From: GC Chwee (ppnickle) 01:42
To: ALL 1 of 21
First day (Saturday):
As you know, our attempt to march was thwarted by the more than 100
strong police troop less than 50m after we set off. There were lots
of journalists, which was great. Unfortunately, half of them were
from the no good local media hogging space. At least a dozen
photographers and videographers were the police.
Since we were cornered, there wasn't much that Chee can do but to
announce for people to gather at the parliament house the next day
at 11am, hoping he might get another shot at it. So the whole thing
became a sit-out protest from then on.
About 12 policemen were charged to surround Chee and restrained his
movement. About 8 policewomen were doing likewise to his sister.
Initially, there was a problem when Geok wanted to use the
washroom. Later, a higher officer established an SOP for the sentry
and things went a lot more smoothly. Essentially, about 5 or 6
policewomen would trail her to the pee-room. The rest of the
protesters could pretty much move around freely.
Besides Chee's supporters, activists and impromptu supporters like
me, there were a few WP people there. In fact, one of the WP guys
stayed with us right through the night. A few journalists did that
too. By midnight, the police reduced their strength to about half
its original. Chee and his sister were now together with a few
others sitting or lying down. The sentry now consisting of both men
and women officers forming a larger circle to accommodate the
group.
Second day (Sunday):
ust before 11am, Chee made an attempt again to march to the
parliament house. The police quickly went into their tight
formation surrounding him like the previous day. Chee offered them
an option, either to let him make the short 10-minute march and
speech and he would disperse and go home, or he would camp out till
Tuesday, after LHL make his speech at the WB/IMF meeting.
The police's answer was obvious, so Chee made his speech asking LHL
to answer a list questions during his Tuesday's address
(http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articleWBIMF50.html). Thereafter,
we continued our sit-out.
Now and then, we noticed a taxi driver, a cyclist, or some random
passer-by shouting support for Chee and curses for the police
poodles. These people usually zoomed by rather quickly. However,
one such cyclist, an old man, at about 9pm, was plucky enough to
cycle back, stopped in front of a few police and started hurling
abuses at them as he recounted the time he was tortured by
detectives when he was young. He pulled up his shirt as if to show
us something. But a few policemen came by to photograph him and he
sped away. The police gave chase and they all disappeared into the
dark. I am not sure if they got him, but I surely hope not.
The atmosphere was more relax than the day before. Our spirit was
high, so the rain was not too big a bother. Nevertheless, someone
brought us ponchos now. The police seemed more relax too. They gave
us more space, spread out more. Although I still counted at least
30 of them that were within sight, it was fewer than earlier.
Unlike yesterday, I didn't stay the night because of work. I will
be there again shortly. Got to go. I will update if there is
anything else interesting. Hope you guys can join us. It's a great
feeling doing something for democracy than merely talking about it.
You got to be there to feel it for yourself.