"Come, to the streets" – A message to friends across the Causeway

By On November 28, 2011 · 4 Comments · In Activism, Other Issues, World

Tomorrow, Malaysians will take to the streets to walk for freedom. “I haven’t seen social media platforms so fired up since Bersih 2.0!” says my friend Cindi.

This time, they’ll be protesting the Peaceful Assembly Bill. The Bill, which is expected to be pushed through in Parliament tomorrow, is seen as more restrictive than current Malaysian laws for public assemblies and protests. As Cindi writes,

Among the provisions introduced includes organisers of assemblies having to give the police 30 days’ notice, in which whether the assembly can go on is subject to their approval, disallowing teenagers under 15 years-old to participate in any form of assembly besides religious and cultural events, and those under 21 years-old from organizing and participating in assemblies. Of course, the most damning provision was that street protests in any form will be disabled under this new Bill, if it was passed in the Parliament (you can read the full Bill here or the simplified FAQ here).
- ‘Not at peace with the Peaceful Assembly Bill’, SEA Youth Say So

The fact that Burma has recently passed a law allowing public protests has only served to light the fire under Malaysian activists even more. (Click here to see a chart comparing the two Bills.)

As Cindi says, Twitter and Facebook has gone a little crazy with the outcry against the Peaceful Assembly Bill. Hashtags such as #PA2011, #JomkeJalan and #Walk4Freedom have sprouted up on Twitter. My Malaysian Facebook friends are all urging each other to participate in Hello MP 2011 and sharing ‘Kill The Bill‘ images and videos. The Malaysian Bar Council is taking an active role in leading protests and will be at the forefront of tomorrow’s Walk For Freedom. A huge turnout is expected.

I have mixed feelings as I check out the hashtags and observe the excitement and energy. Feelings of envy and feelings of regret.

In 2009, Singapore’s Parliament voted the Public Order Bill into law. The Public Order Act, seeking to “create a more effective framework which is formal, transparent and coherent for the management of public order by the Police”, restricts Singaporeans’ right to peaceful assembly as well as freedom of expression. Under this Act, the government can regulate all outdoor “cause-related” activities by requiring permits before they can proceed, regardless of the number of participants. This also means that even a single person could constitute an illegal assembly.

According to this article written in 2009 by Ng E-Jay on SGPolitics,

Other provisions of the proposed Public Order Act include:

  1. enabling the Minister to declare via gazette a certain event as a “special event”, and within the special event area the police have enhanced powers like being able to perform a stop-and-search, ask a suspicious person for his reason for entry, or deny him entry;
  2. enabling the police to issue pre-emptive “move-on” orders, which will be in written form, ordering demonstrators not to congregate at the intended rally area, or give them a chance to leave without getting arrested;
  3. enabling law enforcement officers to stop people from filming, distributing or exhibiting films of law enforcement activities;
  4. requiring property owners to take “reasonable action” to prevent illegal assemblies and processions from taking place on their property when they are notified by the police.

(Only Speaker’s Corner at Hong Lim Park is exempt from this Act, which is why it is the only outdoor place in our entire country where Singaporeans can go to voice their opinions.)

But where were Singaporeans when this Act was passed, and our rights taken away? Did we protest? Did we mobilise and assemble, as the Malaysians are doing now?

No. There was barely any noise made at all.

I don’t want to blame Singaporeans. I myself was part of the problem; I was away in New Zealand in 2009, but even if I had been home I probably wouldn’t have been aware of the Public Order Act. I wasn’t politically aware back then.

Now, as a journalist, an activist and – more importantly – a Singaporean, I often regret having allowed the Public Order Act to become law. Although I know I couldn’t have actually prevented it myself – not with that two-thirds majority the PAP has – I wish that I had at least tried.

I live with the knowledge that much as I hate this Public Order Act, in some small way I’d brought it upon myself.

