SINGAPORE - Fort Canning has been listed as one of 165 global meeting spots in 43 countries for an "international meet-up" day organised by a controversial American pick-up artist and pro-rape advocate.
The organiser of this Saturday's (Feb 6) event, American Daryush Valizadeh, is also known as Roosh V, and is behind a blog called Return Of Kings (ROK) which claims to be for "heterosexual, masculine men" who believe that "men should be masculine and women should be feminine".
Valizadeh himself will not be present at the Singapore meeting.
According to the blog, some principal tenets include men opting out of monogamy and reproduction if there are no incentives to engage in them.
Another is of the belief that a woman's value significantly depends on her fertility and beauty, while that of a man's depends on his resources, intellect, and character.
It also states that women and homosexuals are "strongly discouraged" from posting comments on the blog.
According to the BBC, Valizadeh wrote a widely criticised article last year calling for rape to be legalised on private property as a means to "defeat rape culture".
"I propose that we make the violent taking of a woman not punishable by law when done off public grounds. If rape becomes legal under my proposal, a girl will protect her body in the same manner that she protects her purse and smartphone," he wrote.
Valizadeh later claimed that the article was satirical.
Canadian blogger Kaagazkalam warned that the group is generally hostile towards men of colour. He wrote: "Even though the website says the meeting is for straight men of all races, the Roosh V following has also been known to be very racist and xenophobic."
Kaagazkalam warned that attending the meet-ups will be dangerous: "If you are a woman, DO NOT GO. If you are a gay man, DO NOT GO. If you are a trans man, DO NOT GO. Your safety is at risk. Roosh V has made it very apparent that your presence might be met with violence."
He added that he will be filing a report with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police and advised readers to do the same in their own countries.
Several protests and petitions have also sprung up, with one urging US President Barack Obama to classify ROK as a terrorist group intent on terrifying women.
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