In an extensive interview given to The Straits Times last Saturday, Home Affairs Minister Mr Wong Kan Seng revealed that his ministry is currently reviewing public order laws to give the police greater powers to enforce them. (read the full article here).
According to Mr Wong, Singapore’s security forces need the powers to deal with such potential security situations pre-emptively on the ground and not let them occur and then deal with the consequences and perpetrators later.
Though he did not explicitly outline the possible changes to the existing laws, my hunch is that a new law will be legislated to deal specifically with ‘civil disobedience’.
Under the present circumstance, processions and assemblies are regulated under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act (MOA) in which the police is unable to prevent the assembly from taking place and can only follow up with investigation after the show is over.
Activists from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) had made used of this loophole in the law to stage protests against the government notably at the IMF-WB meeting in 2007 and the Tak Boleh Tahan protest outside Parliament House in 2008.
Read rest of article here:
http://wayangparty.com/2009/01/23/sounding-the-death-knell-for-civil-disobedience-in-singapore/
According to Mr Wong, Singapore’s security forces need the powers to deal with such potential security situations pre-emptively on the ground and not let them occur and then deal with the consequences and perpetrators later.
Though he did not explicitly outline the possible changes to the existing laws, my hunch is that a new law will be legislated to deal specifically with ‘civil disobedience’.
Under the present circumstance, processions and assemblies are regulated under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act (MOA) in which the police is unable to prevent the assembly from taking place and can only follow up with investigation after the show is over.
Activists from the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) had made used of this loophole in the law to stage protests against the government notably at the IMF-WB meeting in 2007 and the Tak Boleh Tahan protest outside Parliament House in 2008.
Read rest of article here:
http://wayangparty.com/2009/01/23/sounding-the-death-knell-for-civil-disobedience-in-singapore/
