A patriotic man concerned for the civil liberty of Singapore has lodged a police report over an online article that he does not agree with, urging the cops to investigate a writer on grounds of sedition.
This, we have to point out, is not the way to carry out actual debate and discussion about Section 377A of the Penal Code, or anything one might disagree with on the internet. It’s akin to lodging a police report over a meme- oh wait, that already happened.
Raymond Ng, an author of a book on economics and blockchain, felt so threatened by an anti-LGBTQ piece by known anti-LGBTQ publication Singapore Affairs that he involved the cops in his conundrum. The Singapore Affairs article the 45-year-old took issue with is a long rebuttal to a column on The Straits Times by veteran diplomat Tommy Koh, who argued why the archaic law criminalizing sex between men should be abolished in Singapore.
Though many wouldn’t agree with the points brought up in the anti-LGBT piece, it’s fine for one to express one’s opinion — that’s typically how debates on national matters would and should go. Unfortunately, Ng felt personally attacked by the article, stating that the writer is “forcing” him to live the Christian way. The thing is, the article is not forcing anyone to do anything.
Ng, however, genuinely believes that the piece is “unconstitutional” enough to warrant a police investigation.
And so he did, asserting that the article is “fake news” and that it was written with the aim to “convert our secular democratic society to a theocratic society”. He submitted an electronic report to the police at 11pm on Wednesday night.
“I love my country, Singapore. Police officers, please help to protect Singapore and our collective freedom,” Ng stated in the official police report. “Our civil liberty cannot be lost to such fake news article with anonymous authors to undermine the strong social fabric that Singapore is known for”.
Folks tried to show him the error of his logic, but even when presented with official statistics, Ng remained unbowed. He doesn’t believe the figures released by the government because nobody approached him for a survey (he apparently doesn’t know what sample size determination is).
Others rightfully pointed out that attempting to silence an opinion is simply not constructive at all.
