On Apr 15, DPM & Minister for Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng, said
In Singapore, it is only a tiny group of irresponsible and selfish individuals who have been pushing this line of civil disobedience. They do not care for the interests and safety of other Singaporeans; they are only interested in themselves.
Its hardly surprising that a Minister from the ruling party would say that. And, it is misleading.
Its pretty obvious that his comments refer to individuals/groups featured in the videos below.
These protesters were peacefully exercising their constitutional rights. And in no way were these protesters irresponsible, selfish, do not care for the interests and safety of other Singaporeans and only interested in themselves. The situation got tense ONLY when the police either moved in to remove them by force or to stop them from proceeding. Even then, it was not as if these peaceful protesters started a brawl or scuffles while they were forcefully being removed or stopped. And its not as if these individuals/groups were protesting to be paid million-dollar salaries or to save some exclusive country club.
A few weeks ago, I wrote we the citizens of Singapore, are not free from blame with regards to the passing of the Public Order Act (POA). The PAP government said that the POA was needed to squarely address gaps in the current framework to enhance the ability of the police to ensure security during major events. There were already laws to do just that before they came up with the POA.
In actual fact, the POA was formulated and passed to stop peaceful protests/demonstrations by local activists AND also gives the police powers to stop the filming of such events. It is as simple as that. Nothing more.
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