Family ties: NMP Thio's advocacy inappropriate

May 29, 2009
RELIGION, SECULARISM AND THE PRESS
Family ties: NMP Thio's advocacy inappropriate

AS A Singaporean who was abroad the entire time from when the news of the takeover of the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) broke to the extraordinary general meeting called by the old guard of Aware on May 2, I relied heavily on the traditional print media, mainly The Straits Times, as well as online and social media, to keep abreast of the saga as it unfolded.

With the Internet, anyone who felt that he had been portrayed unfairly in the media could put forward a different set of facts.

However, despite consciously looking out for an alternative set of facts from the group involved in the takeover, little information about the intent of the takeover and whether the old 'new- exco' members knew each other before the takeover was forthcoming from the parties concerned until The Straits Times reported what it had discovered during the course of its investigation.

Given that two of Nominated Member of Parliament (NMP) Thio Li-ann's relatives were closely linked to the saga (her mother, Dr Thio Su Mien, admitted playing the key role in bringing about the leadership change after monitoring Aware's affairs for a year, and her cousin-in-law Josie Lau was the 'new' Aware president for several weeks), it is highly inappropriate for the NMP to use her position in Parliament to address an issue in which she has a personal stake.

Tan Yen Ling (Ms)

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