Civil Society
Jolovan Wham: Going to prison to “show the inherent violence and brutality of the State to citizens expressing themselves peacefully”
by Jolovan Wham
I was released last Friday after spending 15 days in Changi prison for a one-person assembly which lasted 15 seconds. I had a small and intimate lunch with a few friends, rested a bit and continued my usual daily routine. Big thanks to everyone who sent messages of support both publicly and through DMs (Direct Messages). Appreciate your solidarity.
Some people may wonder why I decided on imprisonment when I could have just paid the 3k fine. When I started organising and participating in illegal assemblies, the intention was to put our ridiculous public order laws in the spotlight. Going to prison for something I believed in was unimaginable when I first got involved in social justice work. I was in court that day and my lawyer was urging me to pay the fine. but I was rooted to my seat in the dock and couldn’t bring myself to do so.
Being criminalised for peacefully standing up for what you believed in was just so outrageous and extreme to me that my gut reaction was that it also deserved an extreme response as an act of protest, and to show the inherent violence and brutality of the State to citizens expressing themselves peacefully.
In the years that I’ve been involved in civil society work, I was tired of being told to be afraid, to be careful, and there is ‘no choice’ cos that’s the way things are done in Singapore. But I refused to accept it because the real prison is how we have allowed ourselves to be cowered, intimidated and obedient to injustice. I didn’t want fear and censorship to control me anymore. If going into Changi was the scariest thing that could happen, I would confront it head-on. I needed to resist the decades of fear that has been normalised and acceptance of prison was part of that process.
There’s no doubt that prison is a stressful and de-humanising experience. But accepting imprisonment with a moral purpose, a clear conscience and a love for what is good and just in this world gives me the strength and resolve to stand up to the fear and stigma that comes with imprisonment. It’s not that I am no longer afraid, but it has less of a hold one me: I can act more freely, and as my conscience dictates, and it no longer dictate my actions, and my thoughts.
This was posted by Wham on his Facebook page on 27 Sept 2022. Wham is a social worker and civil society activist based in Singapore.
Wham was charged in Nov 2020 for holding up a sign that read “Drop the charges against Terry Xu and Daniel De Costa” outside the State Courts on the morning of 13 Dec 2018.
Terry Xu Yuanchen, chief editor of The Online Citizen, and a contributor, Daniel De Costa Augustin were charged that day in the State Courts with criminal defamation over an article published in Sept 2018.
He was later found guilty at the State Court for the offence in Jan 2022 and meted with a fine of S$3,000 or 15 days of imprisonment in default of the fine. Following the dismissal of the appeal for his conviction at the High Court, Wham choose to serve the 15-days sentence on 9 Sept 2022.
The whole process of Wham holding up of the sign took less than 15 seconds as witnessed by the court, shown through a CCTV footage of the incident. No member of public was seen looking at the sign held by Wham or even had a look at it, especially since it was barely a few seconds where he held the sign for the purpose of taking a photo.
The police was only made aware of the photo taking by Wham through a police report was filed against him after Wham posted a photo of him holding the sign on social media.
The penalties under the Public Order Act for taking part in a prohibited assembly are a maximum fine of S$5,000.
Article 14 of the Singapore Constitution of the Republic of Singapore, guarantees to Singapore citizens the rights to freedom of speech and expression, peaceful assembly without arms, and association. However, the enjoyment of these rights may be restricted by laws imposed by the Parliament of Singapore on the grounds stated in Article 14(2) of the Constitution.
Section 5 of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act was repealed in 2009 and in place, a new law, the Public Order Act was introduced under the watchful eye of Mr K Shanmugam, the Minister of Home Affairs and Law.
Under this law, the definition of “assembly” and “procession” is no longer restricted to gatherings of five persons or more. This means even one person alone can constitute illegal assembly.
