Criminal Neglect
In the strongest remarks yet by a high-ranking American official, Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates said on Sunday that Burma was guilty of “criminal neglect” for blocking large-scale international aid to cyclone victims, and that more Burmese civilians would perish unless the military regime reversed its policy.
Some storm victims are living in makeshift shelters. Defense ministers at a meeting opposed forcibly providing relief supplies.
But despite the rising anger and frustration with Burma’s military leaders, Mr. Gates said that defense ministers meeting in Singapore over the weekend had unanimously opposed any plan to violate Burmese sovereignty and forcibly provide relief supplies.
As a result, he said, it was probably a matter of days before the Pentagon withdrew four Navy ships carrying supplies that have been “steaming in circles” for days in the waters off Burma’s coast, waiting in vain for permission to ferry their cargo to areas hit by the storm.
“It’s becoming pretty clear that the regime there is not going to let us help,” Mr. Gates told reporters in Singapore before he headed to Bangkok on the third leg of a weeklong trip to Asia. “I’d say that unless the regime changes its approach, changes its policy, more people will die.”
Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who joined Mr. Gates at the meeting with about a dozen reporters, said that the government of Burma had already given permission for 95 American C-130 cargo planes to land in Rangoon, the country’s main city, but that much more could be brought in from the Navy vessels. The relief flights have ferried in more than 1.5 million pounds of supplies, mostly food, water, mosquito netting and plastic sheeting for shelters.
At least 135,000 people are dead or missing since a cyclone struck Burma on May 3, in the world’s biggest natural disaster since the Asian tsunami in 2004.
“Even though aid is beginning to flow,” Mr. Gates said, “so many parts of the Irrawaddy Delta are cut off from any kind of transportation that it’s really going to require helicopters to get assistance to them.”
The United States Navy vessels, led by the amphibious assault ship Essex, have on board a total of 22 helicopters, medical equipment, relief supplies, water purification systems and Navy and Marine Corps personnel — all offered to the government of Myanmar to assist cyclone victims.
When asked whether the Burmese government’s actions were tantamount to genocide, Mr. Gates stopped short of that accusation. “This is more akin, in my view, to criminal neglect,” he said.
At the meeting of defense ministers, Burma’s military junta defended its response to the cyclone, saying that it had promptly provided relief to all storm victims and that it expected the country to quickly recover, The Associated Press reported.
“Due to the prompt work” of the military government, food, water and medicine were provided to all victims, said Maj. Gen. Aye Myint, the deputy defense minister, adding, “I believe the resettlement and rehabilitation process will be speedy.”
Mr. Gates, normally understated and unflappable under the most pointed questioning, flashed anger on Saturday at the regional security conference when asked about American efforts to deliver aid to the cyclone victims. He noted that the United States had tried at least 15 times in the past month to get Burma’s leaders to allow more international aid into the country to no avail, and he called the government “deaf and dumb” for obstructing relief efforts.
“We have really exercised our moral obligation above and beyond the call,” he told reporters on Sunday in Singapore.
Mr. Gates said that at a private luncheon on Saturday for defense officials from two dozen countries, mostly in Asia, minister after minister voiced unhappiness with Burma’s restrictions on aid, making it an uncomfortable meal for Burma’s deputy defense minister.
In contrast, Mr. Gates said that the chief delegate from China, Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian, had described the importance of international support in dealing with the May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province of China that killed more than 68,000 people, and had expressed China’s appreciation for the international community’s response.
Mr. Gates said that the ministers drew the line at using force to distribute aid in Burma. “There is great sensitivity all over the world to violating a country’s sovereignty,” he said, “particularly in the absence of some kind of U.N. umbrella that would authorize it.”
When asked whether that reluctance might be a consequence of the United States’ decision to invade Iraq in 2003, Mr. Gates said there was no connection.
In a wide-ranging discussion with reporters in Singapore, Mr. Gates addressed several other issues, including responding to statements that General Ma of China made on Saturday objecting to the United States’ missile defense system, which the general called harmful to regional stability.
“It’s hard to see a limited capability such as we have and will have in the future undermining the offensive capability of either Russia or China,” Mr. Gates said. The United States would have a relatively small number of interceptors to use against a strike using scores, if not hundreds, of long-range missiles, he said.
Mr. Gates was also dismissive of General Ma’s assertion that China’s development of new, long-range missiles was for defensive purposes. “It’s hard to see an intercontinental ballistic missile as a defensive weapon,” he said.
In Bangkok, aides to Mr. Gates said that the secretary had made clear in a meeting on Sunday afternoon with the Thai prime minister and a dozen top Thai military officers that the Bush administration would frown on any attempt by the military to seize power in Thailand.
A week of antigovernment protests in Bangkok have stirred fears that the military might stage another coup, two years after a similar street campaign against the prime minister at the time, Thaksin Shinawatra, led to his removal. Thai military commanders have denied reports that the army was plotting another takeover.
“Our position is pretty consistent,” Mr. Gates said in Singapore. “We want to see democratically elected governments, and we will convey that.”
Most of the meeting between Mr. Gates and the current prime minister, Samak Sundaravej, focused on the stunted relief efforts in Burma, senior defense officials said. Mr. Samak voiced his own frustration with the Burmese government, aides to Mr. Gates said, and he gave the secretary a detailed historical analysis of the junta.
http://www.dassk.com/contents.php?id=20
media blackout in Singapore
I read with amusement of the recent ODEX protest, where 8 courageous young men and women who hit the streets with their anime toys stood out to voice their frustrations and anger by doing this in Youth Park:
READ everything here.
http://yipingotakuworld.wordpress.com/20
http://textfiend.net/zerohero/?p=454
Once again, it is a complete pin drop silence in our media. In the immediate days after protest I went through several local papers. They were still on the Odex saga but nothing was mentioned about the protest. Given that ST gives a generous amount of space to mostly non-newsworthy STOMP articles, it puzzles me an event of such proportion received scant attention from our state media.
Why the silence?
When a group of Burmese marched on Singapore streets last month to protest steep increases in fuel prices, individuals flipping any newspapers would have read about it. But there was a complete silence on the Odex protest as far as I know. It seems as someone up there does not want Singaporeans to know that a group of normal, Singaporean with no political affiliation, actually carried out the thing that LKY and his regime has been so eager to stamp out after Singapore's independence. Neither do they want people to know that the police actually exemplified the typical Singapore kiasu-ism by dispatching 4 riot squad vehicles to disarm gun-wielding toys.
What the police don't want people to see:
VS
Pictures courtesy of the above-mentioned blogs.
What is happening to this country?
