Meanwhile have been quite saddened to hear the unfolding of events at Ren Ci Hospital, and AWARE. Formerly two very well regarded non profit organizations in Singapore, they are now being torn down, trampled upon before the eyes of the public. Both have been brought down by different factors: Ren Ci by the putative “corruption” of its otherwise-brilliant CEO, Ming Yi, and AWARE by the takeover of a radical right-wing Christian group.

I cannot decide which saddens me more. I have an utmost respect for someone like Ming Yi, who almost singlehandedly built Ren Ci up from nothing; his acumen in marketing and creating a well run, tight organization is nothing short of brilliant. However his hero has his fallings; a $50,000 loan to a friend form the Ren Ci coffers has led to his undoing. Corruption should never be allowed; yet somehow there is this hollow feeling that this man could have given so much more, but now cannot do so because of this fatal flaw.

AWARE is worse: a hostile takeover by “new members” from churches, who brought with them a right wing agenda of homophobia. As a Christian I cannot but feel saddened at how the actions of a small group of people instead curse the whole; I am oft saddened by the intolerance of the right wing, and their desire to force everyone to abide by their morality. I had just been commenting to a friend in the US that Singapore was so much better because it didn’t have religious politics in it; now I am not so sure.