Tag Archives: maruah

Local human rights group MARUAH has shared their statement on the amendments to the Public Order Act, which in effect would prevent foreigners from participating in political events at the Speakers Corner in Hong Lim Park.

Human rights activist Han Hui Hui has left Singapore for an asylum bid in an undisclosed European country, says a source close to Ms Han. This fact was confirmed by another socio-political activist, Leong Sze Hian, also the president of human rights group MARUAH in Singapore.

Parts of the campaign are currently degenerating into a sloganeering on the character of Dr Chee Soon Juan, the SDP candidate. As election campaign watchers, MARUAH, a human rights group, would like to put on record that this is a disappointing approach taken on by the ruling party. In this Bukit Batok by-election, however, there seems to be a targeted barrage on Dr Chee’s past behaviour. In politics there are many candidates who will be judged at the ballot box and later as MPs. In conclusion MARUAH asks again for an Independent Elections Commission, not one under the Prime Minister’s Office.

MARUAH, a Human Rights Non-Governmental Organisation, objects to government leaders using the Defamation Law to institute defamation lawsuits against its critics, regardless of whether the offending statement is defamatory or not.

MARUAH is deeply concerned about the cancellation of approvals granted for the “Return our CPF” protest scheduled at Speakers’ Corner on 25th October 2014. When Speakers’ Corner was first established in 2000, it was specifically designated as the one protected area in Singapore where speakers could speak freely (with the usual restrictions on race, religion and national security) without having to apply for a permit under the Public Entertainments Act (and its successor the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act). The reforms of 2008 further promoted free speech and civil society development in Singapore and were welcomed by all.

Professor Chua, however, said the mainstream media's influence has waned, and he questioned whether media regulations remain a concern: "Media freedom is now a silly issue because of the Internet. The mainstream media is now chasing the Internet." Newspapers, for instance, will have to step up their game, he said, adding that they risk becoming "largely irrelevant" unless they keep track of and report on issues gaining attention online.

MARUAH is dismayed over the Prime Minister’s first step action of issuing a letter of demand to ‘Heart Truths’ blogger Mr Roy Ngerng, asking for an apology, a retraction of the blog post and compensation for damages and legal costs to the Prime Minister.

There is a fine, but very crucial, difference between popular and populist policies: The motivation behind the policies. The former are good policies that happen to be popular; the latter are policies that are made for the primary purpose of winning votes, regardless of whether they are good policies. And the Budget announcements on Friday fall squarely into the category of good policies. Growing social inequity and the rising cost of living mean that there is a legitimate and increasing need for social spending; indeed, there is a strong argument that the increased social expenditures in recent years are merely to compensate for significant under-investment in the previous decades.