BEFORE the actual commencement of the extraordinary general meeting (EOGM) of the Association of Women and Research (Aware), the battle lines seem to have already been drawn.
There are at least 100 people at the Suntec City Exhibition Hall 402, of which about 20 per cent are men.
The two separate camps are clearly distinct, with the new guard volunteers wearing red shirts with the words 'Pro woman, pro family, pro Singapore' on the back of the shirts, while the old guard volunteers have on white shirts with the words 'We are Aware'.
About 80 per cent of the crowd are wearing the bright red shirts.
The men refused comment and directed the reporters to speak to the women saying 'they know what's happening'. The women in red then said they were not authorised to speak to the press.
Several old guard members who turned up at 9am were told by event organisers to leave the voting area as it was 'neutral ground'. The women in red shirts, however, appear to have free access to the event location.
By 10.40am, more supporters of the old guard have arrived, donning white shirts given out by volunteers while the open area outside the event room has almost reached full capacity. The old guard supporters are now adopting a pro active approach, giving our packages with badges and a pamphlet listing the 3 reasons behind the vote of no confidence.
These are:
1. Values of the new exco are not the foundational values of aware
2. The new exco's lack of experience
3. Unjustified termination of experienced volunteers
At 10.45am, Ms Schutz Lee, 42, Aware's ex-centre manager, arrived and tried to enter the area but is pushed back by volunteers in red and told to leave. In response Ms Lee exclaimed, 'The rest of you are already inside, don't touch me!' and then asked the reporters 'Do you think this is right?'.
Volunteers in red say that instructions have come from organisers to clear the area, and this was later reinforced by the organiser, a man from an events management company. The organiser later spoke up and told all the old guard members to clear out, or he would call security.
In the meanitime, Aware's ex-President Mrs Constance Singam arrived along with former Assistant Honorary Treasury Chew I-Jin to meet and greet the old guard supporters, who hugged and greeted Mrs Singam warmly.
As the old guard supporters moved in an orderly fashion to the event site, one of the supporters known as Martha said that they would 'obey and be dignified'.
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