Democracy activist has been banned from entering Singapore
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Agence France Presse
May 14, 2005
SINGAPORE
A US democracy activist has been banned from entering Singapore indefinitely for interfering in the nation's domestic politics, the government said.
Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan, the Southeast Asian coordinator for the group Nonviolence International, was turned away from Changi Airport and sent back to Thailand when he tried to enter Singapore on Friday.
Opposition politician and Singapore Democratic Party secretary general Chee Soon Juan told AFP Moser-Puangsuwan had been invited to Singapore to give a lecture at a weekend training workshop on non-violent political action.
The Home Affairs Ministry said in an e-mailed statement sent to AFP that Moser-Puangsuwan had been banned after it was discovered he had conducted a similar "political action workshop" in Singapore in January.
"This was aimed to teach Singaporeans how to wage a non-violent campaign of civil disobedience against the government so as to liberate and expand civil rights of Singaporeans who, he deludes himself to believe, are living under dire oppression and injustice," the statement said.
"To mount such a campaign, he specifically recommended targeting youth and women as the primary groups to co-opt and mobilize against the government."
The ministry emphasised that "Singapore's politics are reserved for Singaporeans".
"Foreigners like Yeshua with no stake in the future of Singapore and of Singaporeans will not be allowed to interfere in Singapore's domestic politics, much less to instigate, agitate and promote civil disobedience among targeted segments of society, against the laws of the country," the statement said.
"Foreigners who abuse the privileges accorded to visitors to our country and seek to meddle in Singapore's politics are not welcome here.
"The government has therefore decided to bar Yeshua Moser-Puangsuwan from entering Singapore indefinitely."
The Nonviolence International website says Moser-Puangsuwan, a US citizen, is the organisation's "main facilitator of training programs in movement strategy and political struggle" in Southeast Asia.
Singapore has one of the world's most open economies, but international democracy and human rights groups regularly criticise the government for what they say are major constraints on the nation's political and media institutions.
The People's Action Party has ruled the country since independence in 1965 and holds all but two elected seats in parliament.
Chee said in a press statement posted on his website that non-violent action was the "act of non-compliance with oppressive laws put in place by authoritarian governments to stifle the growth of democracy".
"Refusal to cooperate with unjust laws, carried out in a systematic manner, can bring about change," said Chee, who is facing bankruptcy after former prime ministers Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong successfully sued him for defamation.
Chee said the decision to ban Moser-Puangsuwan was "yet another attempt by (Prime Minister) Lee Hsien Loong to prevent the development of democracy in Singapore".
The government also banned Amnesty International's Southeast Asia specialist, Timothy Parritt, from speaking at a forum last month on the death penalty, although he was allowed into the country to attend the event.
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Let's see..what if he was a Singaporean? -
He's lucky not to be a Singaporean, or else sure kena called up for free coffee session with ISD.
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Sucks eh.Our future is going down the hole..And no one seems to care.Originally posted by iveco:He's lucky not to be a Singaporean, or else sure kena called up for free coffee session with ISD. -
Not that nobody seems to care. Our hands are tied. Those who can emigrate to a more liberal democratic regime have gladly done so.Originally posted by LazerLordz:Sucks eh.Our future is going down the hole..And no one seems to care.
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i'd say that the gabrament was being even-handed banning the dude from coming in here
the same way they'd ban the religious nutters (and they have) from the Christian and Islamic faith from coming here to preach their version of government...
oh.. the dude teaches "peace" can be achieved by using Buddhism as a force for political action..
is this any different from the Jehovah's Witless in their own way? -
Funny how our ministers, esp one named harry, freely criticise the internal politics of other countries. I guess some can dish it out but cannot take it eh?
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Perhaps.But is it wrong to ask others for help if our own hands are tied?Hmm.
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I wish I could toss in my S$0.02 in this thread... truth is, I've got a lot of one-cent coins to spare.
However, I don't feel safe talking about this... even in here.
Sigh... sometimes individual liberty can only be assured at the cost of conscience.
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Indeed so.Sigh..Originally posted by fudgester:I wish I could toss in my S$0.02 in this thread... truth is, I've got a lot of one-cent coins to spare.
However, I don't feel safe talking about this... even in here.
Sigh... sometimes individual liberty can only be assured at the cost of conscience.
Argh topics like these just make me all disillusioned all over again. -
singapore advocates violent political action and military disobedience la. thats why they dun want a non-violence political action and civil disobedience activist coming here. They want terrorists.
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Then the Singapore government need only look at themselves.Originally posted by HENG@:They want terrorists.
MG -
Seriously, where is the thing called freedom?Originally posted by Meia Gisborn:Then the Singapore government need only look at themselves.
MG -
The gov also ban a amnesty person from giving a business report here. seems like they "ren ren bu ren shi"
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It gets voted out every four years.Originally posted by SMAPLionHeart:Seriously, where is the thing called freedom?
MG -
Man..I cant come in anymore
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Freedom was lost a while back, along with all the toys of our childhood.:Originally posted by SMAPLionHeart:
Seriously, where is the thing called freedom?[/quote]
[quote]Originally posted by Meia Gisborn:It gets voted out every four years.
MG -
What is this freedom and democracy things I keep hearing about? I've never seen anything like it before!
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And they turned away a foreign talent!!!Originally posted by iveco:He's lucky not to be a Singaporean, or else sure kena called up for free coffee session with ISD. -
Patience, fellow freedom lovers, time is on our side.
Give it a few more years and things will dramatically change.
We will be free from this iron fist dictatorship.
If it can happen to old despots like Ceaucescau, Surharto, Saddam - it will happen here too.
Matter of time only.
Just wait and see. -
bo ko leng.....Originally posted by miong:Patience, fellow freedom lovers, time is on our side.
Give it a few more years and things will dramatically change.
We will be free from this iron fist dictatorship.
If it can happen to old despots like Ceaucescau, Surharto, Saddam - it will happen here too.
Matter of time only.
Just wait and see. -
There's a chance lee kwan yew should be dying soonOriginally posted by chunyong:bo ko leng..... -
I remember him saying something about jumping out of his grave or something...Originally posted by The man who was death:There's a chance lee kwan yew should be dying soon
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Hmm..can it be eaten?Originally posted by SilverPal:What is this freedom and democracy things I keep hearing about? I've never seen anything like it before! -
Hmm..can it be eaten?Originally posted by SilverPal:What is this freedom and democracy things I keep hearing about? I've never seen anything like it before! -
Decomocracy in SINGAPORE???!!!???!!!
More like MODERN COMMUNISM! No freedom of speech.
even if there is, they're all suppressed.