BURMA: SINGAPORE TOLERATES AN "ILLEGAL"

C O N F I D E N T I A L SINGAPORE 001822

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/01/2017
TAGS: PHUM PREL PGOV BM SN
SUBJECT: BURMA: SINGAPORE TOLERATES AN "ILLEGAL"
DEMONSTRATION

REF: SINGAPORE 1812

Classified By: CDA Daniel Shields. Reasons 1.4 (d)


1. (C) Summary: A crowd of 150 Burmese nationals gathered
outside the Embassy of Burma on September 30 to protest the
regime's crackdown in Rangoon, according to local press
reports. The Singapore police advised the protesters that it
was an illegal public assembly and told them to disperse, but
did not break it up. The GOS usually shows no tolerance for
public demonstrations, but in this case it has handled it
with a light touch. Singapore's government-controlled press
has been remarkably tough on the regime and sympathetic
toward the protesters in Burma since the crisis began
(Reftel). In responding to protests here, the GOS is likely
also keeping in mind the considerable public sympathy that
Singapore press coverage has helped to generate. End
Summary.


2. (SBU) While Singapore maintains strict prohibitions on
public demonstrations, a crowd of almost 150 Burmese
nationals gathered outside the Embassy of Burma on September
30 to protest the regime's crackdown in Rangoon, according to
local press reports. A few Burmese nationals came in the
early afternoon and more streamed in over the course of the
day as word spread in the community, opposition politician
Chee Siok Chin told us on October 1. Police arrived in the
early evening and advised the crowd to disperse as it
constituted an illegal public assembly but did not break up
the protest, the Straits Times reported. (Note: An outdoor
gathering of five or more people requires a permit. End
Note.) Some protesters stayed until 3am, according to Chee.


3. (SBU) Chee Siok Chin and her brother Dr. Chee Soon Juan
had set up outside the Embassy of Burma around 12pm on
September 30 to gather signatures for petitions to be given
to the Burmese ambassador and Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong.
Chee Siok Chin told us they had gathered 600 signatures for
the petitions so far and they were continuing their vigil
outside the embassy to gather more. She said some of the
Burmese nationals planned to come back again to protest in
front of the embassy on the night of October 1.


4. (SBU) The Singapore Police Force has deployed a half dozen
plain clothes officers near the Burmese Embassy (which is on
a secluded dead-end road, albeit near a major shopping
street). Passers-by (including poloff on the afternoon of
October 1) are advised that there is an illegal public
assembly in front of the Burmese Embassy and if they join it
they may be investigated.


5. (C) Comment: The GOS usually shows no tolerance for public
demonstrations. In 2005, for instance, it deployed several
dozen riot police to order Chee Siok Chin and three
colleagues to stop a silent protest outside a government
building. Given all the bad press Burma is getting for
attacking demonstrators, the GOS has handled the protest
outside Burma's embassy here with a light touch. The
Singapore government-controlled press has given favorable
coverage to the protests in Burma and been remarkably hard on
the regime, calling on it to "manage its own demise." The
GOS appears to be sympathetic to the demonstrators in Burma
and cognizant of the considerable public sympathy that exists
in Singapore for them. End Comment.

Visit Embassy Singapore's Classified website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eap/singapore/ind ex.cfm
SHIELDS