed to talk to a woman in a mosque like this? Is she going to try to convert me to Islam? Do I have to tell her I am an atheist?"

However, five minutes into our conversation - I so totally got over the initial, superficial differences. Yeah this was a Muslim Omani lady in traditional Islamic dress, but we actually found a lot of common ground and I think she was also as pleasantly surprised as I was! We were laughing and joking, exchanging stories about our travels and she was such a pleasant, witty and charming person. I can imagine if her approaching some Japanese or Korean tourist in the mosque and barely being able to get over the language barrier with them - never mind establishing much common ground. Heck, if she had approached my father in that mosque, my father wouldn't be able to speak to her as he doesn't speak English - thus he would only ever focus on the differences with someone like her. And that is a shame.

Oman was an incredible experience!

Unfortunately, it is this kind of attitude that creates the 'island mentality' - where Singaporeans focus only on the differences (however small) rather than look for the similarities. They think that Singapore is so different from the rest of the world, even from our closest neighbours because they always focus on the differences rather than the glaringly obvious similarities. This can be fairly harmless - I remember the way my mother protested vehemently when my sister wanted to take her son on holiday to East Malaysia and I was like aiyoh just go lah, what is the worst that can happen? My mother said in all seriousness, "The food in Sabah is different! He will lao sai (have diarrhea) in Sabah!"

But lao sai aside, this kind of 'island mentality' leads to people like Pastor Khong failing to compare Singapore to other countries where they have decriminalized homosexual sex and have embraced more gay-friendly laws. There are plenty of countries where homosexuality is completely normal - let's take the UK for example, after all, being an ex-British colony, Singapore practically inherited all of Britain's law system. That is why we have section 377A in the first place, the irony of course is that Britain was already in the process of repealing it by the time Singapore became an independent country (homosexuality was decriminalized eventually in the UK in 1967). So if they had decriminalized it a few years earlier or if Singapore was only granted full independence as late as 1967, we wouldn't even be having this debate at all. Such was the twist of fate in Singapore's history that led to where we are today.

History played a cruel trick on the gays in Singapore. 

Vietnam is a former French colony and Vietnam has no equivalent of section 377A - consensual homosexual sex is completely legal in Vietnam. Likewise, Indonesia is a former Dutch colony and they don't have a law criminalizing gay sex either (apart from the province of Aceh which observes Sharia law). Thailand which was never a British colony has no laws criminalizing gay sex at all. Hong Kong which remained a full British colony right up till 1997 does not have an equivalent of section 377A because as part of the British empire, it was repealed in 1967. As a result,  the gays in Singapore (and Malaysia for that matter) are really unlucky to be stuck with section 377A.

Khong keeps asserting that homosexuality is harmful to society to justify his support for section 377A - but what he fails to explain is what harm homosexuality can do to society? After all, I live in the UK (and have been here since 1997, I am a British citizen today) - since 1967 when homosexuality was decriminalized, we have come a very long way in catching up with the rest of Europe when it comes to gay rights. I am most proud of the way we have anti-hate crime laws that protect not just gays, but anyone and everyone from hate crimes - this is a mark of a truly civilized society.What harm has come to our society, as a direct consequence of respecting the rights of homosexuals in British society?

What harm have gays done to British society? None. 

Sure we have problems in British society - no society is perfect and believe you me, I am only too aware of the many problems here. But to try to draw any kind of correlation between gay rights and the ills of society... How utterly ridiculous is that? Straight people are fully capable of causing the problems in British society without any help from the gays. Remember that crazy American Christian preacher who blamed the gays for Hurricane Sandy? Pastor Khong is heading down that same path - yeah sure, just blame the gays for everything bad in society to justify your ridiculous sense of sense righteousness. (Does he realize how ignorant he sounds?)

