Civil Society

The issue of electoral malapportionment, or the imbalanced division of constituencies, remains one of the issues in need of reformation by the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government, according to watchdog Coalition for Clean and Fair Elections (Bersih 2.0) in a statement today (17 Jul). Citing the 17th Promise in the PH election manifesto, which covers the question of transparency and robustness …

Following recent statements made by Singapore’s Attorney-General’s Chambers (AGC) in relation to Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) founder N Surendran, the Malaysian human rights and law reform organisation’s director Melissa Sasidaran responded via Twitter on Tue (16 Jul), clarifying that she had stated earlier that “the letter was sent by AGC to High Court”, not to Surendran “personally”. The AGC on …

Protests against the Hong Kong government’s extradition Bill show no signs of quelling as tens of thousands stormed into New Town Plaza Mall in the suburban Sha Tin district on Sun (14 Jul). Reuters reported that clashes between the protestors and the police officers were particularly violent, as umbrellas and plastic bottles were thrown against the police officers, leaving 10 …

In what the Malaysian human rights society has dubbed “an execution binge”, Lawyers For Liberty (LFL) has condemned the apparent wholesale rejection of clemency petitions of Malaysian death row prisoners in Singapore by the President. LFL founder and advisor N. Surendran in a press statement on Fri (12 Jul) said that while the rejection of 10 death row prisoners’ clemency …

In the wake of the Hong Kong protests, Mr Leslie Fong wrote an opinion piece titled “The view from Singapore: Hong Kong is a city tearing itself apart”. The article, in gist, paints the protests as a city that “smothering itself in full global view, egged on my western media”. The former Straits Times editor noted in his article that …

Back in 2015, the Prime Minister’s Office published a video of Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong being interviewed by journalists. During the interview, he commented about anti-government protests in Hong Kong and Taiwan. One of the journalist asked PM Lee if he is worried about the same kind of anti-government movement happening in Singapore seeing as younger people are often …

The movement against Hong Kong’s controversial extradition Bill is showing no signs of slowing down as protestors anticipate another round of protests on Fri (5 Jul) and Sun (7 Jul), barely three days after Hong Kong’s Legislative Council was swarmed and broken into by protestors on Mon (1 Jul). The Straits Times‘ China Correspondent reported that a group called Hong …

Malaysian lawmakers are set to debate on whether street protests should no longer be classified as a crime, as the nation’s Deputy Home Minister Mohd Azis Jamman tabled the Peaceful Assembly (Amendment) Bill for its first reading on Mon (1 Jul). The Bill is scheduled to be debated and passed on 18 Jul. Should the Bill be passed, changes will …

28 human rights groups and organisations, including MADPET (Malaysians Against Death Penalty and Torture) and the Singapore Anti-Death Penalty Campaign, have expressed their discontent over the delay in appointing new Human Rights Commissioners for the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), and have urged Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad and his government to explain the delay. In a joint statement made …

The government of Hong Kong has temporarily shut down its Central Government Offices in Admiralty early this morning (21 Jun) in anticipation of another round of protests, as university students continue to push for the total withdrawal of the extradition Bill and Chief Executive Carrie Lam’s resignation. South China Morning Post reported that nearly a thousand protesters donning masks and …