March 01, 2021, 04:20 PM
The police said opposition politician Chee Soon Juan was required to apply for a permit for a cause-based event that was to have been held at the void deck of Block 192 Bukit Batok West Avenue 6 on Saturday, Feb. 27 at 2pm.
The police said in a news release on the day of the event that they were made aware of Chee's plans.
The police said: "Dr. Chee’s event is cause-based, and therefore requires a permit."
As a result of the requirement, Chee ended up foregoing the event that would have seen residents congregate at one location, and instead went door to door to collect signatures.
What Chee posted
Collecting signatures
Chee posted on Facebook on Thursday, Feb. 25 that he was helping a group of Bukit Batok residents.
These residents, he said, want a sidewalk built from Block 190 to 193 in their neighbourhood.Chee's role was to facilitate the collection of signatures to be delivered to the Jurong-Clementi Town Council (JRTC).
First round of signatures collected
Chee followed up with another Facebook post on Feb. 26 to reveal that he had been to Block 299 Bukit Batok Street 22 on Thursday night to collect more signatures to submit to JRTC to build a pavement from Block 194 to 187.
This was so that residents need not have to walk "on the road with passing vehicles", Chee wrote.
“The response was enthusiastic and overwhelming as many have used the route and agree that it is not safe for residents to walk on the road,” he said.
The post by Chee said he would be at the void deck of Block 192 Bukit Batok West Ave 6 on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 2pm to 4pm.
“Drop by and join your fellow residents to support the initiative by signing the petition won't you? We'll submit it to the TC after the session,” Chee said.
He wrote that the event at the void deck was organised in response to the door to door visits to residents' homes but not everyone were home.
Chee submitted petition on Saturday
On Saturday, on the day of the supposed event, Chee wrote that he was informed by a police officer that "a permit was needed for the petition at the void deck".
"As a result, we went door-to-door at Blk 194A to collect the signatures instead," he wrote.
He also wrote: "The petition was submitted at around 4pm today, placed it in the box at Blk 191 where proposals for the Neighbourhood Renewal Programme are collected."Police response to event
In its news release, the police on Saturday warned that organising a public assembly without a permit was illegal.
"Organising or participating in a public assembly without a police permit is illegal and constitutes an offence under the Public Order Act," the police said.
"Given the prevailing Covid-19 situation, an even stricter approach on organised crowd gatherings is being taken."
The police added: "Even in Phase 3 of our reopening, Singapore continues to take a calibrated, cautious and safe approach towards the resumption of events and community activities."
"As Covid-19 continues to pose significant health risks in the community, we urge Singaporeans to observe safe management measures and avoid organising events that may lead to large gathering of crowds, which can put the community at risk."
Jurong-Clementi Town Council responds
In a Facebook post on Feb. 25, JRTC said they had received a letter signed by residents saying "that some persons are going around your blocks asking for signatures to a petition to build a walkway”.
In a letter to residents attached to the Facebook post, JRTC’s general manager Jeffrey Wong said it would "study the feasibility of building the walkway"."We will update you in due course," he added.
All photos by Chee Soon Juan
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