Here's the fundamental difference: Pastor Khong doesn't believe that gays have the same rights or that they are equal as human beings under the law. Thankfully, in far more enlightened Western democracies, gays and Christians (and everyone else) are equal before the eyes of the law. We see Khong's ignorant 'island mentality' at play again: yes we have laws in the West that protect people from hate crime and that is a good thing. That means that hateful people like Pastor Khong cannot come to somewhere like the UK and spout his brand of anti-gay homophobic rhetoric. Oh does that infringe on his freedom of speech, if we criminalize people who instigate such hate crimes? How about if we turned this around and if someone started instigating violence towards Christians? Khong would be the first person to protest and call the police. So he thinks that Christians should enjoy special protection by the law but not gays - he wants to have his right to be homophobic enshrined in the law? How dare you.

Khong is not just wrong - he is ignorant and bigoted. 

Now I could go on and tear Khong's argument apart bit by bit and expose him for what a total ignorant idiot he is and this is not me being Christian-phobic. I have nothing against Christians, I have something against ignorant fools who can't even be bothered to do a bit of research and get their facts fight before making stupid statements in public like Khong. The bottom line is this: Khong speaks of this apocalyptic vision of how society will fall apart and all hell will break lose if you grant homosexuals more rights. Well loads of countries in the West already have given homosexuality plenty of rights - have their societies fallen apart in the apocalyptic way that Khong described?

No. They haven't.

Khong has completely failed to back up his postulation with any concrete evidence - that's religious people for you. They are quite happy to take the bible at face value when I see it as a fancy story book that is completely fictitious in the absence of proof. People like Khong are so used to his congregation believing any thing he preaches in the name of religion because religious people are just so used to believing anything the pastor preaches because to question it and demand proof would tantamount to lacking faith. Well he may get away with that in his church, but don't expect me to be as generous when he spouts utter nonsense and bullshit without any concrete evidence. Go back and do your research before you open your mouth Khong - you're embarrassing yourself and showing how utterly ignorant you are.

Some Christians will blindly believe in their church's cause and people.

In any case, haven't you taken a closer look at how Singaporean society is slowly falling apart anyway despite homosexual sex being illegal in Singapore? The biggest time bomb facing Singapore is with the next generation and coupled with a huge influx of migrants from China, believe you me - you Singaporeans have far more serious problems to contend with than bothering about what gays get up to with each other in bed. When the shit hit the ceiling fan in Singapore (when the population hits 6.9 million), it won't be about homosexuality - oh you Singaporeans will be so deep in shit then that gays will be the last thing on your mind.

This begs the question: why is Khong so focused on the issue of gays and sexuality? Really, if he is that concerned about Singaporean society, why isn't he dealing with real issues that will affect the vast majority of Singaporeans far more directly - such as that of the massive influx of PRCs? After all, the issue of homosexuality will only affect a very small number of Singaporeans - vast number of Singaporeans don't even know any gay people or are not at all affected by it or perhaps they may have a friend at work or university who is gay, but are not personally affected by the issue. But competition for jobs, housing and other limited resources, yeah that's the kind of bread and butter issues that will affect everyone. So why doesn't Khong deal with these far more critical issues instead of focusing on gays then? Is it because your religion has no real guts to face the real enemy in Singapore instead?

Singaporeans have far more important things to worry about than what the gays get up to.

It is simple - gays are a soft target for Khong, it gives him that sense of self-righteousness when he goes all 'holier than thou' on everyone. It is time we saw Khong for what he is - an ignorant old man stuck with an 'island mentality'. I am standing up to Khong and saying to him, "open your eyes Khong, have a look at what is happening elsewhere in other countries. Yes other countries do exist you know and they're not that different from Singapore."

If it seems like I am making a personal attack on Khong, then so be it - he is an ignorant old man who is too used to not being challenged by his congregation. So he thinks he can spout whatever bullshit he wants without doing any research or come up with evidence to prove his points - well, I fully intend to hold him to account and expose him for his sheer ignorance and 'island mentality'. I am not trying to silence Khong - he is free to say whatever he wants, but he should know that freedom of speech is a double edged sword - you're free to say what you want, just make sure you're not embarrassing yourself in the process because if you get your facts wrong, you will look like a bloody stupid idiot, like Khong. If you have any opinions on the issue, you know the drill - leave a comment below, thanks!