Now is the time to press
ahead
Thursday, 04 September 2008 
Singapore Democrats
We published
Part I of Dr Chee Soon Juan's speech launching his new
book A Nation Cheated at the SDP's Annual Dinner on 31 Aug
08. Below is the second and concluding part where he talks about
how civil disobedience has helped bring about political change and
that its application needs to be stepped up.
Singaporeans not interested in human
rights?
The Government insists that we Singaporeans exist only to make
money. Human rights are not in our makeup. To Singaporeans, even
Martian values are less alien than democratic ones.
This really seemed the case because
for years when I talked about protests, people looked at me as if I
was a raving lunatic. I'm sure many still do. Here is this island
paradise that works and here is this green-eyed monster wanting to
tear everything down.
And when I embarked on a course of civil disobedience, even some of
my more progressive associates thought that I had really lost it,
that I had gone too far. When I stood up at Raffles Place during
lunch nearly ten years ago on 28 December 1999 and made a speech
without a permit, I was roundly and almost universally castigated
for being a radical who could not see that Singapore was different
and that Singaporeans were not interested in their civil and
political rights.
Mr Lee Kuan Yew said then that if we allow such activity on the
streets, "there'll be pandemonium. We are not that kind of
society."
Several months later he was confronted in Davos, Switzerland if my
memory serves me correctly during the World Economic Forum by
William Safire, a New York Times journalist and former
speech writer for Richard Nixon, who asked him point blank whether
he would allow free speech in Singapore. The MM said he would
consider it.
Whether he was caught by surprise and didn't want to look
bad and so said that he would consider it, no one knows. But
shortly thereafter Speakers' Corner at Hong Lim Park was
established.
That gave me the first glimpse of how civil disobedience could
work. I knew that with the right strategy, we could win or, at the
very least, extract concessions from the Government.
I didn't stop there because restricting free speech to a grass
patch beside a police station was a human rights joke. And so we
pressed on, now focusing also on freedom of assembly, that is, the
right to stage peaceful protests.
Again I was chastised and called all sorts of names from being a
show-off pulling on publicity stunts to playing up the to the West
to being a traitor, undermining the interests of Singapore. But I
knew deep down in my heart, I was right and they were wrong.
All through this, a few people remained steadfast with me. Gandhi
Ambalam was one of them. Together we persisted and we fought on.
Slowly our numbers began to grow.
A stunning admission
Now years later and after several arrests and prison terms, the
Government has finally acknowledged the moral imperative of the
freedoms of speech and assembly. Last week, the Straits
Times reported:
Asked by an undergraduate if the move towards more political
openness was done out of 'necessity', Mr Goh replied: 'Necessity,
in a way. Because to be relevant as a government, you must know the
aspirations of the people.
What are these aspirations? He
answered the question in his next sentence which is a stunning
admission of the reality:
'We can control you, oppress you. But we'd lose you - you'll
move elsewhere. So we have to move with the times.'
He hit the proverbial nail right smack in the middle of the head.
Mr Goh has acknowledged that the aspirations of the people are to
live in a society where they are not controlled and oppressed, in
other words they want a democratic Singapore. What's all this talk
about Singaporeans not being interested in human rights?
What was political and social taboo only a couple of years ago is
now accepted by the Government as a necessity. This admission is
much more significant than the Government's decision to allow
protests at Hong Lim Park because for the first time the PAP has
conceded the legitimacy of public demonstrations.
But it wasn't put on a platter for us. We had to fight for it. We
had to sacrifice for it.
I tell you this not to claim credit or to gloat for there is
nothing to gloat about because nothing has been achieved yet. I
tell you this because I want you to see that the PAP is not this
immovable wall that we keep talking about and we are certainly not
the eggs. I want to banish the unfortunate and long-held perception
that it is no use going aganist the PAP because we just cannot
win.
Martyn See's production of his films despite the prohibition of the
Films Act is another case in point. It started it 1996 where I
wanted to make a video about the SDP and we produced a 20-minute
documentary. There was no law against that but the Government
banned it anyway and thereafter passed legislation to outlaw
political videos.
Martyn challenged that law by breaking it. Today many can see the
absurdity of the law and the real intention behind it and the PAP
is under pressure to amend it.
The truth of the matter is that the Government can be made to back
down. You have seen with your own eyes that civil disobedience, if
carried out in an astute and disciplined manner, works.
