Sayoni supports the effort to repeal section 377A from the Penal Code of Singapore, and we would like to request all our readers to sign the online letter to the Prime Minister with your real name.
Please do tell your friends and loved ones about it too. Every signature counts, and this is your opportunity to tell the government that discrimination is unacceptable.

To know more about the penal code and the amendments:

Amended Penal Code

Focus Group Discussion at MHA in 2006

PM Lee Hsien Loong’s Comments

MM Lee Kwan Yew’s Comments

The Nominations are now closed, and Voting can officially begin! We were as surprised as you when the nominations came up, but let’s just say that queer women and straight men have completely different tastes. Gone are the young stick-thin bikini girls, and in place, genuine women of substance dominate the list. We have playwrights, directors, actors, businesswomen, politicians, poets and more, and our list comprises a much wider age group.

And here, in order of no merit, are the nominees. Link to voting can be found after the list. Voting will be closed in two weeks.

Pamela Oei

Pam Oei’s sway over queer women is undefinable and impossible to express in words. The least we can come up with while drooling over her, is her amazing acting skills, her strong independent personality, her comedic genius, her beauty… oh just forget it and continue drooling already.

Vernetta Lopez

Why do we love V Lo? It is not just that she’s got a cute dykey haircut that she pulls off better than most dykes, or her mixed-ethnicity beauty… she’s a great comedic actress, a DJ, an independent businesswoman with multiple successful ventures (including a wedding planner), and to top it all off, she appeared as a lesbian in The Leap Years. We all hope to have our wedding planned by her, someday.

Janice Koh

Move over, Linda Liao… Janice Koh was the woman who caught the collective queer female eye when she played a (somewhat dykey looking) demanding Advertising Executive on Chase. And with her subsequent brilliant performance in Hitting on Women as the vulnerable lesbian recovering from an abusive relationship, cemented her status as a lesbian icon forever. Her toned arms (and legs, and abs and everything else) make us all want to sign up for Yoga classes too.

Yeo Yann Yann

Besides being a leading actress in Singapore Theatre, and also with movies like Singapore Dreaming and 881 under her belt, Yann Yann is also a certified cunninglinguist(not that kind, you perv) – in addition to being flawless in English and Mandarin, she can speak several dialects and Malay.

Glenda Chong

Glenda is perhaps one of the few reasons queer women would want to watch the depressing news on TV. Her smile, combined with her somewhat dykey vibes, takes the edge off the news about tsunamis and rising prices.

Ovidia Yu

Ovidia Yu is the living breathing proof that older women can be sexy too, and what’s even sexier than that, is being an out lesbian playwright, her latest contribution to the community being Hitting (on) Women. Did we mention she does Yoga to get that sexy body too?

Jasmine Seah

A hot poet – what more can you ask for? When Jasmine burst on to the queer female consciousness at Contradiction (an Indignation 2007 event) with her sweet, romantic poetry, what was louder than the applause was the sounds of the collective lesbian heart melting to the ground.

Sylvia Lim

Oh, where do we start with Sylvia Lim, who is not only one of the few women in politics, but also one of the few opposition politicians. Sylvia mesmerises us all with her guts to stand up to the ruling party, as well as her powerful performance in parliament as a NCMP. Did we mention she used to be a policewoman?

Suzanne Jung Ki Eng

Suzanne, the lovely Korean beauty in Primetime Morning lights up our mornings in more than one way, with her lovely smile and demeanour. We are pretty sure half our readers want to take her home and serve her tea – and we just heard a “Ramen” to that.

Jade Seah

Completely self-explanatory, really. Jade Seah simply rocks that somewhat dykey outfit, and makes us all want to head out to the beach for some sporty fun (preferably with her).

Eleanor Wong

Eleanor takes a special spot in the collective lesbian heart, being an out lesbian playwright and writing kick-ass plays like the lesbian lawyer trilogy and The Campaign to Confer the Public Star on JBJ. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg… when she’s not being a brilliant lawyer, she is coaching students in the ways to become a brilliant lawyer., and making wearing black top and blue jeans every single day look sexy. Oh go ahead and swoon over the sizzling combination of looks and brains already.

Tanya Chua

Singer. Acoustic Guitar. That outfit. Need we say more?

Michelle Chia

Michelle Chia is the hottest new thing on local TV, and just looking at her, there is not much doubt why she is the newest hot thing for us either. Smart, sexy, charming and a good actress to boot. What else can anyone ask for?

Catherine Lim

Dr Catherine Lim is perhaps one of the most awesome Singaporean women alive today. In addition to writing numerous provocative fiction books harshly illuminating the traditional Chinese culture, she is also one of the few people to go up against the Singapore government publicly and (metaphorically) live to tell the tale. We are pretty sure many of our readers want to be her Bondmaid forever.

