IGNORING the inevitable giggles, eight students from the Singapore Management University handed out 500 condoms to passers-by outside popular youth hangout Cathay Cineleisure last Sunday.

Calling themselves Team Aid, the students wanted to raise awareness about Aids and the importance of safe sex in Aids prevention, especially among youth.

Health Ministry statistics show a steady rise in Singaporeans newly diagnosed with HIV over the last three years - 357 in 2006, a further 423 in 2007 and 456 last year. As of the end of last year, almost 4,000 Singaporeans were HIV positive.

A 2007 Health Promotion Board (HPB) survey also revealed that those in the 18-to-29 age group were the most ignorant about HIV/Aids prevention.

To get its point across, Team Aid came up with the idea of pinning up condoms sponsored by condom maker Okamoto on a huge board under a tent to spell the word 'Aids'. As condoms were gradually removed to be given away, the word disappeared, symbolising the team's hopes that HIV/Aids would similarly vanish - along with discrimination.

The team also handed out educational pamphlets from the HPB and community organisation Action For Aids (AFA), and encouraged those who took these pamphlets to sign up for the AFA's Pledge Of Silence on Oct 30.

Participants will stay silent for four, eight or 24 hours on that day to raise awareness about the discrimination silently practised against Aids sufferers.

Team Aid member Jonathan Hwa, 22, said his team faced difficulties getting sponsors for their event because some saw giving away condoms as a licence to be promiscuous.

But he reasoned: 'Promiscuity or chastity is a personal choice. But if one does indulge, a condom will help him protect himself.'

In six hours, all 500 condoms were given away, mostly to those aged 16 to 22. Ten people who took the condoms told The Straits Times they wanted to 'support a good cause'.

Most also expressed confidence that they knew enough about sex and HIV/Aids. Student Norman Yap, 17, said: 'I don't think my peers and I have misconceptions about sex and Aids, and they're no longer taboo topics among us.'

Even so, primary school teacher Chew Kok Leong, 32, noted that the rising number of Singaporeans with HIV/Aids could take many years to stem.

'Events like these are a timely reminder about the seriousness of Aids,' he said.

Those interested in signing up for the AFA's Pledge Of Silence, please visit www.pledgeofsilence.org

Eisen Teo

This article was first published in The Straits Times.