Police investigate 'no-person' memorial for Gaza war victims over alleged illegal assembly
The police have confirmed an investigation into a memorial held by a group of students on 13 January outside the CREATE building at NUS. \n \nThe memorial, which featured 124 pairs of shoes and a white burial shroud symbolising lives lost and the demand for justice, did not depict any individuals in the images. \n \nThe police reminded the public that unapproved assemblies are an offence under the Public Order Act 2009.
SINGAPORE: The police have confirmed an investigation into a memorial held by a group of students on 13 January outside the Campus for Research Excellence and Technological Enterprise (CREATE) building, a research facility at the National University of Singapore (NUS). On that day, marking the 465th day of the ongoing conflict in Gaza, 124 students and alumni in Singapore staged the memorial to mourn and honour Palestinian students who have been unjustly killed in the conflict. The gathering was organised by the student group Students for Palestine Singapore. In their statement, the group explained that the memorial was held outside the CREATE building because it houses a research alliance with the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, which they claim "vocally and financially supports the genocide in Gaza." Citing other Singapore-Israel academic partnerships, the organisers called on local universities to sever ties with Israeli institutions. The group also urged universities to divest from financial investments in companies linked to the Israeli military and to end "police surveillance and intimidation" of student activists. Photographs released by the group showed 124 pairs of shoes and a white burial shroud, symbolising the lives lost and the collective demand for justice. However, the images did not depict any individuals. State media CNA reported that the police reminded the public that public assemblies in Singapore are regulated under the Public Order Act 2009, and that organising or participating in a public assembly without a police permit is an offence under the Act. "The police will not grant any permit for assemblies that advocate political causes of other countries or foreign entities, or may have the potential to stir emotions and lead to public order incidents," the police said. Meanwhile, an NUS spokesperson told CNA that this was an 'unauthorised act' on their campus property and that a police report had been filed. Earlier, Students for Palestine Singapore stated that the 124 pairs of shoes represented only a fraction of the overwhelming human toll in Gaza, which has seen over 17,400 children killed in the past 15 months—a staggering figure that highlights the scale of the violence. The group’s message was not only one of remembrance but also a call for action, particularly in addressing the relationships between Singaporean universities and Israeli institutions.
