Political activist Han Hui Hui may not be taken seriously in her home country, but over in Paris — where she was invited to this year’s Human Rights Defenders World Summit — the 26-year-old made quite an impression.
A clip recorded from a live stream of the summit captured her moment in the spotlight as she made a passionate speech to a hall filled with human rights activists and envoys from around the world. Her address? Decrying Singapore’s highly restrictive laws against human rights such as suppressing criticism and free speech.
In her delivery, she claims that “government NGOs” (an oxymoron, because you can’t be a non-governmental organization from the government) have been infiltrating international and regional organizations to convince them that there is nothing wrong at all in Singapore. She goes on to reference allegedly anti-human rights regulations such as the Protection from Harassment Act, the Public Order Act (which outlaws demonstrations and protests without police permit), the Administration of Justice (Protection) Act (which makes it an offense to publish anything presumptuous about an ongoing court proceeding), and more. Her confidence and volume increasing with each line, she then says people can head on over to her Facebook page to peek at commentators stating more problems with Singapore.
At the end of her speech, her voice cracking with emotion, she urged everyone to work together to protect human rights against oppressive governments. Cue huge applause.
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