Some things I said to American and Indonesian media during July 2015
Q1. What are the main weaknesses of Singapore media?
A. There is no press freedom, transparency, accountability, too politicalised by the incumbent PAP government with no free and open information.
Q2. What are the strength of Singapore media? These meet your need?
A. As the media is more of a mouthpiece of the incumbent PAP government, it is very easy to find out the loopholes in policies or upcoming carrots to win votes.
Q3. How good Singapore media reporting on Election or politic. Please describe.
A. They are very good in creating false impression and doing character assassination. An example was how they mocked an opposition Chiam See Tong of his O level results, he lost three elections and ultimately won at the fourth attempt.
Q4. What are your main information sources; why are you choosing them?
A. I read SPH despite it being the PAP’s propaganda. The truth is many Singaporeans read them and get confused by the policies. Reading them allows me to find out the loopholes in policies or upcoming carrots to win votes. This allows me to be able to explain to the public what exactly they have been reading and what the truth and actual situation is.
Q5. How do you see the media freedom, the people, and the government?
A. I think the PAP government is extremely successful in controlling the media and Singaporeans doesn’t seem to mind a bit as no one protest against such media control just like how no one protest outside the parliament over CPF cuts.
Q6. Are you (and Singaporeans in general) aware of RAHS and the Strategic Futures Network?
A. Singaporeans in general are more aware of ISD (Internal Security Department) rather than RAHS (Risk Assessment Horizontal Scanning).
Singapore has a history of arresting political opponents and activists using the ISD. This resulted in Singaporeans having self-censorship.
Singaporeans do know that the government is spying on them, however majority are unaware that this infringes human rights and are brainwashed by the state-controlled media to believe that all these are for their good.
Q7. Do you feel as though this system has been utilized to suppress political dissent? Have you personally experienced this (either during your most recent arrest or at a time previous)?
A. It has been proven through the British Archive that Lee Kuan Yew made use of it to rise to power.
It has been used to make them stay in power for 5 decades.
Personally, I have been to police station and have my private information screened.
Q8. Have the authorities ever apprehended you or your associates using knowledge that could have only been attained by eavesdropping on your communications?
A. I once had an eight hours interrogation by senior investigation officer.
Thanks to the presentation of me by our 154th media, I asked if they trust me or the mainstream media. It was amusing.
Q9. Have their ever been any attempts to shut down your blog, given the recent legislation that has passed parliament?
A. I’ve been fighting lawsuits since 2010.
During 2013, the government wanted to sue me for defamation.
After my refusal to back down, they have been trying to damage my credibility since then.
Q10. What is your employment history? Have you ever held a position within the Singaporean government?
A. I started working in 2007.
I have never worked for the government.
Q11. Do you belong to any political party?
A. I’m currently not a member of any political party though I have been volunteering for them since 2013.
Q12. Would you consider the Singaporean Government and the PAP to be one in the same? Where do the opposition fit in?
A. Singapore Government consist of both incumbent and opposition. The illusion of them being the same is due to 5 decades of brainwashing via the education system.
I believe in active citizenry, citizens should participate since policies affect everyone rather than waiting for politicians.
In 2013, Empowering Singaporeans was founded.
Since then, an event was organised every month to educate the general public.
Ever since June 2014 - first protest against the CPF system, the prime minister sued a citizen for defamation.
There is no transparency and accountability with regards to the CPF system.
It is a retirement plan for Singaporeans but the government doesn’t spend a single cent for our pension as CPF is almost entirely derived from members' contributions.
During the protest in September 2014, fourteen participants were called up by police.
Their families were subjected to the police knocking on the door past midnight, waking up their neighbours as well.
The PAP government most likely made use of the RAHS program to find out where each of us are and what we are doing, to have such intimidating actions.
Q13. How do you feel being politically persecuted?
A. It is distressing to have a despicable government that uses state resources against its own citizens.
After which, six participants were charged in court for the charge of "public nuisance", each of the six participants’ charges may be fined by up to $1,000 each.
Roy and I also face an additional charge of organising the protest which will see us losing up to another $5,000 each.
In Singapore, if one is penalised by more than $2,000, the person will be barred from contesting at the general election.
Q14. In following the SDP and other SA pages, it looks like the GE is going to be held sometime this year. I'm aware in a parliamentary system this can happen at any time but I was wondering if you were aware of a specific date when the elections might occur. This could affect our travel plans and I haven't been able to find anything on the web
A. Once the incumbent announces that there’ll be an election, the process including campaigning will be 2 weeks.
People are expecting it to be in September so that the PAP can exploit SG50 to their benefit and use it as carrots to win votes.
An early election before Jan 2017 is preferable especially due to the outpour of sympathy towards the current PM.
Q15. I've actually noticed a lot less on the web regarding Singapore since the GE was announced that it was coming this year (and the 50th anniversary of SA Independence). How's the political climate in Singapore, especially for activists/dissenters? Would you say the situation has gotten worse in anticipation of the GE? Have there been any protests regarding CPF or other issues?
