S'pore ambassador responds to NYT article on activist's arrest

Civil rights activist Jolovan Wham was charged under the Public Order Act last month.

Singapore's ambassador to the United States has responded to a critical New York Times article about the arrest of civil rights activist Jolovan Wham over an illegal one-man protest, saying it would have had vastly different consequences had a few thousand people turned up.

Mr Ashok Kumar Mirpuri added that Singapore's laws are designed to balance the right to protest against the right of others not to be inconvenienced.

"We make no apologies for holding to our own values," he said in a letter published in the newspaper's opinion pages on Tuesday. "We do not try to impose them on other countries, and others should likewise respect our sovereign right. In any case, we do not think 'free speech' as it is now playing out in the United States commends itself to us."

The New York Times article, published on Nov 23, was headlined "Protest of One Leads to Arrest of an Activist in Singapore".

Wham's first illegal protest took place in December 2018 outside the State Courts building and the second happened in March this year near Toa Payoh Central Community Club and Toa Payoh Neighbourhood Police Centre.

He was charged under the Public Order Act last month.

In the article, he is quoted as saying that the charges against him show Singapore's laws "have the potential to be applied in ridiculous and overbearing ways".

In his letter, Mr Mirpuri noted that Wham had staged a protest in a prohibited area, and another without a permit, when he could have exercised his right to political expression legally. "If he chooses to break the law, then we must enforce the law," said the ambassador.

He added that given how densely populated Singapore is, the approach is to allow public protests only at Speakers' Corner or with a permit, so that the authorities can assess the public-order risks.

"Mr Wham protested alone. If instead a few thousand had gathered without a permit, the consequences would have been different," he said.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on December 12, 2020, with the headline S'pore ambassador responds to NYT article on activist's arrest. Subscribe