Civil disobedience is not just about breaking laws will-nilly and
challenging the authorities on a whim and fancy. There are moral
considerations and the responsibility is a heavy one to bear. Civil
disobedience is not about unruliness and anarchy. It is a form of
civil action that requires strict disciple and sacrifice on the
part of the people who advocate and practice it.
It is an effective method of compeling autocrats to listen to the
people, of wrenching power back to the people.
Confronted with an authoritarian regime that is unwilling to reason
and be persuaded to mend its ways, civil disobedience becomes a
necessary weapon and, I repeat, it works.
Change is afoot
It works because of a few factors are at play one of which is that
times are changing. The dusk of an old era is passing on and the
dawn of a new one is upon us. Change is waiting to be born. The
Government knows that. It knows that change is inevitable.
But if we don't act now, nothing will happen. If we don't become
the deliverers of change, then change will be stillborn. This is
because there are still some very powerful forces against change
and power never concedes without demand.
In other words, people like you and me who want to see change must
demand loudly and clearly for reform. We cannot just be spectators.
We must be the advocates and the agents of change.
The time is right and the conditions favour the reformers. We have
the New Media, we have an educated population, and we have the
fading away of an old era. These factors are coming together and
they spell change.
The biggest, and possibly fatal, mistake that we in the
pro-democracy camp can make is to freeze at this point. At a
juncture in history when we have momentum and favourable conditions
on our side, the worst thing to do is nothing. If we do that we
will lose the initiative and the progress that we have made will be
irretrievably lost.
No, there is not a moment to tarry. Now is the time to press home
our advantage. Now is the time to ensure that we consolidate on our
gains and push further into our opponent's territory. We must let
the PAP know unequivocally that it either opens up the political
process or it as a Government will become irrelevant.
We must seize the day. Carpe diem! Make that change that
we are all capable of, that we all have a duty to carry out, that
we all owe to ourselves and our children to effect.
Carpe diem! Seize the day!
Challenging the laws
In the weeks ahead, 17 of my colleagues and I will
face a trial for taking part in an assembly and procession without
a permit. Many of us are prepared to go to prison. We can't wait to
go to court and face the judge and prosecution and to tell the
world how politically ridiculous and morally offensive this
Government is.
We all know that it is the Government that has done wrong, not us.
We are proud of what we have done. In fact we pledge to do it
again. We may have to pay the price of sacrificing our liberty, but
that is an honour. That is something we are proud of and want to
tell everyone rather than hide it. For what can be a higher honour
than to be jailed for the sake of justice and freedom?
This is not just false bravado. It is detemination and resolve
borne out of an extended process of self-examination and
confronting our own fears.
This is not just a political fight, it is a moral fight as well. It
is a struggle for justice, a struggle against the preponderance of
greed and exploitation by those who rule over us, a struggle for
the lives and dignity of the hundreds of thousands of our fellow
Singaporeans who are consigned to live more like serfs than
citizens.
We need your support
But as clear and as determined as we are, our campaign cannot
succeed without your support. As many activists have stepped
forward, I hope all of you too will step forward to play your part.
The more we get into our ranks the quicker will be the
change.
The PAP is like the guy standing on the shore and trying to stop
the tide from coming in. Don't stand on the sidelines. Get in and
be part of the tide. Be on the right side of history. I tell you
today that victory will be ours. I say this not out of hubris and
cockiness but a very humble reading of history. No authoritarian
regime will last forever and when an idea whose time has come no
one, absolutely no one, can stop it.
We will be announcing a major protest-campaign hopefully in the
not-too-distant future which will include but not be limited to the
Speakers' Corner. We will need your support physically, financially
and morally to make it a success.
But for tonight, I would like to ask you for your support. Join us,
contribute financially, be on our mailing list and come to our
meetings and functions so that together we can strategise our
campaign which is slowly turning into a movement.
Let this truly be a new beginning in the chapter of Singapore's
journey to democracy. With the advent of new technology and the
determination and passion of democracy activists, freedom is not
far away.
Now is the time to tell the Government that we want transparency,
we seek accountability and we demand democracy.
It has been said that it is far better to light a candle than to
curse the darkness. Light that candle in your heart and together we
can make the flame of democracy burn brighter and ever more
iridescent.
Thank you once again for honouring us with your presence this
evening and on behalf of my fellow Singapore Democrats, I wish all
of you the very best.
I leave you with this thought: "You may never know what results
come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no
result."
Thank you and good night.
http://www.yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/
The first fruits of civil
disobedience
http://www.yawningbread.org/arch
