25 Sep 06
Dear Fellow Singaporeans,
We want to say a very heartfelt thank you for all the support you showed during our 72-hour protest last week.
In our small and humble way we wanted to show to the mighty PAP regime that it cannot continue to steamroll over our fellow citizens and us – at least without having to pay a political price.
And many of you helped us. Those of you who sat with us through the nights, you presence made us stronger. Those of you who sang, your voices lifted our spirits. Those of you who came by to share a meal with us or just to say hello, your kind gestures were soothed our minds and bodies.
As the days wore on, we could see that many of you had become bolder and came by to sit with us, despite the police cameras rolling. By the final night much of our fears had gone away.
Critics note that there were very few people who came to support us. It is true that we did not see supporters by the thousands. But in a climate where the police were doing everything they could to discourage Singaporeans from joining us – including seizing our publicity flyers, turning away the public at Speakers' Corner, taking photographs of our supporters and asking for their particulars, and most important blacking out the news of the protest – the numbers that we saw are truly remarkable and extremely encouraging.
Several of you who defied your own fears and police intimidation to show up at the protest site were marvelous. There were also some younger members of the Workers' Party who came and chatted for a while. A couple of them even bought some cheng tng and other refreshments. Thank you. Your gesture is greatly appreciated.
The many of you who took pictures and videos of the protest and posted them on the Internet, who helped to disseminate news reports as they came in thick and fast, who emailed your friends and told them what was going on you were all part of our protest and we owe you a debt of gratitude for your assistance.
And to the many of you who emailed us, a big thank you. To the couple of you who didn't have very nice things to say, we hope to change your minds one day.
September 16, 2006 will go down in history as a day when Singaporeans came alive. Every one of you who was involved in one way or another, big or small, was part of a team that took on the PAP machinery. Without you the protest could not have been as effective.
All of you can truly take pride that we, the proud citizens of this nation, have begun this process of taking back what rightfully belongs to us.
Movements never start with the masses. They always take place with the few taking the first steps followed by greater numbers. We hope to see more of you in the coming weeks and months when we organise seminars to raise awareness and train more democracy activists.
Take heart and don't stop believing that one day, democracy, too, will come to Singapore.
Yours in solidarity,
Gandhi Ambalan
Chee Siok Chin
Jeffrey George
Charles Tan
Teoh Tian Jin
Rizal
Chee Soon Juan
Francis Yong
4 comments:
I doubt that anything has changed as a result of the "protest".
It is more important to do something because one believes in the moral reasons for doing it... than to do it expecting that things will change.
So by all means, blow that trumpet, but never expect applause from the audience. Appreciation they give is entirely up to them. (i.e. the customer is king)
It is important to do something because one believes in the moral reasons for doing it and because it will serve to inspire us to explore ways that will ensure change. If not, such efforts become little more than a self-indulgent act.
"We want to say a very heartfelt thank you for all the support you showed during our 72-hour protest last week.
In our small and humble way we wanted to show to the mighty PAP regime that it cannot continue to steamroll over our fellow citizens and us – at least without having to pay a political price."
It is the smallness and humbleness of your ways that proves that the 'mighty PAP' is indeed 'mighty'. Not unlike those fools who 'protested' for the freedom of speech not too long ago via a silent protest. They didn't see the contradiction.
Again, the huge import of chinese of china-origin into the country in recent years will ensure that the vote will always swing in favour of the powers.(the BNP-style right wing agenda of your government is not without self-serving reason.) You people are blind, although well-meaning. I have observed how your citizenry has constantly turned a blind eye to the decades-old and gross marginalisation of the handicapped, ethnic minorities, etc. That only serves to practice the population in apathy. simultaneously, it practices humane vitality OUT of their personas - a vitality which is necessary for the development of the vibrant perspectives necessary to produce in yourselves that amount of understanding and vigour necessary to produce those ideas that will enable you to see your oppositional project through to a successful and socially viable conclusion.
Remember, when you care for others, even when there is seemingly nothing to gain for that group of society of which you see yourself a part, you will unknowingly acquire perspectives that will inevitably translate to gain for yourselves and all. If you are chinese, fight for the rights of the malays. If you are 'able', fight for the rights of the disabled. If you are rich, fight for the rights of the poor. Do for others that which you think need not be done for yourselves. Then you will be able to defend yourselves against those evils in ways that would not occur to you if you ignore those deemed to be the lesser amongst you.
You people have a long way to go.
that sort of protest is stupid since you know nothing can be done about the situation......ain't it quaint how a war which you know is definitely 100% failure and you still want to try defeating it???? shouldn't you all know sun tze art of war???? knowing the enemy is half the battle won......isn't it a twit to continue fighting????
the people is totally ignorant of what is called people's power. if everyone is united and dare to make a difference, the government has no choice but to listen to the citizens. Instead, by punishing very publicly one or two persons, the rest of citizenry got so scared that they become ignorant of their true powers.
What they protesters did was brave. They dare to stand up to voice out their opinions. Everybody should applaud their actions. Everybody in chis nation should have the right to be different. To voice out their opinions. Nobody should have any fear to express themselves. This is a nation, for goodness sake, not a mass prison.
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