Hi editor,

I was pleasantly surprised that there was a homosexuality theme in the drama, "Untraceable Evidence" on Sunday (25/6/00) 10:30pm, Channel 8.

In that show, Jiaqiao, the lab technician, had a colleague who is gay.  From what I observed, several lessons can be drawn about the behaviour of gays.

Firstly, Jiaqiao was not a gay, and his gay colleague respected that and they still remain good friends.  Thus, gays respect people's sexual orientation and do not choose their partners indiscriminately.

Secondly, at the scene in the gay bar, Jiaqiao's gay colleague talked to the victim before the latter was murdered.  Jiaqiao's colleague remarked to the victim that the latter is "not his type".  Thus, even among gays, they do not choose their partners indiscriminately, just like heterosexuals.

Finally, the gays in that pub, including Jiaqiao's colleague, do not look effeminate.  In fact, they look and talk just like heterosexuals.

On that same Sunday, ironically, Susan Long gave Singaporeans a report on their level of social grace in the article "Goodness gracious"

I would give a simple suggestion to Singaporeans if they want to improve their level of social grace.  They should begin by examining the reasons why we cannot accept homosexuals, who are also Singaporean citizens, in our society.  We should recognize that these Singaporeans are a minority group in our society, and that prejudices and discrimination against minorities arises primarily because of lack of information.

Let us start by being gracious to the homosexuals in our midst, before we think about being gracious to anybody else.

Kelvin Tan Tuan Wei