6 people aged 19 to 41 given police warnings for protest outside MOE

• Six people aged between 19 and 41 have been warned by the police for their involvement in an illegal protest outside MOE Headquarters
• They received either conditional or stern warnings
• The protest was in relation to the treatment of LGBTQ students in schools

SINGAPORE — Six people aged between 19 and 41 have been issued police warnings for their involvement in a protest outside the Ministry of Education (MOE) without a police permit earlier this year.

In a press statement on Tuesday (Nov 30), the police said that they have completed their investigations of nine people for public order offences related to the incident on Jan 26.

A group of five people had staged a protest outside the headquarters of MOE along Buona Vista Drive at about 5pm that day, even though they did not have a police permit to carry out the public assembly.

TODAY previously reported that the protest was in relation to alleged discrimination of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) students in schools.

The protest took place after an 18-year-old junior college student claimed that MOE had prevented her from obtaining a doctor's referral letter to begin hormone replacement therapy.

The ministry denied the allegation.

Images of the protest, which were circulated on social media, show five young people outside the premises, holding up placards, a rainbow-coloured pride flag and a transgender flag with pale-pink and blue stripes.

Some of the placards read “#Fix schools not students” and “Why are we not in your sex ed”.

In a statement issued after the protest, the protestors claimed to be a group of students and supporters.

Two protesters named in the statement were student activist Lune Loh and Elijah Tay, founder of LGBTQ group My Queer Story SG.

Singaporean writer Ng Yi-Sheng also told TODAY before that he was one of the five to take part in the protest. He left the premises after security personnel told the group to disperse.

In their statement on Tuesday, the police said that only three people remained when officers arrived at the scene.

Among them was a 33-year-old organiser of the public assembly.

They were arrested for failing to comply with a “move-on” direction issued by the police and repeated warnings by the officers.

Four other people who were not part of the public assembly were also investigated for their suspected involvement.

On Tuesday, the police said that they had issued warnings to six individuals — who were not named in the police statement — after consulting the Attorney-General’s Chambers.

The 33-year-old received a two-year conditional warning for organising the public assembly and contravening the “move-on” direction by the police. TODAY understands the person is Kokila Annamalai.

Two people, aged 19 and 24, received a one-year conditional warning for taking part in the public assembly and contravening the police's direction. TODAY understands that they are Elijah Tay and Lune Loh respectively.

Two other people, aged 24 and 41, received stern warnings for being a part of the public assembly. They had left the MOE building before the police arrived after being told by a security officer to do so. TODAY understands they are Averyn Thng and Ng Yi-Sheng respectively.

A 23-year-old was issued a stern warning for abetting an offence of participating in a public assembly without a permit. The police said that the person was involved in preparing the placards used in the protest. TODAY understands the person is Alex Tan.

No further action will be taken against the remaining three people who were investigated, the police said.

They reminded the public that organising or taking part in a public assembly without a police permit is illegal and constitutes an offence under the Public Order Act.

“The Government takes a zero-tolerance approach towards illegal demonstrations and protests as these may lead to public order incidents,” they said.

“The measures in place to regulate public protests allow the Government to uphold public order, to ensure a peaceful and stable society.”