THREE Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) hopefuls, Mr Siew Kum Hong, Ms Loretta Chen and Ms Beatrice Chia-Richmond, have come under heavy criticism from netizens for being 'homosexuality' activists.
Mr Siew - who is seeking a second term as an NMP - has been bearing the brunt of the flak and was flamed on several popular forums, including a discussion thread on the government's Reach website, over his recent involvement in the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) leadership tussle.
Several postings accuse him of 'promoting homosexual lifestyle' and creating 'outrage among the majority of Singaporean', especially among parents.
One netizen wrote: 'I strongly feel that Siew Kum Hong is not suitable to be an NMP at all. His recent behaviour is really questionable. Why is he pushing so hard for the GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexuals and Transgender)? There are so many more pressing issues during this recession and yet he devoted so much of his time to the Aware saga.'
Another wrote: 'Does his views reflect the views of Parliment? He is dragging the whole reputation of the Singapore Govt and Parliment down with his actions. Stop wasting our time in Parliment and polarising Singapore society.'
But a small group is defending him. Said one of them: 'The more comments I read here, the more I realise that Siew Kum Hong has stood up for the advancement of very basic social and human rights issues that far too often goes unspoken or ignored by other representatives in the country.'
First opened for comments on May 1, the thread has gathered over 114 comments, with over 1,800 page views on Thursday morning.
Reach is a government-run website which encourages Singaporeans to contribute feedback and ideas on issues that concern them.
Known for his controversial views on several issues, including the repeal of of Section 377A which criminalises sex between consenting males, Mr Siew, 34, has supported the Aware's old guard who were ousted from office. He then actively campaigned for them and acted as their legal advisor during the Extraordinary General Meeting (EOGM) on May 2, which booted out the new executive committee and brought back the old guard.
Socio-political website Wayang Party said on its site that it has received notice that a campaign is underway to 'swarm' Reach with feedback to exert pressure on the Parliamentary Select Committee to reject Mr Siew's application.
The committee, led by Parliament Speaker Abdullah Tarmugi, will make its recommendations on NMPs to the President after the interview process.
Ms Chen, a theatre director, has been accused of being 'no different' in advocating a gay agenda.
'She's openly gay and has also directed films with mainly controversial themes. She's supposed to be a nominee from the arts community but is this again a back door for more pro LGBTs to represent voice in Parliament for education?' wrote a netizen on Reach.
Another critic says of Ms Chia-Richmond: 'She has directed and acted in many movies and mostly, if not all, are extremely provocative, dark and controversial, and many based on theme on homosexuality...'
Mr Siew has also been flamed on his personal blog for his so-called 'gay agenda', which prompted netizen to complain to the Prime Minister's Office.
This letter, which is posted by Mr Siew's blog site, says: 'We want to complain to the govt that an NMP Siew Kum Hong was not only openly taking sides in this internal affair of a secular organisation, but was part of the orchestrated disorder and mayhem on that day. He showed no regard for protocols until challenged by a member from the floor.'
Mr Siew remains unfazed by the torrent of criticisms. He told The New Paper (TNP) on Thursday that 'at no point did I seek to leverage on the fact that I am an NMP'.
'I am anti-discriminatory.... these people are ignoring the existence of the middle ground,' TNP quoted him as saying.
