AN army buddy called me one morning last week, proudly proclaiming: 'I'm joining Aware!'

Which was fine and good, except for one thing.

He also happens to be the biggest chee ko pek (lecherous man) I know.

Dude, I told him, you care about girls. That's not quite the same as gender rights.

We were kidding around. But the fact remains that, in the two weeks since the Aware saga started, interest has spread far beyond women, homosexuals and Christians.

Last Thursday's press conference by the new Aware exco, with its revelations of death threats, has taken things up to a whole new level.

Now, every Singaporean has a dog in this (cat)fight.

As a young Singaporean, I hear the questions of tomorrow ringing just as loudly as the questions of today.

Yes, I want to know the story behind the takeover. At the same time, I want to know:

If it's Aware today, what next tomorrow?

If it's the conservative religious versus homosexuals today, what will it be tomorrow?

And if it's online barbs, explosive press conferences and death threats today, what will we be seeing tomorrow?

How will Singaporeans register their displeasure in a future which the Government has promised to govern with a lighter touch?

However it concludes, the Aware saga reveals where the fault lines have opened up in Singapore over the past 10 years and how the power dynamics have shifted.

Did we see it coming?

On hindsight, perhaps we should have.

In the last decade, we have steadily watched the growing influence of the conservative religious and homosexuals.

We witnessed the growth of megachurches, the discovery of terrorist cells, and hints of a growing tension in the ranting of 2005's teenage racist bloggers.

At the same time, there seemed to be a growing number of homosexuals stepping out of the closet.

Many were new friends, colleagues and acquaintances. Some were also old friends.

There was a growing acceptance of them.

Last year, in the memorable debate over homosexuality in Parliament, we finally heard their growing voices.

The changes were happening all around us.

Slowly but surely, like plate tectonics, our society was evolving.

But until it all exploded with the turf war over a women's group, nobody really spoke up.

Now that the fault lines are clear, it's time to ask some serious questions, something our post-65 MPs can perhaps help with.

Did they see it coming?

Or more importantly: What is it they see coming?

We're not asking for a nanny. But at a time when young Singaporeans are grappling with the liberalisation of civic space and a globalising world, it wouldn't hurt to hear what our leaders have to say beyond repeating the same tired phrases.

Where will we go from here?

What would we have to start doing differently?

How can we pledge ourselves as one united people?

How can we disregard race, language or religion?

What is a democratic society?

What is justice and equality?

What exactly is happiness, prosperity and progress?

These are the questions we must ask, even before this catfight ends.

This article was first published in The New Paper