In recent years, the government has stepped up its effort to persecute opposition politicians. Bankruptcy, exile and jail threatens anyone with crosses the boundaries that the PAP and the police draw and redraw -for oppositions and citizens alike- using the state vehicle for carrying out such actions, the LAW. Singapore law (under the Citizens-gathering-are-threat-to-state-s
Opposition parties have come a long way. In the days before independence, political parties' rivalry was fiercely fought, and when PAP took power, they won it by a narrow margin. Today, the sad fact is that the only way for Singapore's opposition figures to remain 'opposing' the ruling party is to be docile and non-threatening to the ruling party, as the current state of political affair clearly shows.
These days, people only come to know of the political term "rally" every 5 years, whereas during pre-independence, anyone may set up shop anywhere to rally. Rallies are allowed to be legally carried out for a good 9 days just before election. Thereafter in event of any outdoor events organised by opposition parties, they would have to obtain a permit from the police (which is usually rejected). Even in this century, such archaic laws exist to ensure that opposition parties never get the coverage they need to boost support. In Hongkong or Taiwan where our economy is most competitive and commonly compared with in Asia, such a law put in place by a ruling party would certainly be vehemently opposed by its people and opposition alike.
It is indeed a sad state for Singaporeans when we have slowly arrived at this pitiful state where it is now, where freedom of speech is nowhere to be found and speaking up is not encouraged in school. It is indeed refreshing to see that, Singaporeans have not been restraint by laws that were created by the ruling party to curb this very basic human right of freedom of assembly.
Enough of unjust laws
Increasingly, young people like me cannot see the validity of such laws (4 people assembling in a group, or max 2 if you're standing in front of Parliament House), or how it can be applied in this age, this century. The ODEX protest should by now have made a point to the Government, that such laws mean little to young Singaporeans like the ODEX protesters. Young Singaporeans like me cannot see the difference between walking down Orchard Road with a bunch of buddies, or walking down Orchard Road for a victim of the state mechanism. It simply serves to propel the feeling of disconnect that young Singaporeans have toward the country.
Stop attacking citizenry
Question: What can possibly be more ridiculous than seeing political parties being denied the right to hold outdoor events while PAP holds one come every religious holidays or festivals? Answer: Seeing the riot squad come down hard and fast on the ODEX protesters. Imagine the furore that would erupt from these pictures if they came out in the media. To prevent itself from looking like a complete fool, (eg riot buses vs anime toys), it is only prudent that the government MAKES SURE there is no coverage of the event in the media (as opposed to another protest by Burmese nationals just a day before). This explains why the media has to be controlled: if such pictures were to be circulated in a free press, what kind of image it would send to Singaporeans about this government, which is currently in the talks with ASEAN members over a human rights commission. Ha!
This violation on active citizenry can only be seen in one way: that the Singapore government does not promote citizenry, nor does it encourage the natural development of civil society. It would make the government very happy if every anime fans kept their discussions on internet boards. Go ahead, they say. You may even air your frustrations in our papers, they add. But don't try anything funny with the anime figurines... my police and riot vehicles are watching.
The extravagant riot-squad presence to stamp out these toys begs the question: what are they afraid of?
The New Paper, 26 Jul 07
(Click to enlarge)
Writer talks about Singaporeans' indifferent attitude towards the presence of a society, and the self-centeredness of people these days. A well written article.
Singapore activists stage rare pro-democracy march
SINGAPORE, Dec 10 (Reuters) - Around a dozen Singaporean campaigners on Sunday managed to take a pro-democracy protest to the streets for the first time in years, attracting plainclothes police with video cameras as they demanded freedom of speech.
The activists walked to the Queenstown Remand Prison where Chee Soon Juan, leader of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP), is serving a five-week term for illegally speaking in public before elections in May.
"Today, we want to celebrate whatever little freedom we have," spokesman John Tan told reporters before the start of the march, timed to mark International Human Rights Day.
The campaigners walked in groups of four as Singapore bans public gatherings of more than four people without a police permit. Public speaking is also prohibited unless the speaker has been licensed by the government.
In September, Chee's attempt to stage a pro-democracy march to the venue of the IMF-World Bank annual meeting in Singapore grabbed world headlines after police physically blocked him and fellow activists in a four-day standoff at the city-state's little-used Speakers' Corner.
The 9-km (5-mile) march started at Speakers' Corner and passed through Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping belt.
Some of the activists -- who included Chee's wife Huang Chih Mei and their three young children -- wore yellow t-shirts carrying "Free to Speak" and "Free to Gather" messages. They were generally unheeded by the Christmas shopping crowd.
Chee's sister, Chee Siok Chin, stopped at the office of President S R Nathan and asked an official to hand a flier to the president, to Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and to his father, Lee Kuan Yew.
Chee, who has been bankrupted by libel suits brought by officials whom he criticised, was jailed after failing to pay a S$5,000 fine ($3,250) for speaking in public.
He has been jailed several times in recent years for similar offences and for questioning the independence of the judiciary.
Freedom Walk for Human Rights Day
At Hong Lim Park before setting off.
A few more enthusiastic faces completed the group of walkers as we
posed in the middle of the buzz of Orchard Road.
A futile attempt to pass a leaflet to a police officer.
"Cannot cannot, we're on duty", exclaims one of the officers.
Why the need to be so uptight, methinks.
In Hong Kong, the police would've chatted with me.
Pitstop outside Centrepoint. Look who's that peeking at the camera? :>
Footnotes:
Credits goes to the forummer here whom I grabbed the pics from without permission
http://www.toc.forumupgrade.com/viewtopi
A solid beginning leads to a perfect ending
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/article
The 9-km (5-mile) march started at Speakers' Corner and passed through Orchard Road, Singapore's main shopping belt.
Freedom Walk for Human Rights Day
At Hong Lim Park before setting off.
A few more enthusiastic faces completed the group of walkers as we
posed in the middle of the buzz of Orchard Road.
A futile attempt to pass a leaflet to a police officer.
"Cannot cannot, we're on duty", exclaims one of the officers.
Why the need to be so uptight, methinks.
In Hong Kong, the police would've chatted with me.
Pitstop outside Centrepoint. Look who's that peeking at the camera? :>
Footnotes:
Credits goes to the forummer here whom I grabbed the pics from without permission
http://www.toc.forumupgrade.com/viewtopi
A solid beginning leads to a perfect ending
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/article
I told the officer manning the entrance, "Do you know how it feels to be a Singaporean and to be refused entry to somethiing like this?" Then I left the Parliament House, absolutely shattered.
And so ST came out with a flashing headline today about building a more inclusive society.
