I write this, because it seems to me that in Singapore, many people are still very unhealthily obsessed with other people's sex lives. NMP Thio Li-Ann, campaigning in Parliament last year against gay people, is one such example.
I guess it's just as well for Li-Ann that she lives in Singapore, not elsewhere. If she were living in Iceland, people might view her as being somewhat perverse, for being so concerned and passionate about how other people choose to have sex.
Despite the title of the article "Iceland's New PM is Gay", only two sentences in the entire article actually say anything concerning Ms Sigurdardottir being gay. It goes to show how very little a person's sexual orientation has got to do with anything other than her own private life.ST Jan 29, 2009
Iceland's new PM is gayREYKJAVIK - ICELAND'S next leader will be an openly gay former flight attendant who parlayed her experience as a union organiser into a decades-long political career.
Both parties forming Iceland's new coalition government support the appointment of Johanna Sigurdardottir, the island nation's 66-year-old social affairs minister, as Iceland's interim prime minister.
'Now we need a strong government that works with the people,' Ms Sigurdardottir told reporters on Wednesday, adding that a new administration will likely be installed Saturday.
Ms Sigurdardottir will lead until new elections are held, likely in May. But analysts say she's unlikely to remain in office - chiefly because her centre-left Social Democratic Alliance isn't expected to rank among the major parties after the election. In opinion polls, it trails the Left-Green movement, a junior partner in the new coalition.Iceland's previous conservative-led government failed Monday after the country's banks collapsed last fall under the weight of huge debts amassed during years of rapid economic growth. The country's currency has since plummeted, while inflation and unemployment are soaring.
Former Prime Minister Geir Haarde won't lead his Independence Party into the new elections because he needs treatment for throat cancer.
While Mr Haarde endured angry protests for months and had his limousine pelted with eggs, polling company Capacent Gallup said Ms Sigurdardottir was Iceland's most popular politician in November, with an approval rating of 73 percent.
She was the only minister to see her rating improve on the previous year's score, Capacent Gallup said on Wednesday. The poll of 2,000 people had a margin of error of plus or minus 3 per cent.
'It's a question of trust, people believe that she actually cares about people,' said Olafur Hardarson, a political scientist at the University of Iceland.
Ms Sigurdardottir is seen by many as a salve to the bubbling tensions in Iceland. Thousands have joined anti-government protests recently. Last week, police used tear gas for the first time in about 50 years to disperse crowds.
'She is a senior parliamentarian, she is respected and loved by all of Iceland,' said Environment Minister Thorunn Sveinbjarnardottir, a fellow Alliance party member.
The new leader is known for allocating generous amounts of public funding to help the disabled, the elderly and organisations tackling domestic violence.
But conservative critics say Ms Sigurdardottir's leftist leanings and lack of business experience won't help her fix the economy.
'Johanna is a very good woman - but she likes public spending, she is a tax raiser,' Mr Haarde said.
Iceland has negotiated about US$10 billion (S$15 billion) in bailout loans from the International Monetary Fund and individual countries. The loans are currently being held as foreign currency reserves.
Banks that were nationalised last year are once again open and trading - but Iceland still owes millions of dollars to foreign depositors.
After acting as a labour organiser when she worked as a flight attendant for Loftleidir Airlines - now Icelandair - in the 1960s and 1970s, Ms Sigurdardottir was elected to Iceland's parliament in 1978. She served as social affairs minister from 1987-1994 and from 2007.
'If there's anyone who can restore trust in the political system it's her,' said Eyvindur Karlsson, a 27-year-old translator from Reykjavik. 'People respect her because she's never been afraid of standing up to her own party. They see her as someone who isn't tainted by the economic crisis.'
In 1995, Ms Sigurdardottir quit the party and formed her own, which won four parliamentary seats in a national election. Several years later, she rejoined her old party when it merged with three other centre-left groups.
While a woman has served in the largely symbolic role of president, Ms Sigurdardottir will be Iceland's first female prime minister.
She lives with journalist Jonina Leosdottir, who became her civil partner in 2002, and has two sons from a previous marriage.
