2 S’poreans arrested for refusing to leave MOM
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Two S’poreans protesting at MOM arrested for criminal trespass
Channel NewsAsia - Tuesday, January 13
SINGAPORE: Two Singaporeans protesting at the Manpower Ministry (MOM) were arrested on Monday for criminal trespass.
In a joint statement, MOM and the Ministry of Home Affairs said Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong entered the MOM building at about noon to protest against MOM’s refusal to renew the work permits of some Myanmar nationals.
They refused to leave the premises despite being repeatedly ordered to do so by security personnel. Police were called in and they have since released the two on bail pending investigations.
In response to media queries about MOM’s decision not to renew the work permits of a few Myanmar nationals, the ministries said Myanmar nationals who work, study or reside in Singapore are free to organise and express their political views so long as these are pursued within the framework of the Republic’s laws.
They noted that a handful of Myanmar nationals had, however, shown a wilful disregard and contempt for the law and the Singapore authorities, even after benefiting from education subsidies and the hospitality of Singaporeans.
Some, they added, had even demanded the right to stay in Singapore as if it was a matter of personal entitlement and had threatened to lobby political pressure through the media and agitate foreign public opinion against the authorities so as to compel them to concede to their demands.
Such persons, the ministries said, are not welcomed in Singapore and should leave the country once their existing passes expire.
The statement said they were free to leave for any country of their choice or any country which would have them.
— CNA/so -
Is it fair to arrest these men for refusal to leave the premises?
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Depends on who you are lor.
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Originally posted by charlize:
Depends on who you are lor.
ha ha ha, good one. ya ya, we know who can (whose words) supersede the law in sg. -
Originally posted by Fantagf:
Is it fair to arrest these men for refusal to leave the premises?
I'm pretty sure that for most countries that is a fairly illegal thing to do.I'm confused about what the article is trying to say though, two Singaporeans are arrested for protesting that the MOM is not renewing working permits for Myanmar nationals. Why?
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Originally posted by Stevenson101:
I'm pretty sure that for most countries that is a fairly illegal thing to do.I'm confused about what the article is trying to say though, two Singaporeans are arrested for protesting that the MOM is not renewing working permits for Myanmar nationals. Why?
Could be that the myamar nationals are working under these 2 sg men. It is really far fetch to arrest the two men base on refusal to leave MOM. No wonder many singaporeans are so fearful of the ruling party. -
Welcome to Singapore!
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Could be that the myamar nationals are working under these 2 sg men. It is really far fetch to arrest the two men base on refusal to leave MOM. No wonder many singaporeans are so fearful of the ruling party.
Eh, they are already requested by the security personnel to leave several times. They refused to leave, of course you got to call the police in to take them away. -
Lolx a xiao shun son lolx and a crminal Mom?
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no foreigner has the right to stay in a country...
simple as that..
just like no one has a right to go into your house and demand that they be allowed to live there...
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Originally posted by Stevenson101:
I'm pretty sure that for most countries that is a fairly illegal thing to do.I'm confused about what the article is trying to say though, two Singaporeans are arrested for protesting that the MOM is not renewing working permits for Myanmar nationals. Why?
these two singapore men will be paid handsomely by the Myanmar nationals if they manage to get MOM to renew these myanmars' permits -
Sometime back this story was in the news. I believe the protest today was referring to this issue.
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/burmese-citizens-denied-renewal-of-visas-in-singapore/
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Originally posted by yoongf:
Sometime back this story was in the news. I believe the protest today was referring to this issue.
http://theonlinecitizen.com/2008/08/burmese-citizens-denied-renewal-of-visas-in-singapore/
Ohhh.
Ah.. so they protest the junta IN singapore... what are they trying to achieve ?
I mean.. if you really care about your country.. shouldn't you be more active IN Myanmar ? Or be working harder so you can send more money to the anti-junta organization ?
It's like throwing stones at Myanmar from Sentosa and hoping it'll destroy the Junta ?
Strange isn't it ?
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Singaporean Activists Detained after Protesting Burmese Migrants’ Plight
By LAWI WENG Tuesday, January 13, 2009 Two Singaporean activists were detained for five hours on Monday by police after they had protested outside the Ministry of Manpower in solidarity with Burmese migrant workers in the country.
Activists Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong said they felt guilty because their government had refused to extend the work permits of two Burmese migrants who had protested outside the Burmese embassy last year.Speaking to The Irrawaddy, artist Seelan Palay said, “We will go to jail for three months if we are found guilty. We have to go to court in two weeks.”
The two Burmese in question, Moe Kyaw Thu and Win Kyaw, had actively participated in demonstrations last year and when their work permits came up for renewal, they were denied on the basis of having police records.
“I will go to either Indonesia or Cambodia,” said Moe Kyaw Thu. “If I return to Burma, the government will arrest me.”
According to Moe Kyaw Thu, he has sent four letters of appeal to the Ministry of Manpower office requesting an extension of his work permit, but they were rejected. His work permit expires on January 27.“The Singaporean government doesn’t want me to stay because I am a Burmese activist. They are afraid Singaporean activists will emulate our demonstrations,” he said.