Stefanie Sun

Stefanie Sun is one of the few people who put Singapore on the map, with her success in the music industry. And of course, her androgynous, spunky look just endears her to queer female fans.

Tan Pin Pin

Pin Pin is one of few female film-makers in the male-dominated industry, and of course, her handsome androgynous looks just endear themselves to queer female fans.

Olivia Lum

Olivia Lum is the founder, group chief executive officer, and president of the Singapore-based Hyflux Group, and ranked one of Singapore’s 40 Richest. Now, if achieving all that in a male-dominated world doesn’t attract our attention, we definitely believe that she brings out the sugar baby in all of us.

Rebecca Tan

It is not just that Rebecca is all girl. With her Pan-Asian heritage and perfect features, there is not much of a question why we all like to keep looking at Rebecca Tan. In fact, we expect the traffic on this page to stop right at this photograph.

Loretta Chen

If openly queer female playwrights are rare, even rarer are openly queer female directors. Not only does Loretta Chen pack a directorial punch, she is also a great actress, and to top it all off, is doing a PhD on lesbian theatre. Brains, talent and looks? Nom nom nom…

Denise Keller

Whether she is living it up with Dick Lee or breaking men’s hearts on TV, Denise Keller is definitely easy on the eyes, and more than charming.

Beatrice Chia

There are simply no words to describe the overpowering charm of Beatrice.� She is a force of nature in her own right, a trail blazer for women directors and producers, and a most accomplished and trained actress. We love not just her beauty, but her free and daring attitude towards everything, especially sex and sexuality. Beatrice is indeed a woman’s woman.

Click on the image below to vote for your favourite celebs now!

Fridae.com, in support of People Like Us� Indignation gay pride season, is organising the Singapore premiere of the film �Wilde� on Tuesday 13 May 2008, at the Lido theatres.

Directed by Brian Gilbert, this 1997 film tells the story of celebrated poet, novelist and playwright Oscar Wilde, who in 1895 was convicted of �gross indecency� under a UK law that was the precursor of Singapore�s infamous Section 377A. Wilde was a martyr to the moral hypocrisy of his time, and which unfortunately still lives on in Singapore.

The film was banned by the Singapore censors when first released. It has now been re-rated under revised film guidelines (post 2002 censorship review) as R21.

Fridae�s gala premiere is intended as a fund-raiser for Indignation, since Indignation events themselves (scheduled for August 2008) are traditionally free of charge, in order to be accessible to everyone. Tickets are priced at $20 (US$15) and $50 (US$38) – the latter includes a cocktail reception – and are available from Fridae�s movie site, or more directly from their tickets shop.

Crocodile men�s wear and Shaw theatres are the other sponsors and People Like Us would like to express our thanks to them and Fridae for their support.

Sayoni has been, and still is, a proud participant in Indignation over the years, and we would like to express our full support to this Gala Premiere.

Sayoni commemorated our 2nd Anniversary in style on 12th April, at a rustic world-war-II bunker-like space in Food#03, a rising social entrepreneurship cafe. The party was the culmination of months of planning and preparation, from the drinks to the decorations.

We were hosted by O’Ren Ishii, a new-found MCing talent within Sayoni who entertained the crowd with her wicked sense of humour and presentation.

The highlight of the party was the Sayoni Awards 2008, where a series of fun titles were handed out to our beloved members, such as Drama Queen of the Year, Sticky Rice Couple of the Year etc.

But apart from poking harmless fun at our members, we also know how to honour the outstanding women in our community. Ms Yong Meiling was awarded the prestigious Sayoni Woman of the Year 2008 title, with a beautiful crystal trophy.

This is what Jean had to say when she honoured Ms Yong Meiling with the trophy.

I first got to know Meiling in 2005, hoping to meet the leaders who are in charge of OC Women. We met up, I remember Meiling said she was ‘just helping out’ and nothing more. Over the years, it became, ‘helping out’, to ‘contributing’ to Program Director of OC women. And maybe boss now.

Empathetic, Street smart and certainly no push over, Meiling has shown a remarkable willingness to make a step back for others to lead, change her mind over issues and stand up for those she believes in. We have all seen how OC women’s support group changed people’s lives. Always wanting to ignore our presence, society and gay men alike, it has been the ‘hope in the dark’ when all else is bleak in the society we live in now. Without demanding for hope, we would not have struggled, and without struggle we would not have been here. Virginia Woolf wrote in her journal, “The future is dark, which is on the whole, the best thing the future can be, I think.” Dark, she seems to say, not as in terrible. We often mistake the one for the other. To me, dark as in the familiar female womb where we all come from ready to burst forward to find the light at the end of the tunnel. Today, we honor Yong Meiling, helper to program director of OC Women.

We hope to celebrate many many more anniversaries with you, and continue honouring women in our community.