Police playing the dangerous game of
politics
Singapore Democrats
22 Nov 07
The police released a statement saying that 'in contrast to [Chee
Soon Juan's] acts of civil disobedience, Singaporeans and Myanmar
nationals in Singapore have organised themselves to express their
sentiments and concern for the Myanmar situation in a lawful
manner'.
It was a stupendous spin.
In August this year a group of Burmese nationals marched down the
length of Orchard Road. The protesters were warned not once but
twice. The group defied the warnings and continued their peaceful
march.
A month later, our Burmese friends congregated outside the Burmese
embassy for a vigil. Again despite repeated warnings from the
police, the protesters stayed put and even returned on subsequent
evenings.
Two nights ago, a group of 40 to 50 Burmese again congregated at
Orchard Road in a protest. This is despite countless warnings from
the police.
Defying unjust laws that suppress human rights is civil
disobedience.
The fact that the police has chosen not to taken punitive action
against these protesters does not make it any different from the
nonviolent action that the SDP and its supporters have been
doing.
Which brings us to the next point. The police are selective in who
it chooses to prosecute. To charge in court Burmese nationals
standing in solidarity with their counterparts at home who are
being beaten and killed, is political stupidity at its gravest. The
PAP Government knows this.
So rather than arrest the Burmese protesters, the police work
furiously behind-the-scenes to intimidate these people.
Our men-in-blue regularly visit Peninsula Plaza where Burmese
nationals hangout, bear down on university officials and monks in
temples, and conduct investigations on individual Burmese all in an
effort to stop them from organising activities.
Being in a foreign land, these people have little choice but to
comply. It doesn't mean that they agree with the law that prohibits
public protest the same law, by the way, that exists in their
homeland.
The Singapore Democrats and our supporters, on the other hand, are
citizens of Singapore. The rights of our people have been robbed by
the Government and we demand their return.
The Burmese, being foreigners, may back down. We do not.
For police to make the statement that they did further demonstrates
their indulgence in partisan politics when they, as civil servants,
ought to be strictly neutral.
This continued use of the police by the PAP to suppress dissent,
and thus perpetuate its own power, is a dangerous game. Unlike in
the past, the actions of our police force is widely and quickly
disseminated through the Internet.
When the public sees it as being used to protect the PAP leaders,
confidence in the police to enforce law and order impartially and
without fear or favour will be eroded.
When state institutions are seen to no longer serve the interests
of the public but rather the ruling clique, problems come very
quickly. If it is trouble that the PAP is looking for, it will find
it sooner rather than later.
The Government is caught in a delicate position. Crackdown on
dissent and be condemned by the ever-growing democratic world. On
the other hand it knows that if it allows Singaporeans to protest
in public, then its days as an authoritarian regime are clearly
numbered.
Singaporeans can see through this charade that the PAP and its
police force are playing, and they want it stopped.
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articleburmaprotest71.html
