Singapore should drop charges?

Just read this piece of news this morning (http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2011/02/08/singapore-drop-charges-against-opposition-leader) and I really do not understand how Human Rights Watch can choose to ignore certain facts about Chee and SDP members.

The pertinent question in relation to this article would be why only Chee and SDP are highlighted? The thing is that Chee and his party members have persistently challenged the law of the land. If they have not done so, they will not be taken to task by the court of law. The article has noted and I quote: The courts convicted Chee of violating the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act (PEMA), which provides that “any person who provides … any public entertainment without a license under this Act, shall be guilty of an offense and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000.” So is the Human Rights Watch suggesting that going against the law is actually permissible as long as one is exercising their human rights? No wonder Egypt is in a mess now (no offence to the Egyptians fighting for change, but I think there are other ways of doing things) and the Vice President has to appeal to the demonstrators to consider the economic damages and the destruction of the livelihood of some Egyptians.

I honestly do not agree with how this article portrayed Singapore as a repressive and undemocratic country. Recently, SDP has put up their so-called ”Pre Election” Rally twice and going round conducting their visits at various parts of Singapore without any risk of prosecution or intervention from the Government. This is also the case for the Reform Party, other opposition parties and many other speakers as well. These activities were possible as the parties and organisers have followed the law of the land. I am curious as to why this was not mentioned in the article?

Chee and some other members of SDP, as well as some noted opposition members, were taken to task by the members of the ruling party as baseless accusations were leveled at them by these opposition members. Such accusations, if not challenged and proven baseless, will seriously damage the intergrity of our country’s leaders. In any country, be it western or eastern societies, integrity is an important characteristic of a leader, especially leaders of a country. Hence, is there anything wrong to use legal means to challenges such remarks? This was again conveniently left out in the article.

All I can say is that Chee and SDP brought this on themselves. From the opportunistic behviours, Chee proved to be an attention seeker, beginning with his very first hunger strike (only to be caught drinking glucose) to the most recent postings in their website demanding credits and attention while belittling others. So much for a once credible opposition party built up by Mr Chiam See Tong to be single-handedly ruined by one man who claims to be fighting for democracy.

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~ by savedj316 on February 9, 2011.