Minister of Home Affairs, Wong Kan Seng on 17 February 2003 said: "The government does not authorise protests and demonstrations of any nature."

This was after six people were arrested for attempting to hold a pro-peace rally against the war on Iraq. The last few words, "of any nature" struck me on how I should behave even when I feel like expressing my views on the current war.

After all, if our Minister is against the rally he could have simply mentioned the government is against it. Nevertheless, by adding the last few words could possibly mean I should keep my mouth shut altogether. For a while, a paranoid me even thought I should not express my pro-peace views to my friend since it is also a part of demonstrating in verbal nature.

Then in came two female Americans in green bikinis promoting their political views on meat consumption in daytime Orchard Road. Even before them, Chinese Nationals crowded in front of Parliament house early last year after some remittance companies cheated them of their money. Clearly, the former had at least blenched the indecent exposure act and the latter for holding a large gathering without a permit. Then why is it that foreign nationals could hold demonstrations on the streets on our soil when we as Singaporeans cannot do so?

I believe our protests, if any, will always remain civilly obedient and small in numbers. This is especially since we are so taught to obey the laws and many Singaporeans have either grown so accustomed to not bothering or are more concerned of survival issues.

Not only is political apathy among our general people so obvious, disrespect for political views have also been displayed. The petition set up by Think Centre with a clear statement of pro-peace, actually ended up with people "gate-crushing" signing in as pro-war and even writing inappropriate comments.

I have read many collective petitions before but this is the first time I have actually witnessed people "gate-crushing" trying to belittle a petition. I am truly bewildered by this action and wonder if general political apathy has cultivated this behaviour. Not only this, some signed with anonymous names, prodding me to question if we are fearful of prosecution to even put our names to verify our causes.

Can I be politically empathetic then? Or simply leave my concerns on other issues like if Manchester United will win the title this season or where is the next entertainment vibe?

For if I remain politically empathetic, I fear prosecution. Then, if I become politically apathetic, some news article will soon emerge again berating people of my age not being concerned about our home or the world.

I know I have my own answer, the question though will my answer be legitimised?

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