Is this the kind of inclusive society where those wearing "slippers, t-shirt, jeans, singlets" are not priviledged to watch something as important to the people as a parliamentary meeting? What is this country becoming?
Thereafter, Ravi and I went to the hearing for an emergency appeal for Took Leng How's hanging the next day (this morning), as my capacity as a fellow human being to stop the execution from taking place. By a streak of miracle the application for a hearing was approved at 4.30pm, and the hearing to be set at 5pm. Considering Took was going to be hung the following morning and the Court closes at 6, it was unprecedented in Singapore judiciary's history.
Judge Andrew Ang ruled out possibility of an appeal and interception of Took's hanging after 2 hours, at about 7pm after every courtroom in the Supreme Court had been emptied.
That night, I imagined Took's final hours. 2 more hours, and he'll be gone. Just 2 more hours. How would the family be feeling? How can the family be put through such a torment?
My conscience was clear knowing I did what I did, yet I still woke up with a rock heavy heart this morning. One young life was snuffed out, but the question remains: does taking another person's life change anything?
Why are you sorry? What exactly are you sorry about? Are you sorry because your chances of remaining as an MP may be jeopardised if you don't apologise? How can a father advice a daughter and counsel her when you have already indicated that both of you carry the same thoughts?
I'm sure you daughter is remoseful, but what about yourself? Are you too proud to say that you are remoseful as well? Or are you not? I can hardly feel the sincerity in your apology.
Do youself a favour and put in some human emotions back in yourself. Don't apologise like a robot, and don't apologise like how Lee Kuan Yew does. It's already nothing about your daughter, so stop apologising for her.
Put some flavour back in yourself as a human being who's said something wrong and is sincere to admit his mistake.
GET OFF THE PEDESTAL!
'I AM sorry that my statements carried in The Straits Times of Oct 24 offended some readers.
I should not have said what I did about people's inability to take the brutal truth and strong language.
I have also counselled my daughter Shu Min. She is fully aware and remorseful over her tone, insensitivity and lack of empathy.
I have advised her to learn from this.
We both apologise to the people whom we have offended, and especially Mr Derek Wee.'
MP WEE SIEW KIM
Dear Mr Wee,
There is no doubt in my mind that until now, both you father and daughter have no idea what the fuss is all about. The strong language is one issue, (and that may be forgivable), but the underlying message of the blog posting and your subsequent reply shows that you simply have no concern about the struggles of the commoners, even those who're educated. Is this your job as a MP? Is your job not suppose to speak for your people? Instead, you trash them for being unable to face the "challenges of life".
I am deeply ashamed to see someone as pretentious as you sitting on a parliament seat. Why do I say pretentious? If this is how you daughter and father think in private with your elitism views of the society, I cannot even fathom why you should continue being an MP. Surely, how can someone like you begin to imagine what it is like to be near bankrupt because of a business failure? How it is to be debt ridden? How it feels like to be at your prime age of 40 and yet feel insecure about holding on to your job? Where is your compassion and understanding of the unfortunate ones who are only venting their frustruation through a virtual medium? It sickens me to see that sort of remarks coming from a minister.
You and your daughter's remarks serves to only disconnect yourselves from the people you are supposed to be serving. This is not the kind of leadership that Singaporeans deserve, nor is what most of them want to see. If this reflects the mindset of the people who sits together on the pedestral you have stepped on, I fear for the future of the less fortunate, less educated Singaporeans.
Regretfully,
Teoh Tian Jing
'WHAT she said did come across as insensitive. The language was stronger than what most people could take.
But she wrote in a private blog and I feel that her privacy has been violated. After all, they were the rantings of an 18-year-old among friends.
I think if you cut through the insensitivity of the language, her basic point is reasonable, that is, that a well-educated university graduate who works for a multinational company should not be bemoaning about the Government and get on with the challenges in life.
Nonetheless, I have counselled her to learn from it. Some people cannot take the brutal truth and that sort of language, so she ought to learn from it.
In our current desire to encourage more debate, especially through the Internet, our comments must be tempered with sensitivity.
I will not gag her, since she's 18 and should be able to stand by what she says.
The new media of the Internet is such that if you don't like what she has said, you have the right of rebuttal.
Hopefully, after the discussion, everyone will be the richer for it. As a parent, I may not have inculcated the appropriate level of sensitivity, but she has learnt a lesson, and it's good that she has learnt it at such an early stage in life.'
ANG MO KIO GRC MP WEE SIEW KIM on his daughter's comments
They may be facing the immenent threat of thousands of Chinese missiles.
They may find themselves neck deep in political chaos every single day.
They may not be the most orderly country in the world.
But one thing they can pride themselves on, is their brimming enthusiasm for life, as one may clearly see in this video.
Cheers for these passionate people.
http://www.suchvividnothing.blogspot.co
Thursday, October 19, 2006
mom's friend sent her some blog post by some bleeding stupid 40-year old singaporean called derek wee (WHY do all the idiots have my surname why?!) whining about how singapore is such an insecure place, how old ppl (ie, 40 and above) fear for their jobs, how the pool of foreign "talent" (dismissively chucked between inverted commas) is really a tsunami that will consume us all (no actually he didn't say that, he probably said Fouren Talern Bery Bad.), how the reason why no one wants kids is that they're a liability in this world of fragile ricebowls, how the government really needs to save us from inevitable doom but they aren't because they are stick-shoved-up-ass elites who have no idea how the world works, yadayadayadayada.
i am inclined - too much, perhaps - to dismiss such people as crackpots. stupid crackpots. the sadder class. too often singaporeans - both the neighborhood poor and the red-taloned socialites - kid themselves into believing that our society, like most others, is compartmentalized by breeding. ridiculous. we are a tyranny of the capable and the clever, and the only other class is the complement.
sad derek attracted more than 50 comments praising him for his poignant views, joining him in a chorus of complaints that climax at the accusation of lack of press freedom because his all-too-true views had been rejected by the straits times forum. while i tend to gripe about how we only have one functioning newspaper too, i think the main reason for its lack of publication was that his incensed diatribe was written in pathetic little scraps that passed off as sentences, with poor spelling and no grammar.
derek, derek, derek darling, how can you expect to have an iron ricebowl or a solid future if you cannot spell?
if you're not good enough, life will kick you in the balls. that's just how things go. there's no point in lambasting the government for making our society one that is, i quote, "far too survival of fittest". it's the same everywhere. yes discrimination exists, and it is sad, but most of the time if people would prefer hiring other people over you, it's because they're better. it's so sad when people like old derek lament the kind of world that singapore will be if we make it so uncertain. go be friggin communist, if uncertainty of success offends you so much - you will certainly be poor and miserable. unless you are an arm-twisting commie bully, which, given your whiny middle-class undereducated penchant, i doubt.
then again, it's easy for me to say. my future isn't certain but i guess right now it's a lot brighter than most people's. derek will read this and brand me as an 18-year old elite, one of the sinners who will inherit the country and run his stock to the gutter. go ahead. the world is about winners and losers. it's only sad when people who could be winners are marginalised and oppressed. is dear derek starving? has dear derek been denied an education? has dear derek been forced into child prostitution? has dear derek had his clan massacred by the government?
i should think not. dear derek is one of many wretched, undermotivated, overassuming leeches in our country, and in this world. one of those who would prefer to be unemployed and wax lyrical about how his myriad talents are being abandoned for the foreigner's, instead of earning a decent, stable living as a sales assistant. it's not even about being a road sweeper. these ****bags don't want anything without "manager" and a name card.
please, get out of my elite uncaring face.
