Pink Dot Event Discussion (2007 to Present Day) (compiled)

[lovehandle]

pls learn to respect the older ones that do not have pink dot at the earlier days.......they were slighted and disrespected in the past

- one of the msg in pink dot conveyed

[lonely57]

so how was the dot guys? was quite disappointed i couldnt go since i had no one to go with but oh well =/

[lovehandle]

14 minutes ago, lonely57 said:

so how was the dot guys? was quite disappointed i couldnt go since i had no one to go with but oh well =/

Seemed like many loners and some of us emo-ing now  didn't go!

but we are able to watch it live from fb!

[abang]

I wrote this in PD's facebook.

To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the run-down this year. Some of the singing items were so boring - an excuse to go to the toilet or to collect placards. It was probably an oversight by the organisers that Liu Ling Ling's segment was way too short.

 

***

Sincerely hope that if they do appoint dialect-speaking ambassadors in the future, encourage the participants to bring their non-English speaking parents, family members along. I certainly do not want this event to become another elitist, commercial one. The purpose is to draw in more acceptance from our loved ones - family members, friends and colleagues. Don't turn the event into another Saturday at the park..we got plenty of that at the Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the bay.

[lovehandle]

abang

U must be terribly disappointed?? Liu lingling can only sing hokkien/Chinese songs mostly

What is PD?

[Guest Guest]

11 minutes ago, abang said:

I wrote this in PD's facebook.

To be honest, I was quite disappointed with the run-down this year. Some of the singing items were so boring - an excuse to go to the toilet or to collect placards. It was probably an oversight by the organisers that Liu Ling Ling's segment was way too short.

 

***

Sincerely hope that if they do appoint dialect-speaking ambassadors in the future, encourage the participants to bring their non-English speaking parents, family members along. I certainly do not want this event to become another elitist, commercial one. The purpose is to draw in more acceptance from our loved ones - family members, friends and colleagues. Don't turn the event into another Saturday at the park..we got plenty of that at the Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the bay.

 

Pink Dot's mission now is to entertain those Ang Mo from the Citibank, Apple, Microsoft, GE, etc, etc.  They pour in the money and of course, they are the priority.  I doubt they would be interested in anything non-English.

[abang]

That's exactly my point.

Isn't PD *Pink Dot* an event to raise awareness of our existence?

If it continues to a variety show (with boring screechy singing by that Fernandez woman and that guitar boy) why bother to go anymore?  We want others to accept us, to know and to accept our lifestyles and sexual orientation.  If it is a pure LQBTQIA get-together, then so be it but don't play play with the notion that we are making a public statement.  

 

Yes we need the sponsors but not at the expense of "raising more awareness and acceptance".... please lah, even for a potato queen like me, AMDK don't always work and the only proud moment was when we sang the National Anthem.

[Guest Guest]

Is Pink Dot a non-profit organisation ?  Or profit making one ?   It is a company ?  Who owns it ?

 

[lovehandle]

12 minutes ago, abang said:

That's exactly my point.

Isn't PD *Pink Dot* an event to raise awareness of our existence?

If it continues to a variety show (with boring screechy singing by that Fernandez woman and that guitar boy) why bother to go anymore?  We want others to accept us, to know and to accept our lifestyles and sexual orientation.  If it is a pure LQBTQIA get-together, then so be it but don't play play with the notion that we are making a public statement.  

 

Yes we need the sponsors but not at the expense of "raising more awareness and acceptance".... please lah, even for a potato queen like me, AMDK don't always work and the only proud moment was when we sang the National Anthem.

Ok I got your point, but the youngsters prefer something new or closer to them

[Guest Guest]

DIdn't go. For those who attended last year, how is the crowd size this year.  Is the card raising better than the torch ?

[abang]

Yes we have to cater to the masses but please, even young people's attention was waned during that 2 performances... This PD has become very "secular", forgetting the middle-age gays altogether.  Liu's presence was supposed to raise the presence of those non-English speaking folks..  Furthermore, she got so little exposure on stage... a wasted invitation.   

 

You know, I really don't care AMDK but have her do a getai style show.. she can sing and compere with Anita Kapoor.  She is funny and if you want her to spread the message that it is OK to accept gay people around us, then do it... it was so neither here nor there....

 

Her rendition of 烧肉粽 and the theme song from 881 was not introduced to the audience at all.  Techno or not, at least she should have a short chat with Anita or Shay.  By the way, Shay reaffirmed his status as a ..I don't know what he is rapping" rapper and he repeated his name at lest thrice during his segment and another time during the ambassadors' sharing.

