THEY pay the same membership fee of $40 a year as the women, but they are called associate members. They have no voting rights, and cannot be elected to the executive committee.

But if the dozen or so active male members in the Association of Women for Action and Research (Aware) had their way, what would they say?

At least one male volunteer prefers not to take sides. All he wants is a dispassionate and rational approach.

Mr Ramchand Ramchandani, 48, said he would be comfortable working with either side, so long as the focus returns to what he feels strongly about: Stopping all forms of abuse against women.

Mr Ramchand has headed the Gender Equality Men's Movement (Gemms), Aware's male chapter, for about a year.

'I'm fine with either the old or new guard taking charge. Both are trying to achieve gender equality,' said the systems consultant.

And Mr Ramchand is not losing sleep over the new guard's recent takeover and the old guard's push for an immediate extraordinary general meeting (EOGM).

He believes the democratic system will sort everything out.

'My values are more similar to those of the old committee, but I'm okay with change too,' he said.

'The current committee is in power, but this is only because they were voted in by the members.

'If the (new) committee alienates the majority with their beliefs, then they might get voted out,' he said matter-of-factly.

'Ultimately, the members have the power.'

For him, both parties have a similar agenda: To fight for women's rights. They only disagree on smaller matters, mostly over homosexuality.

'If both parties sit down and compromise, surely they can work together.'

What about claims that the new guard is anti-gay?

'They haven't announced that they are anti-gay,' said Mr Ramchand.

'But I tolerate gays. My daughter in Australia has two gay friends and I think it's just how people choose to live.'

The fighting at Aware is not necessarily a female thing, MrRamchand cautions, because fights occur in men's groups too.

Among the men, he says, the parties tend to have large egos, and meetings may even result in fisticuffs.

'In Aware's case, we just have to allow things to flow and develop.'

He describes himself as pro-feminist, and gets upset when women are treated differently because of their gender.

He takes pride in treating both his daughter Karen, 22, and his son Kenny, 26, equally, providing both with an overseas education and allowing them to migrate if they wish to do so.

Like the other male members, he volunteered with Aware because he believes in equal opportunities for women and wants to stop all forms of abuse against them.

Rough childhood

This is because he has seen it happen in his family.

Mr Ramchand said that when he was little, his father used to yell at his mother.

'His voice was shrill, loud, and he would go on and on at my mother, especially when he was drunk,' he said.

His mother would cry, sometimes in front of Mr Ramchand and his five siblings, who were then too young to defend her.

As a housewife, she also did not have much social support or friends. Once, she was so depressed that she talked about killing herself.

'Back then, I sometimes wished my father would not come home, so my mother would not get shouted at,' he said.

His mission to protect women led Mr Ramchand to organise Aware's white ribbon campaign in November. He handed out bookmarks and collected signatures to create awareness that violence against women is unacceptable.

He chose Aware because of his strong feelings about women's issues. But his wife, a secretary, is not an Aware member.

'When I'm volunteering, people sometimes look at me as if I'm crazy. They ask why a man is volunteering for a women's organisation,' said Mr Ramchand.

'I say I'm putting my beliefs into action. If there is a men's organisation which protected women, I'd join that too.

'Even though I sometimes feel like an outsider, but I still volunteer because I believe in the cause.'

Would he quit if the feud is not resolved?

'I joined because I supported the group's cause. If ever I'm unsatisfied with this cause, I'll just volunteer somewhere else.

'What's the big deal?'

This article was first published in The New Paper.