Porcelain dolls have very recently been my subject of fascination. As depicted above, a typical European porcelain doll has impeccably smooth and radiant skin (of which the term procelain came about), large black eyes, roundish features and dainty pink lips.
Porcelain dolls have an European origin, yet porcelain by itself is simply traditional Chinese earthenware that dates back centuries ago. So how were the Europeans inspired by Chinese porcelain when the glazed earthenware was Chinese exclusive?
The Chinese developed true porcelain during the T'ang dynasty in the ninth century. It has a translucent white clay body composed of kaolin and petuntse (feldspar) that is fired at a temperature between 1,250O - 1,450OC. This was the thinnest, hardest ceramic known, a miraculous substance to the Middle East and Europe of the Middle Ages when it began to be imported. Its pure white color provided a perfect ground for painted décor and its plasticity allowed thin potting and detailed modeling. It wasn't until around 1715 that a true hard-paste porcelain was developed in Europe about 800 years after its invention in China. Accordingly, from the fourteenth century on the great land and sea trade routes linking China to the rest of the known world were flooded with hard-paste porcelain as well as silk. By 1800 Chinese blue-and-white porcelain and its numerous foreign imitations could be found in every industrialized country in the world.
In short, Chinese ceramics reached European coasts, European further developed it into hard porcelain and then porcelain dolls were invented. The irony is that concept of porcelain dolls never took off in the Orients. Or so I thought.
The typical Caucasian Doll
The feeling you get of looking at a caucasian and asian doll is different. compare the image below.
The blonde doll with blue eyes is the very typical caucasian doll that my sisters and probably every other girl used to play with during their kiddy days. The redhead with green eyes simply looks weird. Red hair and green eyes just don't go together. These dolls, under good lighting will turn out looking like a Chucky reminiscence. I remember clearly once I got frightened by a caucasian doll at night, looking at it's hideously coloured eyes. I ripped its head off and threw it away. I'm sure there's no need to explain that it happened many years ago. In contrast, the oriental-looking black haired one on the bottom left is more pleasing to look at.
Oriental Porcelain Beauty
Oriental porcelain dolls have a certain attractiveness to them that I cannot exactly put a finger to. Of course, they retain the dollish features of large eyes and roundish face, coupled with the porcelain-like characteristic of their skin. They usually come with thin and faded eyebrows as typical of the typical oriental girl, a blunter nose, but retain the large (yet not as intimidating) eyes of a caucasian doll. It's just unbelievably soothing and at the same time fascinating to look at one. It's almost as if they'll jump to life any moment. ;-)
In a dictatorial country where all aspects of life has to be managed and controlled by the government, which category of citizens do you belong to?
One, you're a person don't give two hoots to what's going on. yet you're content with life in general, and you don't see any apparant problem with the country. You feel the stress at work or school but you take it in your stride because it's always been the norm since young. You don't even discuss about politics during election time, or if you do, that's the only time you'll ever do. In short, you're a political and civil apathetic.
Two, like majority of Singaporeans do, you shut up and continue to suffer quietly, accepting that this is the life that you were born into, lambast the government and its policies over coffeeshop talk, but fear the consequences of doing it openly.
Three, you decide that you had enough, pack up your bags and leave or have the intention of doing so. You feel national service and reservicing is a complete waste of time and feel the time could be better used to further your career.
Or four, you take action to oppose state policies that are affecting you and everyone else around you. This action may be as simple as being an internet activist, participating in debates in internet forums, commenting on your personal blogs. Or it may come in the form of attending democracy workshops, like the one I'll be going down to on Sunday.
Whichever group you belong to, take time to think about this: What is the only thing that connects all of us and defines us as distinct from say the many Malaysian Chinese who are here to work, other than the fact you live here and they live there?
The answer to my question would be citizenship. In your passport, we are all defined as Singaporeans. What meaning does citizenship, or being a Singaporean, hold other than the fact that you fill it up in official documents?
One may argue that he lives or was born in Singapore, thus he is Singaporean. But it is just land, as does our neighbours have their land. They're all made up of dirt, soil rocks before anything was built on it. Being born into this part of the world does not give you a national identity, but being able to connect with the people around you, feeling that you belong to the land, and that the land belongs to you, that is the whole meaning of citizenship.
One of the ways that citizenship can hold a meaning is by citizens having a say in the development process of the country. Unfortunately our leaders have progressed so far ahead by LKY's dictatorship that citizens voices no longer matter. The casino plan goes ahead despite strong opposition. And yet they claim to have heard the people by making insignificant examples; like not pulling down tress or tearing down an old monument. We heard you, they said. Yet pulling down a tree is not part of a country's progress as a better society. Bribing and gerrymandering takes place during elections, as the prime minister calls out for a free and fair society.
When a country has transformed into something that people cannot identify with, then citizenship loses its meaning. When Singaporeans are treated as second or even third class citizen in their own country, the feeling of belonging vanishes like a fart in the wind. What can you tell foreigners something in this country that you're proud of? I can easily list out the things that I am absolutely ashamed of even to mention. Yes, we may be one of the richest country in the region, we may have the best airpot in the world, the top science and math students, a stable governance, but at what price did it come with? We've sacrificed the very basic human rights of freedom of speech, we've sold our souls for riches, our happiness for material gains, and we've traded compassion for the constant drivel for academic excellence.
In local Chinese culture, we place so much importance in getting wealthy. During a typical Chinese New Year, one bring wishes of wealth and prosperity and money trade hands in the form of red packets. Fortunately and unfortunately, our government has brought this tradition to a whole new level, by placing such importance on economic success.
