Function 8 condemns the harassment of Dr P J Thum, founder of independent media New Naratif by the Prime Minister’s Office acting through the Elections Department and the Singapore Police Force.

Dr P J Thum has not committed any offence and should not be summoned to the Clementi Police Station to be interrogated for four hours yesterday. It ended with the seizure of his mobile phone and being transported home, escorted by four police officers. His laptop was seized from his home.

Dr P J Thum is not the first nor will he be the last victim of the Prime Minister’s Office unless this abuse of the law committed by the very people who are entrusted to keep law and order is stopped.

We call on the police to cease its investigations and return the laptop and mobile phone in good order to Dr P J Thum immediately.

— Function 8

Dear Members of Parliament

Objection to the Extension of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLTPA) for Another Five Years

I am strongly opposed to the extension of the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act by another five years and the expansion of its scope. I hereby forward the substance of a public statement made by concerned citizen groups and urge that you give kind attention to the objection.

Similar to the Internal Security Act, the CLTPA allows indefinite detention without trial under the hand of the minister with the consent of the public prosecutor. Under the amendment bill, anyone who is arrested and imprisoned will also be deprived of his right to pursue judicial review before the High Court as the Minister’s decision is final. We take strong objection to such a draconian law as it can be easily misused. 

The CLTPA was enacted in 1955 when Singapore was partially independent. It was meant as a temporary measure “to strengthen the law against those who seek to overthrow the lawfully elected Government by violence, or who seek to subvert the minds of the people by intimidation, away from genuine democracy and constitutional advance to self-government, to the rule of fear and to ultimate Communist domination.” (Chief Secretary, Mr W A C Goode). 

At the time of its enactment Mr Goode said:

“These measures, we think, are necessary during a period of immaturity in understanding and practising democracy to safeguard us from the dangers that beset us on the path to maturity. We hope, therefore, that they will no longer be needed after that period and, accordingly, all these various matters have been put together into this one Bill which, by sub-clause 2 of clause 1, is to remain in force for a period of only three years. As the title of the Bill indicates, these are temporary additions to our criminal laws.” (Legislative Assembly debates Sept 21, 1955).

It is regrettable that under the Singapore government has failed to progress in political maturity over the last 52 years. The government continues to rely on this draconian law to govern and indeed, over the years has deemed it fit to extend its powers over those who commit ordinary crimes which are already taken care of by the arsenal of legislation existing today.

The CLTPA has serious consequences for the people of Singapore. The amendment bill has even more serious implications for law-abiding citizens. From its original intent of dealing with alleged communists, its application has been extended to criminal activities of secret societies, unlicensed moneylending and drug trafficking after it was no longer possible to use the communist threat as a reason.

Under the amendment bill, the application of the law will extend to human trafficking, robbery with firearms, murder, gang rape, kidnapping, organised crimes (under the Organised Crime Act 2015) and attempt to carry out, abet or being a party to all the aforesaid named crimes (see Fourth Schedule). Each of these crimes can already be dealt with under existing laws such as the Penal Code, Kidnapping Act, Public Order Act, Corrosive and Explosive Substances and Offensive Weapons Act.

Section 30 of the CLPTA grants the minister and public prosecutor the right to order detentions if they are “satisfied that it is necessary that the person be detained in the interests of public security, peace and good order”. We believe in the separation of powers as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore. The power to order detentions should only be exercised by our judiciary after a full and open trial. Our judges should also have the power to conduct judicial reviews of abuse of power by the executive.

We are utterly dismayed that our government, despite its decades of experience in governing Singapore, has deemed it necessary to retain this unjust temporary law and indeed, make it even more oppressive.

We call upon all Members of Parliament to oppose this amendment bill and to propose that the Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act should not be extended at the expiry of its life on 20 October 2019. Singapore today has more than sufficient laws to take care of all offences under the CLTPA. Judicial powers should only be exercised by our judiciary and not the executive. 

We urge Singaporeans to scrutinise the proceedings of parliament and demand that parliamentary debates be live-streamed so that everyone can know what is happening in parliament starting from the debate of this totally unwarranted amendment bill.

Your constituents

We are alarmed and disappointed that Jolovan Wham, a promising, award‐winning young social worker and a courageous human rights defender, was charged with 7 offences under the Public Order Act, Vandalism Act and the Penal Code on 29 November 2017.

