To Protest Or Not?

In reference to the recent police arrest of political activists staging a protest outside Parliament House, a business associate said the following to me, “You guys make it so difficult for us to support the opposition.” (Emphasis my own).

I explained to him the following:

1)Different people [groups of people] have different ways of expressing their view points.
2)His disapproval of the protesters' ways is in itself an expression of his democratic right
3)He should not equate the actions of these few to be representative of Singapore's Opposition.

I elaborated that:

a) In a truly democratic state, non-violent protests should be tolerated.
b) These protesters are people with clear-cut intentions. (To create awareness/ to seek attention/ to educate the public etc)
c) They perfectly understood their strategies and the consequences of their actions. (Breaking existing laws (if any)/ Possible police action (if initial warnings were not heed) etc)

I also shared with him the following views:

To protest is the easy part. The challenge is 'what beyond the protest?'. Does the act of protest itself 'make things better' for fellow Singaporeans? If not then what?

In my former capacity as the Project Director of the Think Centre, I participated in a couple of protests & 'extra-parliamentary' actions. Examples were:

a) Protest Note @ Caldecott Broadcast Centre
b) Abolish ISA Protest @ Hong Lim Park

Despite my experience & familiarity with protesters' thinking in what they potentially hope to achieve. Still in my opinion, to develop Singapore's politically - the best course of action is to institutionalize democratic mechanisms in the highest decision making body of this land. Specifically by working hard to get more like-minded opposition members voted into Parliament despite present obstacles.

For opposition members to be voted into Parliament, voters must deduce for themselves whether the candidates are credible and worthy. In a State-controlled media environment, this process certainly will take time and there is no short cut. Concurrently WP believes that sustainability is important. As such WP will not engage itself in actions that will unwisely disqualify our members even before the General Elections.

In this respect, I would like to urge my friend (& fellow Singaporeans) to continue supporting the WP. I would like to assure him (all) that presently WP finds no cause nor find it necessary to deploy extra-parliamentary actions. The WP will instead continue to channel our efforts to build up our organisational capacity, work within present confines and to win more Parliamentary seats.

The vision is to make things better for all (including future protesters) when WP is in a position to do so.

Photo: In my former capacity as Project Director, Think Centre (10/12/2000)