I'm not saying that it's all bad. But prosperity cannot come with a such a price tags that bears down so heavily on the individual, while you people lavish yourselves with salaries that no head of state of the world would dare to dream of. Prosperity does not mean that the majority of the employed in Singapore have to toil their lives with no sight of an age for retirement. What is the point of constantly harping on our economic success, if your wealth can only be compared in overall GDP output with our less wealthy neighbours? That does not matter to the average non-professional worker in Singapore today earning just a tiny fraction of a minister of parliament, just scraping by with just enough for his own expenses.
More importantly, what's the point of being rich when you're not rich in other aspects of your life? And you have little way of channeling the frustruation built up because of a government policy that affects your life, other than coffeeshop talk? Take taxi drivers for example. After the fare increase, it became clear to them that the fare increase was in fact detrimental to business; people started taking cabs less and more alternative transport. Some of them went to their union to voice out, some wrote to the press and had their letters published. Ultimately, nothing was done because even through these feedback channels, there was no collective voice to make the point of, "Look, we are suffering down here, we don't need the fare increase, spare a thought for us."
How does having a voice and having freedom of speech link to citizenry? When people have no say, or have their voices ignored, it makes them feel unimportant and that their presence in the country is insignificant. When you throw in a few policies that gives equal rights to Permanent Residents and foreign workers, how does that make the average Singaporean feel? When peopl do not feel a sense of belonging in the country, how then does one start feeling feel patriotic? And because Singaporeans never really own any part of this land or feel as though they do, they take to consumerism to fulfil their need of ownership of something, be it a house, a car, the latest flat screen television, fastest technological gadgets and the latest handphones.
And then people let consumerism consume them to a point they finally realise happiness is not derived from material goods. Unfortunately a good part never realise this and continue to live in a facade of happiness with the help of the government-controlled mainstream media portraying constant economic success and more good years ahead.
The issue has recently been discussed: is our society too stable from outside threat that citizens have forgotten how to be patriotic? Do we need instability to rouse people's sense of belonging and remind them that they have a place to live in? I disagree. What the government needs and must do to undo the degeneration and stagnation of the progress of civil society since independance is to be more humble; stop stomping alternative views, give the democracy and freedom of speech and assembly back to the people that you stole from. Stop using the police to induce the state of fear for support of alternative views. Stop bribing the people with cash during elections. Stop treating citizens like idiots. Make this a rich country, but make the people rich with passion and compassion for life as well. Give the people back their souls.
When people are oppessed and stiffled, society can only devolve, not evolve. In time when a freer and more inclusive society is still not yet seen as promised by the prime minister, people will start standing up on their own and doing something about it, and by the time that happens, it is already too late for the PAP and will not be a pretty sight.
One of the things that the PAP propoganda machine doesn't inform you is how many people are leaving Singapore for greener pastures. Recently, I heard that one of my cousins was planning to move to Australia. It's so much easier to leave this place and be a "quitter", a term Goh Chok Tong coined to describe people who opt out of the rat race here, including his own daughter.
My personal question is, how do people find the courage to relinquish everything they have here to find a better life elsewhere? To what extent do people have to be pushed so far as to want to leave their friends and their home to consider a life elsewhere?
Below is a thought inciting piece written by a Singaporean who realised he'd had enough of the pressure cooker life in Singapore. I'm sure many of you can relate to his experiences.
http://intelligentsingaporean.wordpress.c
Mr World Singapore 2006
What can I say? It's 1 week after the contest, and I'll likely be heading down to China this Nov for the finals. Why that this finals is a little longer than one full month, the answer still eludes me. Truth be told, I am not exactly that motivated to hit the gym and shape up my body with the kind of gritty determination I found just a couple of week back before the protest. One, the cost of doing so is simply too great, and it's not only in monetary terms. Two, half of the the prize money of $750(lol) which I'll be reciving before the trip, is probably not enough to last me half a month in China. Third, I've been feeling really unwell these past weeks. Somebody save me. I need help with sleep.
Introduction
As I begin to pen down my thoughts, I cannot help but recollect the faces I’d seen during the last 4 days, as they flash repeatedly across my mind like a slide projector running images in a quiet, dark room. It’s a room full of seats, but perhaps, I’ll be the only person in the world to be privileged to sit in the room and claim ownership to these images, etched forever in memory, and remembered till the day I pass on.
My account of the event through 16th to 19th Sept ‘06 shall be open to all and everyone concerned, and though I cannot promise that it is written in a very non-subjective way free of emotions like in a newspaper report, I assure it is true to the last word.
If you’d seen what I’d seen and heard what I’d heard
The group walked into Hong Lim Park with no resistance of any sort like we’ve imagined. We had planned down to the worse possible scenario of being immediately halted by a riot squad before we even stepped into the park and then persecuted by the police. And then, thought we should have expected it, nothing of that sort happened. Gripping placards with very mild wordings between our arm and torso, we walked into a hail of clicks and flashes as we entered Speaker’s Corner and turned into the police house. While they registered to speak at the Speaker’s Corner, my virginal interaction with a journalist turned out to be with Fayen, a young, pretty lass from Reuters, right inside the police post. She would be one of the people I would see everyday.
And then braving the flashes from the cameras again, Chee lead the way out into the Speaker’s Corner and they took turns with their speeches, while I held a placard behind the speaker. After the speech as Chee announced that we were proceeding with the march to Parliament House, it was when the dirty tactics of the police started to hit. Plainclothed surround the group immediately, shoving, pushing and pulling us while we were locked in arms. One of the pockmarked bastard, which I will remember his face for years to come, yelled out “don’t push”, and then I saw his unusual smiling face; this, while he was grabbing one of us and pulling. Using common sense, this was no civilian, onlookers, or reporter. And then, out of a sudden, a Mr. Black-Tee-RecedingHarline-Shortie, claiming to be one of Chee’s supporter, joined into the chain of protesters and started pulling from the other side. How low can they get to stop us?
The shoving and pushing continued for almost 45 mins, until a decision was made to separate into different directions. Gina (Chee Siok Chin) made it - all of halfway from the speaker’s corner to Parliament House. Dr. Chee actually covered a full 100m before being stopped. Bound by regulations of the book, the police’s actions were limited. Physically prevent the person from moving, or arrest him. And then they decided on the most unglamorous way of doing it. Gina and Chee were surrounded by the biggest swarm of men-in-black I had ever seen. Twenty clung on Gina alone and over thirty swarmed Chee. While the other protesters me included were quite free to wander off, and we proceeded to Parliament House accompanied by several policemen.
On the way there, we met Mr. Shortie, and Gandhi shook his hands, saying “Please lah, next time don’t do this kind of thing.” There was nothing but embarrassment in Shortie’s eyes. His body gave away everything about how uneasy he was right there; his shifty, yellow eyes, his mumbling and fumbling, and there was a forced look of denial on his face but yet it couldn’t hide his guilt.