Ms Sigurdardottir is best known for her reaction to a failed bid to lead her party in 1994. 'My time will come,' she predicted in her concession speech. -- AP
26 comments:
Did Thio Li Ann say anything about Johanna Sigurdardottir being gay? If not, why bring her into the picture.
Otherwise, it seems you are quite obsessed about dissing her for speaking her mind about homosexuality too.
Only for gossip but Any leader of a country will be scrutinized closely because the common people want to be able to relate to them.
For Eg. Prince William,Princess Di(sadly), Obama, Mccain, Wen jia bao,Hu, Ma Ying Jiu, Ah bian(being impeached),Bush (motion are being moved to impeach him for mismanagement) etc.
Just like people want to relate to idols and pop icons the main thing is the identity effects.
So when LHL said Mee siam mai hum a lot of people realized that he is disconnected from our views/ perceptions because he never did his homework which can be costly in other democratic society where they elect their leader as an individual.
We are concerned when the leaders we "Elected" are not in sync with us the people especially in the livelihood/ happiness/ progress dept.
They are more likely to make misguided policies that will span for generations to come with negative effect.
One such policy is the two child policy Which cause the present situation of over reliance of migrant workers who does not really care about Singapore.
And the side effects of the FT policy have not came to full blow yet.
The previous Batch of migrants who settled here were oppressed(and some even executed for cultural/ art skills) in their own country that why they settle here and still have strong ties with their homeland but with each passing generation the ties are eroded as our Seniors were not well taken care of by our society due to the over emphasis on personal success (through assimilation into the system).ie academic meritocracy.
Now is the time where they must come out of their ivory tower and really field for our opinions like what Obama is doing for America now.
Strangely they never realized the people have the solutions all along.They consider us the problem without addressing the problem because it is easier to do so.
Thus the labeling begin,instead of clear concise steps being taken to prevent the gaming of the system by the selected few who thought we will never notice that they benefited extremely from the system by association or relation.
Monarchy can never work now due to the fact that there will always be oversight even when they placed their most trusted gatekeeper at the critical gate.That why The prince of Wales command the Army but does not involved himself too much with the political process.
It's a politician job to listen to his/her people espcially those who elected them.
It does not matter what he/she do privately (although people are looking for hints there) so long as he/she does His/her job with transparency and accountability.
If he/she does the work well and conscientiously ,People will reciprocate in kind.
So even with this current financial Crisis ,I noted, there is no accountability for the people.
We need to know because "long term" just doesn't cut it anymore in view of the recent spate of failures of protecting our common interest ,the reserves.
The danger now is that all our eggs are in the GLC basket who had enjoyed the migrant boom and Ego boost.
All it need now, is for some idiot (financial prodigy?) to throw a stone in it again ( or throw the basket at a rock) .Causing more contributors to starve unnecessarily.
I would rather it does not happen that way for us the people.
Some people dont like cruelty to children, some people dont like cruelty to animals.
Thio should reinvent herself in the same mould of SPCA, you know, like Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Anuses (Anii?)
I can envision concerned citizens proudly displaying the car decals already:
"STOP ANAL ABUSE!"
If the ministers wants to be worthy of their millions, they should stop being pussies and start enforcing the law. (I am looking at you, Wong Kan Seng.)
To enforce Section 377A, all males in Singapore, including tourists, should be subject to random anal inspection to prevent illegal anal activity.
We should also have prominent notices in the airports clearly informing the tourists that anal sex is illegal in Singapore and punishable by life imprisonment.
We must have campaigns in schools to teach our schoolchildren about the serious consequences of anal sex.
Come to think of it, the law itself does not actually mention anuses, does it? I think having sex in an air-conditioned room is also against the order of nature, and should be outlawed.
But why such a headline to start with? What relevance does it bear to the contents of the article?
Does it even mention that she will be championing gay rights?
Oh wait, it's an ST article?
Des
To 1st Anon,
The connection to Thio Li Ann is quite obvious, isn't it, given her standing as sg's most fervent homophobe
Just because Thio Li Ann had not said anything about Johanna Sigurdardottir being gay doesn't mean that she can't be brought into the picture.