 

Next time, the sharing at 4 pm should be spread out equally between each singing or dancing items.  It was pointless to have them if half the crowd was moving around the grounds.  

 

*** The placards were too big and clumsy to hold.  If it was meant as a souvenir to bring home, the organisers failed miserably.  Maybe it should be the size of a fan (about 20 cm diameter max).  It was cumbersome to hold and to bring home.. They announced that we can dispose them in the bins provided..a pure waste of resources...

Edited June 4, 2016 by abang
additional reporting/comments

[lovehandle]

your last para sounded so useful as a feedbk/debrief

[Guest Guest]

18 minutes ago, abang said:

*** The placards were too big and clumsy to hold.  If it was meant as a souvenir to bring home, the organisers failed miserably.  Maybe it should be the size of a fan (about 20 cm diameter max).  It was cumbersome to hold and to bring home.. They announced that we can dispose them in the bins provided..a pure waste of resources...

 

Well. it's a number thing.  PInk Dot wants to say they have a lot of supporter, I guess and make the card very big to give that impression.  I wonder why not the torch ?

[lovehandle]

I trust it s done in the evening time hence NOt much of an impact to on the torch at that timing

[abang]

I think bringing the event forward by almost an hour was more appropriate.  At the very least, we can see the finale as opposed to hearing and not seeing (in the dark) for so many years.  

 

I try to be practical here..give the participants useful stuff so they can bring home - this year, 行情不好， 伴手礼也不见有多有用/有纪念价值。。。

Edited June 4, 2016 by abang

[darkflame]

17 hours ago, Guest Late majority said:

 

You will see 70% of crowd made up of groups of xmm sitting and staring around like this:

 

 

 

I would say the above pictures are pretty accurate for certain groups of guys at the Pink Dot event yesterday.

And not to mention some of them at Park Royal too...

[Guest Lackadaisical]

And yes the people who stare blankly all have that blank facial expression and seemed to be holding their breathes waiting for something. Slacktivism?

[Guest Animal instinct]

1 hour ago, darkflame said:

 

I would say the above pictures are pretty accurate for certain groups of guys at the Pink Dot event yesterday.

And not to mention some of them at Park Royal too...

What i saw last year were mostly hordes of girls doing that. Mostly silent, polite staring. Of cos, many guys were doing that too. I was so amused and felt like one of the exhibits at the zoo! Haha

[Guest Guest]

1 hour ago, darkflame said:

 

I would say the above pictures are pretty accurate for certain groups of guys at the Pink Dot event yesterday.

And not to mention some of them at Park Royal too...

 

really...that's so cute... I wanna take all of them home...

 

12 minutes ago, Guest Lackadaisical said:

And yes the people who stare blankly all have that blank facial expression and seemed to be holding their breathes waiting for something. Slacktivism?

 

But actually, isn't that the purpose of the Pink Dot anyway? What purpose does it serve except to stand there to show that you are gay and you are supportive of being gay? That's why I have never been to any of the events.

[charvo87]

On Tuesday, March 22, 2016 at 0:33 AM, yuukito said:

What is pink dot all about ? is it a community or ... ?

An annual event at hong lim park. Once a year u wear pink, go there and announced to the world im a  LGBT!!!!! And take many many photos.

[charvo87]

On Monday, April 25, 2016 at 10:05 PM, jackrezal said:

It always looks so fun from the viewpoint of me standing around by myself and not knowing a single person there. I guess introverts like me have little to contribute to the merrymaking. 

I do find the Reaction Color Dot events on the same day to be hilarious and amusing though. Humans are so silly. 

I didnt even want to go there. 

[Guest Guest]

Supposed to be a protest.   Now, it's more a free show, less a protest.  

[Gray32]

Hi guys. I'm not here to attract flames but just coming from a point as a volunteer and share about my experience this year.

 

Personally, I felt that the performances are not the main portion of this gathering. The placards are extremely restrictive, and this is their first time trying out. Do cut them some slack, alright? I have my fair share of issues with it as well.

 

Furthermore, this year is much more restrictive compared to previous years, and being a day-dot means this year's Pink Dot is going to be much, much shorter. I'm disappointed at the short performances and how fast the party-music has ended as well. The messages that most people thought of would be of political or religion based, but that isn't allowed. Some may ask, what is the main purpose of this placard then? Jump up and down and throw it away or bring home with risks of being charged by people who are watching you raising the placard outside of Hong Lim Park?

 

But then again, are these the most important issue right now?

 

I personally believe that the most important segment was the Community Voices and the speeches by our Ambassadors. They leave the most important message for people to take away.

 

There are plenty of people who were chatting among themselves, bored, not entertained. Are they here to party?

