Our Human Rights Day microsite has been updated with the winning entries of our Creative Writing & Poetry competition. Also see photos from the event.
MARUAH extends its thanks to all who submitted entries to the competition, and to everyone who attended the event.
(UPDATE: 3pm, 11 December)
Click link to view a newspaper report on our event by the Straits Times.
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Posted by lee sze yong
http://hrd2011.wordpress.com/
MARUAH has created a microsite for Human Rights Day 2011.
Visit the link above to view the finalists of our Creative Writing and Poetry competition.
We have also posted videos produced by the United Nations on what human rights is all about.
Don’t forget to join us tomorrow, 10th Dec, to celebrate Human Rights Day together with us. You will get to hear from Mr Richard Magnus, the Singapore representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR), find out the winners of our Creative Writing and Poetry competition, and participate in our Open-Mic event.
First 50 individuals get FREE drinks and food!
Date: 10th December 2011
Time: 4-7pm
Venue: Bluejaz cafe 11 Bali Lane, Singapore 189848 (Entrance Via Ophir Road, Next to the Bus Stop after Golden Landmark Hotel) [map]
Please RSVP here.
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Date: 17th December 2011, Saturday
Time: 10am—1pm
Registration starts at 9.30am
Venue: Bras Basah Complex,
#04-41, Chinese Success Media, Action Room [map]
Please RSVP here.
Registration begins at 9.30 am
10am – 10.30am : ASEAN updates, development of Human Rights Agenda in ASEAN
10.30 – 11am : Q n A
11am – 12 noon : Thematic presentations
11.45am – 12.45pm : Breakout Sessions
12.45pm – 1pm : Volunteer with MARUAH
1pm: end of programme
Hello MARUAH friends!
December 10th is Human Rights Day and we’d like to invite you to join us in the celebrations!
We have invited Mr Richard Magnus, the Singapore representative to the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR). You’ll also get to hear what human rights means to our competition winners from the Human Rights Day Creative Writing and Poem Competition.
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MARUAH organised a forum to discuss the perspectives behind why the need to “Occupy” anything, in this case Wall Street. It was a good turnout despite being “occupied by the rain”, said an enthused audience member. Held at the Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), our three esteemed speakers; Mr Leong Sze Hian, Mr Tan Jee Say and Ms Braema Mathi, moderated by Mr Dhamendra Yadav, walked us through the crisis in the US and globally.
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MARUAH has put together a public forum, as part of our focus on seeking a rights-based approach on issues that matter. The importance of such global issues should not be underestimated. As global citizens, it is our role to understand the phenomenon sparked off by popular uprisings in Egypt and Tunisia, the “Arab Spring” of 2011.
Occupy Wall Street (OWS) is a people-powered movement that began on September 17, 2011 in Liberty Square in Manhattan’s Financial District, and has spread to over 100 cities in the United States and actions in over 1,500 cities globally. OWS are fighting back against the corrosive power of major banks and multinational corporations over the democratic process, and the role of Wall Street in creating an economic collapse that has caused the greatest recession in generations.
(Website)
Our 3 esteemed speakers will cover various perspectives on this issue, ranging from financial to human rights perspectives.
Mr Leong Sze Hian, a Financial Service professional and expert, will be presenting the financial perspective of the Occupy Wall Street movement; as well as the Euro crisis and answer the hot question: Are banks too big to fail?
Mr Tan Jee Say, a investment banker and an ex-policymaker, will be speaking from the perspective of policy making and economics – touching on the globalised economy, Free Trade agreements and recovery of debts.
Last but not least, Ms Braema Mathi, President of MARUAH and also the chair of this discussion, will speak from a human rights perspective, introducing frameworks such as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and the “Protect, Respect and Remedy” framework among others within her discussion.
Event details:
Date: 19th November 2011, Saturday
Time: 4pm – 5.30pm
Registration begins at 3.30pm.
Venue: Training Room 2, Singapore Council of Women’s Organisations (SCWO), 96 Waterloo Street, Singapore 187967 (map)
Register for the event here.
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MARUAH organised a seminar on the Internal Security Act (ISA) on 22nd October 2011, as part of its human rights education initiative, to facilitate members of the public to learn more about the ISA.
Assistant Professor Jack Lee from the School of Law, Singapore Management University, brought the seminar attendees through the history of the ISA.
The Emergency Regulations Ordinance, introduced in 1948, had to be reviewed at regular intervals, and reissued if deemed necessary. This was then replaced by the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance, after the 1955 Hock Lee Bus riots. The ISA was enacted in Malaya in 1960. When Singapore joined Malaysia in 1963, the ISA was incorporated into Singapore law. After separation in 1965, the ISA was retained.
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On 15th October 2011, MARUAH organised a public consultation on the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration to provide information on the drafting process, and also to solicit comments from the public on what should be included in the Declaration.
Ms Braema Mathi, president of MARUAH, started the session by providing a historical overview of human rights in ASEAN, beginning with the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action in 1993, and culminating with the establishment of the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) in 2009.
Read the rest of this entry »
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The act of execution is inhumane in itself. Being on Death Row inflicts extreme psychological suffering not only on the prisoner, but also on the family. It also impacts society – dehumanising us as we leave it to the State to mete out the extreme punishment. If there is a miscarriage of justice, the death penalty ensures that there is no room for any correction as it is irreversible and irreparable.
On the World Day Against the Death Penalty, MARUAH joins many other global voices to ask for a review and more immediately, a moratorium on the death penalty. MARUAH believes that the death penalty is inconsistent with prevailing customary international law, but accepts that Singapore and Singaporeans may not be ready to agree to a total repeal of the death penalty. However, the mandatory death penalty, especially in drug cases, clearly breaches human rights norms, and so must be immediately repealed. Read more here on our earlier report to the Human Rights Council for the Universal Periodic Review.
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MARUAH invites you to its next human rights education initiative, where you will get the opportunity to learn more about the Internal Security Act (ISA) and direct questions to a panel of legal practitioners.
Assistant Professor Jack Lee from the School of Law, Singapore Management University, will review the history of the ISA, the regime for detention without trial under the ISA, and the legal challenges to the legality of detention under the ISA in the late 1980s and early 1990s following Operation Spectrum. Mr Peter Low, former President of the Law Society of Singapore, will provide a practical perspective to the implementation of the ISA, particularly highlighting his experience appearing before an ISA Advisory Board as a defence lawyer. Mr Choo Zhengxi, a MARUAH member (and also co-founder of The Online Citizen) will talk about the ISA from a rights-based perspective. There will then be a Q&A session with the attendees chaired by Mr P N Balji, former Editor-In-Chief of TODAY newspaper.
Event details
Date: 22nd October 2011, Saturday
Time: 10 am to 11.30 am
Location: Bras Basah Complex, #04-41, CSM, Action Room [Map]
Registration begins at 9.30 am. To register, please click here.
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