Similarly, just because she had not had a straw shoved up her nose doesn't mean that she can't comment on how she felt about it in parliament.
This is cyberspace, if you can't tolerate free speech then just go and read msm.
Actually, I am very interested and concerned about PM Lee and his wife's sex life (if any), considering that his wife is in charge of the investment of our national reserves!
Did they discuss about the potential conflict of interest and what to invest in and how to ally Singaporeans' anger over the failed investment etc during the foreplay or "after-play" or in the middle of sex itself?
Every Singaporean should be interested in their sex life!
to the anti-establishment radicals:
do you seriously believe that the anti-gay movement has no place in a democratic society? if so, it's time to add "proposition 8" to your dictionaries.
To Anon January 30, 2009 4:38 AM
So should anybody bring in your father and mother if they find you lacking in certain aspects and blame them for not doing a good job?
Yours is just an excuse to satisfy a personal vendetta against someone who has probably stepped on your toes or is an obstacle to your agenda/beliefs whatever.
Like Anon January 30, 2009 4:39 AM, I am interested too, because I person who is tasked to lead our country has tremendous power to steer the course of our lives according to his set of values and principles, including his views on sexuality. Would you want a PM who is promiscuous (no particular reference to gays), for instance? Would you heed the call of a gay PM to procreate while he extols the benefits of family life without "getting his hands wet"?
Mr Wang, my kid taking A levels this year. So I was surfing the Universities websites.
I notice they post cutoff points!
You got comments?
http://www.nus.edu.sg/oam/IGP/igp.htm
http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/oad2/pdfs/COP.pdf
http://www.smu.edu.sg/admissions/downloads/pdf/Samp%20Notif%20(SMU)%20COP%20FINAL%20with%20FAQs.pdf
(Sorry I post different topic)
"Would you want a PM who is promiscuous (no particular reference to gays), for instance?"
Personally, and quite frankly, I wouldn't care.
Would you heed the call of a gay PM to procreate while he extols the benefits of family life without "getting his hands wet"?
LOL, no. In the first place, I wouldn't make any decisions about my family life, based on what the Prime Minister says. Regardless of whether he is gay or straight.
A digression - this has nothing to do with gays or civil rights - but here's an old post of mine:
On Real Life and TV
which explains why you should be careful about following the government's call to adopt any particular kind of family lifestyle.
The assumption here is that the people emulate / look-up-to leaders. Power of suggestion. Hence, leaders need to be pinnacles of virtue, whitewashed beyond a shade of grey.
And yes, Mr Wang is indulging in a tad of sensationalism (title-wise).
Instead of dissing Ms. Thio we should commend her for her ability in conflagrating sexual orientation with many other things like law, politics, philosophy...
A man/woman who loves another man/woman is just that.
Dear Mr Wang, thank you for this article.
Although I do not hold the St Times in any high regard, I do believe that they usually have certain motives behind their apparent absurdity.
In this particular case, it is clear to me what their motive is. They are out to spark the realisation to the peasants' minds that homosexual acts between females are no longer a crime. Now, if any reader is surprised to read this, then it proves my belief that the lawmakers have changed the laws without the full knowledge of the population. After all the debate and uproar in Parliament, the peasants still did not know what changes had been enacted.
Now that sufficient time has passed, they want knowledge to trickle down to the peasants. They would not want any PAP ministers or MPs to break the news. It's the ST's job to sneak in news and create headlines to spark the beginning of realisation.
Imagine this: two sentences out of the whole page, and yet the headline shouts out GAY.
Now read my lips: man-man sex = illegal
woman-woman sex = not illegal.
This, in a nutshell, was what they had enacted.
To Anon @ January 30, 2009 4:38 AM,
To be perfectly honest, everyone is entitled to their opinions.
Thio Li Ann can bitch about the gays; gays/ less bigoted can bitch about her too.
You can claim that my parents were somehow responsible for my lacking in certain aspects; I can similary say the same for you too.
Simple as that.
