In Sunday New Paper... Gay Teacher ... u read it ?!!
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Man.. is this an eye opener for the some...
Surprisingly, some guys think the parents over reacted...
dont want to say it but... here its goes...
" Dont say I didnt tell you about it "
What worries me is the comment the mentioned about gay teachers in primary and sec school...
wonder what is going to happend next, to those gay teachers... -
i had a teacher who confessed about his sexual orientation.......
but he is very professional in sch
after sch we dun care
being open is good.......
apparently, with this report, it jus shows we are too conservative towards issues like this -
nothing wrong with being gay or lesbian as long as he or she behaves.
you can be straight but if you prey on others what does that make you?
as bad, if not worst, isnt it? -
$40,000 FIX-UP after HIV outcry
No infection, yet parents force school to replace items that teacher touched
By Andre Yeo
June 27, 2005
IGNORANCE is bliss, so the saying goes. But for a private school off Upper Thomson Road, ignorance displayed by the parents of its students has proved costly - to the tune of $40,000.
That's 40 per cent of the school's annual operating cost.
The ignorance stems from the parents' fears that all gays are HIV positive - and a gay teacher would have infected everything he touched.
Pictures: Chua Puay Hoe
The school, the Centre for Exceptional Children, takes in students between 3 1/2 and 12 who have learning disabilities or who have low IQs.
In February, it came under the spotlight in a Straits Times report, which said the police had alerted the centre of a teacher's arrest for a sexual offence.
NOT CHARGED
The teacher was let off with a warning and was not charged, but the police said the school was informed because the man, Mr Paul Fernandez, 42, taught young children.
The school, which had 20 students then, said it did not know Mr Fernandez was gay or that he had been arrested.
But the parents were aghast. They blamed the school for hiring the man. Four pulled their kids out.
(They returned in April, said principal Queenie Tan, 50, because they couldn't find other centres to go to.)
Other parents insisted that the teacher not teach their children and must not be in the same room as their kids.
'It put me in a difficult position. It was as good as telling me to remove him,' said Mrs Tan.
A month before the ST report, Mr Fernandez had already stopped reporting for work.
On 30 Mar, the school's board decided to fire Mr Fernandez. He was informed by letter in April.
Mrs Tan stressed they did not fire him because he is gay but because he did not follow the school's guidelines. This included teaching in a classroom with windows so he could be observed.
His termination was not enough to pacify the parents. Some wanted the school to replace everything he had touched.
Re-paint the school, they said. Replace the toilet bowls.
Even throw away the chairs that he sat on.
Why? Because they were afraid their kids would get the HIV virus by touching the things the gay teacher had touched.
But there is no evidence that Mr Fernandez is HIV positive.
Furthermore, there is no way the virus can be transmitted through objects touched by an infected person.
As Dr Elly Sabrina Ismail, 35, a general practitioner explained: 'HIV is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids through close bodily contact like during sex.
'A virus can't survive for long when it's exposed to the environment. It's just sheer panic without understanding what it's all about.'
But Mrs Tan said 17 parents told her personally that they wanted the renovations carried out anyway.
So, in March, the school obliged. It even replaced the teaching aids - like cards and blocks - that Mr Fernandez had used. The school had to order some of the replacements from the UK.
It also replaced a microwave oven, hot water flask and toaster Mr Fernandez had used. Even the cupboards were changed.
Mrs Tan told the parents personally and via e-mail she would be carrying out the changes.
Explaining why they replaced the items, Mrs Tan said: 'We considered the general consensus of the parents. They pointed out that even the Government had banned gay parties and this contributed to the negative feeling they had towards gays.'
To allay their fears and concerns, she decided to carry out the renovations even though she admitted it was going overboard.
Mrs Tan said the school is only three years old and did not need to be renovated.
She said: 'It's a real waste of money. Psychologically, the renovation helps to give the impression that the place is new and fresh. You could say we were paranoid and obsessive, but the parents would say prevention is better than cure.'
A parent, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Ong, 46, admitted she was being kiasu.
Her 8-year-old son is dyslexic. She said: 'In this day and age of mutating viruses, well, I am just a mum who is concerned for my child. I am a kiasu mother.
'My son still puts things in his mouth and is not aware of what is hygienic and what is not. I was just thinking for my son and the other children.'
But does she know that the virus cannot be spread through furniture?
Yes, but she's not taking any chances, she said.
Mrs Tan added the school needs $100,000 a year and they conduct their own fund-raising. The renovations have put a large dent in its coffers.
She said the bulk of the operating cost generally goes towards the salaries of five full-time and three part-time teachers and the monthly $1,500 rental.
The school has 15 students now as some left to join mainstream schools.
When The New Paper on Sunday telephoned Mr Fernandez on Thursday, his mother said he had left the country two weeks ago. Declining to be named, she said he is unemployed.
'He didn't tell me where he's going,' she said. 'I didn't ask him. He is not a baby. I don't know when he is coming back. This is Paul's matter.'
Mrs Tan said this episode will not dissuade her from hiring gays.
'They are still human beings who need a job to survive. How can we ostracise them?
'There are gay teachers in primary and secondary schools and in polytechnics.
'And some are very good teachers.'
THE CASE
MR Paul Fernandez was warned by police in September 2003 for committing an act of gross indecency with another man.
It happened on the public staircase landing of a private block of flats in Klang Lane in Little India.
He was not charged.
He claimed it was a consensual act that came to the police's attention only after he reported that the other man had robbed him.
But because of his close contact with children, the police sent a letter to the school about his liaison with the man.
THE FACTS
IT's stereotyping of gays.
