In a largely conservative society like Singapore’s, wearing a tank top that calls for equality for the gay community will definitely elicit a couple of stares and a few shaking heads by traditionalists.
But when said tank top is worn at a state-funded recreation club meant for Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) servicemen, it’s bound to get more than just cursory responses.
What Jee Leong Koh — a former SAF captain — faced recently when he went to the gym at SAFRA Mount Faber Club was being accused of “trying to change a sensitive social policy or issue” after he donned a tank top that bore the words “Gay But Not Yet Equal” and “Equality For All”. Intentional or not, it was made clear to him that SAFRA and/or other members were not happy with his attire.
The gym manager claimed he received a couple of complaints about the “social advocacy,” which Koh denies, stating that he was simply wearing a tank top “specially designed by a New York designer”. Koh argued with the manager that the complainants were simply objecting to him being homosexual.
In the end, the discussion between Koh and the gym manager apparently ended amicably, with the latter allegedly asking him to be “sensitive” to other gym users. No ban was implemented, and Koh was let into the gym wearing the tank top.
But the man lamented that this probably won’t be the end to things. “I suspect that the complainants will complain to the gym manager again, and if he does not take stronger action against me, they will turn to his boss, the manager of the SAFRA Club,” Koh wrote in a Facebook post.
“The Armed Forces require all self-declared gay men to serve National Service, and so it would be wrong to deny these gay servicemen, self-declared or otherwise, any of the benefits afterwards,” Koh continued.
“It would be an injustice to stop me from using any of the facilities of the SAFRA Recreational Clubs just because a few members do not like my tank top. Or, to put it more bluntly, just because they do not like gay people.”
We’ve contacted SAFRA Mount Faber for its comments on the issue.