 

Some people laughing at the voices made by Ms June. Really, is our community that not inclusive?

 

Pink Dot isn't just to show the world that you are LGBTQ and other classifications that is known of, or to protest in a way like how others have/has protested before, or in other countries.

 

The rules and regulations are getting stricter, and are we supposed to blame Pink Dot? If they don't follow, then there's no need for Pink Dot to be set up anymore.

 

Pink Dot is more of an event to bring people together, let them be themselves freely and share their happiness or emotions together. Telling the world that we are here to love, and that love exists in all forms. We are human. We deserve to love, and to be loved. Celebrating the freedom to love. We want to let the world know that there are people like us, and we want to be recognized just like any other normal human. 

 

Do you wish to see the other groups to start saying that we're barbarians? Politically wrong?(because as of now, we are politically right to follow the rules set by the authorities)

 

Are we gonna always say that we are protesting against 377A? Is that the main purpose of Pink Dot? While this law is a form of discrimination in a sense, but so what if this law is removed? Does this mean that the society accepts us? The law can be gone but the prejudice and bigotry will be still at large.

 

Does making spiteful comments at anyone make any peace and love? Would we be no different from the other groups then?

 

The costs are not easy to manage, despite having sponsors. The Global Sponsors should not be treated as if the organization is pleasing them, but that they are also a platform for the world to know that they are supporting the freedom to love. I really hope that we could see this in a more positive light than a negative one.

 

Appreciate what we have now. There are many voices that are trying to shut down this event. If they don't adapt, then off to the trash can.

 

I spoke to an elderly, currently 79 years old, who was coming to Pink Dot for the first time ever with his friend. He didn't expect much, while he do feel that the event feels like its catered to the youngsters only, but he enjoyed the performances and felt happy, despite not being able to understand most of the things happening by himself. He's happy that he could see there are people like us, being joyful, happy and able to be with his friends. That itself is contentment, and he's not asking much. Why do we have to ask for so much? Everybody else gave time coming over here, rushing over here after competitions or work/took a work leave off.

 

Criticism are fine, but do give some thought about it. It's not easy for the organizing committee, and the drop in manpower despite the 'overwhelming' response they had initially.

But never, ever, downplay something that could be of significance to somebody else, a hard work that took time to cultivate.

What happens behind the scene is something you don't know of very well, and the obstacles they've gone through is something that not everybody would be able to handle, and all these is just to bring an event to everyone that wants to be there.

 

Let's be fair, you don't know me well enough, don't judge me. Vice versa.

 

Whatever your motive and aim is, if they are not aligned properly with the event's purpose, then sorry, I guess the event didn't cater to your needs.

 

I'm an introvert myself, and I don't like changes. But I want to help out in other ways as I could. Reaching out to people isn't exactly my best thing, but I feel that helping out makes me feel more alive. If this post offends you, feel free to ignore it. Feel free to quote me out as well if you have any feedback, but I'm probably too inactive to check. :]

Edited June 5, 2016 by Gray32

[groyn88]

 

[lonelyglobe]

call me a mountain tortoise, but who is this guy that appear at the 11th second of the clip, so manly and charming, OMG

[Guest Bui bui]

49 minutes ago, lonelyglobe said:

call me a mountain tortoise, but who is this guy that appear at the 11th second of the clip, so manly and charming, OMG

 

Nicholas lim. Ex-whynot gogo boy.

[Guest Bui bui]

18 minutes ago, Guest Bui bui said:

 

Nicholas lim. Ex-whynot gogo boy.

He's one of the infamous racist blogger who got charged and jailed under the sedition act together with benjamin koh in 2005.

[SuperSentai]

1 hour ago, lonelyglobe said:

call me a mountain tortoise, but who is this guy that appear at the 11th second of the clip, so manly and charming, OMG

The admin of GLBT Voices SG aka Gay Confessions SG on Facebook

[Guest Irony]

1 minute ago, Guest Bui bui said:

He's one of the infamous racist blogger who got charged and jailed under the sedition act together with benjamin koh in 2005.

http://web.international.ucla.edu/asia/article/31206

 

A racist blogger now a pink dot speaker. The ironies of life.

[lovehandle]

Maybe we can combine the thread? and reviews can be contributed to:

 

[fab]

2 hours ago, Guest Bui bui said:

 

Nicholas lim. Ex-whynot gogo boy.

 

Quite over weight for a 36 yo. But still cute.

