laremy.sg

At the National Library now. Decided to take a break from writing by reading something and ventured over to the shelves behind me.

Picked up SQ21: Singapore Queers in the 21st Century by Ng Yi-Sheng and could not stop reading the book because the stories are so compelling.

Here’s a nugget that made me chuckle:

The word [that the interviewee was gay] spread higher and higher up the command chain until it reached my course commander, who was this Senior Warrant Office. He was this big Indian man, a really old-fashioned conservative fella, very regimental. Everything had to be in tiptop shape, our boots had to be shiny, our bunks had to be clean all the time, and he was always telling us, “Fucking hell. You all better run faster! You all so slow!”

I realised this could turn into something big, and I was really afraid for a while. But then once, during a lecture, he was saying, “The weekend’s coming. You all are booking out. Why don’t you all go get yourself a fuck? So how many of you got girlfriends?” Various hands went up. “Boyfriends?” Then everyone turned and looked at me, and I was thinking, “Shit you!”

Then the course commander said, “Why? What’s wrong? Why? Who’s anti-gay here?” A few people put up their hands. He pointed his finger and said, “Okay you. Get out of your seat. You also, get out. You go sit over there one corner. You all can form the anti-gay corner over there. (p. 133; emphasis mine)

Go read it if you haven’t already done so!

My e-mail to the ST Forum Online yesterday has been published, albeit under a different heading and very much moderated in tone.

From: Laremy Lee
Date: May 26, 2009 3:18:07 PM GMT+08:00
To: stforum@sph.com.sg
Subject: Let’s stand together and stop the name-calling.

Dear Madam/Sir,

I REFER to Mr Tan Keng Soon’s letter (‘’Sexually challenged’ isn’t an offensive term referring to gays’, May 26).

I acknowledge that there will always be some people in Singapore who might not readily accept our fellow Singaporeans for who they are. However, I feel we should not be calling them names.

It is unclear whether using labels like ‘sexually challenged’ may make a difference to the sexual orientation of Singaporeans. What we do know is that using negative labels are hurtful, and are tantamount to a form of hate speech.

If we persist in using such terms, we are only persisting in being divisive, which is socially and economically unviable for Singapore. Divisiveness in society, as history has shown, is fertile ground for external elements to bring a country to its knees.

At the same time, I have had enough of seeing Singapore divided over this matter, especially in fragile times like these.

I think it is time we stand together and stop the name-calling. All of us have our differences, but the one thing we share in common, besides being Singaporean, is being human.

Let’s try to work on that, shall we?

Thank you.

Yours sincerely,
Laremy LEE (Mr)

Once upon a time, the simple life comprised waking up, making a nice cuppa tea and having lunch while tuning in to podcasts/The Simpsons/South Park for three hours.

If that was the simple life, then life has become infinitely more complicated – I just had to limit myself to watching/listening to three podcasts.

Very surprisingly, I complied. There’s work to be done, so even blog posts have to be constructed hastily.

Anyway, I’ve either been very deprived of entertainment, or the three podcasts I caught were really good. In any case, do catch them if you can:

1. Midwest Teen Sex Show Episode 23: Vaginas.
2. the mrbrown show: drive safe below
3. the mrbrown show: new media gahmen

Also, do consider being friends with @yandao1957 if you can. He’s a poor chap, take pity on him.