Singapore protest organiser ‘puzzled’ by police response on burning effigy

An organiser of the transport fare hike protest said on Tuesday that he is “puzzled” by the response the police had given regarding their decision to stop protesters from burning an effigy at Hong Lim Park.
 
Gilbert Goh, 43, was one of the organisers of a protest against the transport fare hikes that were announced by the transport ministry a week before the event took place.
 
About 400 people had participated in the protest, which took place at Speakers’ Corner in Hong Lim Park, on Saturday, 25 January. During the event, police officers had stopped protesters from burning an effigy.
 
The police explained in a statement that the burning of effigies may constitute offences under other legislations such as the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.
 
“Under NParks regulations, activities that involve the use of fire in Speakers’ Corner require the Commissioner of Parks’ approval,” they said.


 
This response has left protest organiser Gilbert Goh feeling even more “puzzled”.
 
“Yes, we are puzzled as to why we can't burn an effigy during a protest when, internationally, effigies are burnt worldwide as a sign of protest against certain errant policies. It’s not meant to be personal,” said Goh in an e-mail to Yahoo Singapore.
 
He also felt that the police have “flip flop” the rules to “suit their interest”.
 
A day after the protest, Goh shared on his Facebook page a post from political blog The Online Citizen where a blogger had surfaced a local media report published in 2008.
 
In the report, the government had said that the burning of effigies “will have a place in Singapore”.
 
When asked why it was important to burn the effigy during the protest, Goh said, “We felt that effigy burning is a protest format which will send a clear signal to the authorities that we are unhappy with the fare hike.”
 
Moving forward, he said that the organisers will look at other ways to use the effigy in future protests.