The recent announcement that S377A will soon be repealed is cause for celebration. Yet societal attitudes towards the queer community will not change overnight.
Essays
As another year passes, the question is less about whether we can see others, but about whether we can make people feel seen.
By conflating protectionism with traditional workplace discrimination, we risk creating a watered-down law that fails to address the real discrimination faced by people from from marginalised groups.
The nation as a concept is so new and limited. For most of recorded history people tended to identify with their city, town or village first. To cherish the Singapore of “Saint Jack” opens up a different kind of belonging.
The invasion of Ukraine appears to have validated the old guard’s hawkish instincts. Yet it also offers Singaporeans a chance to interrogate our contemporary notions of home, community and enemy.