“What is it like to grow up as a masculine-identified female person in a Malay-Muslim family, and to live and love as a human being grappling with mortality?” asks Pink Dot in their latest short film in the lead up to their rally.
Faiz’s Malay-Muslim family has opened their hearts to her and her partner today, but it wasn’t always that way.
“You know for a Malay family when it comes to food, it’s almost sacred, right?,” said Faiz, 42. “My mother shares her recipes with my partner.”
In a new video celebrating the 10th anniversary of Singapore’s Pink Dot Festival, Faiz shares her story of heartbreaking estrangement from her parents and siblings and their eventual acceptance and reunion years later.
“I know what it’s like to have fights with my family or with siblings, being chased out, and not know where to go,” she said in the short film directed by He Shuming.
Now, Faiz says, she welcomes people who have been kicked out of their homes because of their sexual orientation.
“This home now (is where) I can say ‘Hey, it’s my sanctuary, and now it can be yours too.’”
This year, Pink Dot is expanding their festival so that more people can participate, foreigners included. While the actual rally at Hong Lim Park on July 21 remains limited to Singaporean citizens and permanent residents, PinkFest will be open to everyone and run for two weekends prior to the event.
PinkFest will include close to a dozen businesses, groups and individuals — from the LGBTQ community and straight allies — running various activities and events geared towards greater engagement with Singaporeans.
Reader Interactions