Singapore Democrats

Home News Singapore Kan Seng cock-up -- again
Kan Seng cock-up -- again Print E-mail
Tuesday, 28 October 2008
Case of the missing roadSingapore Democrats

The police came to court today and insisted that the area around Parliament House was a gazetted area that forbids the assembly of more than one person.

According to the Miscellaneous Offences Act gazette notification the area as delineated by Coleman Street, North Bridge Road, St Andrew's Road, Connaught Drive, Parliament Lane, and the left bank of the Singapore River comes under the gazette.

There's only one problem -- there is no Parliament Lane.

"Can you see Parliament Lane on the map?" lawyer Mr R Thirumurugan, who is representing Ms Jaslyn Go, asked police witness Station Inspector (SI) Yeo Kok Leong.

Mr Thirumurugan was cross-examining SI Yeo on the third-day of the ongoing trial of the Tak Boleh Tahan protesters.

Mr Yeo is the licensing officer who had rejected a permit to hold a protest rally at Parliament House on 15 March this year. The officer pored through the Singapore Land Authority (SLA) map placed before him and finally said, "No."

"That's because it isn't there," the defence counsel said. There is Old Parliament Lane and there is Parliament Place, but there is no Parliament Lane.

And how does one gazette an area that includes a non-existent road? Mr Thirumurugan argued that because of the missing Parliament Lane, "the main entrance of the Parliament House was never a Gazetted Area on 28 Dec 2007 nor on 15 March 2008 and even today."

And since Parliament is not a gazetted area, the 16 activists could not have committed the offence of demonstrating in front of Parliament House without a permit as charged.

Incidentally, was someone sleeping on the job when the gazette was written and vetted? The order was signed off by a Mr Benny Lim, Permament Secretary, Ministry for Home Affairs. And who's his boss?

The trial at Court 5 enters its fourth day tomorrow.


First published in the Government Gazette on 26 July 2005

In exercise of the powers conferred by section 5 (2) of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act, the Minister for Home Affairs hereby makes the following Order:

This Order may be cited as the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) (Prohibition of Assemblies and Processions – Parliament and Supreme Court) (Amendment) Order 2005 and shall come into operation on 26th July 2005.

THE SCHEDULE

DESCRIPTION OF AREA

"Commencing from a point at the junction of North Bridge Road with Coleman Street, thence along Coleman Street to its junction with St Andrew's Road, thence along St. Andrew's Road to its junction with Stamford Road, thence along Stamford Road to its junction with Connaught Drive, thence along Connaught Drive to its junction with Parliament Lane, thence along Parliament Lane to the left bank of the Singapore River, proceeding along the left bank of the junction of North Bridge Road, thence along North Bridge Road to the point of commencement at the junction of North Bridge Road with Coleman Street." (emphasis added)


 

 

Share this article:
Facebook Technorati Stumble It! Newsvine Reddit Del.icio.us Digg This!
Comments (18)
  • SDP Mirror (infer the worst) - Jaslyn Go has a lawyer?
    Hang on a sec. I am confused. The last I knew, the brave TBT 18 went round begging for free lawyers, cause they too poor to pay. Asking for donations etc etc. Next, I heard that Ng E J had a lawyer, HIS lawyer. I have to infer he PAID for a lawyer to defend HIMSELF, leaving the rest of the TBT 17 to their own fate (not a bad idea really). Next, I hear that the foreign talent loving Chee Soon Juan has licked the boot of some foreign lawyer who apparently is defending him for free, and now I hear that Jaslyn Go has HER lawyer. I can only infer, E J and Jaslyn don't trust Chee when it comes to choosing lawyers. I don't blame them.... afterall, Chee's last choice was well..... kinda crazy ya? Really united bunch, this TBT 18. I mean 17, or is it 16?
  • About Time - Can't Sing, A Turned Off
    The sound must have been like this from the top.....


    KWAAAANNNG....

