[转帖]小李一族的风范

The behaviour of little Lee Kuan Yews

Andrew Loh

After The Online Citizen broke the story of homeless people camping out at Sembawang Park, all hell seemed to have broken loose. The authorities which, with all their resources could have helped these homeless people, instead seem bent on making life more difficult for them.

This article is an account of what took place on the ground after The Online Citizen’s revelation of the Sembawang Park homeless on 16 January.

The Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports (MCYS), Dr Vivan Balakrishnan, was reported to have visited both Sembawang Park and Changi beach. We were told he did not speak to any of the homeless at Sembawang Park but he did take time to chat with those at Changi. Both times, he was accompanied by a posse of officials from Nparks and MCYS.

The homeless from Sembawang Park were told to dismantle their tents and were issued summons. They were also ordered to leave the area immediately. After TOC suggested that they be given more time, the officers from MCYS promised to give them a further three days to leave the park – this despite some of the campers having valid camping permits. (You can read a more detailed account of what happened here.)

The campers had, on that following Monday, gone to the MCYS office to discuss the matter of alternative accommodation with the officers, as previously arranged. After the discussion, they returned to Sembawang Park to pack up their belongings. They were greeted with the presence of workmen at the camping area who apparently were there to seal off the site. Indeed, Nparks seem eager to have the homeless leave the area as soon as possible, given how swiftly it had arranged for the workers to be there. The day after the campers left, the camping area at the park was cordoned off for “maintenance”.

Over at Changi beach, the homeless were treated just as badly. After the minister of MCYS’s visit, the campers were harassed for days, sometimes two or three times a day by Nparks officers, the campers told us. It is believed that these officers included those from other Nparks branches, such as East Coast, who were roped in to help rid Changi beach of the campers and the homeless, apparently.

The verbal threats by these officers were more blatant as well. “I do not want to see your face [here] anymore,” one lady was told by an Nparks officer. She was there to visit her friends who were fishing. She refused to oblige and has continued to visit Changi beach.

The “rules and regulations” and conditions as laid down by Nparks officers which the campers had to adhere to seem ridiculous at times. The campers were told that they had to be by their tents when Nparks officers come round to conduct their checks – at any time of the day. If they were not by their tents, the officers threatened that all their belongings would be confiscated, including clothings, tents, fishing equipment. If they wanted to retrieve their confiscated belongings, which would include children’s clothings as well, they would have to go to the Nparks office and pay S$300, the campers were told.

“How can we be by our tents all day waiting for them?” asked one of the men who was there to fish. “I told them to let us know what time they would come round to conduct their checks and we would be here to meet them,” he said. However, Nparks officers rejected this and insisted they did as they were told. “How can we go out and fish then?” the man asked. “We can’t even go to the toilet like that,” he added.

On one occasion, three Nparks officers demanded repeatedly that he packed up and leave immediately. “We told you to leave right now!” the officers kept shouting at him.

According to the men, other “rules” issued by Nparks officers were that it is illegal for the campers to leave anything outside of their tents and also that children were not allowed to be inside the tents, even if they were taking shelter from the rain.

On another occasion, one of the fishermen had booked a permit at the AXS machine which was located just outside the Nparks office at Changi beach. When the officers demanded to see the permit, the man told them that the machine had run out of paper and was not able to issue a paper permit. He asked the officers to check with the machine and they would see that his application was approved. The officers, however, refused and ordered him to pack up.

The Nparks officers also issued summons even to those who had valid camping permits, we were told.

One of the most puzzling and outlandish abuse of authority perhaps is the action of Nparks officers unzipping the tents of these campers without permission or warning. This have riled the campers, which included women. “How can they do this?” asked one of the men. In the past, the campers would use locks to secure their tents whenever they went out to fish. However, after they found their locks were cut by, they believe, Nparks officers, they no longer lock their tents.

Several of the campers believe that they have been “blacklisted” by Nparks when it comes to applying for permits through the AXS machine. One of them has been trying to do so for the last six months without success. Some of the homeless campers at Sembawang Park have also told TOC of similar experiences.

Yet, these may not be the worse that the homeless had faced.

One of them, a seven-month pregnant lady, had approached MCYS for help earlier, before we came to know of her plight. She told TOC that when she was at the MCYS offices, she was, quite incredibly, told to put up at a hotel in Geylang as it was “cheaper”. This pregnant lady, who has two other small children and a husband who had quit his job so he can be with her at the park to ensure her safety, held back her tears and her anger. After hearing what was told to her by the MCYS officer, she got up from her chair and walked out of the office.

A couple who had approached their Member of Parliament for help, told us what this MP advised them: “You can go sleep at the beach since there are many people doing that.” [Update - 1 Feb 2010, 13.23 hours: TOC has contacted the MP in question and received this reply from the MP: "I would never ever reply to anyone who comes to seek help in that manner." ]……read more

公民在线后续报导：Homeless in City of Possibilities