Trespass? The pics clearly shows that they are standing outside the building, and not trespassing as charge!

If they kena charge, what about those Chinamen? Why are they not being arrested and charge for tresspassing too???

“In response to media queries, Police confirm the arrests of two Singapore citizens, Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong. At about 12 pm, the two entered the premises of the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) to stage a protest against the non-renewal of the work permits of some Myanmar nationals. They repeatedly defied orders from MOM’s security personnel to leave the premises.”

Well will MOM please define the perimeters of their premises then?

it sounds like the burmese nationals had seriously broken some law!

what law did they break?

why were they not charged?

are these the laws from which foreigners are exempted (from being charged) while singaporeans are not?

i appreciate a lot of good things the govt has done so far. but this is obviously NOT one of them.

i think we can afford to open up. words sound hollow if they are not matched by actions.

ya boy.. get used to it already..
double standard everytime..

why china men (more than 2!) gathering outside MOM were not arrested ??

peaceful expression of alternative views also cannot. don’t they ever let people have any outlet to vent their feelings? The consequence of such suppression of freedom of expression can result in people turn to the net or turn violent or self-immolate themselves.

yes, 200 Chnamen more important than 2 singaporeans. They have more rights.

200 Chinamen more rights than Burmese.

2 Singaporeans has no rights. They should migrate to Myanmar to work.

MOM, thanks for the clarification. Will Reuters or AFN please note this!

“They have shown in their actions and attitude a wilful disregard and contempt for the law and the Singapore authorities.”

Then by all means punish them according to Singapore Law. Fine them, jail them, just like how Chee was dealt with. The last I knew, no Singaporean was forced to leave the country because of protesting. Seems like how you are punished really depends on which country you are from.

This must be a joke. The law ihere us selectively applied for different group of people… it is not blogger who undermine the authority and sense of justice in our courts but the police and the government themselves….

I have no faith and confidence now in our courts…. They have proved themselves to be a kangeroo court!!!

This picture may give a better idea of where the two protesters stood:

http://yoursdp.org/images/stories/peopleI/arrest%20of%20seelan%20%20kai%20xiong%20-%201.jpg

Do the tiles mark MOM parameters?

“They are also free to organise and express their political views so long as these are pursued within the framework of our laws.”

this is really funny. the sheer irony of it.

Dont’ be stupid, protest in designated area in Hong Lim Park by the Gov and not tests their patient.

Singapore Law are always changable to suit Gov needs. Employement Act stated that employer can fire anyone without reasons, so do Gov can arrest and charge you all with or without reasons.

I very worry for Tan Kim Lian! No Authority especially in Chinese Society like to be challenge, that Life here!!

if people stand outside your house and keep standing there. would you call police? want to protest go hong lim park. because only skilled policemen are on watch there.

‘if people stand outside your house and keep standing there. would you call police? want to protest go hong lim park. because only skilled policemen are on watch there’.

Can you see through your myopic and blinkerd eyes?
This is a common public area and not your bloody house. If people are not
allowed to walk or stand along the pathway or the steps, by all means build
a barricade around it.
Besides, I remember on New Years Day, some 200 chinese nationals staged
a sit in at the same place without any repercussions, so why should we treat
citizens worse?

12) ah huat

MOM is not your house. It is a public area. Besides, from the pictures, they are standing far away from MOM building.

Second, even if you call the police, if the people standing outside your house did not break any laws, the police don’t have the right to arrest them.

Third, why would anyone protest against something in an far away irrelevant location like Hong Lim? It defeats the purpose of the protest.

Fourth, can you enlighten us why foreign workers are repeatedly allowed to protest at MOM but Singaporeans are not?

An article about political bullying:

http://www.sunstar.com.ph/static/ceb/2007/02/16/oped/godofredo.m..roperos.politics.also.html

I find MOM’s response in this instance lacking.

A government body is meant to serve the public. Why slap trespassing charges on 2 members of the public instead of engaging their concerns and reason issues out with them? Were the men making their causes known at the right ministry? If not, did MOM advise them where could they take their concerns to?

What is it about 2 men holding plycards outside their ministry’s building that threatens a government body so much so that they have to call in the police? After all, doesnt it take 5 or more men to form an illegal assembly here is Sg?

The staff in any government office has the duty to deal with the public in a fair and pleasant way. After all, they are paid by taxpayers. Many members of the public are nice but there will be difficult ones. If MOM can get away with dealing with difficult members of the public by charging them as ‘trespassers’, doesnt that mean that they now can pick and choose which members of the public they want to deal with?

Is that becoming of public servants? Is that how we should expect of government bodies to treat members of the public?

I wonder what would IBA say?
hopefully they say nothing.

(Replied this in the other article, sorry!)

Wow! Doesn’t it sound condescending and high-handed? I’m suprised that an official statement carries such powerful emotions and is far from being objective. How do the authorities know what the person thinks (”morally superior he thinks”) or if he/she broke the law with “impunity” and considered it “a personal entitlement”? It could have been simply a case of desperation, isn’t it.

For authorities that pride themselves on being objective and impartial, this statement reveals all sorts of negative feelings…

And yes, the tiled area would be considered MOM property. They should have stood on the curb next to the road (concrete part) and let the 2 Policemen block the signs by standing on the road – that would have been funny.

200 foreign workers very expensive to feed and repatriate. Also cannot induce the fear effect on peasants if they are arrested.

2 Singaporeans easy to arrest and prosecute. Can induce fear among the peasants to prevent them from protesting in future. Elites even take effort to release a joint statement.

I wonder if 200 or 2000 unemployed Singaporeans stood in front of MOM with their protest signs. What would our dear elites do then?

