Human Rights Commision for Singapore

Mr Michael Hwang, president of the Law Society had this to say about the state of human rights in Singapore, "They asked why we don't support the establishment of a human rights commission. That has nothing to do with us. A human rights commission is for the Government to set up." Link here


This sounds a lot like the usual word-twisting, attention-diverting, sneaky Singaporean PAP MP that tries to defend their pathetic stance. Quite obviously, the support of the establishment of a human rights commission by the Law Society has a lot to do with changing the government's stance on this matter.

On top of that, the contradiction with this statement is rather apparent:

When contacted, Mr Hwang told Today: "The committee will study human rights, but in the context of legal principles. It will cover rights granted under the Singapore law, as well as rights that are granted by international law, to the extent that it is received in Singapore."

Unless of course all Mr Hwang is suggesting is that the committee would merely study the human rights situation in Singapore, but not actually do anything about it. In that case there can be only one term to describe this - lip service.

In fact, I agree entirely that few lawyers who are well versed in well, law, have actually spoken up about the irregularities within Singapore's constitution, that of international law which it is supposedly bound to, and the actual policies that it implements in reality. However, simply making more lawyers aware of the situation definitely wouldn't be enough. There needs to be concrete action being taken. Until that happens, it is likely that Singapore will continue to be a repressed nation.

While civil liberties may not matter as much as the economic growth and prosperity that we have traded our freedoms for, they are after all, something Singaporeans deserve. This is especially since the situation now is much different from that of the political turmoil during the earlier years. Now, Singaporeans are a more educated bunch. Many of whom are able to use their civil liberties wisely. Add on to that the whole notion of brain drain and we can reach a simple conclusion - The curbing of civil liberties is no longer essential to ensuring economic growth and prosperity.