Outside Parliament, we were very courteously asked by a Eurasian-looking Superintendent that under the yada yada chapter and nth clause of the Miscellaneous Act, no group of 2 or more can gather outside the Parliament House. Do these people make up laws as they go along and dump everything under the Misc Act? We then dispersed and I shuttled between Chee and Gina’s position, hanging about until about 3pm when we decided to regroup at Chee’s position.
And then the real standoff began. From 3pm, we stood encircled by police, reporters and cameramen. John, a supporter of the cause brought in some food and much needed relief from the human enclosure. Evening came and passed. Sore feet and trembling knees slowly became numb. At about 10pm some of the supporters standing outside the circle started singing national songs, and suddenly I felt as though I could go on standing forever. By this time, food had already started to pile up from well wishers, and I had a feeling of untold gratitude towards these kind people. We stood steadfast, past midnight before finally settling down. 
Chee, Me and Charles
Mr Courteous, the Eurasian looking superintendant in middle and Mr Thin Lips, on the right
Neither of us had much sleep that night, yet I wasn’t feeling sleepy. In a situation where tens of policemen and women stood around us watching our every little fidget how could I have any peace for a shut eye? I hung around outside the circle, chatting to the other small group of supporters who stayed back through the night.
One young lad of about 18 years old (in police uniform) in particular caught my attention. I will name him BB, for Barely legal Boy. Armed with a video camera attached to a tripod, he will be one of the few police people that I will not call a policeman. Strutting around the area as though he was holding a scoped sniper rifle, he walked past the little group outside, strafing to and fro, with such a concentrated and intense look on the camera display as thought he would expect any one of us to jump up and start protesting again or commit any illegal actions. Knowing that he was only following orders and he couldn’t be seen doing nothing, he has to repeatedly take angle shots of us. I could only stare into the camera and smile at this pitiful person.
At about 4am, Mike joined us. Being a little tipsy, he crashed into our conversation and asked what the hell was going on. He sat down with us and within minutes, started to get really disturbed by what was going on. Then Mr. B came about with his ‘rifle’ and started taking aim at Mike, going in circles yet again, videotaping down our conversation with Mike from a short distance. The most comical thing happened; beckoning at Mr. B who was pointing the camera right at him, Mike shook his fist in the air and cried “pfffffffft!!! What… pffft!!!!” as he went speechless in exasperation, with eyes wide open. And then very slowly, Mr. B moved his camera to point the other way, the whole time just looking at the camera screen. I could only laugh hard.
An Australian having lived here for a year, Mike then told us his impression of the city. “This place…the people… (there is) no soul. All the police here, and then you have all the (stifling) laws. When you can have a rule that make sure every passenger in taxis gets belted up, yet you see construction workers being ferried at the back of trucks without seatbelts, something is really wrong here.” “If only there was only something I could do to help, but yet this is something you guys, Singaporeans, have to do yourself.”
I went back into the circle of police, while Mike stayed on. By this time some of the police were already yawning and they looked really bored, some fidgeting about. A fresh shift came in, and some of them left their position while another took over. One incident in particular astounded me. Somebody left the circle and a gap appeared. A lady officer, being part of the group, and 2 spots away from the gap, pointed a finger at the younger malay corporal beside her and then pointed at the space beside him. He dutifully moved, but his prolonged glare at the officer gave away everything. At the very least, in my opinion, please treat this man here with some bit of respect. You do not command respect from a guy by giving orders in that manner. He is human after all and has his own pride.
The next morning, everybody got up before day broke. Mike had left after sitting 2 hours, but not before ridiculing the police and ranting about the place. We stood up again and by this time Gina looked really tired, and most of us lost some colour on our faces after sitting the whole night on stone tiles.
At the time I was clueless to what was going to happen next. The reporters were already coming, and there was apparently going to be a press conference again. Near noon, we were yet swarmed by the reporters, both foreign and local, police, plainclothed, some likely to be ISD officers. Chee then announced in a press statement that we were going to stay put till PM Lee makes his opening IMF speech 2 days later, and a demand for Lee to address the things that needed to be addressed, issues that every Singaporeans had the rights to know. Thereafter the reporters dispersed and someone brought in foldable chairs, and John and the Charlie Angels brought in yet more food and water.
In retrospect, the Charlie Angels, 3 ardent female supporters of the cause, left such an impact on me that I couldn’t help but feel absolutely moved by their little actions of support. One of them brought in vitamin C and garlic tablets, and I gladly washed them down together with a light meal. I started chatting with them and the conversation stretched from the local newspapers’ reports or the lack there of, to a lively discussion of breast milk. At the same time, the light conversation greatly boosted my mood and determination to stay put till the end.
Late afternoon, it started pouring. The police put in their neon yellow wetcoats, and by this time their numbers dwindled, and less of them were in uniform. We took shelter at the phone boothes nearby. The police were a little more relaxed. I counted 6 or 8 of them nearby, down from a high of at least 30 the day before. Perhaps they guessed that after the press conference, and then with the downpour, we wouldn’t sneak to Parliament House. 
Hassan, the head police choreographing the whole scene, and being the only person who confronted and spoke to Chee and the only link between the protesters and people higher up at the top, was the only policeman I respected in the whole 4 days I was witness of the police treatment of the protesters. Being soft spoken, but yet firm and unmoving, he was always polite and never pretentious. However, his 2 colleagues, Mr. Fake and Mr. Thin Lips, was different. As sudden as the rain had started, they became all of a sudden friendly and chatty and extremely mindful of our health and safety. This, in contrast from yesterday and earlier in the day, where Mr. Fake, from his body language, showed a hint of disdain and impatience while handling us.
Politely, Mr. Fake requested that maybe you should sit to the side (of the walkway) so that the bicycles won’t hit you. We are concerned about your safety.” I argued that bicycles would stop and wheel across even when the path wasn’t blocked, because they wouldn’t wanna risk hitting into YOU guys, so I couldn’t be more safe sitting down there.
Mr. Fake and Thin Lips then started chatting with Gandhi. Overhearing the conversation, “We understand what you are doing”, and more police rhetoric about them doing their jobs came out, all the time smiling and showing teeth. I thought, “no way, you couldn’t be smiling? Did you just go for plastic surgery to get that smile?” Then I wondered, do you two really understand what we were doing? Do you really thing we would eat the truckload of plastic you just served us?
Then I recalled during the press conference earlier that day, one of the reporters asked, “Dr Chee, did the police treat you well during the night?” And he replied “Absolutely…absolutely NOT.” And this explained the extreme attitude change the police went through. This is a land of 4 million fake smiles, indeed. 
