1 Aug 2008

Singapore's Indignation begins Aug 1

For the fourth year in succession, Singapore's LGBT Pride Season opens tonight with an open house cocktail reception. The 2-week long event will run till Aug 19.

Featuring 17 events including forums, art exhibitions, readings of plays and other works, the festival will see the launch of SinQSA, the queer-straight alliance on Saturday, Aug 2. The event will be followed by a night hike organised by Adlus from midnight till dawn.

The Unofficial Pink Picnic - so termed because the event was banned by the National Parks Board Saturday last year - will be held at the Botanic Gardens on Singapore's National Day, Aug 9. Despite the ban last year, over a hundred people turned up to have a picnic which went on without a hitch.

For the first time in four Pride Seasons, there will be a forum focussing on the science of sexual orientation on Aug13.

In another first, the festival will feature a panel of four Malaysians - Prof. Farish A. Noor, a Senior Fellow at the S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University; Jerome Kugan, a writer and musician; Jac sm Kee, a feminist writer, activist, poet and occasional painter; and Pang Khee Teik, Arts Programme Director of The Annexe Gallery and former editor of the online arts magazine Kakiseni.com - who will share their personal stories about love and loss on Aug 16.

Constance Singam, a social activist and the President of women's rights group AWARE, will speak about the role of queer women within the feminist movement in Singapore on the same day.

A Charity Art Auction will be held on Aug 16 as TheBearProject, a local gay community group of stocky and big-sized men (and the guys who love them), hopes to raise funds for The Necessary Stage's Triangle Project which provides opportunities for the less privileged to watch theatre.

On Aug 19, Daniel Tung from Action for Aids will give an overview of trends in Singapore and the neighbouring countries in light of rising HIV infection rates in many Asian countries while Thomas Ng, a lawyer, will give an update on changes to the Infectious Diseases Act.

Visit www.plu.sg/indignation for more details and an extensive list of events.

Fridae is proud to a principal sponsor of Indignation. A movie fundraiser organised by Fridae in May helped raise S$10,000.


At a glance:

Welcome reception
Friday, 1 August 2008, 7 pm, at 72-13

Ancestors on the beach - an art exhibition by Jimmy Ong
Friday 1 August 2008 to Wednesday 20 August 2008. Time: 6-10pm (Tue-Fri), 12-10pm (Sat+Sun), closed on Mon and public holidays, at Post Museum

From fag to friend, a forum by the Queer-straight alliance
Saturday, 2 August 2008, 3:00 pm, at 72-13

From classoom to comics, by Otto Fong
(See article link below: Singapore teacher removes coming out blog under ministry pressure)
Saturday, 2 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at 72-13

Adlus night hike
Saturday, 2 August 2008, 11:30 pm to dawn, start location to be advised. Registration required @ www.plu.sg/indignation

Cruising through history
Sunday, 3 August 2008, 3 pm, at the Post Museum

Silence and aching hearts
Private event. Registration required @ www.plu.sg/indignation
Tuesday, 5 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at 72-13

Tong bu tong 2 - Another tribe
Rated M18
Wednesday, 6 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at 72-13

Opening of art exhibition - Jimmy Ong: Ancestors on the Beach
Thursday, 7 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at Post Museum

ContraDiction IV
Rated M18
Thursday, 7 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at 72-13

The Unofficial Pink Picnic
(See article links below: The pink non-picnic and Singapore bans gay picnic)
Saturday, 9 August 2008, 4:30 pm, Botanic Gardens Symphony Lake

Brain surgery - what's inside the heads of homophobes?
Tuesday, 12 August 2008, 7:30, at 72-13

Too often ignored: The science of sexual orientation
(See article link below: No place for scientific illiterates in the gay debate)
Wednesday, 13 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at 72-13

My wife, my kids...
Friday, 15 August, 7:30 pm, at Post Museum

Heartbreak heroes: Four Malaysians on surviving love, loss and a hostel in Singapore
Private event. Registration required @ www.plu.sg/indignation
Saturday, 16 August 2008, 3 pm, at 72-13

TheBearProject Charity Art Show
Saturday, 16 August 2008, 7 pm, at Play

Queer women within feminist Singapore
Saturday, 16 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at 72-13

Is HIV becoming an Asian disease?
(See article link below: New asia pacific statistics reveal an alarming incidence of HIV in MSM)
Tuesday, 19 August 2008, 7:30 pm, at Post Museum

Singapore