Apparently, NMP Prof Thio - an academic known for her lash against homosexuals, have received a second threatening letter. The note, which insulated that they know where she works and that they will send people there to hunt her down, resulted in campus security at NUS to be beefed up.
However, from a personal opinion, I feel that there is more than meets the eye. There are a few reasons on why I feel this way.
Firstly, it might seem that this is a “follow-up” from the letter that was sent from playwright Alfian Sa’at, who had since apologised for his rude letter. However, this might also seem to be an attempt to put down gay activism or to sow discord between the 2 camps in Singapore. While homosexuals may not be happy at her lashing out against gays in a parliament hearing, it does seem logically silly for any gay activists or pro-gays to follow up with a threatening letter. This would not only discredit the gay community as a whole, but makes matter worse in the long run.
However, it could be because of this alternative view that gay activists or pro-gays might try to harp on - that it is against their integrity for them to send something like this; but if you look at the overall picture, bringing this sort of attention to the gay community does them no good. In addition, it’d only widen the gap between the 2 camps wider, and this conspiracy theory will only work if the gay community has an avenue to cry foul. Till date, it is quite unlikely the “majority” of gay-disapproval Singaporeans will side them.
Secondly, this could really be a result of personal enmity between Prof Thio and someone else outside, who sought to ride on the attention that she’s gotten from the first letter. This person could jolly well have nothing to do with the gay community, but is just making use of this situation to bring across a public message to Prof Thio.
In this instance, the gay community became an unwilling victim because of her criticisms on the repeal of Section 377A (S377A), which will decriminalize gay sex between men. Quite obviously, if this turns out to be true, then there is still more for the gay community to lose because of bad publicity - whether it had anything to do with them or not.
More’s indeed, more than meets the eye.
A NEW police report has been made and university campus security roped in after Nominated MP Thio Li-ann received a threatening letter in her office mail box this week.
The anonymous writer had insinuated that ‘we know where you work, we’ll send people there to hunt you down’, she told The Straits Times on Wednesday.
Her family was also threatened with bodily harm, the National University of Singapore law academic added as she explained what prompted her to go to the police.
Professor Thio, 39, became a lightning rod for criticism from both the gay community and others, after delivering a strongly-worded speech in Parliament last month against the repealing of Section 377A, which criminalises sex between men.
But on Wednesday, activists like Alex Au of gay interest group People Like Us were also quick to condemn the anonymous letter-writer.
Said Mr Au: ‘I will totally condemn any malicious letters. It’s completely against the spirit of civil discourse and democracy.’
This is the second time Prof Thio has made a police report.
She did so previously in August after playwright Alfian Sa’at sent her a four-line e-mail accusing her of ‘hate-mongering’ and ‘vicious crusades against sexual minorities’.
He has since apologised to her.
While she regarded that incident as ‘rude’, this second case was ‘criminal intimidation’, she said.
She was aware of the letter only when she was alerted to it on Monday evening by a journalist who received a copy of it.
Prof Thio saw the letter when she checked her mailbox at the National University of Singapore’s law faculty in Bukit Timah the next morning.
University campus security officers have since also briefed her on ‘a safety protocol to follow’, Prof Thio disclosed, without going into details.
Article obtained from straitstimes.com on 7th November 2o07
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