A. There was a 4th population protest on 31 Jan 2015, however, the turnout was low.
Event organiser was called up by the police for 4 hours before the event and explained that the low turnout was due to the first “major” arrest of protesters since 21st century for the protest on 27 Sep 2014.
Since the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, a teenager named Amos Yee was arrested for making youtube video.
There were two other males aged 24 and 25 who were arrested for “protesting” outside Istana (President’s residency) as well.
Q16. I noticed the M. Ravi has been temporarily disbarred from the Singapore Law Society. If I'm not mistaken, he was your lawyer? In your interactions with him did he seem as though he was suffering from hypomania or is there some sort of ulterior motive on the part of the Singapore Law Society
A. He was my lawyer.
Q17. I'm interested in the progression of your court case. Are you being tried individually or as a group? Are you looking at a potential fine if you are being convicted, jail time, or both?
A. We are being tried as a group, we face up to a maximum fine of SDG$1,000 and SGD$6,000 though there’s no jail term.
Given their reputation with regards to political case, one will be either jailed, bankrupted or fined with the main purpose of destroying our credibility and doing character assassination.
Q18. Given the subject of the film, are there any other figures you think would be worth looking into? As I've mentioned previously the subject of the proposed film is the effect of Mass Surveillance on a society and how it perpetuates abuse, particularly in the crackdown on activists, journalists, and political dissidents. We already have some figures in mind but any input you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
A. Self-censorship as well as interviewing people on the street will be good to be included.
There are lots of CCTV cameras at housing estates of Singaporeans and they do not talk about detrimental policies that the government has created, less to say politics.
Asking questions and then leading to politics will see people turning one down, a compilation of such videos will be good.
There are also many elderly who can get back their money from the “pension” scheme, they will have a lot to share.
Q19. What's the general climate been like since the death of LKY? How is the public reacting and do you sense a greater crackdown in his absence?
A. During the era of Lee Kuan Yew, only political leaders were being cracked down.
After the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, we see bloggers, citizens, youtubers being arrested, sued and charged.
Q20. Have you experienced any incidences of harassment from the government following your arrest, particularly in the digital domain (e.g. eavesdropping, suspension of email accounts, blogs, postings etc.)?
A. Personally, I as well as the people around me are used to being stalked by the government personnel.
There are numerous occasions when we were meeting up, our phones will ring, telling us that people have logged into our accounts.
On the day of the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, my facebook was being deactivated, it was only after contacting facebook directly, I managed to get it back few days later.
When my friends and I decided to go to the parliament house to see Lee Kuan Yew, we were also followed by squad of officers too.
A. There is no press freedom, transparency, accountability, too politicalised by the incumbent PAP government with no free and open information.
Q2. What are the strength of Singapore media? These meet your need?
A. As the media is more of a mouthpiece of the incumbent PAP government, it is very easy to find out the loopholes in policies or upcoming carrots to win votes.
Q3. How good Singapore media reporting on Election or politic. Please describe.
A. They are very good in creating false impression and doing character assassination. An example was how they mocked an opposition Chiam See Tong of his O level results, he lost three elections and ultimately won at the fourth attempt.
Q4. What are your main information sources; why are you choosing them?
A. I read SPH despite it being the PAP’s propaganda. The truth is many Singaporeans read them and get confused by the policies. Reading them allows me to find out the loopholes in policies or upcoming carrots to win votes. This allows me to be able to explain to the public what exactly they have been reading and what the truth and actual situation is.
Q5. How do you see the media freedom, the people, and the government?
A. I think the PAP government is extremely successful in controlling the media and Singaporeans doesn’t seem to mind a bit as no one protest against such media control just like how no one protest outside the parliament over CPF cuts.
Q6. Are you (and Singaporeans in general) aware of RAHS and the Strategic Futures Network?
A. Singaporeans in general are more aware of ISD (Internal Security Department) rather than RAHS (Risk Assessment Horizontal Scanning).
Singapore has a history of arresting political opponents and activists using the ISD. This resulted in Singaporeans having self-censorship.
Singaporeans do know that the government is spying on them, however majority are unaware that this infringes human rights and are brainwashed by the state-controlled media to believe that all these are for their good.
Q7. Do you feel as though this system has been utilized to suppress political dissent? Have you personally experienced this (either during your most recent arrest or at a time previous)?
A. It has been proven through the British Archive that Lee Kuan Yew made use of it to rise to power.
It has been used to make them stay in power for 5 decades.
Personally, I have been to police station and have my private information screened.
Q8. Have the authorities ever apprehended you or your associates using knowledge that could have only been attained by eavesdropping on your communications?
A. I once had an eight hours interrogation by senior investigation officer.
Thanks to the presentation of me by our 154th media, I asked if they trust me or the mainstream media. It was amusing.
Q9. Have their ever been any attempts to shut down your blog, given the recent legislation that has passed parliament?
A. I’ve been fighting lawsuits since 2010.
During 2013, the government wanted to sue me for defamation.
After my refusal to back down, they have been trying to damage my credibility since then.
Q10. What is your employment history? Have you ever held a position within the Singaporean government?
