Police explain position on post-riot public forum

SINGAPORE — The police have explained that their concern about “a potential law and order issue” was what prompted them to “seek more information” from a restaurant in Little India at Syed Alwi Road that was to have been the venue for a public forum on issues relating to the Dec 8 riot.

The Ananda Bhavan Restaurant owner’s cancellation of the booking was of his own volition, while he also claimed that the forum’s organisers had “misrepresented the nature of the event”, a police spokesman added.

The police’s response late last night came after the forum organiser, human rights group MARUAH, cried foul on Sunday about the police’s actions, describing it as “blatant harassment by the Government against lawful and legitimate civil society activities”.

But the police spokesman noted that the forum — touted as a discussion about the “struggles of the foreign workers and the prejudice they face in our society and the post-riot measures — would have been held in Little India just two weeks after the clash. He added that the police have a duty to ensure “all public activities that take place in Little India do not disrupt the aim to restore and maintain peace, calm and order there”.

He said that the public had been advised earlier against organising any events in that area that could “heighten emotions and cause concern during this period so as to give residents and the Little India community the space and time to recover” from the riot.

Contacted about the allegation levelled its way, MARUAH President Braema Mathi said she was disappointed with the response of the restaurant’s management and maintained the group did not misrepresent itself. “We have shared information openly with Ananda Bhavan after its management told us the police had called them and wanted information on the event. We have correspondence on this matter. We have nothing more to add to this discussion.”

The restaurant owner could not be reached for comments by press time.

The cancellation by the restaurant on Saturday saw MARUAH switching venue to the Marketing Institute of Singapore last night, which saw about 100 attendees.

Issues surrounding the repatriation of the 57 foreign workers involved in the riot — such as whether it was fair, who holds the mandate to execute such orders and whether laws are limited in ensuring fair access to justice for these workers — dominated the forum. Ms Mathi also called on the Government to ratify two International Labour Organisation conventions that deal with migrant worker issues. One pertains to migrations in abusive conditions and the promotion of equality of opportunity and treatment of migrant workers, while the other calls for a reduction of working hours to 40 hours a week.

Forum participants also wanted more attention to be paid to employment laws concerning migrant workers. Mr Russell Heng, President of Transient Workers Count Too, brought up the problem of substitute contracts and how they brought down workers’ wages illegally, for example. Kok Xing Hui