Rachel Ong

Thank you, Mr Speaker.

The announcement of the repeal of Bill 377 has elicited much response from the ground. Many in this House shared and agree that this has been a divisive topic. Over the past four months, I have received emails and messages, met in person with residents and members of the public across age groups, who are supportive as well as those who are against the repeal. While most have been respectful in sharing their opinions, I have come to learn of the hostility some groups have carried against those who do not share their views.

Their vitriol in some manners of speech is of concern to me. Singapore understands the value of diplomacy and keeping peace with other nations. We do not have the option of being callous with our words or relationships. Diplomacy has been and continues to be key to our progress.

However, it would be futile to work hard on external relationships if our internal relations are weak. A House divided against itself will not stand. Singapore cannot afford a society fractured by toxicity with one group severing ties with the other simply because we hold different values and opinions.

As Singapore progresses and continues to expose ourselves to global issues and movements, there will only be more opportunities for diverging options to arise in our society, and we must ready ourselves. We must work towards a society that can hold difficult conversations where we make room for disagreements and do not force people to a corner of hate. We need to allow room, many rooms for disagreement, but not disharmony.

For this reason, Mr Speaker, I wish to focus my speech on how we can shape Singapore conversations on contentious issues such as the repeal, with a hard set on peacemaking to close the space between us and find a way forward. Peace by domination and subjugation is not peace. One side prevailing at the expense of the other will break the social compact that is vital for us to be able to live in harmony. Once the compact is broken, repealing 377A will not be the only divisive issue.

Some view the repeal as rending the moral fabric of society and vice versa. I take heart by the stated positions of a number of our respected religious leaders earlier in August. Then Archbishop, now Cardinal, William Goh spoke of the Roman Catholic Church's neutrality on the repeal, provided the Church continues to have the freedom to teach what it believes and practise what it teaches. Mufti Nazirudin Mohd Nasir spoke of the complexity of the issue. He shared Islam's clear stance on sexuality and marriage, and at the same time the need to respect differences and keep our society cohesive and intact.

What we need to recognise is that the moral and social fabric of any society are intricately intertwined, one risk being torn as a consequence of the rending of the other. As such, I commend our Government for seeking to protect both the moral and social fabric of this nation through the proposed bills. After all, problems are solved in the middle, not at the extremes.

Finding a way forward does not mean we have to hold on to unenforced laws like 377A. Nor does it mean we have to redefine marriage and consequently family. Since our families form the foundation of the moral and social fabric of Singapore, we must protect the definition of marriage to avoid more division amongst our people as lines get blurred.

Finding a way forward does mean that people groups that fall outside the norms of a traditional family are still to be embraced and supported, whether single parents, singles, widows, widowers, or homosexual family members and friends. As a Member of Parliament, I represent the aspirations of residents from traditional and non-traditional family units, and also the rights of my constituents, regardless of their sexual orientation.

I hope the decriminalisation of gay sex will bring relief for those who have experienced discrimination. At the same time, those who are heterosexual should also not have to live in fear or be discriminated in their workplaces, schools and communities because they stand neutral or express pro-traditional family views. It has brought distress to some parents to hear that terms ranging from cancel them, bigots, to homophobic derogatory names are being used in our classrooms against students who do not share the same views on this topic, forcing others into silence. No one should attack the other, and no one should fear being cancelled for holding and expressing pro-homosexual, pro-traditional family views or neutral views.

We cannot allow coercion to infringe upon an individual's right to decide on matters of conscience and conviction. This is a right that we must protect through legislation as an open, multi-religious and multi-ethnic society. Wisdom is found in the ability to get along with others. Just as family members differ from each other, yet still share our lives together, can we as Singaporeans define our relational compact to be one of a wider brother or sisterhood?

We can remain honouring of others while disagreeing, respectful without conforming. Singapore has worked hard to create and build models that have worked well for us, economically, socially and religiously, precisely because we are a pluralistic society. This has been our strength, not a weakness.

I am hopeful that we can do the same in the space of affirming heterosexual marriage and family culture, while creating safe social spaces for gay persons. On the personal front, my feet are firmly rooted in my faith and my arms are wide open. Wide open especially to people who believe differently from me. It is this rootedness that allows me to love and walk alongside those different from me, and to stay interested in their lanes and their realities.

On the repeal, let us remember that our sexual identity, while being an important aspect of our identity, is not the sum total of who we are. If we choose to go deeper to our fuller human identity, we will perhaps find connections that will help us acknowledge and understand each other in our common humanity.

Mr Speaker, my hope is for us to be intentional in seiving out divisive voices in the midst of deep disagreements. Let us not give in to discord, nor give up on unity, but give our best to our nation. May we then realise our commonalities, close the space between us, and together discover the Singapore Forward.

Thank you.