So says Action For Aids' executive director Paul Toh when asked to comment on the parents' reaction.
Said Mr Toh, 40: 'Just because a person is gay doesn't mean he has HIV. In truth, HIV is spread by mostly heterosexuals.
'In Singapore, 70 per cent of the HIV cases is spread by heterosexuals and 30 per cent by gay people.
'And it is not spread through furniture.'
According to the AFA website, there are three ways the HIV virus is spread:
Through semen, vaginal fluids or blood during unprotected sexual intercourse with an infected person.
Through sharing needles and syringes for intravenous drug use with an infected person.
When an infected mother passes the virus on to her baby during pregnancy, child birth or breastfeeding.
(Source: The Electric Newpaper, 27 June 2005) -
its not the gays but its the part where gays must have aids, and everything he touches will have aids too.
morons.. really nothing to say. -
Some people aren't too bright are they?
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Haix, talk about being open-minded, a few days ago, there was this girl kiss girl incident and now this...XD
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.............
But the parents were aghast. They blamed the school for hiring the man. Four pulled their kids out.
(They returned in April, said principal Queenie Tan, 50, because they couldn't find other centres to go to.)
HAHAHA - Humble pie doesn't taste so nice does it?
Other parents insisted that the teacher not teach their children and must not be in the same room as their kids.
....
Re-paint the school, they said. Replace the toilet bowls.
Even throw away the chairs that he sat on.
Why? Because they were afraid their kids would get the HIV virus by touching the things the gay teacher had touched.
But there is no evidence that Mr Fernandez is HIV positive.
Furthermore, there is no way the virus can be transmitted through objects touched by an infected person.
...
But Mrs Tan said 17 parents told her personally that they wanted the renovations carried out anyway.
So, in March, the school obliged. It even replaced the teaching aids - like cards and blocks - that Mr Fernandez had used. The school had to order some of the replacements from the UK.
...
Explaining why they replaced the items, Mrs Tan said: 'We considered the general consensus of the parents. They pointed out that even the Government had banned gay parties and this contributed to the negative feeling they had towards gays.'
Yes. Blame the government.
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all i can say is that the reaction of some of the parents border on idiocy.
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its not even bordering any more.. its ure idiocy.Originally posted by JLennon:all i can say is that the reaction of some of the parents border on idiocy.
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i tot the parents physically broke down the toilet on hearing their children's teacher is gay.
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they must be middle class families with heavy mental insecurities for their "retard" kids and obsessive tendecies, on the verge of going siao ding dong.Originally posted by huiz:i tot the parents physically broke down the toilet on hearing their children's teacher is gay. -
kiasee.Originally posted by lwflee:Some people aren't too bright are they? -
Ridiculous. If this is printed in any world paper then the whole of Singapore will be a huge laughing stock I think. Some news are just too ridiculous in Straits Times. I think Singaporeans must be ashamed of this incident and should apologise to the teacher.
They go around stereotyping everyone. And one of the parent was still "prouD" enough to say that she is a kiasee mother. Pui. Shame on you madam. Shame on you...
They have started to think that being kiasu is a "good" thing. Boy, they are wrong... Soon enough when the world is watching us they are gonna laugh at us for being such "out of the box" thinkers.. (being sarcastic of course.)
Stupid mentality they have man.. I really pity the teacher. -
Blame the system for fostering this sort of thinking, until it has become acceptable.
Those parents are the real retards.
And the ST is just having some agenda to try and back up the clampdown on loosening up. -
Gay or not doesn't matter to me, as long as he play his part well as a teacher, know how to separate personal life from work. I suspect my sec sch Bio teacher is a gay also, he talks, walks and looks like one. But he teaches well. As long as it dun affect his work...if not, if one day sg males all becomes gay, how? Parents dun send their children to sch la? Duiz..
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Amazing that there are still hardcore homophobics around nowadays.
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'We considered the general consensus of the parents. They pointed out that even the Government had banned gay parties and this contributed to the negative feeling they had towards gays' ..Foolish statement. If the gay parties are not banned, are we condoning to the lifestyle of gays? What are the real consequence of allowing it..but I can tell you this, gays want more space and demand more when they are given an inch even they are bloody minority in the city state. I guess you all have not been to the gays' orgy parties before. You will get the shock of your life to witness the disgusting act. Imagine it if it's allow in the city..
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As I mentioned in the other forum:
Just to question all of us as a reflection..
In the first place....who are we to say "normal" and "not normal "? It was only created by human, philosophically...then it was also human...who say black and white, who separate bad and good. It was also human who say a thief is a crook...but back to the first era where man has not been so smart...will they care that the thief is a crook? or care if they want his male friend to help him relief his sexual drive? it is only human who create standard and civilisation which we nowadays use what other people "think" and "say"...and they just follow that homosexual is "wrong". Are the hetero always "right" too?
Enjoy your life and life is short.
Do the best and maximize your potential...We are too caged by too many standards!
Stand up and be yourself. -
speaking of homo. I really sympathise with them...for a couple of things. I really cant bear to hate or dislike them..
1) they are the condemn lots in the society. up to now, not much countries in tolerant to them, even worse for those in the extreme side of religious community.
2) some of them has being hurt utterly by the opposite sex, to the point of mental breakdown and thet feel dissapointed with them
3)some of them have family problems.
If I have a wish, I hope they can be normal again...
God please save the world. -
Idiots. Absolute idiots. I wouldn't want them to be my parents at all.
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New paper again....
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SHOWs that some ppl still ignorant even wif all e modernization & education they received !
I won't be surprised that some ppl still do things like drinking "ash water" for treatment of sickness!