Edited June 6, 2016 by fab

[groyn88]

Nicholas Lim, founder of GLBT Voices Singapore, formerly named Gay SG Confessions, was one of the Community Voices during Pink Dot 2016, held on Saturday, 4 June 2016.
Transcript:
"Hi everyone, I am Nicholas Lim. Three years ago I started a confessions page for the gay community. I was expecting, as was the trend then, scandals, gossip, rants, petty complaints. What I received instead shook me emotionally.
Some quick statistics here to give you all context - The page, now known as GLBT Voices Singapore, has over 47,000 fans on Facebook. 64% of its readers are between the ages of 18 - 24. In the last 3 years, members of the community and even allies have submitted over 30,000 stories that I have dutifully posted on their behalf. Stories about what? Coming out stories. Sometimes love stories.
But a lot of these stories also spoke about their worries. Scared. Fearful. Of what? Not of the government arresting them. No, they are scared and fearful of coming out to their loved ones. Of their parents, their siblings, their relatives discovering that they are gay. And what happens next. Would they be disowned? Would they no longer have a home to return to? Would they no longer be loved? Till today I still receive the same message, that same question asking me, telling me, "I don't know what to do when my family finds out I am gay."
If you are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgender living in Singapore, this is a familiar story to you. Family is important to you, to all of us. We all love our families. And we all feel the need to be loved by our families. 3 years ago I started a confessions page and instead I learned firsthand just how many young gays and lesbians are afraid of being who they are with their families.
Coming out is a journey for us gay people. There are 7 steps or stages when a gay person comes out. Towards the end, one of the last steps, is coming out to your family. Why is it the last? Because it's the hardest. Nothing is harder than facing the people you love and telling them who you are, that you are different, and not knowing whether they will accept you. Whether they will still love you.
To the people who like to judge us, label us and claim that lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender people break the so called traditional family unit, I would like to ask a simple question - aren't we LGBT part of families? Aren't we all somebody's son, daughter, brother, sister, niece, nephew, grandson and granddaughter? Don't we deserve to be loved just like any other family member? Why not? Just because we are different?
Since the end of last year, I started asking the readers who wrote in and talked about their fear of coming out to their families, if they love their families. If they love their parents. I've probably asked give and take, 50 different readers. Not a lot. Most of them are anonymous so I can't ask them this unless they message me directly. But these readers whom I've asked this question, "do you love your family? Do you love your parents?", I have only gotten one type of answer so far. Please allow me to read you some of their answers.
"Yes. I love my family." "Yes, I love my parents." Some even tell me "A lot." "Deeply." "My dad is the most important person in my life." "I can't imagine loving anyone more than loving my mum." One 17 year old reader who was thrown out by his parents told me, "Even if my mum never takes me back, I will never stop loving her. Because she is my mother."
My mother accepted me when I came out to her at 12 years of age. That gift of unconditional love is not a common story here in Singapore and it’s something I wish more gay and lesbian Singaporeans can experience. We all deserve love. And we all love our families. So if you have a family member who comes out to you, please remember this. We are your sons, your daughters. We are your sisters and brothers, cousins, nieces and nephews or even your grandchild. And by sharing who we are, we hope that you will still love us no matter what. Because we are your family. And you are ours.
Thank you."
Links:
https://www.facebook.com/GLBTvoices/
https://www.facebook.com/GLBTvoices/posts/1225531604157930

[lonelyglobe]

thanks...u guy are so informative and knowledgeable, at the same time also quite scary, whatever u do and your past, somehow there will always be someone who know about it......groyn88 really do your homework but without the transcript, quite difficult to listen to his speech due to the echo and background noise... 

[Guest Disgusted]

Nicholas lim. A "used to be" well known guy known to be so full of himself by others who had known him. He had a boyfriend who commited suicide by jumping. Read online he was so remorseful for having thrown tantrums at him beforehand. Of cos remorseful lah, boyfriend successfully commited suicide leh. Could be linked to his callous and bitchy diva attitude?

[Shengzzzzzzz]

Guys why must we have such a deep discussion omg. Can we all just take a moment and preach Hirzi's performance, i mean girl he got it on real quick.

[Guest Gets]

4 hours ago, Guest Disgusted said:

Nicholas lim. A "used to be" well known guy known to be so full of himself by others who had known him. He had a boyfriend who commited suicide by jumping. Read online he was so remorseful for having thrown tantrums at him beforehand. Of cos remorseful lah, boyfriend successfully commited suicide leh. Could be linked to his callous and bitchy diva attitude?

 

BF rich and hot? 

[Guest Pity]

23 minutes ago, Guest Gets said:

 

BF rich and hot? 

Very si boon. Poor guy and a pity. He was quite cute.

[Guest still racist?]

