Kenna Police How? Your right to due process (Hong Lim Park 18 June 16, 5 -7 pm)

Just read this message in TRE for a public discourse on your right to due process at Hong Lim this evening. It is a bit late to put this up, but nevertheless here it is.

On 18 June, Community Action Network (CAN), Function 8 and Think Centre invite all concerned members of society to join us at Hong Lim Park for ‘Kenna Police How?: Your right to due process’.

Recent events have highlighted uncertainty among members of the public about the scope of police powers and how current procedures ensure due process.  These events include Law Society President Thio Shen Yi’s February 2016 call for immediate or early access to counsel, the Benjamin Lim case, and recent police action in response to alleged breaches of the Cooling Off Day regulations.

This event has been organised to allow members of the public to share their experiences with police investigations, as well as their concerns and suggestions for how the fairness, proportionality and consistency of police action can be best ensured.  Over 100 members of the public have indicated their intention to attend on Facebook, with 300 more expressing interest in the event.

“We urge more clarity about the rights of individuals in contact with police – especially vulnerable people like children or migrants,” said Kokila Annamalai, a volunteer with CAN.  “When can the police archive your email or confiscate your phone?  Do they need a warrant?  More awareness of the scope of these powers is needed.  It’s in everyone’s interests that justice is not only done, but also seen to be done.”

In January, as part of the Universal Periodic Review (UPR) at the United Nations (UN), numerous UN member states made recommendations for Singapore to strengthen its protection of citizens’ rights to free expression.  At the time, the Singapore delegation to Geneva affirmed its support for the UPR process and stated its commitment to protect fundamental human rights.  We hope that the government will stand by its proclamations and welcome this event’s contribution to societal dialogue on advancing rights.

Among the speakers are civil society activist Vanessa Ho, who will address sex workers’ experiences with the police, Damien Chng of anti-death penalty group We Believe in Second Chances, and Function 8 member Pak Geok Choo.  Members of the public are invited to create placards at the event to express their views on police accountability and their ideas for how the protection of individual rights can be achieved.

We invite you to attend this important event and to cover it for your media channel.  For more information, please contact Kokila at communityactionnetworksg@gmail.com.

Civil Servants no direct access to internet

‘The Govt’s move to delink computers used by civil servants from direct access to the Internet is “absolutely necessary” to keep govt data and public services secure.’ Hsien Loong. When this policy takes effect in May next year, civil servants can only access the Internet through dedicated computers or through their personal computers. Hsien Loong has disclosed that there have been very determined attacks on the Govt’s IT systems and the threats are getting more severe and sophisticated. Just relying on the system’s defensive measures is looking like a losing proposition and it is best to cut the connections to the minimum. Hsien Loong quoted the possibility of personal data like NRIC numbers, addresses and income tax returns being hacked and put up for sale in the Internet. It is all about being safe and secure and the safety of citizens. Tiok, absolutely.

Given the same kind of logic and thinking, would the govt clamp down on immigration if more Singaporeans are being beaten by foreigners here or if the threats of terrorism increase, or if actual terrorist acts occurred? Or would it be too late by then? Data security cannot be more serious that personal security and safety and the threats of terrorism on our soil or in the heartland?

The preventive and proactive policies and measures taken to safeguard the data and information safety and security of our citizens should be extended to make sure citizens personal safety is protected and not compromised by the hoards of foreigners with unknown backgrounds living next door to our heartlanders or working in the same factory or office.  Why expose our heartlanders to such risks? Tiok boh? Important or not? No attack does mean we are safe. Terrorists planning to hit their home country from here do not mean we will be safe and they will not turn to hit us.

What are the govt going to do about these threats living with and among us?

Omar Mateen – Gay, terrorist or patriot?

The American establishment has been trying very hard to pin Omar Mateen as a gay or some petty rogue, anything but fighting for the cause of ISIS. They are trying to deny him the right to be called a warrior of ISIS, not to allow him or ISIS to claim credit for the attack. He is gay, he is anti gay! Maybe he is insane, mad?

But when more information came out, after speaking to his wife Noor Salman and those caught in the shooting in the Club, the picture becomes clearer. His call to 911 and what he said, ‘profess allegiance to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), and also, ‘”We could hear him talking to 911 saying that the reason why he’s doing this is that he wants America to stop bombing his country,” said Ms Patience Carter,20, who was trapped in a bathroom stall at the nightclub as Omar prowled outside.’

This man was anything but mad. He was anything but gay. He had a family and a child. He was fighting for his country in a way he knew, in a way he could afford, against the American war machine that is devastating his country, killing his people. To his people, this man is their hero, a patriot, a martyr.

The Americans can call him whatever they liked, he was fighting a war against the Americans for invading his country. Was that wrong? Was he a terrorist? A gay? This man was meticulous. He picked his target carefully, did his recee several times to give him the best result when he struck. The number of deaths and injured by a lone gunman spoke for itself.

You make your judgement. And there will be many more Omar Mateens willing to fight and die for their countries as long as the Americans think it is right to invade their countries, bomb their land and kill their people. They are returning the favour to the Americans in the American homeland, to let the Americans have a taste of their own medicine.

Who is the hero, who is the villain? Who is the terrorist, who is the patriot? Would you do the same thing if the enemy invade and bomb your country and kill your people?

