Singapore is aware that homosexuality exists, but most conservatives and the Government prefer to keep a “one eye opened one eye closed” approach towards the topic.
The Pink Dot Movement started in 2009, but it was only this year where the LGBTQ+ community was officially brought up in a Parliament session on 3 March 2022 by Minister for Law K Shanmugam, followed by a public survey to gauge the society’s perception of the community.
We’re no where near legalising same-sex marriage, but we’re no longer penalising people for choosing a significant other of the same sex.
A HDB Cartoon Misconstrued
Earlier this May, the Housing & Development Board published a cartoon which featured a couple hanging their laundry.
The main focus of the cartoon was simple: introducing an aspect of the Home Improvement Programme, where the traditional bamboo drying racks (which are honestly heavy and terrifying) are upgraded to a new metal and retractable rack.
The cartoon is promoting a qualitative change in the elderly couple’s lifestyle, where the older couple, at age 65, will be able to have an easier time drying their laundry, as opposed to hefting around heavy bamboo poles, which they might struggle with now since they’re no longer as strong.
However, some sensitive citizens noted that the two figures in the cartoon have relatively long hair and fringes, and feminine facial features.
Thus, some netizens questioned if it’s a same-sex couple.
After all, the captions above read “My Parents”, which cancels out the possibility of a mother and daughter doing the laundry together.
Honestly, why aren’t men allowed to have long hair, huh?
One Facebook user even went as far as wondering if this was an indication that Singapore would be legalising same-sex marriages soon, and allowing gay couples to buy a HDB flat together.
This person clearly disapproves of same-sex couple rights, no matter how they try to conceal their disdain beneath a veneer of politeness.
“Are we being infiltrated by liberal ideals covertly?”
Skies above, you could almost taste the derision from the comment, and what’s with comparison of HDB to Disneyland?
Also FYI, using the “I’m not against LGBT because I have LGBT friends” to prove that you’re not homophobic is like Trump saying he’s not racist because he has a staff member and friend who’s black in his administration.
In essence, no one buys that excuse.
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HDB Amends The Cartoon With A More Masculine Individual
It’s unclear when the above comment was posted, or what was going on in the HDB department, but it took approximately a month before HDB decided to make some amendments to the cartoon.
On 16 June, the character at the back was changed to have much shorter hair, more angular and masculine facial features, and flatter planes, thus giving no illusion that it is definitely a man.
The cartoon, by all accounts, is now of a heteronormative couple, no questions asked.
The slight irony in this subtle amendment is that, if you even bother to read through the comments, the majority of the netizens are oblivious, or simply don’t care about the gender of the characters, because the focus was not about them, but the home upgrades.
Nonetheless, it seems like the minority’s sharp observations and questions was enough to spur HDB into editing the cartoon.
While HDB didn’t comment about the amendment, the “view edit history” function on Facebook shows that the changes were made at 7:50pm on Thursday (16 Jun).
MustShare News has just reached out to HDB for a comment about this amendment, but the government agency has yet to offer a response.
In the end though, does it really matter, in this context at least?
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Featured Images: Twitter (@fidgetings) & Facebook (Housing & Development Board)
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