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Mdm
Huang Chihmei carrying her youngest
child, Shaw Hur. Charles
Tan, president of
SDP's Young Democrats is in the foreground.
Kids
at the Freedom Walk: Dinesh Suraj (left), Chee An Lyn (centre)
and Chee E Lyn (right).
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Dr
Chee's wife also under investigation
30 May
07
Dr Chee Soon Juan's wife, Mdm Huang Chihmei, has also
been questioned by the police. She is being investigated for
"participating in a procession without a permit."
She
presented herself at the Toa Payoh Neighbourhood Police Centre on
14 Apr 07 to answer questions from an Inspector Daniel Wong about
her involvement in the Freedom Walk on 10 Dec 06.
"I
told the investigating officer that I was there to look after my
children," Mrs Chee said. She was walking with her
daughters, An Lyn and E Lyn, who were distributing flyers.
"The
kids had lots of fun. Besides, it was a wonderful opportunity for
them to be exposed to activities of this nature," she added.
"And after all, their father was in jail then."
In
democracies, like Hong Kong for example, children as well as
grandparents regularly take part in peaceful protests and
processions. Families are involved in such activities which have
a festive atmosphere.
Mrs Chee said that she would leave
it up to the authorities to do the necessary. She is from Taiwan.
Between
family and politics
Huang Chih Mei
Below is a
piece that Ms Huang Chih Mei wrote in December 2006 when Dr Chee
was in prison. It is reproduced here in the context of present
developments.
I
left Taiwan for the US to study in the 1980s, when Taiwan was
still under the rule of KMT's Chiang Ching-Kuo. I was not
particularly concerned about politics, as Taiwan was a prosperous
society and I didn't really experience any hardship during my
growing up years.
When I went home for holidays in-between
school term, I noticed my younger brother's computer monitor was
draped with all sorts of head bands he had collected from
attending various public protests, be it for "amendment of
the Constitution", "calling for direct presidential
elections", or "anti-nuclear plants".
I was
extremely uncomfortable seeing those colourful head bands and
asked him, "Is it safe to go for those protests?"
My
brother laughed and said, "Times have changed! It's no big
deal now."
I asked him how he got involved in
politics, or at least how he started to get interested in it. He
told me that he was "too free" during his NS days and
was reading newspapers all the time. It happened to be the
booming period of many independent newspapers in Taiwan after the
amendment of Newspaper and Printing Act.
In addition to
head bands, he collected T-shirts worn during public protests.
According to him, those T-shirts have now become collectors'
items. Protests were illegal then, much like it is now in
Singapore. Nowadays, protest T-shirts in Taiwan are less sought
after as they are printed in the thousands.
It seemed that
I had missed the whole transition of Taiwan's democratization
process.
Many of my relatives praise Singapore as "very
clean and orderly". But it is also a place where my husband
is in jail for the 5th time for speaking in public without a
permit.
Although Soon Juan's non-violent campaign has
always been misinterpreted as "courting trouble", the
purpose of his civil action is to make a simple point that if you
are not prepared to go to jail, how do you stage a public protest
to pressure the government to change laws that actually work
against the people.
Many Singaporeans have expressed to me
their amazement at how we cope under such circumstances.
Actually, the political struggle we are in does not prevent us
from leading our lives the way we want to. It's a matter of
expectations. Our children know that this is part of their
father's work, so it's nothing frightening at all.
Earlier
this year, when my eldest daughter told her teacher that "my
father is in jail", her teacher was rather embarrassed. She
told her quietly that "you don't have to tell me everything,
I will read the newspapers myself".
After Soon Juan's
passport was taken away and he was prevented from leaving
Singapore, I told my parents that he probably won't be able to
visit them in Taiwan for the rest of his life.
Surprisingly,
my mother said, "Don't worry. It won't be a permanent
situation. No authoritarian government is going to last
forever."
I certainly hope she is right.
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