Singapore Election Watch

Most of you already got bits and pieces of what is going on, so I won't repeat many of the details.

First day (Saturday)

As you know, our attempt to march was thwarted by the more than 100 strong police troop less than 50m after we set off. There were lots of journalists, which was great. Unfortunately, half of them were from the no good local media hogging space. At least a dozen photographers and videographers were the police.

Perched on a park table, Chee, Gandhi and Charles made short speeches at the speaker's corner. Chee recapped his speech in halting Chinese and surprisingly made it through, albeit corrected twice by an ah peh in the audience. As they descended from their perch, the scuffle began. A line of tough policemen stood in their way. The lead guy "advised" Chee that an assembly outside of the stipulated corner is against the law. A few supporters and I came to the protesters' aid. We joined force, locked armed, jolted and tried to circumvent the police line. It was fruitless. Hordes of police officers closed ranks to form a formidable walls around us.

Police at the park entrances were now turning people away. We decided to walk to the parliament house individually since that wouldn't constitute an assembly. As we started walking, the police seemed unsure how to respond. Nevertheless, by the time Siok Chin was at Circular Road and Chee at the park corner, they were again surrounded by the police. The police's excuse now is that the Chee's had declared their intension to assemble at the parliament house, and that being an offence, must be prevented. It also became evident at that time that their strategy was to block only the Chees and ignore the other protesters.

Since we were cornered, there wasn't much that Chee can do but to announce for people to gather at the parliament house the next day at 11am, hoping he might get another shot at it. So the whole thing became a sit-out protest from then on.

About 12 policemen were charged to surround Chee and restrained his movement. About 8 policewomen were doing likewise to his sister. Initially, there was a problem when Siok Chin wanted to use the washroom. Later, a higher officer established an SOP for the sentry and things went a lot more smoothly. Essentially, about 5 or 6 policewomen would trail her to the pee-room. The rest of the protesters could pretty much move around freely.

Besides Chee's supporters, activists and impromptu supporters like me, there were a few WP people there. (Some ah pehs and a few aunties gathered on the fringe and having loud conversations. Who knows, perhaps Chee's attempt to speak Chinese struck a chord in them.) In fact, one of the WP guys stayed with us right through the night. A few journalists did that too. By midnight, the police reduced their strength to about half its original. Chee and his sister were now together with a few others sitting or lying down. The sentry now consisting of both men and women officers forming a larger circle to accommodate the group.

You might have read that Christopher Osborn, a UK tourist, stayed the night with us because of his indignation regarding the police intimidation and his empathy for us. He wasn't alone. There were at least a German couple and an Australian who did the same. Scores of others came by to express similar empathy although not everyone stayed.

Second day (Sunday)

A couple of hours after dawn, people started appearing, armed with newspapers hot from the press. My eagerness became despondence when I saw the little column in the Sunday Times covering the event. Perhaps it was a blessing in disguise. If the column was larger, there would have been more negativity cast on Chee. Later, a local journalist confided sheepishly that they had little influence over the tone of the final print and advised that we should rely on the foreign media for "this sort of things".

Just before 11am, Chee made an attempt again to march to the parliament house. The police quickly went into their tight formation surrounding him like the previous day. Chee offered them an option, either to let him make the short 10-minute march and speech, and he would disperse and go home, or he would camp out till Tuesday, after LHL make his speech at the WB/IMF meeting.

The police's answer was obvious, so Chee made his speech asking LHL to answer a list questions during his Tuesday's address (http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articleWBIMF50.html). Thereafter, we continued our sit-out.

The atmosphere was more relax than the day before. Our spirit was high, so the rain was not too big a bother. Nevertheless, someone brought us ponchos now. The police seemed more relax too. They gave us more space, spread out more. Although I still counted at least 30 of them that were within sight, it was fewer than earlier.

As night falls, more supporters and friends showed up, bringing munchies, news, conversations and a sense of solidarity. Someone conveyed the reporting of a stabbing in the vicinity the night before (http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/230974/1/.html). It was hard to resist the temptation of taking a wicked shot at how police resources should have been more usefully deployed.

Now and then, we noticed a taxi driver, a cyclist, or some random passer-by shouting support for Chee and curses for the police poodles. These people usually zoomed by rather quickly. However, one such cyclist, an old man, at about 9pm, was plucky enough to cycle back, stopped in front of a few police and started hurling abuses at them as he recounted the time he was tortured by detectives when he was young. He pulled up his shirt as if to show us something. But a few policemen came by to photograph him and he sped away. The police gave chase and they all disappeared into the dark. I am not sure if they got him, but I surely hope not.

Unlike yesterday, I didn't stay the night because of work. I will be there again shortly. Got to go. I will update if there is anything else interesting. Hope you guys can join us. It's a great feeling doing something for democracy than merely talking about it. You got to be there to feel it for yourself.

Third Day (Monday)

I arrived before dusk and had missed the earlier actions. The protesters had distributed some flyers, which explains the purpose and intent of the sit-in protestation, to passer-bys in the morning. They then negotiated with the police to allow them to distribute more flyers at Raffles Place with the promise that they would not resume their march. After about 2 hours of negotiation, the police surprisingly relented and allowed them to do so--under their watchful eyes, of course. So, who says police officers don't have a conscience? I believe they understand freedom and want it too. Like many of us, they are often restrained and constrained by the grip of the evil empire.

The clouds unleashed its reservoir on the protesters, yet they bravely plied the street to alert people of their stolen freedom. Siok Chin called it a "tiny victory" (http://news.monstersandcritics.com/asiapacific/). Soon the lunch crowd dwindled and it was time to get back to the sit-in corner.

There were barely a dozen uniformed police officer, or so it seemed. Most of them were now in plain clothes. Their approach was much "softer" and they allowed us plenty of space. Although they still followed Chee and Siok Chin to the loos, they now did it in a less obtrusive way.

The night was a hive of activities in the form of visits from a variety of interesting people. Two activists, one from a US civil society organization (CSO) and the other an Indonesian CSO, came to show their support. A few WP members, including recent GE candidates, showed up with their well-wishes and bowls of cheng-tng. A few foreign journalists and photographers came to snap some pictures, snoop for updates and wish Chee well. A number of regular supporters and friends (including a few well known bloggers) popped by after work and shower, bringing more goodies. It was quite a crowd I must say. And without all the tension, it was beginning to look more like a party--some party, that is.

Fourth Day (Tuesday)

I was at my work place and missed all the actions. :( Can someone who was there help fill this space please?

- GC Chwee (ppnickle)