    KWAAAANNNG....

    KWAAAANNNG....

    Laughing Out Loud!!!!!!!
  • Bernard Chan
    Has Robert Amsterdam got to know about this new "One Cunt Sing joke"?

    Well Mr One Cunt Sing will then gazette the whole of main Singapore start from STRINGS of Johore, along Changi river bank, along the East Coast Bitch, along Shenton Way beach and ends at Jurong Bird Park Country Club beach next to Lee Kuan Yew cememtary.

    Please excuse this poor million $ minister, it's an honest short ass mistake.

    Lets see what damn excuse the kangaroo judge now has to give to charge the accused...bearing in mind the place of the so-call "criminal offence" is the key issue. It's like one is being charged for transpassing "no where"...yes no where.
  • wellone - WELLDONEMRTHIRU
    Mr Thiru has done a great job. Its as SIMPLE AS ABC.

    I am sure Mr Thiru has taken some simple steps where the top brians would not normally do.

    When he read the charge, Mr Thiru must have taken his client and the charge to take a walk around parliament house.

    He must have paid attention to every detailed word of the charge and verify them on site. Hey Presto... he found that his client was charged with committing an offence at a place which does not exist...

    Lets look out for someone who may put up a new road sign illegally... haha

    Well done Mr Thiru and Happy Deepavali or Diwali as called in Mumbai, during my visit there.
  • Mike - No wonder
    I feel I can't trust them with my CPF monies ... when they can't even bothered to vet the documents clearly.

    Maybe that explained how we were screwed in Suzhou and by Thaksin. Carelessness? Or something even more sinister.
  • wELL DONE - WALK TALLER EACH TIME
    [quote][b]And how does one gazette an area that includes a non-existent road? Mr Thirumurugan argued that because of the missing Parliament Lane, "the main entrance of the Parliament House was never a Gazetted Area on 28 Dec 2007 nor on 15 March 2008 and even today."[/b][/quote]

    WELL DONE MR THIRU!
  • Kaffein - Amazing
    There is only so much a legal system in any given country can play catch up. Because laws after laws are placed on top of one another to cover the "chinks in one's armour". This army SOP and you know what I mean - one procedure will supercede another.

    Much similar to the Jurong GRC by-election, where the electoral law and the election act trip themselves up. Who can have the final say which is correct or interpreted correctly?

    I can foresee more effort will be taken to cover/plaster these 'chinks' after this trial. Who knows it may even apply to every single inch in the whole of Singapore. With majority of the incumbent party in parliament, it is a piece of cake to amend the law.

    That is why I'm following closely on these charges including Gopalan Nair's case. Each time something like this happens, it makes the legal system look really, really 'stupid' both locally and internationally.

    Cheers,
    Kaffein

    PS. Can I say kangaroo without being charged or sued? Hmm...
  • NOT MY SDP - SDP cock up -- everytime
    Using the same map that SDP referred to on its website, it took me only a few seconds to locate Parliament Lane. Yes, it might be called Old Parliament Lane, but it's still a Parliament Lane and the oversight on the part of the defence really gives us a chance to munch some popcorns.
  • Anonymous
    [quote]the area around Parliament House was a gazetted area that forbids the assembly of more than one person.[/quote]


    Area around Parliament House a gazetted area? Really???

    Fuck, that means every time those MPs who walk out of the Parliament in twos and threes are IN BREACH!!!

    Arrest them immediately, Mr. Police Officer Yeo Kok Leong! thank you, sir!
  • anon - sub-par performance
    It seems that sub-par performance is the rule of thumb for the A-team.
  • Tan Tai Wei
    Ah, but now the judge, I'm sure, will argue that that slip should not be interpreted by "the letter of the law", but by the spirit and intent behind it, ie. in order to mark the area around parliament house.

