Homosexuality in Singapore

Recently there has been quite an outcry following Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong’s disclosure that declared homosexuals would no longer be rejected for ‘sensitive jobs’ – later, he mentioned ‘government positions’ as some of these jobs. Quite unsurprisingly, the more conservative section of the Singaporean population proceeded to send some angry (and very poorly argued) letters to the Straits Times, venting their moral frustration at what they perceived as an acceptance of immorality.

I will now summarise my points as follows:

1. Cultural relativism – by whose standards are you to judge? Why are your standards the only standards we should accept? Whose ‘unanimous voice’ is it? Can we use ‘majority claim’ as a simple clincher? No.
2. Society’s advancement – as today’s society becomes more and more open, can we afford to restrict gay rights on the ‘reason’ that they are somehow deficient and ‘immoral’? Is this behaviour regressive? Yes –...