• 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

Oppression and threats will not destroy our spirit

by Terry Xu
28/04/2013
in Commentaries
Reading Time: 5 mins read
0

By Jen

If you find it suffocating lately, it may not be the haze but quite likely it is due to the oppressive tactics by our government to suppress views that are critical of them and their policies.oppression-11

I had been hopeful that the People’s Action Party (PAP) -led government would change for the better when I first started my blog post General Elections 2011. Unfortunately, those upbeat sentiments went downhill fast after watching the words and actions by the ministers over the past 2 years. To be fair, there were some positive changes, such as the review of ministerial salaries (lower but still the world’s highest) and various attempts made by the government to engage the citizens more such as through the National Conversation (which has been subjected to both praise and scorn).

However, such improvements get overshadowed whenever the Government issues threatening lawyers letters , exercises heavy use of the law and carries out other unsavoury actions to muzzle vocal activists.  The latest sagas that have left a foul-smelling trail involve the pressure tactics on activist Nizam Ismail for having spoken up publicly on national concerns when he was still involved with the Association of Muslim Professionals (AMP). His punishment? Threats were allegedly made (by two Ministers no less) to cut off funding to AMP where he was a director. Nizam has  resigned from AMP and has documented the saga on his blog.

And a week ago, cartoonist Leslie Chew was arrested for allegedly being seditious in two of his cartoons from his satirical cartoon series Demon-cratic. Both incidents involving Leslie and Nizam caused an uproar among many concerned Singaporeans who care about fairness and justice. Like them, I am upset because of the hypocrisy and double standards that exist in Singapore.

Adding to this storm of injustices, Minister Tan Chuan-Jin made a brow-raising comment on his Facebook page recently over the vandalism incident where the word “Democracy” was spray painted in red on a war memorial. Before even knowing who the culprit was, which could have been a mischievous youth, Chuan Jin expressed his anger and implied “Anarchy” from this ONE single graffiti! His exact words were: “The vandals sprayed “Democracy”. Sorry. Wrong spelling. Was it “Anarchy” they were looking for?”.

Vandalism no doubt it was, but anarchy?? Was he trying to stir anger against anyone who talks, writes and paints the word democracy? Was he trying to turn the public against activists without even knowing who the culprit was? And even if the culprit were an activist, where’s the link between this one-off graffiti and anarchy? Does Chuan-Jin know the meaning of the word? Anarchy as defined by Merriam-Webster means “a state of lawlessness or political disorder due to the absence of governmental authority.” That surely doesn’t apply to Singapore which, as the entire world knows,  has too much government control and exceptionally stringent laws.

As I have always said, PAP needs to stop being hyper hypocritical and reflect on its own ugly behaviour before it  shouts, threatens and accuses its critics.

The biggest culprit guilty of manipulative partisan politics is them. Look no further than the entire public-funded People’s Association which is supposed to be non-partisan and yet is clearly there to support the PAP’s agenda; and look deeper at the entire network of GLCs and TLCs and the vast NTUC empire. Now, can they look us in the eye and tell us that they are  non-partisan?

And what about the case of Malminderjit Singh, president of the Young Sikh Association (YSA)?  Like the AMP, the YSA also receives funding from the Government and yet, as blogger Andrew Loh pointed out, Mr Singh is a PAP member and is Chairman of the council of PAP’s Policy Forum. Isn’t PAP practising partisanship in this case? Is partisanship ok so long as one is with Them and not critical of them?

Clearly PAP is the ultimate master puppeteer when it comes to wayang. Their actions sometimes make many wonder, is our government on our side to help and protect us or to control us in whatever ways and means?  Do they not know that if they continue this way, they are being divisive in splitting this nation into a Them vs Us?  They are the direct cause of the resentment and anger that has been building up among Singaporeans.

And do they not know that continued oppression of the people’s views through threats and use of laws that they created will not destroy our spirit but make it stronger? We are in a different era now where people are wising up as we have access to unprecedented diverse information thanks to the Internet and thanks to better education and a more vocal populace. With more sources of information and stronger critical thinking skills, we are in a better position to sieve out the lies and discern the truth. Knowing the truth strengthens our resolve to do what is right.

Our Government seriously needs to wake up and realise this. The people are not blind and are no longer agreeable to closing our eyes and being manipulated by lies and spin, nor are we easily threatened. Using reason, showing respect for the citizens and behaving ethically would go much further in getting our respect and trust.

As a citizen,  I truly hope that our government will wise up soon and start behaving with some dignity and principles befitting leaders of a democratic nation. Are they capable of doing this for the sake of our country’s peace and future?  I do not have the answer. For now, I can only hope and keep speaking up.

Disclaimer: I do not know Nizam nor Leslie. This is a non-partisan commentary.

[divide]

This article was first published at Jentrified Citizen .

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

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
Thai ruling party names deputy PM as main election candidate
AFP

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
Labour

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

27/01/2023
One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study
AFP

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

27/01/2023
Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia
Court Cases

Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

27/01/2023

Latest posts

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
One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

One third of Amazon ‘degraded’ by human activity, drought: study

27/01/2023
Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

Luxembourg court sets aside Sulu heirs’ attachment order to enforce US$15b claim against Malaysia

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

Philippines to appeal ICC resumption of drug war probe

27/01/2023

ASEAN governments must stop using ‘lawfare’ against critics, Southeast Asian MPs say

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
49

...

Oppression and threats will not destroy our spirit

by Terry Xu
28/04/2013
0

...

“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

...

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
41

...

April 2013
M T W T F S S
1234567
891011121314
15161718192021
22232425262728
2930  
« Mar   May »
  • 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