• About Us
    • Fact Checking Policy
    • Ownership & funding information
    • Volunteer
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
    • Submissions Policy
  • Contact Us
The Online Citizen Asia
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Letters
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Singapore
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
    • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Politics
    • Civil Society
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
No Result
View All Result
The Online Citizen Asia
No Result
View All Result

TOC Opinion – Police: Foreigners not allowed to complain

by onlinecitizen
28/01/2008
in Uncategorized
Reading Time: 8 mins read
0

By Joel Tan

Singapore residents have made notable complainers over the years, in what may, along with eating, be described as the nation’s favourite past-time.

Over the weekend, however, an interesting twist on this seemingly harmless activity has arisen – the local police have made it clear that foreigners are not allowed to complain in Singapore.

What might have been a light-hearted few days of fussed-up performance was turned into bitterness for a group of singers known as The Complaints Choir. A community arts project initiated in Birmingham, UK by Finns Tellervo Kalleinen and Oliver Kochta-Kalleinen, the Complaints Choir is an open-invite group that gets people to, you got it, complain, through song, about life in their countries.

Since its UK debut, the project has gained popularity around the world, and Complaints Choirs from Helsinki, Melbourne, Jerusalem and several other countries have sprung up since 2006.

Banned in Singapore

Singapore’s very own Complaints Choir, organized as part of the Singapore M1 Fringe Festival, was due to perform in various public venues like Vivo City, the Esplanade Waterfront and the Speakers’ Corner over the weekend, but had its plans hampered by the Singapore Police.

The group, made up mainly of Singaporeans, was told that it would not be allowed to perform unless members of the choir who were foreigners were told to step out- this included a handful of singers and the choir’s conductor, a Malaysian. Initially only a requirement for their Speakers’ Corner performance (only Singapore citizens may perform at the venue), this was later extended to all of the group’s public performances.

When interviewed, a member of the group said that the restriction was because of the “local context” of the group’s song, a musical setting of various complaints. The Choir has since cancelled all public performances, a move that has, according to the organizers on the project’s website, caused all their “prejudices against Singapore to be affirmed”.

Apart from why the police lacks a fair bit of good humour, the question that begs to be asked is what possible subversion a bunch of singing expatriates could have been up to; and what on earth is so criminal about a bunch of foreigners discoursing on issues with a “local context”?

“Singapore’s politics are reserved for Singaporeans”

The police’s logic leaves much to guesswork, the easiest of which is the current stance that foreigners should not attempt to mess around with local issues. This incident calls up memories of the Douglas Sanders fiasco in August 2007 where a guest speaker was denied the license to deliver a lecture on the law and sexual orientation in Asia, this on grounds that the event was “contrary to public interest”.

I do not suppose we could cite the exact same reasoning in this situation, but here is a snippet that proves to be a little more revealing.

“Singapore‘s politics are reserved for Singaporeans. As visitors to our country, foreigners should not abuse their privilege by interfering in our domestic politics.”- a statement from the Ministry of Home affairs regarding the refusal to admit two foreign speakers invited to speak at a forum on ministerial pay increases in April 2007.

The sentiment is clear- foreigners should not attempt any discourse on local affairs. It seems this xenophobia has trickled down to the level of a scarily innocuous little glee club project.

A quick review of the lyrics shows nothing out of the ordinary – the usual complaints about un-civil society, education and life in general- it is nothing that has not been said before, and more virulently, at that. It seems that, however, when these lyrics are sung by foreigners, some magic in the air causes them to become the tools of sedition, and we shall all quake for fear of public (dis)interest.

The stupidity of the restrictions is most succinctly pointed out by the aggrieved organisers on their highly public website : “removing the foreigners from the performance does not change the song at all”.

Police – from law enforcers to curators of art

What is also quite worrying is the police’s immediate association, here, between art and politics. The event was not designed to be a political rally – its performance at the Speakers’ Corner was likely planned for symbolic rather than functional reasons. Why the police felt it had a need to intervene in this situation is completely beyond me – it seems the police have gone from being enforcers of peace to curators of art. Instead of seeing the event as, really, what it was – essentially a piece of socially conscious performance art – the police decided to take it heads on as public speaking of a political nature.

Even as a piece of art, the lyrics of the song, according to members of the group, had been approved by the MDA – it seems even these usually stringent filters are not enough for Singaporeans. Clearly having foreigners in a performance turns it from mere art into politicking.

Oddly hypocritical

I make no assumptions about the foreigners in question, I do not know them nor do I know how long they have been in Singapore. The sentiment behind this issue, however, one that foreigners should not take part in any public complaining about local affairs, seems oddly hypocritical considering our foreign talent drive. It seems now that while we may encourage foreigners to live and work here, and contribute to our burgeoning economy, they may not take part in any public singing that totters about a “local context”. How very, very capitalistic of us – we appreciate your work but that’s about it.

Perhaps it is unfair to read the actions of the police in such a large, expansive way. I have my doubts that xenophobia was on their minds when they came up with their odd conditions for the Complaints Choir.

