Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

techcrunch.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

11–20 of 187 posts

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#11

Post by throwaway221374 »

sloanedavids wrote: post #7
metildaa wrote: post #5

Earlier quoted context omitted.

He had a gathering on private property in a mall, where 100 people showed up and listened to a Hong King Activist talk for 2 hours. Sounds quite like a conference IMO. The right to free assembly isn't a thing in Singapore apparently.

That’s weird. I thought they were trying to be a modern country?

It's a pro-corporate one-party rule. With the enshrinement of Lee Hsien Loong as the PM, Singapore is headed the dynastic route that ruined other Asian democracies like India.

Rich does not equate to equitable. Dubai and Qatar are other examples.

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#12

Post by Numberwang »

swebs wrote: post #8
sloanedavids wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s weird. I thought they were trying to be a modern country?

Many modern countries have heavy restrictions on freedom of speech. The United States is the exception, not the rule.

Unless you are on a college campus.

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#13

Post by gioele »

saagarjha wrote: post #3

> In Singapore, it is a criminal offence under the Public Order Act to organize or participate in a public assembly without a police permit. :(

I suppose that organizing or participating in a public assembly without a police permit is illegal more or less everywhere in the world.

The question is whether "the Internet" is a public place or not.

Case in point: Italy.

A) According to article 18 of the consolidated act on public security (TULPS) it is mandatory to inform the police whenever a gathering is organized in a "public place" [1].

B) the Corte di cassazione (the Italian supreme court) has repeatedly stated that public websites are equivalent to public places [2].

Exercise for the reader: draw the consequences of combining A and B.

[1] «I promotori di una riunione in luogo pubblico o aperto al pubblico devono darne avviso, almeno tre giorni prima, al Questore. E’ considerata pubblica anche una riunione, che, sebbene indetta in forma privata, tuttavia per il luogo in cui sarà tenuta, o per il numero delle persone che dovranno intervenirvi, o per lo scopo o l'oggetto di essa, ha carattere di riunione non privata.» http://www.normattiva.it/uri-res/N2Ls?urn:nir:stato:regio.de...

[2] https://www.lastampa.it/2014/11/17/italia/molestie-cosa-rien...

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#14

Post by ekianjo »

swebs wrote: post #8
sloanedavids wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s weird. I thought they were trying to be a modern country?

Many modern countries have heavy restrictions on freedom of speech. The United States is the exception, not the rule.

That is indeed very much true. Though there are many attempts to attack Freedom of Speech in the US as well, so not sure how long it lasts.

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#15

Post by nindalf »

I see people in this thread surprised that this is happening in Singapore, a “modern” country. Singapore is certainly wealthy, the population is highly educated, institutions aren’t corrupt, all of which is great. However, the political system resembles a democracy only superficially. Every election since 1965 has been won by the same party. It is inconceivable that the People’s Action Party wouldn’t win an election either now or in the future.

Some find this surprising. Surely a de facto dictatorship like this shouldn’t be so wealthy and successful. Turns out Lee Kuan Yew is that one Dictator in a million who managed to do pretty much everything right. Almost every decision he took turned out to be the right one for Singapore, including rigging it’s politics so he could stay in power throughout his lifetime. But he’s gone now, so it remains to be seen if his successors can carry on his legacy.

Source -

1. A glowing obituary in The Economist, a publication harassed in Singapore for criticising the PAP - https://www.economist.com/obituary/2015/03/22/lee-kuan-yew

2. The Dictator’s Handbook

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#16

Post by pishpash »

pjc50 wrote: post #6
saagarjha wrote: post #3

> In Singapore, it is a criminal offence under the Public Order Act to organize or participate in a public assembly without a police permit. :(

It's a police state. A very neat and tidy one, but one with severe penalties; one of the few places still using corporal punishment officially.

You'll all be living in a police state eventually, if you do not already live in one (or know you do).

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#17

Post by tzjmetron »

nindalf wrote: post #15

I see people in this thread surprised that this is happening in Singapore, a “modern” country. Singapore is certainly wealthy, the population is highly educated, institutions aren’t corrupt, all of which is great. However, the political system resembles a democracy only superficially. Every election since 1965 has been won by the same party. It is inconceivable that the People’s Action Party wouldn’t win an election…

The "West" actually enjoys much less freedom than the rest of the world. It's only an illusion of democracy and personal freedom.

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#18

Post by thunderbong »

Key points from the article -

TL;DR - Speaker was on Skype. 121 people gathered together to listen to him. Police had told the organizer to get a permit, which he didn't. Location was inside a public mall.

>>> On November 26, 2016, Wham organized an indoor forum called “Civil Disobedience and Social Movements” at a small event space inside a shopping mall in Singapore. The event featured prominent Hong Kong student activist Joshua Wong who addressed the audience remotely via a Skype video call.

The event’s Facebook Page indicates that 355 people were interested and 121 went. The Skype discussion, which lasted around two hours, was also live streamed on Facebook by The Online Citizen SG, a social media platform focused on political activism, and garnered 5,700 views.

Despite being advised by the police prior to the event to obtain a permit, Wham proceeded without said consent, according to a statement by the Singapore Police Force. Wham faced similar charges of organizing public assemblies without police permits and refusing to sign statements under the Penal Code.

Re: Singapore activist found guilty of hosting ‘illegal assembly’ via Skype

#19

Post by oth001 »

nindalf wrote: post #15

I see people in this thread surprised that this is happening in Singapore, a “modern” country. Singapore is certainly wealthy, the population is highly educated, institutions aren’t corrupt, all of which is great. However, the political system resembles a democracy only superficially. Every election since 1965 has been won by the same party. It is inconceivable that the People’s Action Party wouldn’t win an election…

Similar to America where Republicans and Democrats are really no different from each other in the grand scheme of things.
Post reply on HN