Police investigating 32-year-old woman for staging solo protest outside Chinese embassy in Singapore

SINGAPORE — A 32-year-old Singaporean woman is being investigated by the police for allegedly taking part in a public assembly outside the Chinese embassy without a permit on Monday (Nov 28).

In a release on Tuesday, the police said they were alerted to an incident of a woman allegedly staging a protest "pertaining to issues in China" at around 12.55pm.

“We directed the woman to stop her protest and she complied,” said the police.

TODAY understands that the woman goes by the Twitter handle @kellymilkies, which has over 24,000 followers.

On Monday, she posted pictures of handwritten signs in English and Chinese, and stated in her post that she was alone outside the Embassy of the People's Republic of China at 150 Tanglin Road.

“If I do not reply within 24 hours here I may have been illegally taken into the embassy,” she tweeted on Monday.

At around 4pm on the same day, she tweeted that the police had arrived on the scene and that she would not have access to her communication devices in the meantime, adding that she would have to be away for a few days.

She has since been posting various pictures and online videos relating to the protests in China against Covid-19 restrictions.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, she said that the purpose of her protest is to “bring awareness, not to debate politics with the people in the embassy”, and to "give hope to the Chinese people". She added that she had explained her actions to the police and her father.

The police reminded members of the public on Tuesday that organising or participating in a public assembly without a police permit is an offence in Singapore under the Public Order Act. 

“Separately, the police have received queries about foreigners in Singapore advocating for causes relating to issues in China through for example the display of posters,” said the police.

They stressed that “foreigners visiting, working or living in Singapore should not import the politics of their countries into Singapore, and are reminded to abide by our laws”.