SINGAPORE: A quick scan of the local media in Singapore and it is all sex, sex and then some more sex. Women, their bodies and their extracurricular activities are written about and examined on a daily basis. And women are fed up with the coverage. “Nobody seems to listen to us,” said accountant Sunitra, who at 31-years-old told Bikyamasr.com that “I am surprised that this is still the case. It is as if the Asian media wants to talk about what women are doing with their legs open and nothing else.” That's the sentiment here at a local cafe where Sunitra and three of her female professional friends meet early morning before heading to work. For them, the ongoing coverage of sex scandals in the country are being mishandled by editors who they argue are creating the impression that women are at fault. “It is as if the men behind these scandals are the victims. Take the under-age sex worker case as a prime example. The media covers it in a way to tell readers that it is okay what they did and it's not their fault the girl was under-age, and they rarely attack the men even though they are married,” she added. Others nod their heads in agreement. The sense of empowerment is being lost among women in Singapore, the woman argue. “I've lived in Singapore for 9 years now and this is the worst it has gotten,” said Susan, an Irish national who came to Singapore as a teacher and decided to stay. She says that “women are facing an uphill battle against the media unlike ever before. I just fear that it will get worse as more and more newspapers just want to sell their issues and sex does sell.” The Cecilia Sue debacle has shed light on the dissatisfaction of women's reporting in the city. Women continue to demand that men face as much blame as women are given in the press. “This is horrible that they continue to put women at the top in these scandals," said Ronda Chang, a recent university graduate from the National University of Singapore. She told Bikyamasr.com that “women seem to always be the headline and even when they are the victim in these cases, the media represents them as the doers and that is disgusting." Chang referred to a number of recent headlines, including on in AsiaOne.com that was simply titled, “Women involved in sex scandals," where the article detailed four women currently embroiled in scandal. But for Chang and others here, they are concerned that the coverage given to women, such as Cecilia Sue, is an attempt to give support to the men who are the true criminals. “What the media is doing is kind of trying to show that these women were the ones using their bodies and sex for their own gains, when the reality is they were forced to do things or they would lose deals. How is that even close to being fair," questioned Chang. Women in Singapore have also demanded an end to “defamatory" name-calling online. This is in light of the recent reports that suggest Sue, the woman involved in a sex-for-business corruption case, was being called “slut" and other terms on online networks. “The media is quick to pick up on this, but they don't bother when men are called names. It is as if only the degrading of women makes headlines," said a social worker who works with battered women in the country. Women here are angry at the accusations, questioning how activists and social media users are attacking the woman in the case and not the men who forced her to give sexual favors in order to seal business agreements. “It is disgusting and something we all should condemn," Maria Li Xui, an advertising consultant in Singapore, who told Bikyamasr.com that “people simply don't understand how difficult it is to be a woman in this country and do business." She and other women said that the online activity and “debasement" of Sue has shown that Singapore has a long way to go before they can understand the role of women in society. “We are all struggling to get things done and work and sexual harassment and sexual favors are pushed on us all the time. It is reality that I think many Singaporeans turn a blind eye to," she added. Sue maintains that former Central Narcotics Bureau (CNB) director Ng Boon Gay, who was a friend and client, had forced her to perform oral sex on him on the four occasions mentioned in the charges. At the time, she was with Hitachi Data Systems and then Oracle Corporation Singapore, which she joined last November as a senior sales manager. She also said that Ng attempted to rape her on at least one occasion in an effort to get a deal sealed. The case has highlighted the role of sex and business in the city-state. “He tried to rape her and yet the media simply remains quiet and acts as if her statements, however odd they may be, are not newsworthy enough," added Li Xui.
