Biography
Au, English-educated and of Cantonese descent, was born in Singapore in 1952. He attended the Anglo-Chinese School for his primary and secondary education and obtained his tertiary degree from the National University of Singapore.
After graduation, he worked in a managerial position at a British 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 as a gay activist. His views were solicited in the wake of Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong's recent announcement that the hiring of gays in the civil service would henceforth be liberalised.
In the run-up to the 2006 Singapore general election, Au provided extensive coverage of the opposition parties' rallies which was attended by overwhelming crowds (see photo and whole report) photographed by Au.
Au used his connections with People Like Us and with leading practitioners in the local gay arts scene to organize IndigNation, Singapore's first gay pride month in 2005 and Short Circuit, Singapore's first gay film festival in 2006.
Read more about this topic: Alex Au
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