In many ways, Stuart Koe is an "OG" or Original Gay. As a change-maker, he had a front row seat at what was taking place in Singapore's LGBTQ community around the turn of the millennium, particularly with his leadership roles in Action for AIDS, fridae.com, the Nation Parties, the review of the Penal Code and even Pink Dot. In the next series of episodes of Semua Kita, Stuart tells us many of his stories and how the experiences shaped his perspective of life and activism in Singapore.
In this episode he answers the question, "Is Singapore a good place to be gay?" In his opinion, the biggest fear of coming out is parental disapproval rather than societal violence. He also talks about his not always positive experience in an elite school.
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June agreed to be interviewed by Semua Kita while at the ILGA Conference in Nepal in 2025. In this episode she talks about how her work in Singapore for the trans community has created opportunities like that for her to travel and meet other activists. She also discusses her philosophy that services provided to the transgender community should not be funded by the community, and explores the strategies she uses to minimize financial barriers to accessing counselling and other offerings.
Amidst the many LGBTQ non-profits in Singapore, June feels that, in some ways, the T Project is an outlier as it services those with lower socioeconomic status when compared to other charitable groups. In particular, this seems to be most pronounced in the ivory tower of academia. Here June discusses the importance of Intersectionality.
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What does success mean for the T Project? In this episode we hear about the services which the T Project now offers beyond the shelter, including counselling services and the hosting of community events. June goes into some of the hurdles which were overcome, including navigating Singapore's company registration system which tends to be unsupportive of LGBTQ organizations.
She also lets us know what's ahead for the T Project and for herself, particularly as trans identities themselves expand, including non-binary and others, and when greater employment opportunities for the community now exist. Collaboration with other trans organizations is essential to fill the information gap created by these new possibilities.
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June reluctantly gave up sex work after 20 years. In this episode she talks about why she decided to move on. She also details her path into the T Project and the Alicia community centre, and what she learned along the way. There were many challenges for a "sex worker of 20 years with only 'O'-levels" to set up a shelter for homeless trans sex workers without savings, but June also understood what her strengths were, especially as a speaker, which she used to great effect to get the space furnished and stocked with food. For a long time she was lived off her own savings, but there were rewards too, including several ministerial visits.
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In this episode of Semua Kita, June tells us about the many choices she made: to choose familial love, to choose sex work, to choose not to have a relationship. She describes the hierarchy of the brothels where she worked, her relationship to other sex workers and her clients from office workers in shirts and ties to migrant workers. For her, sex work was a lucrative career and one which she misses, even the clients with unusual requests.
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In the next few episodes of Semua Kita we speak to June Chua. She is a well-known trans activist who founded a shelter for homeless trans women in Singapore called the T Project. In this episode she tells us about growing up as a non-gender conforming child, but how she was never aware of this until she got to secondary school. There, being called names like "bapok" and "ah-kwa" became moments of clarity.
How does a transwoman find out more about what it means to be transgender? By visiting the one place where transwomen would congregate in large numbers: Singapore's red light districts. In this episode June tells us how she learned much from her sisters and mamas at Changi Point and Desker Road and eventually followed their path in to sex work.
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Gary worked for Max for a few years, including setting up events in Batam, creating networks between other queer businesses and building platforms for other marginalized groups within the queer community in Singapore. In this episode of Semua Kita he tells us why he eventually felt a need to move on and what his regrets in doing so were.
From it's heyday around the turn of the millennium, queer nightlife in Singapore seems to be on a gradual decline. What are the reasons for this? How did the repeal of 377A affect the community? Most importantly, what did Garry learn about building inclusion through nightlife, entertainment and social events? Can parties also be activism?
