By Rachel Chan

THE old guard and its supporters have gone online in their campaign against the recent takeover of the Association of Women for Action & Research (Aware).

In response to the unprecedented leadership fight over one of Singapore's most established civil-society groups, an online petition has been started by Dr Vivienne Wee.

She is a founding member of Aware and a former National University of Singapore sociology lecturer who resides in Hong Kong.

Titled "Save Aware! Gender equality for all!", it was put online last Wednesday on petition-hosting portal GoPetition.com - the day before lawyer Thio Su Mien, 71, revealed that she had played a key role in the Aware coup.

As of yesterday evening, the petition, which aims "to reclaim Aware as a vehicle to advance women's rights to gender equality and individual choices", had received 1,348 signatures from here and abroad.

While most of the signatures are from Singapore, quite a few come from China, Australia, Britain and the United States.

Some messages expressed encouragement for the old team while others left stronglyworded comments for their successors.

Mr Loh Ngiap Soon, a Singaporean petitioner who resides in Atlanta, Georgia, wrote that he was disappointed by the "usurpers" who "have betrayed their own motivations with their sneaky approach".

Meanwhile, there is fervent debate in various forums, such as Stomp's Talkback and HardwareZone.

Hotly-debated issues range from Aware's stand on sexuality and the religious background of four executive-committee members.

A website (we-are-aware.sg) has also been set up by the old guard, which exhorts people to sign up for membership and cast their vote of no confidence at Saturday's extraordinary general meeting.

Two new Facebook groups in support of the old guard, with a combined number of more than 2,800 members and 300 wall posts, have also surfaced.

A few, however, have advised caution for those who jumped on the anti-new guard bandwagon without understanding the full picture.

"What's wrong with you guys? I urge you to consider and think sensibly before you vote," said a Facebook user going by the name of Lee Cooper.

For more my paper stories click here.