A. I started working in 2007.
I have never worked for the government.
Q11. Do you belong to any political party?
A. I’m currently not a member of any political party though I have been volunteering for them since 2013.
Q12. Would you consider the Singaporean Government and the PAP to be one in the same? Where do the opposition fit in?
A. Singapore Government consist of both incumbent and opposition. The illusion of them being the same is due to 5 decades of brainwashing via the education system.
I believe in active citizenry, citizens should participate since policies affect everyone rather than waiting for politicians.
In 2013, Empowering Singaporeans was founded.
Since then, an event was organised every month to educate the general public.
Ever since June 2014 - first protest against the CPF system, the prime minister sued a citizen for defamation.
There is no transparency and accountability with regards to the CPF system.
It is a retirement plan for Singaporeans but the government doesn’t spend a single cent for our pension as CPF is almost entirely derived from members' contributions.
During the protest in September 2014, fourteen participants were called up by police.
Their families were subjected to the police knocking on the door past midnight, waking up their neighbours as well.
The PAP government most likely made use of the RAHS program to find out where each of us are and what we are doing, to have such intimidating actions.
Q13. How do you feel being politically persecuted?
A. It is distressing to have a despicable government that uses state resources against its own citizens.
After which, six participants were charged in court for the charge of "public nuisance", each of the six participants’ charges may be fined by up to $1,000 each.
Roy and I also face an additional charge of organising the protest which will see us losing up to another $5,000 each.
In Singapore, if one is penalised by more than $2,000, the person will be barred from contesting at the general election.
Q14. In following the SDP and other SA pages, it looks like the GE is going to be held sometime this year. I'm aware in a parliamentary system this can happen at any time but I was wondering if you were aware of a specific date when the elections might occur. This could affect our travel plans and I haven't been able to find anything on the web
A. Once the incumbent announces that there’ll be an election, the process including campaigning will be 2 weeks.
People are expecting it to be in September so that the PAP can exploit SG50 to their benefit and use it as carrots to win votes.
An early election before Jan 2017 is preferable especially due to the outpour of sympathy towards the current PM.
Q15. I've actually noticed a lot less on the web regarding Singapore since the GE was announced that it was coming this year (and the 50th anniversary of SA Independence). How's the political climate in Singapore, especially for activists/dissenters? Would you say the situation has gotten worse in anticipation of the GE? Have there been any protests regarding CPF or other issues?
A. There was a 4th population protest on 31 Jan 2015, however, the turnout was low.
Event organiser was called up by the police for 4 hours before the event and explained that the low turnout was due to the first “major” arrest of protesters since 21st century for the protest on 27 Sep 2014.
Since the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, a teenager named Amos Yee was arrested for making youtube video.
There were two other males aged 24 and 25 who were arrested for “protesting” outside Istana (President’s residency) as well.
Q16. I noticed the M. Ravi has been temporarily disbarred from the Singapore Law Society. If I'm not mistaken, he was your lawyer? In your interactions with him did he seem as though he was suffering from hypomania or is there some sort of ulterior motive on the part of the Singapore Law Society
A. He was my lawyer.
Q17. I'm interested in the progression of your court case. Are you being tried individually or as a group? Are you looking at a potential fine if you are being convicted, jail time, or both?
A. We are being tried as a group, we face up to a maximum fine of SDG$1,000 and SGD$6,000 though there’s no jail term.
Given their reputation with regards to political case, one will be either jailed, bankrupted or fined with the main purpose of destroying our credibility and doing character assassination.
Q18. Given the subject of the film, are there any other figures you think would be worth looking into? As I've mentioned previously the subject of the proposed film is the effect of Mass Surveillance on a society and how it perpetuates abuse, particularly in the crackdown on activists, journalists, and political dissidents. We already have some figures in mind but any input you could provide would be greatly appreciated.
A. Self-censorship as well as interviewing people on the street will be good to be included.
There are lots of CCTV cameras at housing estates of Singaporeans and they do not talk about detrimental policies that the government has created, less to say politics.
Asking questions and then leading to politics will see people turning one down, a compilation of such videos will be good.
There are also many elderly who can get back their money from the “pension” scheme, they will have a lot to share.
Q19. What's the general climate been like since the death of LKY? How is the public reacting and do you sense a greater crackdown in his absence?
A. During the era of Lee Kuan Yew, only political leaders were being cracked down.
After the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, we see bloggers, citizens, youtubers being arrested, sued and charged.
Q20. Have you experienced any incidences of harassment from the government following your arrest, particularly in the digital domain (e.g. eavesdropping, suspension of email accounts, blogs, postings etc.)?
A. Personally, I as well as the people around me are used to being stalked by the government personnel.
There are numerous occasions when we were meeting up, our phones will ring, telling us that people have logged into our accounts.
On the day of the passing of Lee Kuan Yew, my facebook was being deactivated, it was only after contacting facebook directly, I managed to get it back few days later.
When my friends and I decided to go to the parliament house to see Lee Kuan Yew, we were also followed by squad of officers too.
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