Hassan in the middle, Mr Fake on right
After the downpour, we stood a little more until the sun set, and then laid out a tarpaulin on the sidewalk and rested our sore feet and tired bodies. Francis bought food, and while we started to tuck in, John appeared. That moment is a slice in time that I will want to preserve. John bought food; from 2 large plastic bags he whipped out munchies, cakes of all varieties, disposable raincoats, wet tissues, other toiletries, and he took it all out one by one. It was like receiving birthday presents, each one more delightful than the other. Everybody hushed in anticipation of what was to come out of that red bag, and squealed at what came out of it. John was our Santa Claus at that instant.
There is simply no word to describe how I felt then, looking at the police looking at us enjoying ourselves at the 5-foot sidewalk of Hong Lim Park. Perhaps I felt fortunate to have met these people at this place. Perhaps it was a feeling of bliss, because we were having an outdoor picnic while the police watched on. And perhaps it was because it was the element of human-ness that is so sorely lacking in Singapore society. It was the human touch at that moment; selfless people looking out for each other; people gathering together for a common ideal; that it struck me that Singapore has developed into a very selfish society; a place where people tend to think about themselves or their immediate friends or families at most, and where everything is motivated by money; where human relationships come and go over it; and where materialism has overtaken what defines us as human being – compassion.
After dinner, Chee’s family came by. May, his wife and his 3 young kids came by and he embraced his youngest son and carried him, while Gina played with the other 2 girls at the carpark nearby. Immediately, the police sprung up from their state of daydreaming, having to do nothing but stand around and watch over us the whole day, and the video cameras started rolling. I could only watch quietly at their actions of overzealousness, whether it be from higher orders or self motivated, it was a pathetic and very shameful scene to witness. BB, the ‘sniper boy’, took to his feet and position himself 3 metres away from Gina and the kids, and with extreme concentration he pointed the camera at them, adjusting his body and the camera for better angles. Another guy was shooting together with him, yet my focus was on BB because I could almost feel heat of the yoga fire coming out from him with such intensity he was doing his job.
Not being able to tolerate the bullshit that was taking place before my eyes I stepped up to Barely legal Boy and whispered, “don’t you feel stupid for taking all these?” pointing at the two girls and Gina who were teasing each other in jest like how I would play with my young nieces and nephews. It was one of the most unglamorous things that the police did in the 4 days we were there. From Gina’s perspective, when I turned around after that, BB then turned his camera onto me. I hoped he had captured me making an obscene gesture, if that’s what he was hoping to get on film.
Having being wide awake for more than 36 hours, I wasn’t feeling too good and was on the verge of falling ill due to lack of sleep, and having my fretting parents at home who’d seen the newspaper article not knowing whether I was okay or not, I decided to make the trip home for that night in Francis’ car. The next day, the third day of the stand off between the protesters and the police, I met up with them at Raffles Place, giving out flyers to let people know of the ongoing protest. Fresh from the comfort of my own bed, I reliefed Rizal of his stack of flyers and finished the task in a jiffy, then proceeded back to Hong Lim Park with 2 plainclothed dressed in business attire following us from a distance.
The day passed strangely calm, and in the evening we had even more food and more company; a German couple, who had been there since day 1 but were intimidated by the police’s presence, finally decided to join us sitting down. The regional chiefs of foreign news agencies came down together as well, and some members of the Worker Party’s also came with food. The people came and went, and by midnight, everybody was settled down on the tarpaulin.
I couldn’t sleep. I sat at one of the stone barriers beside the road, and Rizal joined me. At 2am, we both went back and I tried again to sleep, but it was too humid. Then I got up and sat at the stone barrier again, simply looking at the taxis drive past. Then an idea struck and I stepped up onto one of the barrier, leaning on the traffic light post. I stood there for a minute, while the police got into position and I counted 4 cameras on me, 2 from across the road, and dear BB on one of the side.
Osman, the night shift guy who replaced Hassan, requested me to come down so we could talk. Without hesitating I stepped down to hear what he had to say. “What if you blocked the traffic light? We are concerned about your safety, what if you fall down onto the road? You are distracting the traffic, what if an accident happens? Who will be responsible?” I argued that I was safe as I was leaning against the post and I wouldn’t fall, and then got back up. Osman disappeared from my field of view, now limited to the traffic junction in front me me.
I didn’t count time, but a thousand or two taxis and other traffic should have driven past, and probably half of them did notice me. At one point I counted 20 taxis at the junction, I heard a couple of horns, and 3 taxis stopped right in front of me and the only thing I could do was to shoo them away. BB, as usual, got down working very seriously. He was looking into the digital display of the camcorder which was probably zoomed into my face, when I turned around and stared at him. He raised his head to glance at me, not knowing how to react and shifted his head down again. I gave the camera 2 quick winks, and in an instant, he was radioing the message to his superior of the latest development in my mini-protest.
Osman approached me 3 times in total, trying to negotiate me to come down with the reasons that they are concerned of my safety. On the third try, he got desperate and visibly impatient. I assured him that I would come down before my feet gave way, so there was no chance than I could hurt myself. And the third time I said, “you know, being up here alone time passes very slowly, but with you chatting with me here I feel like I could go on forever.” He left briefly and never approached me again. I stepped down probably half hour later, at about 4 plus. And then, I realized the atmosphere was charged, and the police were tense. They were murmuring, the cameras were on me as I sat down near the sleeping protesters, drinking water.
While munching on some cake, a police car or two came on. People came out of the car, important-looking people. One could see that they were important at the way the uniformed police behaved in front of these normally dressed. And they were all looking at my direction, murmuring from a distance, as if I was an infectious rabid dog. Finishing my food I got up and went to the toilet, a 50m walk away. Walking past the now plain clothed policewomen and men, I actually felt powerful and important, and then finally some sense of rights as a citizen. That if such a simple action was taken at a level so serious that the important-looking people had to drive in at the middle of the night, it had to mean something significant.
Then, a taxi driver drove into the carpark behind the police post, got out and lingered around, all the while looking at me as if there was something he wanted to say, yet not daring to approach me. Out of nowhere, 2 lady policewomen walked past between the taxi driver and me, one pretending to throw rubbish, the other just walking, to somewhere. Their actions disgusted me. I stood up and strode towards the taxi driver, but he walked away. Sensing that he was afraid, I switched a direction and walked to the park, sat on the stone bench recounting the incident. The atmosphere of fear in the country was so great that I felt the Australian, Mike, was right after all. Singapore has no soul.