We are dismayed that Jolovan Wham faces three counts of unlawful assembly under the Public Order Act. He was alleged to have been involved in holding a vigil outside Changi Prison for a man who was to be executed at dawn, organising an assembly without permit in a train and a forum involving a foreign speaker through skype. He also faces one count of vandalism for temporarily sticking two A4 size papers with the words “MARXIST CONSPIRACY? #notodetentionwithouttrial” and “JUSTICE FOR OPERATION SPECTRUM SURVIVORS #notodetentionwithouttrial” on a panel of an MRT train and three counts of refusal to sign his recorded statement under the Penal Code.

For more than a decade, Jolovan Wham has been the voice of the voiceless. He tirelessly championed human rights causes. He spoke up for migrant workers who suffered abuse and ill‐ treatment by unscrupulous employers. He sought and continues to seek improvement for their work and living conditions.

Jolovan Wham has spoken up against the death penalty and detention without trial. He is an advocate for freedom of speech and assembly. He is a constant reminder that we as a first world country, should strive to attain the standard of human rights enjoyed by other first world countries. He is our conscience and we should appreciate his contributions to the nation.

Jolovan Wham was recognised for his work with the Promising Social Worker Award in 2011. This award is nominated and judged by his social work peers and seniors and which accords recognition to social workers who are newer in the field but who have made a difference in the lives of their clients as well as the community. It is an award conferred by the President of the Republic of Singapore and presented at the Istana.

We do not understand why the State is pursuing the seven charges against Jolovan Wham for events which were all peaceful and non‐violent. He works for the good of our country, which we are told, aims to be inclusive and which respects diverse voices. We support Jolovan Wham and his humanistic ideals.

We urge the Attorney‐General to exercise his prosecutorial discretion, reconsider the case and drop the charges against Jolovan Wham and cease all proceedings against him.

We urge the Government to review the law to ensure that genuine and peaceful civil actions like those of Jolovan are not prosecuted by the overly wide provisions of our legislation.

We call on the Singapore government to give space for loyal citizenship in all peaceful forms.

Function 8 condemns the police harassment of anti-death penalty activists who held a vigil outside Changi Prison on the night of 13 July 2017 for Prabagaran Srivijayan who was to be executed at dawn on 14 July 2017. Members of Prabagaran’s family were at the vigil, and anti-death penalty activists turned up to support the grieving family members.

Article 14 of the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore guarantees the right of citizens to freedom of speech, expression and assembly. The act of issuing and having the police personally delivering letters which require the said activists to appear at police stations to assist in investigations, almost two months after the event, goes against the spirit of our Constitution and is a waste of Police resources.

We call upon the Minister for Home Affairs to rescind the action of the police, to cease the investigation, and to stop the harassment and intimidation of citizens participating in civil society activities.

— Function 8 Ltd

References:

Function 8 deplores the intimidation and harassment of citizens using Hong Lim Park on Sunday, 13 November 2016 by the Singapore police. Members of the Community Action Network (CAN) and participants at a solidarity event with Bersih 5.0 movement of Malaysia were rounded up and ordered to walk to the Kreta Ayer Police Post without lawful reasons at the conclusion of their peaceful event. They were questioned at length by police officers and had their Singapore flag and mat seized.

We also deplore the harassment and intimidation of one of our members who attended the event. He had left the event before it ended. Four police officers turned up at his flat a few hours later and questioned for about 20 minutes.

We understand that there was an overwhelming presence of plain clothes police officers at the event. They outnumbered the peaceful protesters who were no more than fifteen.

In recent times, the Singapore government has expressed its unhappiness at the use of Hong Lim Park by citizens and foreigners. Hong Lim Park is a public space. It is unreasonable, and even absurd, for the police to expect organisers to ensure that foreigners are excluded from their events.

Singaporeans are already ridiculed internationally for having such a small space to exercise their limited rights to free speech and assembly. To tell the world that Singaporeans are permitted to protest at Hong Lim Park and yet authorise our police to harass and intimidate protesters is to be totally dishonest. We call upon the Ministry of Home Affairs to stop harassing and intimidating our citizens.

— Function 8