Analysts, observers, and the media have focused a lot on how these #COVID19 restrictions will affect political parties, and who will be at an advantage/disadvantage. This is understandable, but I’d like to highlight the loss to the average Singaporean too.
#Singapore is a country where you can’t usually have large political gatherings in physical spaces. There’s only one park in the country where you can gather for “a cause” (defines broadly) without applying for prior police permission.
But election-time usually means RALLIES! This is when large numbers of Singaporeans can gather in stadiums and fields to listen to political speeches, safe in the knowledge that it‘s completely legal.
And Singaporeans TURN UP. @wpsg rallies especially draw large crowds.
I remember as a first-time voter and young Singaporean attending my first rallies in 2011, it was really quite exciting. I had never seen so many Singaporeans gathered in a physical space for political activity before. It wasn’t something that would be possible any other time.
People (not all, but many) would often also speak more openly about politics and their views in these spaces, since there was an assumption that they were relatively safe and among politically aligned people. The buzz and the sense of collectivity was empowering.
Elections are communal activities. People come together to discuss, engage, get excited. It makes you feel part of something bigger. It’s inspiring & motivating. That’s why parties and citizen journalism platforms like @tocsg saw surges in volunteers.
This hype will be harder to generate and sustain during an election like #GE2020 where we won’t have these rallies and physical coming together. It’s really different feeling the hum of thousands on the field, and listening to a candidate over FB Live in your bedroom.
I feel sorry that there are first-time voters for whom #GE2020 might come across more like high-stakes social media fights and Zoom lectures than the thrilling, intense experiences that elections are in a place as starved of regular political engagement as #Singapore.
But! This doesn’t mean we have to just sit back and be bored! Read up on party platforms and talk to your friends (in groups of 5 or fewer if in person, or as many as you want to include online). Express yourself, but also listen to feedback and differing opinions.
Among your friends and family, get one another interested. Support each other in learning and following arguments. Verify information before spreading it. Stand up against bullies who might harass others. Volunteer as polling or counting agents! 🗳
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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.