Civil Society

A group of Singapore organisations have come together in a letter calling for greater freedom of expression. ‘Deeply troubled by the mounting charges’ brought against social worker and human rights advocate Jolovan Wham, these local groups have issue a letter calling for existing laws to be reconsidered. In 2017, Jolovan was charged for illegal assembly, vandalism and refusing to sign …

Leading gender rights organisation, AWARE has called for policies to level the playing field and promote equality among children, such as free childcare for low-income households and an end to discrimination against single-parent or transnational families. In a report submitted last week to a United Nations Committee about the protection of children’s rights in Singapore, the leading women’s rights and …

Women’s rights and gender equality advocate group AWARE is expanding the operating hours of their Women’s Helpline to reflect the a 32% increase in calls they received last year. From 20 March 2019 onwards, AWARE’s Women’s Helpline service will expand from the previous 3pm – 9pm hours to a 10am – 6pm, Monday to Friday. AWARE launched Singapore’s first Helpline …

Peoples Voice Singapore is holding a rally at Hong Lim Park on 16 March. The theme is, ‘Where is the Accountability in Singapore?’ In his announcement for the event, Lim Tean says that “Singaporeans demand accountability from their political leaders and public officials” and calls for Singaporeans to rally and demonstrate their dissatisfaction with the lack of accountability in the …

In regards to the defamation suit made against veteran blogger and human rights defender Leong Sze Hian by Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, Front Line Defenders (FLD) took a stand and said that it strongly condemns the action. Mentioning this in its website, the human rights organisation said that it believes “that the disproportionate legal action being taken against Leong …

The Cat Welfare Society has put out an SOS for funds. In a Facebook post, the CWS has said that it urgently needs $135,000 to continue funding its sterilisation efforts. “Pay it forward and help us save our cats. We urgently need $135,000 to continue funding our humane sterilisation efforts and to assist in mediating against the removal of our …

Following the reports of mainstream news outlets regarding the Singapore Police Force (SPF)’s recent investigation into a photograph of civil rights activist Jolovan Wham taken outside the State Courts last Dec, Mr Wham himself suggested that the reports have conveyed allegedly erroneous and “misleading” information regarding the purpose and nature of the investigation. The photograph in question, dated 13 Dec, …

We, the undersigned human rights organisations, strongly condemn the politically-motivated prosecution of Singaporean human rights defender Jolovan Wham. After convicting Wham in January 2019 of ‘organising a public assembly without a permit,’ the State Court sentenced him, on 21 February, to a fine of S$3,200 (US$2,367), or by default, 16 days in prison. The imposition of a criminal punishment that …

Democracy, despite its shortcomings, is the best system of governance to have in relative to other systems of governance, as citizens have the power to overthrow their government “with a stroke of the pen” at the polls, in contrast to authoritarian systems in which violent revolutions involving wars and bloodshed have to occur for a change to take place, said …

The country’s leading women’s rights and gender equality advocacy group, AWARE, said in a statement that they were ‘surprised and disappointed’ that the government did not embrace the opportunity to formulate and present a more expansive and bold strategy to address the urgent problems of ageing and caregiving. While Finance Minister Heng Swee Keat did acknowledge the burden of caregiving …