OPINION ARTICLE / VIDEO: "Who is Seelan Palay?" By Martyn See, 2 October 2017.

Seelan (first on right) meeting up with friends after his release. — with Teo Soh Lung, Tan Tee Seng, Seelan Palay, and Parthiban Manoharan [names provided by Teo Soh Lung].

Who is Seelan Palay? By Martyn See.

Sept 2006 (IMF-World Bank Meetings): 21-year-old artist Seelan Palay is arrested by police over a plan to distribute flyers ahead of the IMF-World Bank meetings. Palay had earlier initiated an online campaign to capture photos of "400 Frowns" in protest against government policies.

Jan 2008: Artist Seelan Palay completes a solo five-day hunger strike outside the Malaysian High Commission in protest against the Malaysian Government's detention of five leaders of ethnic Indian group Hindraf. Wearing a placard around his neck that said, "Give them fair trial," Palay was briefly warned by police that he would be flouting the law. No arrest or charges were filed.

May 2008: Five Singaporeans, holding aloft a series of banners with messages such as "Censored News Is No News" and "Newspapers and Printing Presses Act = Repression", stand outside the Singapore Press Holdings building to mark World Press Freedom Day. There were no reported arrests.

Jan 2009: Wearing red t-shirts and holding a banner that read 'Stop ill-treatment of Burmese activists', two protesters stood for an hour outside the Ministry of Manpower before being handcuffed and escorted into police vehicles. The two were protesting against the non-renewal of visas to some Myanmar expatriates, whom the Government said are "not welcomed in Singapore". The two Singaporeans, Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong, were investigated for the offence of criminal trespass.

Oct 2017: Artist and activist Seelan Palay marks his 32 years of age by holding a mirror in front of Parliament House to highlight the long-term detention of Dr Chia Thye Poh from 1966 to 1998. He was arrested and released 24 hours later.

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.sg/…/1994-2011-chronology-of…

Video:

"We are still colonised in Singapore, previously by white man, and now by men in white."

https://m.facebook.com/story.php…

Seelan Palay on police interrogations:

http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/…/activists-speak-about-…

Arrest of Seelan Palay

OPINION: How were you punished when you were 16-years-old? By Martyn See, 14 May 2015

What did you do when you were 16 years old?

Did you play truant, cheat in homework, lie to parents, disrespect authority, use profanities, badmouth people, play pranks, skip church, hate the world, watch pornography, obssess over clothes, indulge in video games, smoke cigarettes, shoplift, drink alcohol, run away from home? 

How were you punished?

Did policemen arrest you at your home? Were your personal items seized? Were you interrogated for 36 hours? Were you imprisoned? Were your hands and feet shackled in chains? Were your personal details exposed in public and your character and family smeared by newspapers and TV? 

Or were you a 16-year-old who was a class monitor; who investigated the meaning of language and films; who nurtured in your mind such strong opinions about people, society, politics and religion that you couldn't wait to share them with the world? And that you also decided you will hold fast to these beliefs, even as the government arrested you, shackled you in chains, threw you in prison, smeared you and your family, while a stranger slapped you in public?

What kind of a 16-year-old were you? What kind of judgement will you pass on other 16-year-olds? [By Martyn See, used with permission.]

OPINION: Conducting our Lives in a Manner befitting His Legacy, by Martyn See (includes picture gallery of opposition politicians and activists)

So there are now calls to pay tribute to LKY by conducting our lives in a manner befitting his legacy. What a noble idea. Here are 10 things you should do.

1. If you're a graduate, you are only to marry a graduate. If you're not a graduate, do not contaminate our gene pool by courting graduates. LKY wouldn't like it.

2. If you're a succe$$ful man, spread your seeds to as many women as you can financially afford. This will fulfil LKY's wish to reverse monogamy and reintroduce polygamy.

