Capricious Singaporean Laws Used to Target Meditator

Mr. Chua Eng Chwee, 71 years old, has been meditating at the Esplanade underpass in downtown Singapore every day for 10 years.
Capricious Singaporean Laws Used to Target Meditator
Seventy-one-year-old Chua Eng Chwee, a Singaporean national, was arrested Oct 14., 2009, under a new law created in Singapore in anticipation of the upcoming APEC meetings. (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)
Andrea Hayley
11/16/2010
Updated:
11/18/2010
<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Chua+Eng+Chwee_medium.JPG"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/Chua+Eng+Chwee_medium.JPG" alt="Seventy-one-year-old Chua Eng Chwee, a Singaporean national, was arrested Oct 14., 2009, under a new law created in Singapore in anticipation of the upcoming APEC meetings. (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)" title="Seventy-one-year-old Chua Eng Chwee, a Singaporean national, was arrested Oct 14., 2009, under a new law created in Singapore in anticipation of the upcoming APEC meetings. (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-115811"/></a>
Seventy-one-year-old Chua Eng Chwee, a Singaporean national, was arrested Oct 14., 2009, under a new law created in Singapore in anticipation of the upcoming APEC meetings. (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)
Mr. Chua Eng Chwee, 71 years old, has been meditating at the Esplanade underpass in downtown Singapore every day for 10 years—ever since the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) began persecuting practitioners of the Falun Gong belief.

“We go to the Esplanade regardless of the wind or rain, and we go to the streets and speak to Singaporean citizens, Chinese tourists, and tourists from other countries, about the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners, and how it has lasted for 10 years,” said Mr. Chua in a statement read out at his trial in a Singapore Subordinate Court last week.

In what appears to be a gross misapplication of the law, a Singapore judge has pronounced Mr. Chua guilty of four instances of vandalism and one charge of failing to leave the Esplanade when ordered by the police.

In the prosecutor’s closing argument, he asked the court for a fine of 2,000 Singapore dollars (US$1,532) and caning for each of the vandalism charges, and a fine of 20,000 Singapore dollars for the charge of failing to move on. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 23.

Protesting Persecution

Lean and muscular, and with smooth skin, a well-groomed Mr. Chua goes to the Esplanade each day wearing a yellow Falun Gong T-shirt. He said to the court that what he does is not for himself, but for the good of the world’s people, and for the good of Singapore.

The six small placards he uses contain information about torture and injustices suffered by Falun Gong adherents in China. He clips the boards together so they are more sturdy, and leans them up against a wall each day to make his display. Then he sits on the ground, on a yellow cloth, to meditate beside them. Sometimes he talks to the passersby.

Falun Gong is a self-improvement practice that teaches truthfulness, compassion and forbearance as a way of life.

The practice, which includes gentle, slow-moving exercises and meditation, spread quickly in China. Adherents say this was due to Falun Gong’s compelling health benefits and being deeply rooted in traditional Chinese culture.

According to Chinese officials speaking in early 1999, between 70 million and 100 million adherents were practicing Falun Gong at that time. The Chinese regime banned the practice in July 1999 and since then the regime’s policy has been to “eradicate” it.

An Amnesty International 2010 report states: “The severe and systematic 10-year campaign against Falun Gong continued. ... Former reform through labor prisoners reported that Falun Gong constituted one of the largest groups of prisoners. ... The government campaign against Falun Gong intensified, with sweeping detentions, unfair trials leading to long sentences, enforced disappearances, and deaths in detention following torture and ill-treatment.”

CCP Influence

The actions for which Mr. Chua was arrested are hardly unusual or controversial—outside of Singapore. In efforts to raise awareness of the persecution in China, Falun Gong adherents may be seen on a daily basis in cities around the world displaying informational billboards while peacefully meditating.

Singapore practitioners believe that the charges filed against Mr. Chua are the result of the influence of the CCP over Singapore.

