I'm going to play Animal Crossing for half an hour since I suspect I might not have much free time for the rest of this month, but in the meantime perhaps you'd like to subscribe to my #Singapore newsletter: wethecitizens.substack.com
.@leehsienloong says it will take a few more months for the problem of #COVID19 in the migrant worker dormitories to be solved, even though the numbers have come down.
.@leehsienloong talking about the "decisive" measures that his government has taken, says that things are now more stable and "life can become more normal" as long as we take precautions seriously. "But we should be under no illusions that we have defeated #COVID19."
.@leehsienloong: #COVID19 will be with us for at least a year, until a vaccine is available. Some countries that have successfully brought numbers down are seeing cases coming up again. "We must be psychologically prepared for more ups and downs" in fight against virus.
.@leehsienloong: "#Singapore has not yet felt the full economic fallout of #COVID19 but it is coming." There will be more business closures and retrenchments in the coming months. Says government is determined to save as many jobs as possible and create new jobs too.
.@leehsienloong: To overcome challenges ahead, "we must stand completely united as one people." #Singapore needs a capable government with strong backing of the people to "see us through these tumultuous times."
.@leehsienloong assures Singaporeans that the Cabinet will still be in place and public service still functioning even with the dissolution of Parliament. Multi-ministerial taskforce will keep working on #COVID19. (But those ministers also need to campaign for #GE2020, no?)
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🧵 on Twitter and Mu*k, from the perspective of a journalist/activist from #Singapore (me)
1/ I am from a country that has significant issues with civil, political, and human rights. But my government also puts significant effort into public relations to bolster its reputation.
2/ I'm constantly meeting people who have no idea that, in #Singapore, you can be arrested for holding up a placard in public. That 11 men have been executed this year for #drugs. That we have serious issues with press freedom and media diversity.
3/ In this context, Twitter has been, and is, an extremely valuable tool in allowing me — a freelance journalist and activist with limited resources and no big institutional backing — to talk to people outside of #Singapore about our problems.
#Singapore will finally repeal Section 377A (which criminalises sex between men), while also undermining the main point of repealing Section 377A by enshrining the discrimination against #LGBTQ people elsewhere
Once the Constitution is amended it's going to be freakin' hard to change it again. And as Lee himself points out, this is not just about marriage. It affects housing, education, who gets to be recognised as next-of-kin, even advertising and film codes (media censorship).
Right now, Section 377A is not enforced. So the reason it should be repealed is not 'cos gay men are getting arrested for having sex, but 'cos 377A exists as a signal that #LGBTQ people are different and less acceptable and therefore can be discriminated against.
🧵 I’ve been sharing updates but wanted to put together a thread covering the substantive points of the Court of Appeal hearing today (well, yesterday now) involving 24 death row prisoners in #Singapore
On 1 August, 24 death row prisoners filed an originating claim against the state, in relation to their right to access to justice. They claimed that the practice of handing out punitive cost orders against lawyers have deterred lawyers from taking on late-stage capital cases.
Due to this fear, they say that they’ve faced difficulties finding lawyers to represent them. Therefore, this practice of imposing cost orders has affected their constitutional rights in relation to access to justice.
It’s been about an hour since the court stood down to deliberate the appeal brought by 24 death row prisoners against the High Court striking out their civil suit relating to their right to access to justice. The hearing is conducted on Zoom so the 24 are calling in from prison.
On multiple screens in the courtroom you can see the Zoom gallery. 24 of those little rectangles are the death row prisoners, representing themselves because they don’t have a lawyer to represent them in this application.
It took some time to bring them all into the Zoom room and make sure they were all connected, audio working, etc. So instead of putting them in the waiting room like it usually does, they’ve just been left in the room while the judges were put in the waiting room.
Okay, finally got access. If I understood what happened to me in interrogation correctly, after this morning there are now *more* offences that @justanotherock and I are on the hook for. Just going to sum it up as best I can…
The original 2 alleged offences that @justanotherock and I were questioned for this morning were: (1) when 4 of us hung out outside Changi Prison chatting the night of Kahar was executed, and (2) when we took photos outside of prison a couple of nights before Nagen was hanged.
However, ‘cos @justanotherock and I were wearing (different) T-shirts with anti-#deathpenalty slogans today, the police claim that we have committed another offence of “illegal procession”, ‘cos we walked from the market across the street to the police station this morning.