3. If you have voted in the Workers' Party in Aljunied GRC, please repent. And repeat this repentance on a daily basis.
4. If you're Malay, you are to decline any military posting that puts you in charge of a machine-gun unit. LKY will not be pleased if you didn't.
5. If you ever notice that the population of the Chinese majority has fallen below the 75% mark, you are to immediately raise this issue with the government. LKY said Singapore will not work if the ratio is not maintained.
6. If you're a young voter, please don't think that you can change the government. The idea that the PAP can be replaced is heresy. Get that dangerous thought out of your brain now.
7. If ever you feel any resentment against a foreign talent, you are to immediately banish that thought. LKY had said the economy will go into tailspin if not for these foreigners. Offer your thanks to all FTs, without exception.
8. You are to strive hard and work your ass off every day. The spurs are to be permanently stuck on your hide. LKY was disappointed that we haven't been working hard in recent years. Do not disappoint him again.
9. Do not begrudge the high salaries of our ministers. In fact, you should campaign for ministers to be paid even more, as Singapore cannot afford a dose of bad governance.
10. Do not take the words of the National Pledge literally. It is just a load of highfalutin' ideals, which should not go undemolished. LKY said we are only in nation in transition [by Martyn See].

[This article was posted here with the kind written permission of Martyn See.]

Poster in memory of Chia Thye Poh at SDP headquarters in Upper Thomson. Chia was detained without trial for over 20 years under the authoritarian ruling regime of Singapore. According to LKY this is the way to run a "Chinese society". To rewrite the lyrics of a song by the legendary English punk band The Clash, "ask the family of Chia Thye Poh what they think of voting PAP..."

The late Patrick Lee Song Juan on the day LKY resigned from cabinet, 6 October 2011. Perhaps we should live our lives in a manner befitting the legacy of Patrick Lee Song Juan instead (minus the R-rated jokes)! I always remember Patrick as someone who saw through all the ideology and gamesmanship of the ruling party and exposed it for what it was (in his humorous and entertaining style).

Old habits die hard. A statue of Chairman Mao for sale in an art gallery on a high floor of Tanglin Shopping Centre. An alternative icon for Singapore even today?.

Site administrator Kieran James (centre) with opposition activists Roderick Chia (left) and Jarrod Luo (right) @ Tanglin Shopping Centre, the old location of SELECT BOOKS.

Site administrator and political author Kieran James (left) with the late Mr Patrick Lee Song Juan at Tiong Bahru Shopping Centre, 6 October 2011.

A Lesson in Perserverance: Veteran opposition stalwart Mr Desmond Lim Bak Chuan (left) and Kieran James @ Joo Chiat Road, Singapore

Site administrator and political author Kieran James (left) and Mr Ravi Philemon, just at the time when Ravi had quit as editor of The Online Citizen but before he joined with National Solidarity Party.

The changing of the guard. Activist Roderick Chia celebrates the 2011 election wins of Low Thia Khiang and Yaw Shin Leong on Monday 9 May 2011 @ Bras Basah Road.

Activists and concerned voters of Potong Pasir SMC Roderck Chia (first on left) and Dexter Lee (centre) with site administrator Kieran James.

Yaw Shin Leong (left) in happier days with Kieran James @ Vietnam Cafe, Joo Chiat Road, 5 October 2011. I hope his banishment from Singapore will not be eternal (unless he wants it that way). I also hope that the chance might come for him to have another shot at Singapore politics.

The picture captures a key moment in Singapore's political history. Dr Vincent Wijeysingha watches George Yeo accept defeat in Aljunied GRC on the big screen at the SDP's election night party @ Quality Hotel, Balestier Road, 7-8 May 2011. Meanwhile, Dr Chee Soon Juan speaks to the audience.

This is a previously unpublished picture of Kieran James (left) with SDP supporter Dr Wong Wee Nam who famously stood for NSP in West Coast GRC at the "Tang Liang Hong election" of 1997. Disclaimer: The political views of the deceased person on Kieran James' T-shirt are not necessarily the same as those of the SDP. The picture was taken at SDP's 31st anniversary dinner, February 2011.