Prior to the persecution, Singapore practitioners, operating under the legally registered Falun Buddha Society, practiced the Falun Gong exercises in public and provided information about the practice without harassment. It was only after the persecution began in China that practitioners found themselves under surveillance and police monitoring, and all applications for permits previously accepted were refused.

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<a href="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/singapore3_medium.JPG"><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/07/singapore3_medium.JPG" alt="People read posters detailing the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The posters are at the Esplanade underpass, in Esplanade Park, Singapore.  (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)" title="People read posters detailing the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The posters are at the Esplanade underpass, in Esplanade Park, Singapore.  (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)" width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-115812"/></a>
People read posters detailing the persecution of Falun Gong in China. The posters are at the Esplanade underpass, in Esplanade Park, Singapore.  (Sun Mingguo/The Epoch Times)
The authorities have made clear that had Mr. Chua applied for a permit for the Esplanade underpass, he would not be given one.

The underpass is a choice location because it is a gateway from the nearby metro station to popular tourist attractions, such as the seafront promenade.

Although he is not the only practitioner that goes to the Esplanade, Mr. Chua is the mainstay of the spot.

Given his long presence there, it was surprising when, within a one-week period in October of 2009, he was charged five times by police. He was one of seven practitioners to receive charges that week.

The sudden rash of police actions coincided with the APEC summit being held in Singapore, which included China’s leader Hu Jintao and a large Chinese delegation.

These charges fit a pattern. In 2000, 2004, and 2006, practitioners in Singapore were also suddenly arrested, with their arrests coinciding with visits by Chinese officials.

Ms. Ng Chay Huay, another one of the seven, has a trial coming up Nov. 22-26. She was charged with harassment for displaying a banner in front of the Chinese Embassy urging the Chinese Communist Party to stop the persecution of Falun Gong.

The other five, all Chinese nationals, will be in court Dec. 1. These practitioners have an additional worry after having their passports confiscated, which put them at risk of deportation and probable torture back in China. With no refugee policy in Singapore, all of them have applied to outside countries for help.

Capricious Enforcement

Singapore, formerly a British colony, gained independence in 1965. It is officially a representative democracy exercising elections, but in reality the country has been dominated by one party, the People’s Action Party (PAP), for over 40 years.

The country’s legal system is rooted in English common law, but local idiosyncrasies include punishment by caning, and a mandatory death penalty.

“Singapore’s legal framework continues to perpetuate an authoritarian state tightly controlled by the ruling People’s Action Party (PAP),” states a 2009 Human Rights Watch 2010 World Report.

The vandalism law that Mr. Chua was charged with says that anyone displaying a ‘cause-related message,’ whether it be on public or private property, in the absence of a government-issued permit, can be charged.

Mr. Chia Ti Lik, legal counsel for Mr. Chua says the vandalism law is obviously meant to stifle dissent and freedom of speech.

“The public authorities could authorize vandalism when they want to, and rule out all others and not give authorization, and criminalize others acts of freedom of expression,” he said.

Mr. Chia says Falun Gong practitioners bear the brunt of very few prosecutions under the vandalism law where no actual damage to public property has been done.

Terri Marsh, a lawyer with the Washington-based Human Rights Law Foundation, says “the law is clearly unjust, and it is being used or applied capriciously, in a way that strips away basic human rights and freedoms.”

Marsh plans to present letters to the Singapore Law Society, as well as to the United Nations, asking for an investigation into Mr. Chua’s wrongful conviction.

His lawyer will present an appeal on Nov. 19. If the appeal is accepted it will go to the Supreme Court.

In the meantime, Mr. Chua continues to go to the Esplanade underpass with his placards to meditate.

Reporting on the business of food, food tech, and Silicon Alley, I studied the Humanities as an undergraduate, and obtained a Master of Arts in business journalism from Columbia University. I love covering the people, and the passion, that animates innovation in America. Email me at andrea dot hayley at epochtimes.com
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