Posted in main article - Despite the title of the article "Iceland's New PM is Gay", only two sentences in the entire article actually say anything concerning Ms Sigurdardottir being gay. It goes to show how very little a person's sexual orientation has got to do with anything other than her own private life.
That is correct. Actually, I never understand why gays and pro-gays make such a hooha about any news that concern gays.
So what if Iceland's PM is gay?
Mr Wang, are you trying to slip in the point that Iceland is open enough to accept gay while Singapore is not?
If you are, then you have got it wrong. To Iceland, being gay is no big deal. So why is anyone trying to make a meal out of it?
If you are not trying to slip in the point that Iceland accepts gays and Singapore is not, then the better example to show that what happens in private lives of politicians is their business, would be Bill Clinton and his playboy ways.
I sense that Mr Wang is trying to prove the former (that Iceland accepts gays and Singapore does not), rather than the latter (that private lives of politicians are their own business).
Would you heed the call of a gay PM to procreate while he extols the benefits of family life without "getting his hands wet"?
Hey, how bout someone who tells young Singaporean men that they must sacrifice for their country by undergoing NS, but yet draw millions of dollars for their "service" to the nation?
To January 30, 2009 12:20 PM
Well, I am not January 30, 2009 12:20 PM.
Well, anyone can do the blame game with some hidden agenda.
Surely you and me are not here without any certain degree of bias directed towards either side of the issue.
IMO, that someone who you happen to favour judging from your statement also happens to have a personal vendetta against a certain of group of people.
She just happened to have the advantage (well capitalized) to be able to do it under her own professional cover and parliamentary space affordable to her. No ? or Yes ?
Excellent - good to see the conservatives in Iceland are more concerned with her "leftist leanings and lack of business experience" than whether she likes men or women. Bravo.
"To Anon @ January 30, 2009 4:38 AM,
To be perfectly honest, everyone is entitled to their opinions."
Lol, well said. So whether or not anyone can take the heat, it is not up to you to tell them to buzz off :D
As for the "father and mother" comment, no need to get so worked up. It is just to illustrate the absurdity of linking Thio Li Ann to the piece of news about the gay PM.
I guess I have touched a raw nerve.
Mr Wang, it is not about whether you will allow your PM to dictate what you do for your life plans, but the integrity of a person who does on thing but says another.
I wouldn't want such a person as our PM. Of course, you are free to want such a person to be yours just to prove a point.
Solo Bear,
Good point. But I would like to add, even if Iceland 'accepts a gay leader' and Singapore doesn't, so what?
To January 30, 2009 12:20 PM,
Hey, let's drop the hypocrisy. Everyone has an agenda. But the keyword is "vendetta".
There are those who strive towards achieving what they want without hitting below the belt and there are those who are like serial stalkers who will jump at any chance to hit at their pet target.
There are gays whom I respect and their are those I regard as a nuisance because they very often make a mountain out of a molehill and in this case, a flat beach.
Current joke doing the rounds in Davos:
Q: What is the capital of Iceland?
A: $25
"Mr Wang, it is not about whether you will allow your PM to dictate what you do for your life plans, but the integrity of a person who does on thing but says another."
Ah yes, but you are confusing yourself with hypothetical scenarios which never happened. For example, you imagine that if Singapore had a gay PM, he or she would still encourage everyone to have children.
Actually, he/she might not.
Or he/she might say, "If you're heterosexual, do consider having children."
Or he/she might say, "If you're heterosexual, do consider having children. If you're gay, do
consider adopting."
You don't know.
As a matter of fact, a straight PM might well say any of the above things as well.
Which just goes to show you how very little a person's sexual orientation has got to do with anything other than her own private life.
Mr. Wang,
Maybe I would like to put it this way :
While I really don't care what LHL does with HC in bed, but I would be real concerned that if LHL does not do what he is supposed to do to HC in bed and this resulted in HC making the wrong investment decisions afterwards because LHL did not do what he needs to do to her while in bed.
Don't you think that we should be at least concerned if the wrong investment decisions are made by HC which is the result of poor performance of LHL while in bed with her?
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