    So, the defendants are still guilty.
  • MR BEAN COUNTER - THAKSINgapore CORP
    [quote]Maybe that explained how we were screwed in Suzhou and by Thaksin. Carelessness? Or something even more sinister.[/quote]


    No, no, no, my dear Mike.

    Where money is concerned, the Lees, being the shrewed Jews of the East, can never, never screw up.

    Especially when it's money that eventually going into their pockets!

    In Hokkien-speak, it's called "Babu Lui (Duit)."; in Mandarin: 公饱私囊括(Chinese characters correct?).

    Child's play - even less-modern Chinese businessmen from pre-1978 liberalisation China knew that!

    Chairman, GLC:
    "Mori-san, you want Y1 trillion for Ark Hills? Ii yo, ii yo~ I'll give you Y3 trillion instead; you keep Y1 trils for Mori Corp, half a trils for your own personal while sending the rest into both my UFJ & Sumitomo accounts, daijyobu? Seiritsu!"

    Ho of Temasek:
    "You want $1 billion for Shin Corp, Khun Thaksin? Fine, no problem, no problem at all, mai pen rai.
    Just write the figure $1.39B on the invoice - $1B for you & Khunyin Pojaman & your dark-suited-dark-glasses Ferrari-showoff personal bodyguard of a no-good-bum-cum-son and your two bitchy girls (yek-meh, where are their sex tapes???), the rest you wire into me & Loong's numbered Swiss account, dai mai? Dai kot dee mak mak!"

    Oh, by the way, lest people forget, Thaksin is also a Hakka, that greedy creed of creepy scoundrels. They would have given him a Singapore passport had he stepped down gracefully and retired in Singapore, but no, that Chiangmai boy thought too highly of himself, thought he was invincible in Siamese politics, forgot there was still a King on the throne, hahaha.

    And yes, you're right: the thai-Cambodian Pra Vihear fiasco is all a show, orchestrated by Thaksin and directed by his chummy Kampuchean buddy Hun Sen - another ASEAN crook. Just like the Lees.
  • About Time - Isn't it time yet ??
    I've been reminding pple it's About Time. Isn't it time yet ?

    Not Time Yet ??
  • About Time aka AnnA - I For Impostors D For Dogs
    Impostor : About Time @5:52PM

    Seems like my comments are making 'another side' unhappy that they have to copy my name again

    I wonder who are these IDs

    LoL

    You are convincing me that I am a very good speaker!!

    It seems like I have to change my name again haha!!
  • Druid - Law of the sea extended to Parliament la!
    Anything within 200 nautical miles of Parliament is considered within jurisdiction like Iceland rules over fishing territory? Except in this case, no fish stock is depleted la!
  • Mike - To Bean Counter
    Wah ... you have an imaginative mind ... however, facts are stranger than fiction at times.

    Public servants should not have private accounts.

    That is the power of the free press
  • SUN TAN (MOBILE +65 9077 2707) - One Night Next To Parliament House
    [quote]Area around Parliament House a gazetted area? Really???

    Fuck, that means every time those MPs who walk out of the Parliament in twos and threes are IN BREACH!!![/quote]

    Oops, which means that the threesome I just did last weekend outside Indochine with those two well-hung angmohs I'd picked up from the Irish pub across the river was an OFFENSE????!!!!!

    Holy shit!

    But luckily I wasn't wearing any make-up so the cops won't be able to recognize me from their CCTV screensnaps :)

    RIGHT?

    I think I'd better go do a confession, pay some tithes and then go to Woffles to do - no lah, not eat waffles lah - head-to-toe surgery!
  • Bevi
    PAP GO GO GO !
Please login or register to post your comments.
 


 

Ads

Other languages

Banner
Banner
Banner

Awesome Words

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed. You cannot uneducate the person who has learned to read. You cannot humiliate the person who feels pride. You cannot oppress the people who are not afraid anymore.

César Estrada Chávez

Act Now

More options
 
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
Banner
 

News feeds

Singapore Democrat News
Joomla Templates by JoomlaShack