Alex Au Waipang, () also known by his

Internet The Internet (or internet) is the Global network, global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a internetworking, network of networks ...

pseudonym as Yawning Bread, is an advocate of

LGBT rights in Singapore The rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) people in Singapore have evolved over the decades. Same-sex sexual activity is legal for both males and females. Until January 2023, sexual activity between men was illegal ...

. Au is a blogger and activist who provides analyses of

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

an politics, culture,

gay ''Gay'' is a term that primarily refers to a homosexual person or the trait of being homosexual. The term originally meant 'carefree', 'cheerful', or 'bright and showy'. While scant usage referring to male homosexuality dates to the late ...

issues and miscellaneous subjects on his blog. He is also the co-author of two books, ''People Like Us: Sexual Minorities in Singapore'' and a French-language treatise on

homophobia Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who identify or are perceived as being lesbian, Gay men, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred, or ant ...

entitled ''L'Homophobie''. He was the owner of ''Rairua'', Singapore's first nude

gay sauna A gay bathhouse, also known as a gay sauna or a gay steambath, is a public bath targeted towards Gay men, gay and Bisexuality, bisexual men. In gay slang, a bathhouse may be called just "the baths", "the sauna", or "the tubs". Historically, they ...

Biography

Au, of

Cantonese Cantonese is the traditional prestige variety of Yue Chinese, a Sinitic language belonging to the Sino-Tibetan language family. It originated in the city of Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) and its surrounding Pearl River Delta. While th ...

descent, was born in Singapore in 1952. He attended the

Anglo-Chinese School Anglo-Chinese School (ACS) is a family of Methodist schools in Singapore and Indonesia. It was founded in 1886 by Bishop William Fitzjames Oldham as an extension of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Its students and alumni are referred to as "ACS ...

for his primary and secondary education and obtained his tertiary degree from the

National University of Singapore The National University of Singapore (NUS) is a national university, national Public university, public research university in Singapore. It was officially established in 1980 by the merging of the University of Singapore and Nanyang University ...

. After graduation, he worked in a managerial position at a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

multinational corporation before branching out on his own as the proprietor of several business catering to the gay community, as well as freelance writing. He was one of the founding members, along with Joseph Lo and Dr. Russell Heng, of Singapore's main gay equality lobby group People Like Us, and also the founder and list owner of the Singapore Gay News List (SiGNeL), the first discussion forum for Singapore's gay community. In 2002, he was presented with the Utopia award for outstanding contributions towards the advancement of gay equality in Asia. In July 2003, Au was identified by the now-defunct

Channel i Channel i () is a Bangladeshi Bengali-language satellite and cable television channel owned by Impress Group. It was launched on 1 October 1999, as Bangladesh's first digital television channel. It is one of the oldest satellite television chan ...

as a gay activist. His views were solicited in the wake of Prime Minister

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as the second prime minister of Singapore from 1990 to 2004 and as a senior minister of Singapore from 2004 to 2011. He served as the secretary-general of the Peo ...

's recent announcement that the hiring of gays in the civil service would henceforth be liberalized. In the run-up to the

2006 Singapore general election General elections were held in Singapore on 6 May 2006. President S.R. Nathan dissolved parliament on 20 April 2006 on the advice of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong three weeks before the election. The People's Action Party (PAP) won 66.6% of t ...

, Au provided extensive coverage of the opposition parties' rallies which were attended by large crowds. Au used his connections with People Like Us and with leading practitioners in the local gay arts scene to organize

IndigNation Indignation is a complex and discrete emotion that is triggered by social emotions and social environments. Feelings of anger and disgust are some emotions that constitute indignation. The feeling of indignation can occur when one is mistreated ...

, Singapore's first gay pride month in 2005 and Short Circuit, Singapore's first gay film festival in 2006. In July 2012, the attorney general's chambers wrote to Au, demanding that he take down and apologize for a June 2012 post in his Yawning Bread blog that criticized the judiciary for showing deference to the executive. Au promptly removed the post. In October 2014, Senior State Counsel Tai Wei Shyong, acting for the attorney-general, urged the High Court to hold Au in contempt of court for two Yawning Bread articles that made it seem that there is a "systemic bias" in Singapore's judiciary against cases involving homosexuality. In his defence, Au's lawyers, Peter Low and Choo Zheng Xi, accused the AG of being "trigger-happy" in taking their client to court on "imputation, innuendo and insinuation". On 22 January 2015, Au was held to be guilty of scandalising the court in respect of one of his two Yawning Bread articles, and cleared of the second charge. The Court of Appeal rejected his appeal on 1 December 2015.

References

External links

The Yawning Bread website

Alex Au web picture archive

The Yawning Bread blog
{{DEFAULTSORT:Au, Alex 1952 births Living people Singaporean people of Cantonese descent National University of Singapore alumni Anglo-Chinese School alumni Gay writers Singaporean LGBTQ writers Singaporean LGBTQ rights activists Singaporean gay men Singaporean bloggers Male bloggers 21st-century Singaporean LGBTQ people