What is more likely is a simple chain-of-command affair: get rid of any potential sensitivities before someone higher up on the ladder of neuroticism catches wind of it. Do we blame them, really? Given how anything can offend in this country, the police’s simplistic solution was simply a knee-jerk reaction to the perceived problem: how would Singaporeans react to a handful of foreigners complaining about Singapore?

It is something we have to ask ourselves. Is it really that big a deal? Do not the conditions that bug all of us bug those who live, but might not have been born, here? Are we going to be so ridiculously exclusive as to say that birth-right determines bitch-right? And on a higher level, would not foreign, potentially more objective input on local affairs serve a greater purpose than the highly partisan noise we hear all the time?

I find it ironic that our government leaders, particularly the Minister Mentor, find it fit to comment on the affairs of other countries, but that the act of returning the favour often finds itself unwelcome and most spitefully turned away.

This issue will likely attract bad press from onlookers, both locally and abroad, and far be it for me to say that whatever noise they stir up, it will be far worse than a little bit of complaining.

In the meantime, foreigners be warned: complain at your own risk, we cannot guarantee your sanity.

About the author: Joel “is currently a national serviceman awaiting release and the start of the rest of his life.” Joel also writes on his personal blog, The Daily Backtrack, here.

Read also theonlinecitizen’s report on the incident.

———————

For just US$7.50 a month, sign up as a subscriber on The Online Citizen Asia (and enjoy ads-free experience on our site) to support our mission to transform TOC into an alternative mainstream press.

Related Posts

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status
AFP

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

27/01/2023
AFP

Two years after Myanmar coup, UN says situation ‘catastrophic’

27/01/2023
Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health
Community

Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe
AFP

ICC grants new inquiry into Manila’s deadly ‘war on drugs’

27/01/2023
Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service
Housing

Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

27/01/2023
457 civil society organizations call on ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus
AFP

Myanmar junta sets out tough new rules for political parties

27/01/2023
Subscribe
Connect withD
Login
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
Notify of
Connect withD
I allow to create an account
When you login first time using a Social Login button, we collect your account public profile information shared by Social Login provider, based on your privacy settings. We also get your email address to automatically create an account for you in our website. Once your account is created, you'll be logged-in to this account.
DisagreeAgree
0 Comments
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments

Latest posts

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

WHO panel in talks on COVID emergency status

27/01/2023

Two years after Myanmar coup, UN says situation ‘catastrophic’

27/01/2023
Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

Grab driver supposedly earned $5,227.82 in a week prior CNY, netizens voice worries over his health

27/01/2023
Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

ICC grants new inquiry into Manila’s deadly ‘war on drugs’

27/01/2023
Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

Minister refutes claims of Malaysia consulting Singapore on housing policy due to its inefficient civil service

27/01/2023
457 civil society organizations call on ASEAN to move beyond the Five-Point Consensus

Myanmar junta sets out tough new rules for political parties

27/01/2023
Thai ruling party names deputy PM as main election candidate

Thai ruling party names deputy PM as main election candidate

27/01/2023
Mrs Teo says SG continues to invest in training local talent while MNCs transfer staff to work in SG

Mrs Teo says SG continues to invest in training local talent while MNCs transfer staff to work in SG

27/01/2023

Trending posts

Two Indian nationals paid about S$330 and S$730 respectively for forged certificates submitted in their S-Pass application

MOM found issuing EPs meant for foreign PMETs to PRC waitress and general worker

by Correspondent
26/01/2023
33

...

Ho Ching breaks silence over Temasek’s write down of its US$275 million investment in FTX, says it “can afford to be contrarian”

US regulator questions VCs’ due diligence work prior to investing in FTX; Ho Ching says Temasek can afford to be contrarian

by The Online Citizen
24/01/2023
28

...

Indian rupee falls 60% since signing of CECA while Singapore becomes top investor in India

by Correspondent
25/01/2023
52

...

TOC Opinion – Police: Foreigners not allowed to complain

by onlinecitizen
28/01/2008
0

...

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

Temasek and GIC reportedly in talks with Adani Group accused of “brazen” market manipulation and accounting fraud

by The Online Citizen
26/01/2023
46

...

“党籍不会过期失效”  前进党称已就党籍终止知会卡拉

AGC asked to explain purposes of 68 private letters of inmates illegitimately forwarded to prosecutors

by The Online Citizen
21/01/2023
16

...

January 2008
M T W T F S S
 123456
78910111213
14151617181920
21222324252627
28293031  
« Dec   Feb »
  • About Us
  • Subscribe
  • Letter submission
  • Contact Us

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

No Result
View All Result
  • Opinion
    • Editorial
    • Commentaries
    • Comments
  • Current Affairs
    • Malaysia
    • Indonesia
    • China
    • ASEAN
    • Asia
    • International
  • Finance
    • Economics
    • Labour
    • Property
    • Business
  • Community
    • Civil Society
    • Arts & Culture
    • Consumer Watch
    • NGO
  • Politics
    • Parliament
    • Transport
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Housing
  • Law & Order
    • Legislation
    • Court Cases
  • Lifestyle
    • Travel
  • Subscribers login

© 2006 - 2021 The Online Citizen

wpDiscuz