by Jolovan Wham
Do we always have to be ‘civil’?
Radical rudeness refuses to play by the rules of the oppressor.
In authoritarian states like Singapore, expectations of ‘respectable’ behaviour is often used to co-opt and dilute dissent while distracting the public from the issues at stake.
This can be seen in how those who engage in protests are characterised as ‘disruptive’, and labelled as troublemakers, even though it is a legitimate form of expression in any functioning democracy.
We should be allowed to claim our rights through defiance and even rudeness: polite appeals are often ignored, precisely because it plays by the rules set by those in charge, which are often stacked against you.
This is especially true when any kind of ground-up public action and dialogue on Palestine has been banned and suppressed. Those who dare to have been subjected to police intimidation and criminal sanctions.
If being polite and respectable worked, we wouldn’t be living in fear of being persecuted for caring about social justice. We should not have to ask for permission, not least from those who oppress us, for our rights.
How many times have we made appeals to our politicians only to be met with tame responses that our concerns will be looked into?
When we are polite and ‘respectable, governments can pretend to listen but actually not do anything and stall. There is no actual pressure to change.
How many endless consultations and dialogues have civil society groups attended but so few of our demands met? I am not saying that the process of policy-making is easy or that all demands need to be met.
But the anger that people feel about issues they care about is real and has to be acknowledged.
As a politician and a full minister at that, resorting to smear tactics and heaving the weight of State media on ordinary citizens asking for accountability is uncalled for.
Anger in activism is so taboo here. But we need to celebrate it, and celebrate its unadulterated expression. Anger spotlights the urgency of the injustice, and makes visible the pain of those who are experiencing it. It allows us to speak our emotional truths.
Rather than criticising their anger, as many have done, it should be a call to action.
I applaud the participants who confronted Shanmugam at the Meet-the-People Session (MPS).
They have shown us it is possible to stand up to authoritarian bullies. In a society paralysed by fear, such small acts of defiance are precious and deserve protection.
They show us that real resistance is possible and we are not alone in our rage and our aspirations for a more progressive society.
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