$40,000 FIX-UP after HIV outcry
No infection, yet parents force school to replace items that
teacher touched
By Andre Yeo
June 27, 2005
IGNORANCE is bliss, so the saying goes. But for a private school
off Upper Thomson Road, ignorance displayed by the parents of its
students has proved costly - to the tune of $40,000.
That's 40 per cent of the school's annual operating cost.
The ignorance stems from the parents' fears that all gays are HIV
positive - and a gay teacher would have infected everything he
touched.
Pictures: Chua Puay Hoe
The school, the Centre for Exceptional Children, takes in students
between 3 1/2 and 12 who have learning disabilities or who have low
IQs.
In February, it came under the spotlight in a Straits Times report,
which said the police had alerted the centre of a teacher's arrest
for a sexual offence.
NOT CHARGED
The teacher was let off with a warning and was not charged, but the
police said the school was informed because the man, Mr Paul
Fernandez, 42, taught young children.
The school, which had 20 students then, said it did not know Mr
Fernandez was gay or that he had been arrested.
But the parents were aghast. They blamed the school for hiring the
man. Four pulled their kids out.
(They returned in April, said principal Queenie Tan, 50, because
they couldn't find other centres to go to.)
Other parents insisted that the teacher not teach their children
and must not be in the same room as their kids.
'It put me in a difficult position. It was as good as telling me to
remove him,' said Mrs Tan.
A month before the ST report, Mr Fernandez had already stopped
reporting for work.
On 30 Mar, the school's board decided to fire Mr Fernandez. He was
informed by letter in April.
Mrs Tan stressed they did not fire him because he is gay but
because he did not follow the school's guidelines. This included
teaching in a classroom with windows so he could be observed.
His termination was not enough to pacify the parents. Some wanted
the school to replace everything he had touched.
Re-paint the school, they said. Replace the toilet bowls.
Even throw away the chairs that he sat on.
Why? Because they were afraid their kids would get the HIV virus by
touching the things the gay teacher had touched.
But there is no evidence that Mr Fernandez is HIV positive.
Furthermore, there is no way the virus can be transmitted through
objects touched by an infected person.
As Dr Elly Sabrina Ismail, 35, a general practitioner explained:
'HIV is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids through close
bodily contact like during sex.
'A virus can't survive for long when it's exposed to the
environment. It's just sheer panic without understanding what it's
all about.'
But Mrs Tan said 17 parents told her personally that they wanted
the renovations carried out anyway.
So, in March, the school obliged. It even replaced the teaching
aids - like cards and blocks - that Mr Fernandez had used. The
school had to order some of the replacements from the UK.
It also replaced a microwave oven, hot water flask and toaster Mr
Fernandez had used. Even the cupboards were changed.
Mrs Tan told the parents personally and via e-mail she would be
carrying out the changes.
Explaining why they replaced the items, Mrs Tan said: 'We
considered the general consensus of the parents. They pointed out
that even the Government had banned gay parties and this
contributed to the negative feeling they had towards gays.'
To allay their fears and concerns, she decided to carry out the
renovations even though she admitted it was going overboard.
Mrs Tan said the school is only three years old and did not need to
be renovated.
She said: 'It's a real waste of money. Psychologically, the
renovation helps to give the impression that the place is new and
fresh. You could say we were paranoid and obsessive, but the
parents would say prevention is better than cure.'
A parent, who only wanted to be known as Mrs Ong, 46, admitted she
was being kiasu.
Her 8-year-old son is dyslexic. She said: 'In this day and age of
mutating viruses, well, I am just a mum who is concerned for my
child. I am a kiasu mother.
'My son still puts things in his mouth and is not aware of what is
hygienic and what is not. I was just thinking for my son and the
other children.'
But does she know that the virus cannot be spread through
furniture?
Yes, but she's not taking any chances, she said.
Mrs Tan added the school needs $100,000 a year and they conduct
their own fund-raising. The renovations have put a large dent in
its coffers.
She said the bulk of the operating cost generally goes towards the
salaries of five full-time and three part-time teachers and the
monthly $1,500 rental.
The school has 15 students now as some left to join mainstream
schools.
When The New Paper on Sunday telephoned Mr Fernandez on Thursday,
his mother said he had left the country two weeks ago. Declining to
be named, she said he is unemployed.
'He didn't tell me where he's going,' she said. 'I didn't ask him.
He is not a baby. I don't know when he is coming back. This is
Paul's matter.'
Mrs Tan said this episode will not dissuade her from hiring
gays.
'They are still human beings who need a job to survive. How can we
ostracise them?
'There are gay teachers in primary and secondary schools and in
polytechnics.
'And some are very good teachers.'
THE CASE
MR Paul Fernandez was warned by police in September 2003 for
committing an act of gross indecency with another man.
It happened on the public staircase landing of a private block of
flats in Klang Lane in Little India.
He was not charged.
He claimed it was a consensual act that came to the police's
attention only after he reported that the other man had robbed
him.
But because of his close contact with children, the police sent a
letter to the school about his liaison with the man.
THE FACTS
IT's stereotyping of gays.
So says Action For Aids' executive director Paul Toh when asked to
comment on the parents' reaction.
Said Mr Toh, 40: 'Just because a person is gay doesn't mean he has
HIV. In truth, HIV is spread by mostly heterosexuals.
'In Singapore, 70 per cent of the HIV cases is spread by
heterosexuals and 30 per cent by gay people.
'And it is not spread through furniture.'
According to the AFA website, there are three ways the HIV virus is
spread:
Through semen, vaginal fluids or blood during unprotected sexual
intercourse with an infected person.
Through sharing needles and syringes for intravenous drug use with
an infected person.
When an infected mother passes the virus on to her baby during
pregnancy, child birth or breastfeeding.
(Source: The
Electric Newpaper, 27 June 2005)
