"I am not one of those who in expressing opinions confine themselves to facts." - Mark Twain

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Did Civil Society really win?
Letter from Cheong Hui Hui

"I ATTENDED the Aware EGM on Saturday. I am not anti-gay but as a parent, I am concerned about what is being taught to our children in school. I had hoped to hear both sides to obtain a more balanced view of the situation.

However, what I witnessed disturbed me. I was saddened by the behaviour of the Old Guard and their supporters. The new exco were not able to give answers. Supporters of the Old Guard made sure of that by continually jeering and booing every time they attempted to answer a question. I suspect this was the main reason why the new exco and their supporters were hardly able to make their views known or heard throughout the proceedings.

The Old Guard have indeed taken back the society through winning of the vote of no confidence but they did not achieve it in the civilised manner I was expecting. I left the EGM more confused and disturbed, experiencing "emotions" from one fraction and suppressed silence from the other. I could not connect to Aware's claim to be a friend to the needy and poor, or the voice of the women."

Those who would defend the rabble would probably have in mind Barry Goldwater's rallying call "that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice", and "that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue", but no matter how noble or righteous your cause, it is a good rule that the moment you become too extreme in anything, you go bonkers (this will be dealt with in a forthcoming post - "Why being a Progressive does not necessarily mean that you are for Progress")

Caedite eos! Novit enim dominus qui sunt eius
(Kill them all! The Lord will recognize His own)

I am curious to know (having been in the air at the time) how the clamour at this overwhelmingly female event compared to the crowd behavior at predominantly male events. Pictures such as this don't help, but knowing the nature of humanity I wouldn't be surprised if there wasn't much difference.