Heading back, I walk slowly and very deliberately towards the police, asked the bespectacled lady negotiator, Ms Studious for directions to the nearest 7-11. I would head down there to buy a pen and some paper. Coming back from 7-11, a young man of about 25 walked past. I stared hard at him, yet he did not turn to look at me. 5am in the morning, this young man dressed in light blue business attire, was he trying to impress his boss or did he come to the office to finish up last night’s work? It was as obvious to me that this man was a plainclothed, just as a male baboon’s ass is obvious to a female. Come on, are you guys really so afraid of a 21 year old poly graduate? I thought fear consumed Singapore citizens, but I didn’t expect fear had overtaken the police as well.
Back at Hong Lim Park, I sat down at the stone bench at a dark corner of the park and started penning my thoughts down. Then they started walking past me, coming in groups of 2 or 3. There was no peace to sleep, and there was no peace even to write? I stood up, angered by the thought of them using such a silly and childish fear-mongering tactic on me and strode back to the sleeping protesters, found a Danish biscuit tin can and walked around the park to find a good spot to write in peace, all the while followed. I decided on the phone booth, as I propped the tin onto the phone and started writing.
There after, I walked back and lay on the tarpaulin. I then wrote 2 messages on 2 stick-it notes; one for Ms Studious, and 1 for the Important-Looking People. Standing up again, I walked past BB, who was on the walkie-talkie with his boss. I heard everything that his superior said to him. BB could only start to laugh at the silly situation he was in, for I was so close that he could not possibly tell the other person to stop talking, and yet he was giving BB orders in my presence without knowing it. Police’s actions are supposed to be secretive, right?
I proceeded to the stone barrier and sat down on it. Miss Studious approached me and struck a conversation. All the while, she was trying to get me to reveal my identity; whether I did my army, whether I was a student, and whether I went overseas. At my direction, we talked about sleeplessness and the prevalence of cancer in Singapore, and as what a powerless civil servant would do, she breach the topic about her merely doing her job.
By this time, light was coming in and the streets were starting to get busy with cars and morning people. Gina got up, and Ms Studious, ever so vigilant, turned around and notice Gina moving off. I asked her whether she wanted to escort her to the toilet. She said she did. Well, she was doing her job, I shouldn’t hold her back.
Asking Gandhi whether he wanted anything to eat and pointing at the coffeeshop, I exited the protest area, along the way spotted by fresh uniformed policemen. At the cofeeshop, I didn’t buy Gandhi’s order. For myself I got a drink and headed back, a couple hundred metres away. There was a bus stop along the way, and as discreetly as I could, hailed the bus and boarded it. On the bus I felt the after effect of an adrenaline rush I’ve never experienced before.
The Final Hours
Back at Hong Lim Park, I approached Chee and wanted to find a quiet spot where I could talk to him in private. We then decided on the sheltered stage beside the community centre in the park. Reaching the stage, 2 men stood in front of the staircase leading up to the stage, physically preventing us from going up. “We’re just going there to talk,” Chee said loudly to the 2 men. What rights do they got to stop us from going up on the stage for a private conversation? Apparently, one of the things the police have power to do is to do what they please and make up rules along the way, intimidating citizens into submission. Realising how silly they looked by doing what they did, and after receiving orders from who-knows-where, they relented and Chee and I sat on the stairs of the stage. We then proceeded to the toilet after some discussion.
Back at the protest area I took out the sleeping bag I brought from the other night and took a half hour nap, at long last. After a night of thrill, tension and adrenaline, my body finally allowed me to relax for a while.
While waiting for the press conference to start and the standoff to end, I had time to observe every single policemen and women there. BB was gone, and so was Ms Studious. Hassan was back and so was Fake and Thin Lips. I stared at each and every single one of them, reading their body language, looking at their shifty eyes. How less powerless could they feel as the police? Decades of empowerment have made these people take their position as civil SERVANTS for granted, and there we were, out in the open, doing something that Wong Kan Seng threatened to cane anyone for flouting the rule, and stretching that to 4 full days. On the third night we received news that a murder took place just 2 blocks away from the protesting area, and it happened on the first night of the protest. Here we had 30, 40, 50 police surrounding the 6-8 of us and nearby a heinous crime occurred out in the open.
The helicopters came for the 2nd time in 4 days, and I could not help but feel amazed at what expense they would go to what kind of money they would waste to come up with ideas that shouldn’t even have been conceived.
By noon, the area was packed. Journalists, passersby, students, cameramen, protesters breathed down each other’s neck. Surrounded, Dr. Chee started his press conference. Gandhi and Ms Chee gave their speeches as well, then we linked arms and sang We Shall Overcome, the song we sang on the first day. Chee announced it. We were going home.
In Francis’ car at the carpark, I could only look on. An oldie tune played on the stereo, and I thought it to be befitting my mood. It was so surreal I felt as though the scene was pulled from a movie. As we pulled out from the carpark, I continued looking at the police people and noticed some new faces, obviously not knowing what happened the past 4 days. Then my mind went blank. 
Before leaving the police post's carpark
Afterthoughts:
During the 4 days, there was not an instance that I felt fear. For the cause that we were fighting for, the fear of the police, fear of being arrested, fear of being jailed seemed like something I could handle with relative ease. Through the experience, I finally had a taste of what it really meant to feel a sense of belonging. A sense of belonging is so important for people to develop patriotism, which is something that also does not exist here. In Singapore, nothing really belongs to you. Every inch of soil here belongs to the government, HDB houses really belong to the HDB, cars belongs to you for as long as the date on a piece of paper says. Right then, at the very least, we the protesters could claim that for 4 days, the sky was our roof, the police were our gates, and the foreign reporters were our burglar alarm. This is the real meaning of citizenship. Love for the country, for the soil, they cannot be taught in textbooks, it would have to be felt by the passion and action of each and every individual. In 1 of the 2 notes I wrote to the police: Feel your heart, is this what you call a country when citizens don’t even have voices? Is it no wonder that people call this a place to work in and not live in?
Footnotes:
The protesters
Gandhi Ambalan
Chee Siok Chin
Jeffrey George
Charles Tan
Teoh Tian Jing
Rizal
Chee Soon Juan
Francis Yong
To watch the video of the protest
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S2xe_Z36_
Fayen's Reuters report
http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=1
More Pictures
http://s112.photobucket.com/albums/n192/e
Flyer I was distributing at Raffles Place & Chinatown
http://singaporedemocrat.org/articleWBIM
Miss Studious, with black spectacles peeking at the camera
http://photos1.blogger.com/hello/248/125
The protesters say THANK YOU
http://singaporedemocrat.org/articleWBIM
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