Diplomatic expediency or political expediency…
demonstration by any number of foreigners on issues other than political …close 2 eyes… especailly the chinese nationals law not broken. For locals even 2 can be considered illegal assembly if they want to charge but r trespassing looks more
reasonable. …it took the whole police force to come for 2 concerned human right activist citizens

As always, double standards.

Tells you very much about how world-class our government is when it comes to democracy.

Dear ministry of home affairs and ministry of manpower, I have three words for you: You’re a joke!

We always have a question why our mini-stars earn extremely high salary.
Now, i got the answer. They are paid too well just to publish such a lousy JOINT statement.

Think about it. How many of you reading this suffer from Sing-guilt?

http://unbrandedbreadnbutter.wordpress.com/2009/01/13/sing-guilt-and-two-less-transient-workers-to-count/

It is not uncommon that the prosecution will change the charges in court to find an appropriate way to fix the trouble makers. This is of course with the permission of the judge. It may therefore not be a case of “criminal traspassing” when this is heard in court.

26) Anonymous on January 13th, 2009 5.53 pm
It is not uncommon that the prosecution will change the charges in court to find an appropriate way to fix the trouble makers. This is of course with the permission of the judge. It may therefore not be a case of “criminal traspassing” when this is heard in court.

In Singapore court, they can charge you anything they want, whether law or not, they will come out with new ones to charge you. Who is the law here? every singaporeans know that too well. The law here is made to protect only 1 man who made it a law here.

A damn joke and a damn shame.

There is only so much that one that twist and tweak logic, and I think the ministers and judges had way pass this limit.

When thy issue wide blanket statements covering the issues of right of protest, film acts etc, the common reaction is that how will they be implemented? They are not implementable without the risk of being perceived as being subjective and selective. In virtually all democratic countries these laws would never be passed, let alone laws that appear to contradict the constitutions. All this summation of twisting and tweaking simply ends corrupting our entire nation – twisted logic of the HDB, laughing stock court cases, judges not being able to act justly, police and other state machinery being used for unproductive activites, the elites asking for stratospheric pay packages, the list goes on.

Look at our flags, listen to our pledge, how far have we, as a nation, deviated from the true spirit?

PLEASE DO NOT CALL THE TWO DEMONSTRATORS ‘TROUBLE MAKERS’.

patriot

No Doubt that shows what Singaporeans are Worth as compared to even the lower skilled Foreign Talent

I wonder what “We similarly expect no less of Singaporeans when they go overseas and live in other countries.” in Point (2) means. Does the government expect overseas Singaporeans to follow Singapore laws abroad when it comes to expressing political views on Singapore? LOL…

the chinamen are backed by their country if anything happens to them. The 2 Singaporeans are not backed up by anyone, so …

#25) Mr Toastbox,

Do you think we care what names one can think up to attach a label on another? This is what this PAP govt is good at doing. If there is an label that I can come up with that goes to describe this govt in relation to the question you asked, it will be this:

“How many in PAP is suffering from Sin & Guilt?”

Shame on you, you ought to be asking if this govt has any shame at all for all the sins commited by them.

The 2 self-righteous hypocrites who had protested in MOM should simply go to Burma and make their protest know to the junta…no point hiding behind the safety net offered by Singapore and talk “cock” like sing song, then put Singapore in a bad light as though we ill-treat these Burmese who were here with their own political agenda and to stir shit!

Singapore should not become a platform for these idiotic foreigners…the Singapore government did the right thing to expel them…in fact, more should be expeled so as to send a strong message to those idiotic foreigners not to come here and use Singapore as their base for their political agenda!!!

To TOC???

What u talk about them come here use Singapore for political agenda? U got info say they know each other and plot political agenda n come?

Those poor souls just react to tragic oppression in their country. Don’t so bad say they got political agenda, please lar.

And I think #36) 2cent, hit the nail in its head when he commented “Those poor souls just react to tragic oppression “.

Indeed, if we are to go back to the infamous Saffron March, we would realise that the level of concern shown around the world identified the gravity of the situation.

Over in Singapore, we have a group of Burmese, concerned for their country, their friends, their relatives, their families and even their faith showing support to calls for the Military Junta to handle the situation with care and sensitivity. What they did was to react to the sudden developments in their country which was a concern to them.

The question here is this; is it wrong for them to speak up and show concern for the political developments in their own country from wherever they are in the world, whether China or India or US or Singapore? Could not this show of concern be seen as a patriotic concern and love for the country?

I believe the problem of the treatment they are receiving from our SG govt is very much related to the manner in which the PAP govt views protest carried out by concerned citizens – that they are nothing but trouble makers.

For this episode, I believe it has done wrong to view these concerned and patriotic Burmese nationals as trouble-makers; the same manner it has viewed oppositions in Singapore.

“Sing-guilt”-so true!! BUT Im really glad seeing all these comments…im really offended by the disregard many sporeans portray or actually the fear, i was thrilled the guys did what they did but truly am scared for them cos they are definitely going to be blacklisted!!
i mean capitalism and growth is one thing…we have done well as a multi racial and harmonious society…are we the PEOPLE scared of democracy or is it the POWER relations, the fear of not bein privileged or dominant…of having arbitrary control…the govt should trust us to treat each other humanely and should start valuing us as human and stop bludgeoning us wit its iron fist!!!!

TOC???- yur kind of mentality needs to be changed!!! Causing trouble- who exactly is causing trouble….you shudnt be posting anythg here cos effectively ure not entitled to an opinion-which is wat you are advocating, by championing the actions of the authority against the two local protestors!!

They stood there and caused no harm-why is a state so stable fearful of words…because these words uncover the bullshit the governement is feeding!!!
one day when ure life is fed to the sharks with no proper justification will you realise the worth of what the two locals are doing…ud wish someone stood up for you…