YD: Cease harassment of Rachel Zeng

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Friday, 23 July 2010

Young Democrats

With reference to the reports where the anti-death penalty campaigner, Ms Rachel Zeng, suspects that she is being harassed and is under surveillance for her activist work, the Young Democrats stands behind her in solidarity and offer her our fullest support for her contributions towards civil society in Singapore.

As fellow socially-aware youths working towards socio-political change in Singapore, we condemn the alleged harassment towards Ms Zeng and demand that the perpetrators responsible cease and desist immediately.

It is an action that is uncalled for in this civilized society. Any organization, agency, or entity that wishes to express displeasure at the activist work that she is doing and the values she espouses ought to do so in the open. The public should be the one to decide on whether she is doing the right thing or not.

Resorting to such underhanded means to intimidate activists only serves to lend further credence to her work and gives further impetus for other activists like her to persevere.

Activists play an important role in our society by bringing to awareness important issues in the greater society that otherwise would have been overlooked by citizens during their day to day struggles.

It is because of this that we stand behind all activists who are putting in their own valuable private time to work for the betterment of Singapore’s society.

It is a thankless duty that they have taken upon themselves and they should be allowed to conduct their activities free from harassment and molestation as long as neither violence nor hatred is espoused and propagated.

To this end, it is our hope that the harassment of Ms Zeng stop and the Young Democrats will continue to speak up and stand in solidarity with all social and political activists in Singapore.

On a related note, the Young Democrats also expresses our concern at the curtailment of freedom of expression with the arrest of the British author, Mr Alan Shadrake, in connection with his latest book, Once a Jolly Hangman: Singapore Justice in the Dock.

A British national, the author has compiled and researched about the various highly controversial cases involving the death penalty in Singapore.

Mr Shadrake has since been released after being detained for over 39 hours since the day of his arrest on 18 Jul 10. He is still being summoned back on a daily basis for investigation related to the charges of criminal defamation and contempt of court brought on by the Singapore Government.

Jarrod Luo
Honorary Secretary
Young Democrats
Singapore Democratic Party

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Comments (9)

Fri 23 Jul 2010 4:39 PM | quantum - Review of Death Penalty

Actually, as societies advance, certain old practices are no longer philosophically accepted as civilized or humane for e.g. stoning, burning to death and crucifixion etc.

So maybe it is time for Singaporeans to reconsider again whether they want the death penalty law to remain or not, and also , if they want it to remain, whether there is any other more humane way to do it, as opposed to the now practiced, death by breaking the spinal cord method.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=woBUtoh02ic
(BBC Horizon - How to kill a Human Being pt1 of 5 )

Fri 23 Jul 2010 7:18 PM | BryanT - YD harassing our common sense.

What Jarrod is doing here is just a play-act. Rachel, SDP and YD can't even prove that there was harassment or that she was even the intended target of any such actions.

In writing this letter, Jarrod is not talking to the "harasser", because even if there were any, he knows that this letter would not serve an iota of purpose in stopping him/them from any further action (if there were any in the first place).

I call this a play-act precisely because Jarrod is merely playing to gallery to portrait that its members/associates are being victimised. He just wants to draw attention to the party's inane causes and actions and play up the false sense that there are some people/organisations out there who feels threatened enough to want to harass Rachel.

I doubt there Rachel is being harassed; the only harassment are to our senses.

Jarrod should quietly advise Rachel to calm down and withhold herself against such sinister imagination (out of her own sense of guilt).

Fri 23 Jul 2010 10:32 PM | Robox

Only harassers - abusers of power - will oppose any call to the cessation of this form of abuse.

Period.

Sat 24 Jul 2010 12:23 AM | Rachel Zeng - Dear Bryan T

Bryan T,

I was and still am calm, thanks for suggesting that I am not. I was not being paranoid, thanks for implying that I was.

What is there to feel guilty about, care to enlighten me?

And excuse me, someone came to my house. Someone waited for me under my block. I was not alone to witness that. That happened twice.

So what, might I have been hallucinating too?

Sorry to disappoint you but I am not as weak minded/ hearted as you think that I am. I believe strongly in what I am doing and I do it without any sense of 'guilt' or a flinch of doubt.

Thanks but no thanks for the effort to discredit me and the group of people who have shown solidarity. Perhaps you will only understand it when it actually happens to you.

Then again, how do we know that you are real when you cannot even come to prove that you are?

Perhaps we have all been hallucinating and imagining you up.

Sat 24 Jul 2010 6:28 AM | AhKow - BryanT the guilty one

Strange to see that BryanT is so quick to dismiss any harassment since he himself has no first hand experience.

Maybe one can conclude that he is quick to do so because he is the guilty party? Hmm now that's a thought.

After all with his record as a "harasser" himself here in this site, it is not inconceivable that he would turned into a real life one.

Mon 26 Jul 2010 12:46 PM | quantum - "Offensive Ideas" - Campaign for Free Expression P

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoyofeNpHRQ&feature=player_embedded

Tue 27 Jul 2010 1:28 PM | | jbharding - Who is the real Rachel Zeng???

If Rachel Zeng knew that ISD agents were interested in Shadrake's visiting Singapore, WHY DID SHE NOT WARN SHADRAKE??? This is very strange behavior on her part. Is Rachel Zeng an ISD agent, herself, and was she luring Shadrake into Singapore where the ISD could get their hands on him?

Think about it.

Wed 28 Jul 2010 9:41 AM | Rachel Zeng - Shadrake came because he wanted to

If I am an ISD agent, why are my pockets and bank account always so empty?

Funny how people can assume that I did not ask him to think twice. Alan Shadrake came because he wanted to. Do you actually know about the conversations that took place among the parties involved in the book launch?

APPARENTLY NOT.

Funny too how people think that when being intimidated, one should withdraw. Alan Shadrake did not withdraw from going ahead with the book launch, neither did we who were behind the organising team.

Really, this is a matter of choice. And we chose not to be intimidated.

By the way, ISD wasn't interested in him. Ministry of Law and MDA were. He was told immediately when the books were taken off the shelves as well as other developments thereafter.

But since MDA did not publicly state the status of the book, it is clear that it has not been banned. So that was probably part of why he decided to come anyway.

In fact MDA was reported to have said that the book is not banned, according to a Straits Times report on 17 July 2010.

It is very simple to accuse one of something without thinking but just based on what is presented on the surface. Well jbharding, my turn to implore you to THINK.