The Singapore Attorney-General’s Chamber (AGC) has told local media that Nee Soon Group Representative Constituency (GRC) Member of Parliament, Louis Ng will not be charged for his act of holding a placard next to hawkers in June 2020.
This comes after one and a half year of investigation by the Singapore Police over a possible offence of public assembly without a permit after holding a placard next to hawkers.
A spokesman for the AGC told The Straits Times on Wednesday that AGC directed the police to take no further action against Mr Ng under the Public Order Act.
The Police had earlier said on 3 March last year that Mr Ng was interviewed by them and that they were carrying out investigations.
“Investigations have revealed that Mr Ng was exercising his duty as a Member of Parliament, in expressing care and support for the welfare of the hawkers in his constituency during the Covid-19 pandemic,” said the spokesman to Straits Times.
The spokesman added that the nature of the act and the intent of the person performing the act are key considerations in deciding whether an offence has been committed or whether there is any public interest in prosecuting the offence.
In June 2020, the People’s Action Party MP uploaded photographs of himself holding a placard in support of the hawkers at the Yishun Park Hawker Centre.
The placard stated “Support Them“, with a smiley face next to the wording.
He was seen posing next to hawkers at their respective stalls at the said hawker centre.
Mr Ng said in an earlier Facebook post last year that he was at the Yishun Park Hawker Centre in June 2020 during a walkabout to “make sure our hawkers were doing okay”.
“As we all know, they suffered badly during the circuit breaker,” he said.
Mr Ng added that he wanted to “urge our residents to support our hawkers“, which was why he “held a sign indicating this and took photos together with the hawkers”.
“Separately, in January this year, I also held up a sign for the climate change video introducing the first-ever parliamentary motion on climate change.
“To clarify, that sign was an empty piece of cardboard. The words were superimposed into the video which I posted,” said Mr Ng.
Mr Ng was investigated after activist Jolovan Wham was charged with holding up a piece of cardboard with a smiley face drawn on it in Toa Payoh Central in March 2020.
Mr Wham had done so in support of two youth climate activists who were investigated by the police for holding up placards of their own on separate occasions.
He was informed by the police that he had flouted the Public Order Act despite having “left immediately after” holding the placard and having his photo taken with it.
The charge against him for this offence was dropped subsequently in January this year.
In response to TOC’s query on Mr Ng not being charged by AGC for his actions, Mr Wham said: “I have to thank Louis Ng for his one man assembly. If he hadn’t done it, the AGC would probably not have dropped their charge against me.”
The Public Order Act is drafted widely and could bind anyone — even a lone individual such as Mr Wham — for trying to do any of the following without a valid police permit:
- Demonstrate support for or opposition to the views or actions of any persons/groups/government;
- Publicise a cause or campaign; or
- Initiate or commemorate any event.
Even those who do not plan to hold any placards at a particular place are required to apply for a police permit.
A person found guilty of partaking in a public assembly without a permit may face a fine of up to S$5,000.
