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Petitioners
said a prayer outside the gate of Burmese Embassy in Singapore.
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Is
what we are doing right? That's the question
05
Oct 07
As daylight breaks and the last of the
candles flicker out, volunteers pick up their weary bodies to
begin their morning chores.
The night's messages posted on
the gates of the Burmese embassy by petitioners are removed and
given to the embassy staff who by now have become a familiar
sight.
"Any news from Rangoon?" we ask.
The
man shakes his head and smiles a nervous smile.
We scrape
the candle wax off the floor and walls, the red-coloured ones
giving an eerie look of spilled blood as they flow and solidify
over the grim messages, a reminder of the situation in Burma.
We tidy up the table and posters of Aung San Suu Kyi and
those courageous monks, replacing the tired-looking orchids with
fresher ones.
Then we scrounge around the food-box for
breakfast. Usually it's a mixture of bread and biscuits that
well-wishers bring the night before. A nice English lady who
lives in the adjacent block of condominiums brings some northern
Indian snacks, which disappear very quickly.
A young
Burmese man puts down a carton of Red Bull, obviously taking note
of our disheveled appearance. "I'll bring more later,"
he said and walked off.
The police officers change shifts.
By now, we have become accustomed to their presence and, we're
sure, they ours.
As the petition campaign enters its
sixth day, our determination to carry on doing our part for Burma
remains undiminished. In fact, with the Free Burma International
Day scheduled for tomorrow (see here), we look forward to more
people turning up to sign the petition and/or post a message for
the Burmese military rulers. Wear something red.
A few
prominent Singaporeans have shown up despite the scare-mongering
by the authorities to sign the petition. For those who continue
to stay away because this event is "illegal", may we
remind you that those courageous monks in Rangoon were also
taking part in an illegal activity.
It is understood that
CNN has learned of the petition campaign and may do a report on
Singapore's involvement with the Burmese junta.
In
Rangoon, news reports say that the Than Shwe is willing to meet
Aung San Suu Kyi on the condition that she stops her
"confrontational" stance. The general has also asked to
meet the US envoy in Rangoon. There seems to be a sliver of
hope.
If there is anytime that international pressure must
be piled on the military rulers, it is now. And the greatest
leverage that the international community has is to get the
junta's closest allies to cease and desist their commercial
support.
Those aiding and abetting the murderous junta by
insisting on conducting business with the generals are slowly
coming into focus. Singapore is one of them.
Do we, as
Singaporeans, have the integrity and courage to confront our own
Government and demand that it does the right thing? Or do we
maintain our silence and wait for all this to go away?
The
PAP Government may declare our petition exercise illegal. That's
not what's important. What's important is: Is what we are doing
right?
We will be there at St Martin's Drive this entire
weekend.
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