Letter
to the Prime Minister from Fridae.com
Fridae.com,
December 8, 2004
By Editor
Dear Prime Minister,
I am the CEO of Fridae. We are a gay and lesbian media
company that operates Asia’s largest online community Fridae.com, as well as
organises major events that have attracted overwhelmingly positive press
internationally. You may visit us at www.fridae.com.
Just today, we received news from the Public
Entertainment License Unit (PELU) that our application for our next event,
Snowball, to be held on 25 December at the Warehouse, has been turned down
because it is “contrary to public interest”. There was no elaboration on
how this was so.
I would like bring several facts to your attention:
1. This is not the first time that Snowball is being
held, or indeed that Fridae or our Singapore subsidiary Jungle Media Pte Ltd
are applying to PELU, each time with full disclosure of the nature of our
events. This is will be our third annual Snowball, the first two being held at
the Pavilion at Far East Square (Dec 2002) and Suntec Convention Centre (Dec
2003). PELU granted us licenses for these two events, as well as Squirt (April
2004), Nation (August 2002, 2003, 2004), and Paradise Ball (Dec 2003). In
fact, we have had a very congenial working relationship with PELU and various
police jurisdictions for all our past events.
2. Our events are known to be extremely professionally
organised, and have earned both domestic, as well as international acclaim.
Nation.04, which attracted 8,000 participants, has been featured in Far
Eastern Economic Review, Wall Street Journal, CNN, Reuters, AFP and AP
newswires, Asahi Shimbun, Sydney Morning Herald, South China Morning Post and
countless other newspapers around the world. Not only have our events been
named as one of the top 10 events by some authorities, Nation.04 has also been
nominated for “Best Event Experience” in the 2005 Singapore Tourism
Awards. Our events have created an invaluable buzz that Singapore is a hip and
exciting city to visit.
3. Independent studies and informal surveys, have shown
that our events generate significant tourism revenue for Singapore. Based on a
study commissioned by the STB, Nation.04 was estimated to have generated
S$10million in tourism revenue, exceeding even that of the 2004 Global
Entropolis convention, which generated an estimated S$6million in the same
period of time.
4. We have been fortunate to work with numerous MNC
sponsors such as Qantas, Motorola, Subaru. Even such “conservative”
companies as Singapore Airlines and American Express are counted amongst our
advertisers. They all work with Fridae because we have a proven track record
of being professional, non-risque, and being a legit channel to the gay and
lesbian community.
5. In the 4 years that we have been working with the
police and PELU for our events, not once have we been made aware that there
was anything illegal about our events. We are law-abiding citizens, and we
have gone through great lengths to ensure that no laws are broken in the
organisation of our events. Our events are essentially dance parties with
international DJs, and we are absolutely certain that nothing about our events
are illegal.
6. Our company, Fridae, has recently been “signed up”
by Senior Minister of Health Dr Balaji with the Ministry of Health to work as
a partner in addressing the recent increase of HIV amongst gay men. We believe
that it is important to maintain open channels between the government and the
gay community to promote an aggressive public health campaign that has the
potential to save many lives. Our events are an important means to reach this
otherwise difficult to reach demographic, many of whom already feel
increasingly alienated, disenfranchised, and discriminated against in their
own homeland, and may be driven underground if the environment turns
unfavourable.
I understand that not everyone in Singapore society
agrees with homosexuality as a concept, and that social attitudes will take
time to change. However, it is not mere concept but reality for us who live
and breathe it every day. And we want to live in a country that accepts us as
who we are, allowing us the social and civil liberties of conducting our lives
in a normal way, just like any other citizen of Singapore.
Your National Day Rally speech was inspiring for many of
us, gay and lesbian citizens of Singapore who saw this as a clear indication
that we too had a role to play in Singapore’s future. If I may quote you,
“We should have an open society which is welcoming of talent, which welcomes
diverse views, is yet cohesive and has a sense of common purpose. And we
should be a community where every citizen counts, where everyone can develop
his human potential to the full and everyone participates in building and
repairing and upgrading this shared home which is Singapore.”
It is absolutely true that there is no other place I
would rather be. Singapore is home to hundreds of thousands of gay men and
women. We are just like everyone else, many are professionals, well educated
and highly mobile. We are your sons and daughters, brothers and sisters,
uncles and aunts, and in some cases, even fathers or mothers. We form one of
the most dynamic, creative and economically productive segments of
Singapore’s diverse society.
It would be a shame for PELU’s rejection of our
application for Snowball on such weak and unaccountable reasons to spark off a
chain of events that may mar how Singaporeans view their own home, and reverse
the hard-earned positive PR in the international arena, especially when it is
contrary to how Singapore seeks to position itself for the future. It would be
unconscionable and a grave mistake to allow intolerance and discrimination to
sidetrack and derail our vision of a Singapore that embraces ALL Singaporeans
regardless of creed.
Snowball may only be a singular, insignificant event to
most people, but to the gay community that doesn’t have many outlets and
channels to begin with, it is a major event that they look forward to, a safe
space for them to be themselves, celebrate the year end, and feel proud that
they are doing so on home ground.
I thus humbly urge the relevant authorities to reconsider
their decision to reject our PELU application for Snowball. In view that the
event will be held in two weeks, I also request a timely response to this
matter. I may be reached 24/7 should there be any questions or clarifications
sought.
Yours sincerely,
Dr Stuart Koe
CEO
Fridae.com
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