ST Forum: NMP Thio's comments were inappropriate (Oct 25)

Oct 25, 2007
NMP Thio's comments were inappropriate

I WRITE in response to Nominated MP Thio Li-Ann's speech in Parliament
and comments made to the press on Monday.

As the debate on Section 377A of the Penal Code - a law criminalising
gay sex - was heated, it was inevitable that tempers flared on both sides.

However, Professor Thio's comments were inappropriate and were deemed
disrespectful by many, and not just by the gay community.

It was entirely unnecessary to highlight bedroom practices and refer
to anal sex between men as 'shoving a straw up someone's nose to
drink', in the hope of eliciting disgust among parliamentarians and
the public.

Such comments are, at best, discourteous and do a disservice to the
intellectual nature of such a discussion, especially as the acts she
mentioned are also practised in heterosexual couplings.

Whether or not Section 377A was repealed, this issue has become a
milestone in the democratic involvement of our citizens and could be
potentially divisive.

In engaging in a healthy and lively debate - whether on Internet
forums, in letters to the media or even in Parliament - it is
important that we remain respectful of each other's views.

Azimin Saini