Which is why I am throwing all my support behind my Malaysian friends and their Walk For Freedom. They are doing what Singaporeans failed to do in 2009; they are showing us how to be brave.

Jom ke jalan. Come, to the streets.

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  • http://gravatar.com/hermansaksono Herman Saksono

    The bill looks awfully a lot like we Indonesians have during the Soeharto era. Our bill was repressive and was very successful to bolster the ruling government’s power. Thankfully it was amended after Reformation in 1997.

    My support goes to all my Malaysian friend who will fight for their right as good citizen. :)

    Kristen, when the Public Order bill was devised by the Singaporean parliament, how was the public opinion of such bill? I was wondering if there was a significant support from public to have that bill enacted. Thank you :D

  • http://kixes.wordpress.com Kirsten

    From what I understand there really wasn’t much of a reaction at all, just like how there wasn’t much of a reaction the number of times the Constitution was amended, such as to designate the day before Polling Day as Cooling Off Day so that no one (except licensed, i.e. state-owned, media) can post anything that can be construed as election advertising.

    I don’t even know how many Singaporeans today know about the Public Order Act and what it entails. Awareness is pitifully low in Singapore in this area, because we’ve been groomed as a society to just let the government take care of it. Also, there are feelings of disempowerment, of “what can we do, they won’t care”, because of the two-thirds majority the PAP has that allows them to push through even unpopular laws and policies. For example, there was vocal opposition to the casinos, and now we have two.

  • Chen J. Y.

    Hello Kirsten,

    Well, it does seem that what we have here is a case of over-optimism: http://kirstenhan.me/2011/09/17/isa-why-are-you-still-here/ Though, to be fair to you, you have probably no idea of what laws the ISA will be replaced with.

    (On the other hand, Malaysian friends tend to go: ”Oh, reeeaaallllly?” at the ‘good’ news, so probably they ARE expecting the ISA to be replaced with some other laws that will restrict freedom in other ways.)

    Now, I do hope no one try this kind of stunt in S’pore. E.g., TODAY: “ The ISA Is Abolished! ” TOMORROW: “ HDB Announces that All New Flats Will Come With CCTV Pointing At Front Door, To ‘Deter Loansharks’ illegal activities’ ”. I don’t know about you, but getting my hopes up, then dashing them, make me slightly sick.

    Oh, the fact that Burma has recently passed a law allowing public protests? Would you mind if we ask you to refrain from celebrating, say, until Christmas? I don’t particularly want my Burmese friends to go: ”Oh, reeeaaallllly?” Call us pessimistic, but me and some Burmese friends are fervently hoping that Ms. Aung can last until next year without getting placed under house arrest for some lame excuses – or worse.

    Still, thank you for this blog post.

  • http://kixes.wordpress.com Kirsten

    I think if you read this post carefully, you would find that there is no need to ask me to “refrain from celebrating” the law in Burma, because I never said that I was celebrating. All I did was to point out that the passing of the Bill in Burma has led to comparisons being drawn by activists in Malaysia.

    I am well aware that there are still many issues that need to be resolved in Burma and that there is a long long way yet to go. That said, I do not think that the fact that things could get worse automatically precludes or invalidates anyone from acknowledging that for now, a positive step forward has been taken in Burma (and same goes for Najib’s declaration of repealing the ISA in Malaysia*). If, as it turns out, things do end up getting worse, that is a bridge that will be crossed when we get to it.

    I don’t think the acknowledging of little victories or positive change is automatically over-optimistic or naive. It is simply saying, “Okay, this is good, let’s see where we’re going” instead of an instant expectation that things are going to get worse. We can have our little moment of satisfaction or happiness, while still being aware that there is more to be done.

    * My post on the ISA was also mostly focused on Singapore’s situation with the ISA, instead of any huge celebration or belief that all problems are going to be over in Malaysia. And to be fair to everyone, I don’t think anyone – not just me! – really knows what they are going to replace the ISA with yet.