![]() He was later found guilty at the State Court for the offence in Jan 2022 and meted with a fine of S$3,000 or 15 days of imprisonment in default of the fine. Terry Xu Yuanchen, chief editor of The Online Citizen, and a contributor, Daniel De Costa Augustin were charged that day in the State Courts with criminal defamation over an article published in Sept 2018. Wham was charged in Nov 2020 for holding up a sign that read “Drop the charges against Terry Xu and Daniel De Costa” outside the State Courts on the morning of. ![]() Wham is a social worker and civil society activist based in Singapore. This was posted by Wham on his Facebook page on 27 Sept 2022. It’s not that I am no longer afraid, but it has less of a hold one me: I can act more freely, and as my conscience dictates, and it no longer dictate my actions, and my thoughts. But accepting imprisonment with a moral purpose, a clear conscience and a love for what is good and just in this world gives me the strength and resolve to stand up to the fear and stigma that comes with imprisonment. There’s no doubt that prison is a stressful and de-humanising experience. I needed to resist the decades of fear that has been normalised and acceptance of prison was part of that process. If going into Changi was the scariest thing that could happen, I would confront it head-on. I didn’t want fear and censorship to control me anymore. But I refused to accept it because the real prison is how we have allowed ourselves to be cowered, intimidated and obedient to injustice. In the years that I’ve been involved in civil society work, I was tired of being told to be afraid, to be careful, and there is ‘no choice’ cos that’s the way things are done in Singapore. but I was rooted to my seat in the dock and couldn’t bring myself to do so.īeing criminalised for peacefully standing up for what you believed in was just so outrageous and extreme to me that my gut reaction was that it also deserved an extreme response as an act of protest, and to show the inherent violence and brutality of the State to citizens expressing themselves peacefully. I was in court that day and my lawyer was urging me to pay the fine. Going to prison for something I believed in was unimaginable when I first got involved in social justice work. When I started organising and participating in illegal assemblies, the intention was to put our ridiculous public order laws in the spotlight. Some people may wonder why I decided on imprisonment when I could have just paid the 3k fine. Big thanks to everyone who sent messages of support both publicly and through DMs ( Direct Messages). I had a small and intimate lunch with a few friends, rested a bit and continued my usual daily routine. I was released last Friday after spending 15 days in Changi prison for a one-person assembly which lasted 15 seconds. ![]() Wham opted to be jailed for 15 days instead of paying the fine. Jolovan Wham was fined S$3,000 for posing in front of the Singapore state court for less than a couple of seconds in 2018.
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