[AsiaTimes] Testing the Limits in Singapore
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Testing the limits in Singapore
By Alex Au
SINGAPORE - When the World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) open their week-long annual conferences in Singapore on September 12, the events will not be attended by the usual anti-globalization street protests, burning effigies or other anti-establishment antics. Singapore's authoritarian government guarantees that.
Police chief of staff Soh Wai Wah announced late last month that "outdoor demonstrations and processions will not be allowed, in keeping with current rules" and that "a private secured area will be set up at the lobby of the conference venue" for "accredited" persons and groups to conduct their activities.
The Straits Times, Singapore's government-influenced main English-language newspaper, obediently reported the following day that this decision was "in keeping with the tradition of these meetings". However, "they must stick to the police rules, which include bans on wooden or metal poles to hold up placards".
With the streets around the convention area forcibly closed and accreditation nearly impossible to obtain for activists and advocates, allowing for a select few state-sanctioned civil-society folks to conduct indoor activities will, to the government's approval, ensure a polite and peaceful event.
To justify the restrictions, Singaporean police officials have repeatedly invoked the fear of international terrorism and the domestic need not to "disrupt our compact, multi-ethnic and multi-religious community". At the same time, by agreeing to hold their meetings under such severe restrictions, the World Bank and IMF are granting a de facto endorsement of Singapore's mix of capitalism, authoritarian governance and limited civil liberties.
Peter Stephens, the World Bank's representative to Singapore, has publicly voiced his alleged disappointment with the ban. He recently told local reporters, "The bank's preference is that civil-society groups should be able to peacefully express their views outside of the conference facility in a way that doesn't cause disruption."
The conflicting positions of the World Bank and Singapore on freedom of assembly have led to some speculation about what implicit or explicit promises Singapore may have offered when pitching to serve as the event's host, which the government later possibly reneged upon after securing the contract. Singapore's business-minded government is now bidding to win a larger share of the lucrative global conventions and conference market - though notably without compromising on its laws restricting freedom of association and assembly.
The World Bank/IMF meeting is bringing those seemingly contradictory perceptions into sharp view - though neither of the multilateral institutions, which are currently promoting greater transparency and inclusiveness as part of their new vision, has threatened to pull out of the event over the restrictions.
In June, Stephens wrote a public reply to a broad coalition of activists that the World Bank was "working closely with the IMF and with the Singapore government - and [has] been for many months - to ensure that diverse civil-society voices are very much heard before, during and after the annual meetings'.' Singaporean leaders have so far remained tight-lipped about the controversy.
Read more here..
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Southeast_Asia/HI01Ae01.html -
If our gov believes that Singapore has been well governed, policed, and controlled, and the people are well tamed - why do they LACK the TRUST in its people not to become unruly??
A well trained dog does not need a leash. -
its not the locals they're worried about, its those mad-hat foreign protestors who destroy whatever city they protest in. i'd rather have a fine than ravaged singaporeOriginally posted by ShutterBug:If our gov believes that Singapore has been well governed, policed, and controlled, and the people are well tamed - why do they LACK the TRUST in its people not to become unruly??
A well trained dog does not need a leash.
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Alamak, they worried about foreigners causing mayhem here???
They shouldn't worry or be concerned - Singapore has world-recognition as a State of Iron Fisted Control.
Even international Mafias knows this fact! -
your sarcasm in your post shows a few things...
none of them complimentary...Originally posted by ShutterBug:Alamak, they worried about foreigners causing mayhem here???
They shouldn't worry or be concerned - Singapore has world-recognition as a State of Iron Fisted Control.
Even international Mafias knows this fact! -
frankly this limitations are a joke.
it makes this country and its people look silly.
it only support what foreigners think of us - the govt lead us by the nose!!! -
wrong...
although i do not like the idea of not having the right to demonstrate, i sure as hell love the idea of not having the right to riot...
frankly, do you care what others think of you?
have some faith in yourself... if you want to change, start with yourself...
as for countries and people looking silly, look around! every damned country has its stupidities... we are not immune... but we can change it.. and how to change it is not by throwing the baby out with the bathwater
the acid test would be when you are asked to make a stand... would you shuffle away quietly unable to make eye contact? or would you say "Yes! because this is right!" even if you are the only one who thinks so?
most here rant and rant about "freedoms" and "rights" and whatever... would they say any different if the foreign demonstrators/rioters waded through their neighbourhood and left nothing but charred cinders? or would they walk the talk and be one of the brave attempting to stop the violence?
and if the authorities allowed them to demonstrate freely, won't it even be worse because what is allowed to the foreigner is forbidden to the locals? what would that say to you? and to the foreigners whose views so many people seem to hold in high regard?
think man think!!
it is easy to start a revolution and overthrow the incumbents.. but after that, the rebuilding is the tough part... after many decades of "revolution" so many "revolutionary governments" are still struggling to even start...Originally posted by dragg:frankly this limitations are a joke.
it makes this country and its people look silly.
it only support what foreigners think of us - the govt lead us by the nose!!! -
What riot?
One cannot start a fire in a wet marshland. -
Singapore is a such a cool country, no wonder we're known everywhere we travel. People come to singapore to obtain citizenship and passports, so they can be one with the ultimate coolness.
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SG cannot afford this kind of mass chaos. It has to maintain stability at all costs. And even if its at the cost of human , civil , liberal rights. Period.
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Who the hell is talking about riots? You can't read peaceful protests or just being anal?
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Placards can be used to kill people. T-shirts with loud words can cause distress.
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clothes are potential burning materials to be hurled at ppl , damaging properties n causing grevious bodily harm. (GBH)
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I have to agree about the rioting part.
It does not do any good to anyone, be it the IGO, NGO or the host nation.
Security has to be tight, but they must let those voices be heard peacefully of course. -
Bear,Originally posted by the Bear:wrong...
although i do not like the idea of not having the right to demonstrate, i sure as hell love the idea of not having the right to riot...
frankly, do you care what others think of you?
have some faith in yourself... if you want to change, start with yourself...
as for countries and people looking silly, look around! every damned country has its stupidities... we are not immune... but we can change it.. and how to change it is not by throwing the baby out with the bathwater
the acid test would be when you are asked to make a stand... would you shuffle away quietly unable to make eye contact? or would you say "Yes! because this is right!" even if you are the only one who thinks so?
most here rant and rant about "freedoms" and "rights" and whatever... would they say any different if the foreign demonstrators/rioters waded through their neighbourhood and left nothing but charred cinders? or would they walk the talk and be one of the brave attempting to stop the violence?
and if the authorities allowed them to demonstrate freely, won't it even be worse because what is allowed to the foreigner is forbidden to the locals? what would that say to you? and to the foreigners whose views so many people seem to hold in high regard?
think man think!!
it is easy to start a revolution and overthrow the incumbents.. but after that, the rebuilding is the tough part... after many decades of "revolution" so many "revolutionary governments" are still struggling to even start...
been watching too much CNA?? Try not to use Slippery Slope argument too much; there are more countries in thsi world than Indonesia, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong.
the (stressed) pikamaster