Monday, October 27, 2008

Pictures of a Fast at Speakers' Corner

I went down to Hong Lim Park today morning to see the fast by Mr Thamilmarain. He was fasting to call attention to the innocent & helpless children, women & men who are dying in Tamil Eelam Sri Lanka, for peace in Sri Lanka and for peace talks to take place.

These are some photos i took while i was there. Click on the photos to view larger versions. See also Seelan's blogpost.

Mr Thamilmarain speaking to TOC. Click here for TOC's video.
Police drop-in. The man standing next to them is Mr Thamil's friend, Mr Raja, who was there to support him.

These next 5 photos show the police checking Mr Thamil's registration with NParks and his particulars. At one stage, out of curiosity I clarified with the police why they had to do this when they could get the details themselves from NParks and whether this was normal procedure. I told the police i was asking because there have been other events at Speakers Corner where the police didn't come up to the speaker(s) and/or demonstrator(s) and do such things. One of the police chaps replied it was just normal for them to check.




In this next photo, the police approach three foreign workers who were also there to see and support the fast. I took the photos showing the police questioning these foreign workers. But i'm not publishing them here, save for this photo, because even though the workers were just there to see & support the fast and talk to Mr Thamil, I do not want my photos of them to be the cause of any trouble for these foreign workers and their livelihood. Getting back to this photo, the police asked the three workers for their particulars, especially their work permits, and their reasons for being there. The three workers left after that.
After the police were done, they left and met NParks officials who arrived in a green NParks van.
These NParks officials hung around observing the fast from a distance.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

His dedication is something to be proud of. Still, deeds, not prayers, make the change.

Anonymous said...

Wow, first Seelan Palay, and now this guy. And to top that off, the record number of people assembling at the Speaker's Corner.

Singaporeans are waking up! Know your rights! Dont'e just read the local (govenment controlled) media...Power to the PEOPLE!

Shan Nalliah / GANDHIYIST said...

Thanks and Greetings for your solidarity with SL-tamils!

Anonymous said...

Why should Singaporeans be involved in Sri Lanka's political problems. The proper avenue for such things is the United Nations. He should go to the UN headquarters in New York to fast. Singapore has enough problems already, so please do not load more problems for her. What has Sri Lanka done for Singapore anyway. That country is an aparthied country like Malaysia, so besides the UN, Sri Lanka could turn to Malaysia for help.

Anonymous said...

Speaker's Corner is not a place for racial and religious issues. If you want your voices to be heard, better go elsewhere (hope u know where)

jacob said...

Darfur. Congo. Just to mention two countries, apart from Sri Lanka, where there’s conflict and violence. Where innocent civilians are the ones most affected. Going by your argument, an individual(s) shouldn’t highlight the sufferings of his fellow human beings, in a public fashion in his/her own country so that more people will learn about the atrocities committed. And again going by your argument, unless these and other countries affected by violence have benefited Singapore in some way, people especially Singaporeans shouldn’t bother. Your argument is rather cold and devoid of any feelings.

It is rather sad when people find it easy to categorise it as racial or religious BUT find it difficult to see the issue for what it is: the loss of innocent lives plus those thousands who have been maimed and/or traumatised, not only in Sri Lanka in this instance, but also in other violent conflicts around the world.

Anonymous said...

Jaco ,what you have said was perfectly correct!But some hopeless people don't want to listen or bother about what is going on in this globalised world!Some countries sell weapons to millions of dollars!They don't want to listen stories of IDPs/Refugees!ONLY GOD HELP THE POOR AND POWERLESS!!!

Anonymous said...

Good work, Jacob. :)

jacob said...

Thanks andrew. :-)