Our History
In 1999, Jason Wee, Steve Wong and Kenneth Lau started a support group for gay men in their twenties. They named it “Oogachaga”, after the dancing baby in the sitcom Ally McBeal. Just like Ally, some of us have parts of our being suppressed that constantly pop up like a dancing baby. Only by embracing this baby can we understand and liberate ourselves.
Better known as “OC” today, we have expanded our target group to the LGBTQ (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Questioning) individuals and services to include counselling, personal development and support groups for clients of varying age groups, forums and workshops. OC also conducts workshops and seminars for counsellors and other professionals working with LGBTQ clients.
Milestones
- 1999
Jason Wee, Steve Wong and Kenneth Lau start the Oogachaga support group for gay men in their twenties
- 2000
Ken Lee and Albert Goh lead 2nd support group
- 2000
Clarence Singam starts Oogachaga’s counselling services
- 2003
Daniel Tung and Peggy Koh organise OC’s first professional workshop “Homosexuality and Homophobia- Applied Therapeutic Issues for Counsellors”
- 2005
Birth of community forums and OCW
- 2006
Birth of SQ21, MSM hotline & mandarin OCM
- 2008
Full-time staff on board at OC!
- 2009
Presented on Project Undress Your Soul in International AIDS Conference 2010 in Vienna.
- 2010
Launched Singapore's first age specific program - Mature Men Project for gay and bisexual men aged 40 years old and above. The project is granted funding by M.A.C AIDS Fund.