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In the previous episode of Semua Kita, we heard how coming out and connecting with a gay community was an adventure, but how did Garry also manage this while doing his national service? First, however, he shares where he sourced the outfits which gave him the edge while clubbing on a Sunday night.In episodes 6 to 8 this season we spoke to Max Lim who ran many gay spaces in Singapore. Garry worked for Max and here he tells us how this happened. That opportunity became his entry point into event and talent management for Max's budding gay entertainment empire.What tasks did Garry do for Max? Garry tells us about Raw, Max's then new sauna on Ann Siang Hill, and compares it to the rest of Singapore's sauna scene at the time.Other subscription, listening and following options here: https://bit.ly/m/semuakita #queer #LGBTQ #oralhistory #singapore
In this episode of Semua Kita we hear more about Garry's first boy crush, how he gradually came to the realization that he was gay and what exploring a relationship with someone who was an equal novice was like.Eventually, Garry found a new chosen family in a bar in Chinatown called Niche, where he observed how the community organized itself into one providing care and support under the glamorous lights of Singapore's drag nightlife. The ability to draw from local entertainment styles like getai gave drag here its own unique style. But first, to makes sense of his unfamiliar feelings, a teenage Garry turned to the then new internet for answers. Other subscription, listening and following options here: https://bit.ly/m/semuakita #queer #LGBTQ #oralhistory #singapore
In the next few episodes of Semua Kita we sit down with Garry Moss, a well-known figure on the gay scene in Singapore and an organizer of many groups and events. How did he get to where he is? In this podcast he tells us about his childhood, and his experience of feeling like an outsider, not because of his sexuality, but because he is Eurasian, an ethnic minority on the island. This sense of difference allowed him to build his own community of "outcasts".Garry also talks to us about his first experiences as a young man, and the spaces where he could explore being gay on-line, including Bianca's Closet, the Blowing Wind fora and Internet Relay Chat (IRC). It was where he found his people who would eventually become his friends in real life as well.Other subscription, listening and following options here: https://bit.ly/m/semuakita #queer #LGBTQ #oralhistory #singapore
In this final episode with Vanessa, we talk about how she managed her work-life balance, particularly when the fires of youth die down in the face of tasks which never end. She tells us about the increasing diversity of the queer community in the wake of the decriminalization of homosexuality and how the dream of a more inclusive society had led to new initiatives. How does political change happen in Singapore? Who gets drawn to activism and volunteering?
Vanessa also reflects on the assumption of conformity predicating social cohesion. Is assimilation the way to achieve the Singapore dream? How can the diversity of objectives of other advocacy groups which leads to tensions be navigated? What are her hopes for the future?
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In this episode of Semua Kita, Vanessa tells us about the changes which have taken place since she has been with Project X. In particular, she identifies generational differences in the trans rights struggle and how the emphasis has moved from gender recognition to gender identity.
She also talks about the work that Project X does, both serving the immediate needs of its clients while also working for long term social and legal change.
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Over the last few episodes we heard from Selena about her role in Project X. In the next few episodes we speak to Vanessa Ho who runs the advocacy and support group for sex workers in Singapore and explore her reflections on organizing and activism on the island.
In this episode Vanessa talks to us about her journey into the organization, and how her experiences of marginalization as a queer women fostered an empathy with the experiences of sex workers. She further explores the ideas of meritocracy and privilege in Singapore and what this means for those living on the edge.
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In the final of this series of episodes featuring Selina, we hear about how she discovered a new direction working for Project X, a non-profit providing social, emotional and health services to people in the sex industry in Singapore.
Now that Selina is in a more stable position, she has also had the opportunity to look back on her life, reflect on what she has achieved, and plan for the years to come. She also tells us what it is like when the roles are reversed and she has been a client.
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What happens when love gets in the way of work? Is the decision always either / or? In this episode Selena tells us about her experience of this situation and the choices she had to make.
In the late 2000s, Selena decided to both travel and work in the United States of America. As she explains, for a Singaporean, it was an eye-opening time for her living in a different country and meeting a wide range of people.
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In this episode of Semua Kita, Selena tells us more about her process of transition, what finally made her decide to go for top surgery, and the career path she decided to follow after that. In particular she talks about running her own business in the 2000s and what it took to attract clients.
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In the next few episodes of Semua Kita we hear from Selena, a transwoman and former sex worker, about her experience of being queer in Singapore. She tells us about how shenavigated being different in a place with dominant gender norms, what options for work and life she felt were open to her and whether she regrets the path she followed.
In this episode she tells us about some of the challenges she faced as a gender non-conforming person who still felt obliged to live up to familial and societal expectations, particularly in school and in national service.
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In the last of our series of episodes featuring Max Lim, we hear more about the closure of his sauna, the complete change he made to his life when that happened and how he found a new purpose after that. He shares some of the memories of his brief stint at a drag cabaret in New York and how he has found companionship in his later years.
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In this episode of Semua Kita, Max talks to us about the challenges he faced with tempremental venues and greedy landlords. We hear more about how he moved into venues of his own, including his sauna Spartacus and its successors, Stroke and the legendary Raw located on Ann Siang Hill which also hosted regular cabaret shows.
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In the next series of episodes we speak to Max Lim, serial entrepreneur, Sunday night gay club promoter and, amongst other venues, the founder of Singapore's first gay sauna, Spartacus in South Bridge Road.
Here, however, we hear about what it was like growing up in a kampung in Hougang then discovering his same sex attraction. How did he meet other like-minded men when he didn't know what the word "gay" even meant? We learn how this led to the setting up of his first nightclub.
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