Why dissent matters
by Chee Soon Juan
28 Aug 07
How many of us wouldn't give anything to rid ourselves of
pain?
Don't you just hate it when you accidentally stub your toe in the
middle of the night on your way to the toilet (and muttered some
expletive along the way) or scald yourself on a hot stove? Pain.
Who needs it?
Meet Grace, a three-year old girl, who, by all accounts, is a happy
child. But unlike other children, little Gracie cannot feel pain.
She suffers from Congenital Insensitivity to Pain with Anhidrosis,
or CIPA, a rare neurological disorder that prevents her from
feeling pain.
When Grace started teething, she gnawed at her gums, tongue and
fingers till they bled. She would run and bang her head against the
wall because it seemed like a fun thing to do. She would stomp her
feet so hard that her ankles were swollen and when she broke her
leg, she didn't cry, she just dragged it around. Understandably,
people like Grace don't live very long.
Pain performs the crucial function of providing feedback to our
brains so that we don't mutilate our own bodies. It is one of those
strange things in life that we expend much energy avoiding or
trying to rid ourselves of but cannot survive without.
You know what I'm driving at. Dissent, like pain, provides that
indispensable feedback to the state without which society suffers
like a dysfunctional CIPA body destined for early
destruction.
Dissent prods, cajoles and, in cases of autocratic states, compels
the government to mend its ways to become a better one one that
is responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
Dissent prods, cajoles and, in cases of autocratic states, compels
the government to mend its ways to become a better one one that
is responsive to the needs and aspirations of the people.
Pushing back
Singaporeans know this. This is why through the years, despite the
near total clampdown on the expression of dissent, people of this
nation have not relented.
In 2002, a handful of individuals attempted to gather outside the
American embassy to protest against the war in Iraq. The police had
to move quickly to ensure that the puny gathering of six didn't
take place.
Falungong practitioners have repeatedly challenged repressive laws
by defying orders not to gather in public and say anything to
offend the Chinese communist government.
Then there was the white-elephant cardboard protest against the
Government's refusal to open the Buangkok MRT station even though
construction was completed and the facility was ready for
use.
On the eve of the executions of Nguyen Van Tuong and Amara Tochi,
anti-death penalty activists assembled at Changi to oppose the
mandatory death sentence for drug peddlers.
Thirty participants donned brown tees and congregated at an MRT
station to express their opposition to the removal of
Government-jibing satirist Mr Lee Kin Mun's, aka Mr Brown, column
in the Today newspaper.
And despite police threats and harassment nearly 20 people filed
down Orchard Road in conspicuous yellow last December, distributing
copies of the UN's Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The gay and lesbian community also did their part. They organised
two public events, one a picnic and the other a jog, to vent their
grievances against the criminalisation of homosexuals. Despite the
authorities banning both activities, the picnic went ahead (with an
even greater number of picnickers turning up in defiance) and the
joggers proceeded with their run albeit singly rather than as a
group.
And in the last week or so, the local Internet scene has been abuzz
with talk about a black-shirt protest at 4 pm on 8 Sept 2007 at the
Centrepoint Shopping Centre. The protest is in response to the
Government's plan to force Singaporeans to purchase annuity for
their retirement. The speed and determination with which the
protest was planned (on an online forum called the Sammyboy's
Coffee Shop) clearly rattled the authorities so much so that they
have resorted to sowing confusion, discrediting protest planners,
and intimidating potential participants in an attempt to thwart the
initiative.
Even lone individuals have taken the initiative to defy laws
designed to silence dissenting voices. Martyn See's production of
political films has brought to light the perversity of the Films
Act which forbids the production of such videos. The police
investigated him for 15 months and ultimately issued him a
warning.
We are not alone
Wittingly or otherwise, these citizens were engaging the state
using Nonviolent Action. Some of the activities were acts of civil
disobedience where activists defied the authorities in attempts to
challenge repressive laws. (I have discussed the concept and
practice of civil disobedience in The Power of Courage as well as
here and here on this website, and will not elaborate them in this
essay.)
But not only have activists pushed the boundaries of political
dissent in the local context, they have also reached out to the
international community for support.
The Falungong human rights activists have taken their case all the
way to the UN, forcing the Singapore Government to come out of its
comfort zone to defend its actions. The anti-death penalty
campaign, largely through the efforts of M Ravi, has attracted the
attention of the UN. The recent visit of British actor Ian McKellan
and his comments on the discrimination against homosexuals as well
as the ban of Professor Douglas Sanders' speech has kept the issue
of the criminalisation of gays alive among interested foreign
onlookers. Martyn See's films have received international attention
and screenings because of the police investigation.
More recently, a group of local civil society actors met with their
regional counterparts to discuss how the Singaporean public can be
consulted and involved over the crafting of the ASEAN Charter,
which promises to include the respect of human rights. And, of
course, the Singapore Democrats continue to widen and strengthen
our international network to ensure that news of repression here is
carried well beyond our shores.
Are things a-changing?
But has all this huffing and puffing gotten human rights anywhere
in Singapore?
The honest answer is not very far. The PAP doesn't seem to have
budged very much on the issue. However, to see the fight in such
parochial terms is to miss the point completely.
A singular act of dissent never yields immediate results. Every
action leaves behind a residue that the next one builds upon. The
experience gained and the courage that radiates from that action
elevates the general struggle another notch. Even for actions that
fail to achieve their stated objectives, there is gain. Every time
we initiate an action and fail, we don't return to ground
zero.
It is the accumulation of each protest and each act of resistance
that will ultimately take us above the threshold and allow us the
success that we seek. In the meantime, every action, big or small,
successful or not, is like a training session where
citizen-activists hone their skills and build up towards the stage
when our objectives are definitively achieved.
Overcoming fear
For this to take place, however, we need to recognise the obstacles
before us. One big one sits like a boulder in the middle of the
road. Its called fear Fear immobilizes. It preys on the
weak-minded. It is what the PAP relies on to achieve its
ends.
For fear is the currency of repression and repression itself is the
language of the weak.
But if this is the PAP's tactic of choice, it is also the people's
greatest hope. For fear is the currency of repression and
repression itself is the language of the weak. Time and again, it
has been shown that confronted by peoples who have liberated
themselves from the clutches of fear, despotic powers have cracked
and given way to popular will...
http://singaporedemocrat.org/articledissent.html