Below are recordings from the BBC TV program ‘Peschardt’s People’ where I was featured. It was shown on international TV, including Singapore on 25 June and 26 June 2010.

Part 1 of 2

Part 2 of 2

With regard to the ongoing—and very sensational!—controversy between the old and the new leaderships of Aware, Singapore’s best known women’s organisation, the Sunday Times asked for my views to be included in their feature, which appeared in their 26 April 2009 issue

Dr Catherine Lim, 67
Author and political commentator

‘On the personal level, I am a liberal, and hence emotionally take my stand with those who will support gays, lesbians, pro-lifers, etc. if I believe they – and indeed fellow human beings in general – are being unfairly treated.

But on the level of public opinion and judgment, I believe that personal emotions should be assiduously got out of the way, to leave room for only facts and considerations based on democratic processes and the due operations of law.

In this particular case of the Aware debacle, it is clear that the change of leadership was legitimate and democratic, although unusual, unexpected and even shocking.

My stand therefore is to let the new leadership prove itself. They have already stated that they are committed to the principles upon which Aware was founded. Give them time to prove this commitment.

If it turns out to be otherwise, that’s an issue that can be dealt with in its own time and place. But to judge the new leadership on suspicions and speculations is, to me, not quite right.

Singapore as a nation prides itself on being a pluralistic, inclusive and open society that readily adapts to changing conditions, which is why, for instance, a traditionally conservative government has recently taken a more relaxed stance towards homosexuals, since they contribute well to the economic and artistic life of society.

But it is still an ambivalent stand: The laws against homosexual behaviour, paradoxically, remain. This sending out of mixed signals has encouraged two opposing groups, the liberals and the conservatives, to see this period as the best and most opportune time to push their own agenda.

Currently, we are seeing the moral issue of homosexuality as the centre of the conflict between the old and the new leaderships of Aware.

In the future, other related moral issues such as abortion, stem cell therapy, euthanasia and so on are likely to emerge.

Again and again, I would like to reiterate the importance, when adjudicating on sensitive moral issues at the public level, to take into account all views (no matter how repellent) and, ultimately, to consider the good of the society as a whole.

This is never easy, and compromises will have to be made, but it is the whole nature of the democratic processes that as a society we have embraced.

I expect that after all the emotional venting, the old and new guard of Aware will simply calm down, take sensible stock of the situation and see what they should do next.

I certainly hope that the saga will not reach a stage when the Government will have to intervene. Oh dear no, that will be about the worst that can happen in a state where the people already depend too much on the Government to make decisions for them.

The worst possible scenario: Organisations cry help whenever they can’t resolve their problems, the Government comes in, solves the problem quickly in accordance with its policies, there follows a steady politicisation of all social, moral and cultural issues, and eventually civic society is permanently enfeebled.’

Reports by Jamie Ee Wen Wei, Nur Dianah Suhaimi and Debbie Yong

The following is an excerpt from an interview with PRIME Magazine, November – December 2007 issue.

You were born in Penang but grew up in Kedah. What were your childhood years like? Do you miss your home in Malaysia?

My childhood years were very happy. I grew up with 13 siblings, and although we were not well-to-do, we did not want for anything. My sisters and I had fun making our own toys, including doll houses from empty matchboxes and dolls from rolling white paper into two thin firm rolls which were then tied together with white thread to form a cross, giving a head, arms and a body. I remember collecting bits of discarded cloth from the local seamstress to make into clothes for our dolls, which had names and were always embroiled in gossip, quarrels and scandals.

No, I don’t really miss my home in Malaysia. I’m in touch with my siblings who are settled all over the world — Singapore, Malaysia, Australia and Canada — and when we meet, we indulge in happy, exuberant reminiscence of our childhood years in Malaysia. Read more

Reuters wrote in the Sydney Morning Herald:

A climate of fear that stops citizens from speaking out against the government could eventually lead to the decline of Singapore, novelist Catherine Lim says.

Lim, Singapore’s best-known writer, praised the government for its economic achievements but said its Achilles’ heel could be its suppression of criticism, such as defamation suits against opposition politicians and bans on protests.

“A compliant, fearful population that has never learnt to be politically savvy could spell the doom of Singapore,” Lim told Reuters in an interview.

View the rest of the story here.