5 hours ago, Guest Disgusted said:

Nicholas lim. A "used to be" well known guy known to be so full of himself by others who had known him. He had a boyfriend who commited suicide by jumping. Read online he was so remorseful for having thrown tantrums at him beforehand. Of cos remorseful lah, boyfriend successfully commited suicide leh. Could be linked to his callous and bitchy diva attitude?

 

u can take a look for yurself on 11 june - he's organising a trip to pulau ubin for glbt voices

 

his body language sometimes feels like he is partial to chinese boys, i met him once and he only said hi to me but not my malay friend, as if he was like transparent glass

[fab]

1 hour ago, Guest Pity said:

Very si boon. Poor guy and a pity. He was quite cute.

 

Younger than him?

[Guest Sport-coholic]

On 03/06/2016 at 7:57 PM, xsual said:

 

if anyone sees a pink unicorn tml, please post the pic here. =)

 

Nah. Your unicorn. Any prize for me?

https://www.facebook.com/pinkdotsg/

Photo by by Sebastian Tan (http://www.sebastiantan.net)

[xsual]

1 hour ago, Sport-coholic said:

 

Nah. Your unicorn. Any prize for me?

https://www.facebook.com/pinkdotsg/

Photo by by Sebastian Tan (http://www.sebastiantan.net)

 

yeah i saw her too! so adorable! gave her a hug!

 

prize ah... i bestow you good karma (karma can be collected to exchange for various other things...)

[bluefish20008]

9 hours ago, Guest Disgusted said:

Nicholas lim. A "used to be" well known guy known to be so full of himself by others who had known him. He had a boyfriend who commited suicide by jumping. Read online he was so remorseful for having thrown tantrums at him beforehand. Of cos remorseful lah, boyfriend successfully commited suicide leh. Could be linked to his callous and bitchy diva attitude?

It hurts. Been reading GLBTVoices since GSC era, but didn't know this.

[Guest Fetish]

4 hours ago, Guest still racist? said:

 

u can take a look for yurself on 11 june - he's organising a trip to pulau ubin for glbt voices

 

his body language sometimes feels like he is partial to chinese boys, i met him once and he only said hi to me but not my malay friend, as if he was like transparent glass

 

 

Anyone want to guess his fetish?

[groyn88]

This news clip was broadcast over Channel News Asia's Singapore Tonight bulletin at 10pm on Saturday, 4 June 2016.
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/pink-dot-organisers-focus/2845266.html
Pink Dot organisers focus on participation, not numbers
After Hong Lim Park was "filled to capacity" last year, a spokesperson for the event said there was no need to report the number of people attending this year.
By Monica Kotwani
Posted 04 Jun 2016 19:26
SINGAPORE: Organisers of Pink Dot SG, an annual rally that supports the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, said the focus of this year's event was active participation rather than the number of people attending.
The rally, which was held on Saturday (Jun 4), saw crowds start to gather at Hong Lim Park before the official start time of 3pm. A free concert kicked off just after 5pm, with local bands and artistes performing. Placard booths were scattered throughout the park for Singaporeans and Permanent Residents to write messages of support.
The spokesperson for Pink Dot, Paerin Choa, said the event this year was not about the numbers attending. "The park has been filled to capacity since last year, so there is really no need to report the numbers, which is why this year we want to focus on the messages instead."
The event this year saw an increase in the number of sponsors compared to 2015, from nine to 18. New sponsors included Facebook, General Electric and law firm Cavenagh Law LLP.

[ajax]

 

 

 

[Guest Concert]

Next year can have a PinkDot Concert since got so many sponsors.

[Guest Worrywart]

It worries me after seeing this. I hope Pink Dot will not die due to $$$ issue.

 

http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/gov-make-clear-foreign-entities-should-not-support-events-concerning-domestic-issues-amid

[nixorn]

Short article and mostly pics at toggle website.

http://lifestyle.toggle.sg/en/around-town/galleries/party-pix-pink-dot-2016-6378160#slideshow-1

[Guest PARTY]

22 hours ago, Guest Worrywart said:

It worries me after seeing this. I hope Pink Dot will not die due to $$$ issue.

 

http://m.todayonline.com/singapore/gov-make-clear-foreign-entities-should-not-support-events-concerning-domestic-issues-amid

 

 

There use to be a gay party at Sentosa i cant remember the name already which in the end stop due to some intervention.

[Guest Grrrrrrr!!!!]

Last time ban long hair, hippies, communists, now gay people. Why our regime so evil??? Churches - christianity, what a nonsense religion - should be banned instead! 

 

Our govt and local fundamentalist christians - one so lame, another so extreme!

 

SO ANGRY!!!