Priveen
8th December 2006
Person X: Finally the three perpetrators have been put behind bars.
Person Y: How can they give a speech in public without getting a permit? They just want to flout the rules for their own political agenda.
Person Z: They need to be taught a lesson. Singapore does not owe them a living.
These are perhaps typical dialogues between many Singaporeans who are still very much under the PAP's umbrella of propaganda. In reality many among us also do fail to see what these brave and courageous souls have done for us. Only quite recently I have been following up with the activities of the Singapore Democratic Party. Dr Chee Soon Juan has indeed empowered us in a subtle way that many of us choose to simply but conscientiously ignore for fear been implicated.
Since young I have been under the impression that protests and speaking in public is morally wrong for it had seemed rather ingrained in me that if we did so we would be caught by "monsters" . Only very recently I have come to realise that the monsters I had always been fearful of was actually authoritative power. Be it fear of parents' usual nagging or fear of being caught by the police they were rather unrationale and illogical fear. Even through my teenage years, I feared the "Men in Blue" for I thought they were actually extraordinary men that other people feared as well.
With the recent encounter in Hong Lim Park during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings in Singapore, whereby Dr Chee and several other activists had a stand-off with the police was rather and enriching and eye opening event for me. It had indeed ridden off the fear I had for the police as monsters. I only saw them as people with no extraordinary powers(as I fantasized during my childhood days) but had to take directions from the people in power.
It had taken me by no surprise that the trio were jailed for they were 1) Opposition Members 2) Very vocal individuals 3) they were fellow comrades of Dr Chee. I could not possibly find any other righteous reasons for the incaceration of the trio.