Singapore: SGGURLS 11th Moderator Meeting

Singapore: SGGURLS 11th Moderator Meeting
Singapore, 23rd May 2009
It was another sweltering night with 37 degrees heat index (30.5 degrees + 90% humidity). The gurls met up for what I thought was going to be a night of relaxation. The chairwoman, Destynee, was a task mistress. She bulldozed two tough topics on the agenda. In attendance were our dearest friends and founders of SGB (www.sgbutterfly.org) who had guided and supported us, our wisdom meister Bobby, Ada, Trish, Kayla, Destynee, Joy, Elisa, Linda, Rayne, Hendrika, Zermine and Fifi.
The thorniest topic was tabled first. Does SGGURLS needs its own website? SGGURLS had reached the limit offered by Yahoo's free group service months ago. Elisa asked a very innocent question: "what's the purpose of the website?" A debate ensued as to its purpose and contents. It was no doubt a tough and complex issue half of which had to do with SGGURLS identity. After the group is only 1.5 years old and like any teething baby, it has to find its own footing. Bobby suggested that we delay the decision on the website but keep the topic alive with ongoing discussions. Linda recommended that make this a two step decision: decide 'yes' or 'no' for the website, then form a project team collect the requirements from its members. Daniel offered his experience from running SGB. He suggested that we not focus at the number of members but rather look at actual participants. He said though there maybe 1000-2000 members, participation is less than 2%. Additionally, he proffered the mission of SGB was an education portal. Should SGGURLS embark on having its own website, the mission for the website must be clear.
The second topic was the 2010 calendar project. This was another hairy topic. I had to explain the three reasons for doing the project. The first being team work. SGGURLS has pulled off many events. They were tough but relatively straightforward projects. The calendar project would force the gurls really to look within its members and identify their best talents and use these talents to create an out-of-the-box calendar that will wow its buyers. Secondly, this calendar project challenges the notion that tgurls prefer to go stealth because they don't want to be marginalize by society. Trish and Rose brought up these valid points. In today's context, society still treats us badly. So it's better to just keep quiet, earn a living and not create any trouble. This calendar project is meant to show that trans are people who like any group if given an opportunity will accomplish incredible things. Thirdly, this calendar project is to showcase people with talent. I proffered several examples of trans glam in Asia. The photo studio for gurls in KL, Suzhou and Shenzhen do such wonderful work that it had that made many of its viewers say: "I can't believe these people are really guys". Like the transgender tiffany show, it is another milestone for the transgender to own the day.