Burmese migrants have held demonstrations several times recently outside the Burmese embassy in Singapore, including protests in May against the junta's insistence on pushing ahead with the referendum in the aftermath of Cyclone Nargis.The Singaporean government refused to extend the work visas of at least five Burmese migrants last year for having police records of for being involved in demonstrations.
According to Burmese workers in Singapore, the city-state hosts more than 60,000 Burmese, who mainly work as general workers or technical skilled laborers, while some are students.
Public demonstrations are not allowed in Singapore without a police permit.
The Singapore's Ministry of Home Affairs warned Burmese political activists not to ignore repeated police orders to stop illegal public protests in August 2008.
According to a report in the Singaporean daily Strait Times in August, a ministry spokesperson said that the rights of a foreign national to work or stay in Singapore is not a matter of entitlement or a right to be secured by political demand and public pressure, and the activists had repeatedly ignored requests from government officials to meet to discuss the group's conduct. -
Plainclothes police officers keep watch and block a demonstration placard by standing in front of activists (wearing red t-shirts) during a two-man protest in Singapore January 12. (Photo: Reuters) -
these 2 jokers are heros sia.
nobody dare to do such thing in singapore.
they thought they in mynamar ah.
sg cannot see mass riots like thailand or taiwan one.
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Originally posted by AndrewPKYap: Plainclothes police officers keep watch and block a demonstration placard by standing in front of activists (wearing red t-shirts) during a two-man protest in Singapore January 12. (Photo: Reuters)
Hang on, i thought you were against foreign workers in Singapore? -
The Prime Lesson is: Dun protest in front of the MOM if you are Singaporean. They'll arrest you.
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Originally posted by Fantagf:
Is it fair to arrest these men for refusal to leave the premises?
Yeap, it is. It's called trespass.Punishment for criminal trespass
447. Whoever commits criminal trespass shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to $1,500, or with both.It's like I ask you to get out of a place which I own or managed, but you refused. They were probably requested to leave, but refused, thus ending in an arrest being made. If I am not wrong, even if the place is a public place like a shopping centre, you can be arrested for trespass if the management authority asked you to leave and you refused. Moreover MOM is a govt compound to begin with.
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Originally posted by pacoboy:
Yeap, it is. It's called trespass.Punishment for criminal trespass
447. Whoever commits criminal trespass shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to $1,500, or with both.It's like I ask you to get out of a place which I own or managed, but you refused. They were probably requested to leave, but refused, thus ending in an arrest being made. If I am not wrong, even if the place is a public place like a shopping centre, you can be arrested for trespass if the management authority asked you to leave and you refused. Moreover MOM is a govt compound to begin with.
Thanks for replying. Finally I got a good answer.
If MOM has good valid reasons not to approve permits, there is nothing the guys can do. Unless they are allowed to appeal for it.
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lol they think they in myanmmar ah
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The 2 Singaporeans should be arrested. I supported MOM’s decision on rejecting the Burmese work permits renewal. I don’t like foreigners to come to Singapore and stage protest on their own country problem.
Unless, they are protesting on a valid local issue.
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Originally posted by pacoboy:
Yeap, it is. It's called trespass.Punishment for criminal trespass
447. Whoever commits criminal trespass shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to 3 months, or with fine which may extend to $1,500, or with both.It's like I ask you to get out of a place which I own or managed, but you refused. They were probably requested to leave, but refused, thus ending in an arrest being made. If I am not wrong, even if the place is a public place like a shopping centre, you can be arrested for trespass if the management authority asked you to leave and you refused. Moreover MOM is a govt compound to begin with.
Correct me if I am wrong , I thought its ok if the protest or demostration is lesser than 3 person ? ( or is it for illegal gathering ).If people can be charge with trespessing even in public areas, then the law has covered every corner . If they cant take the people away on charge of protest , they can always be taken away on charge of trespessing then .. ?
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Originally posted by Ice Dive:
Correct me if I am wrong , I thought its ok if the protest or demostration is lesser than 3 person ? ( or is it for illegal gathering ).If people can be charge with trespessing even in public areas, then the law has covered every corner . If they cant take the people away on charge of protest , they can always be taken away on charge of trespessing then .. ?
The actual reason will be they are creating public nuisance. If you do that, the authorities can ask you to leave. Same thing applies to 2 guys protesting outside a... let's say..... McDonalds. The manager will obviously ask you to leave, and if you don't, they will call the police.
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Originally posted by skythewood:
The actual reason will be they are creating public nuisance. If you do that, the authorities can ask you to leave. Same thing applies to 2 guys protesting outside a... let's say..... McDonalds. The manager will obviously ask you to leave, and if you don't, they will call the police.
More than public niusance. There were thousands of noisy Myanmar national protesters at Orchard and at their embassy. These were before the govt relaxed and changed the law on protest.
Poh Ah Pak once brought up the clip links to sgforums. You should see the clips. At that particular points, all of them have breached the law of our country. Some were seen wielding sticks, mass agitating and song singing.
The Police was standing doing nothing. Clearly, the Police was outnumbered. I am not sure if this my imagination but some policemen looked scared.
What the govt doing now is to go for the ringleaders. This has always been the style of the PAP govt.