It is time the Americans reflect on their wars and the killings of innocent people in other people’s countries. You have no right to do that. That is not your Manifest Destiny. No one is going to condone your silly American Exceptionalism, to attack and kill people in their countries, to start wars everywhere.

But not to worry, many silly Asians and SE Asians are happy to welcome you to start a war in their backyards, in their countries.  They have spent a lot of money buying war machines and very eager to use them to prove that money is well spent, is worth it. War is fun, war is glory. War can make money and make heroes out of the dead and the dumb….and a lot of war collaterals.

China Asean Meeting – A case study on deceit and conspiracy

China and Asean just concluded a meeting in Kunming and as usual a lot of red faces. Asean issued a tough statement on the disputes in the South China Sea island claims but promptly retracted it on the excuse that it was sent out in error. The first statement read, ‘We expressed our serious concerns over recent and ongoing developments, which have eroded trust and confidence, increased tensions and which may have the potential to undermine peace, security and stability in the South China Sea.’

And the truth, two Asean countries have rejected the Asean statement that could only be issued when there is a consensus.  What is pertinent to this jumping the gun statement is that it revealed whose hands were behind this rush to send out the statement. For sure China has only two friends in Asean and a few fence sitters but several arch foes that would be sticking with the Americans. In this case some arch foes of China are Muslim states but willing to cosy up with Muslim killers for the greed of grabbing a piece of the South China Sea.

China would be interested to know who are these foes, who initiated the crafting of the statement, who authorized to send it out quickly, who is the party that did the sending, and who did the retracting.  It is not difficult for China to know the real happenings as it is reported in the media today with a Singaporean journalist calling Cambodia and Laos as Trojan horses of China. The journalist even warned these two states of cost and consequences. The pro American lackeys and the Trojan horses are standing up to be counted. This is like open cards in a poker game. Now China could identify very clearly who is doing what and should know what to do and dispense its cost and consequences as well. The whole episode is political and ‘either you are with us or against us’ depending on which superpower the Asean states have aligned with.

There is also another lesson to be learnt. Asean countries have very short memories and would often love the party that looted and raped their countries, killed and murdered their people and humiliated them by colonizing them. Many of the Asean states were colonies and are still in love with their colonial masters. Some like Vietnam and the Philippines were ravaged by the Americans but are still madly in love with the Americans, with the Japanese Imperialists that massacred their people. China had done nothing but is being seen as enemy to these countries.

The moral of the story is that China must not fear offending these Asean states. China must stand up to its right in the South China Sea and kick asses if needed be. Once China has taught the asses a real lesson in how to behave, after some time, they would love China like they love the Americans and the Japanese. So China need not be sensitive and fear offending asses. Kick them real hard, they only understand when they are kicked hard, and would turn around to kiss China’s arse.

That is the lesson to be learnt from Asean history and their predictable behavior. Trying to be nice and polite to them would be seen as weak and would make them think they are a force to be reckoned with and they could push China around. If China needs a live lesson, just watch the current shadow play between Singapore and Indonesia and Malaysia and the USA. The loser would definitely turn around to kiss the arse of the bully when the bully stood firm and kick asses.

That is the way to deal with Asean states or they will get swelled headed, punching above their weights. That’s what they have been deluding themselves with the might of the Americans behind them and goading them to take on China.

Singapore is an exceptionally safe place

About a week ago Channel News Asia had a programme on the scale of TB epidemic in India and how big a group of TB patients had developed full resistance to all the available drugs, ie no current drug will have any effect on their sickness and they would not be cured. The programme also quoted figures like 4m died annually from TB and worse, the TB patients were literally walking everywhere and spreading the disease. Please correct me if I misquote the number.

The first thought that came to mind was the hundreds of thousands of Indian natives in this island. Horror! They are travelling in the trains and buses day and night, in close proximity with the natives of the Red Dot, and they have this sick habit of sticking themselves to the natives, probably part of their way of life, like the crowded trains back home. Would they be spreading TB generously to the natives here?

My mind went whinning for answers. Oh, no cases of TB here, or very few cases. This means that TB is not wide spread in the island. It must be due to the stringent medical checks and controls, the vetting, to only allow those that are medically free of diseases to enter the island. We must give a pat on the back of MOH for keeping our city free from foreign diseases and epidemic. Then I managed a smile. It would not happen here, just like terrorists would not attack here, thanks to the intelligence agencies and the men in blue.

Singapore is safe from terrorism and diseases despite half the population coming from the 3^rd world countries. This must be a miracle to brag about.

Oops, spoken too early didn’t I?  Today’s front page news, a cluster of 6 TB patients in a block in Ang Mo Kio.  How did that happen? And they are all Singaporeans, a bigger mystery. TB has more or less been eradicated here and should there by new cases, they must come in from abroad. But these 6 are all Singaporeans, suggesting that the disease could be indigenous. Or they may have been travelling overseas.  They can’t contact TB here. If that is the case, many more Singaporeans would be having TB giving the confines and close proximity to foreigners sticking together in the trains and buses.

How did it happen? While the MOH is still investigating, they also assured the public that everything is under control and the 6 are no longer contagious. There is nothing to panic. TB needs long and close contact to develop and spread. Not sure the 20 or 30 minutes inside the trains and buses would be serious enough to get TB? But base on the last two decades of experience and empirical data, no problem. TB is not going to gain grounds in this island.

Singaporeans can sleep in peace. Only 6 cases mah.