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May
Day Rally: A personal appeal from John Tan
30 Apr
07
As I am writing this, Dr. Chee and Ms. Chee are
probably walking along the streets of Hougang or Eunos. On May
Day, they will be arriving at the Speaker's Corner at about noon
to address gatherers.
Our purpose for this event is to
commemorate May Day by highlighting the plight of the workers in
Singapore in juxtaposition to the incredulous pay raise the
already rich ministers are giving themselves.
Some of you
might have wondered what a walk such this can accomplish. After
all, many had spoken and blogged on the issue, whereupon the
ruling elites, in their usual manner, had chosen to turn a deaf
ear to the citizens and bulldozed their self-serving policy
through.
It is true that a two-person walk would not add
much voice to what had already been said. But a 500-person walk
would. The ruling party knows the power of a people united. That
is why they use undemocratic laws to curb peaceful assembly.
Fortunately for us, there is yet no restriction to the
number of people who can assemble at the Speaker's Corner.
Therefore, I urge all of you, who want to make your voice heard,
to be at Hong Lim Park before noon this Tuesday (May Day). There
is more than enough space there for 500 people. Make full use of
the last remnant of your democratic rights before the day comes
when even that might be taken away.
You must have heard
this humorous story about four people named Everybody, Somebody,
Anybody, and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and
Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have
done it, but instead Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about
this, because it was Everybody's job. When Everybody thought
Anybody could do it, Nobody realized that Everybody wouldn't do
it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody when Nobody did
what Anybody could have done.
The joke might be old and
moldy, but its relevance is timeless. If Everybody only wants to
stay home and wait for Somebody to put up streaming video clips
of the event, guess who will be there at the event? No prize for
guessing that trusty Nobody will show up. So, if you are Anybody,
I urge you to be there.
Let us shout to force the
attention of our uncaring government. Let us rattle their beds in
which they slumber while we, the Singapore Workers, slog our
lives away.
See you there,
John Tan
p.s.
Dr Chee's books
& SDP's T-shirts
will be on sale at the rally @Speakers' Corner on 1 May 2007.
“In
every era, there are always those who will struggle for freedom.
These people play a difficult role, their paths are paved with
pain and loneliness. Their own generation will not accept them.
In fact, they will be rejected, bullied, humiliated, imprisoned
and even killed.
These freedom fighters plod along a
narrow path. But in the end, those who follow will widen the path
into a broad avenue.”
—
Shih Ming-teh, former Taiwanese political prisoner detained by
KMT's Chiang Kai-shek and Chiang Ching-kuo for 25 years
(Above
quote taken from Dr Chee Soon Juan's book, ‘To Be Free:
Storied from Asia’s Struggle against Oppression’,
published in 1998.)
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