WTC Wrap: 5 September 2026

No idea what's in the air (apart from haze) at the moment that has made the police come alive like this, but we really could have done without it 😒

(1)

After leaving some investigations hanging for ages, the police have suddenly started calling people in. Some have received warnings, others charges. Among them are long-time cop favourite (🙃) Jolovan Wham and Elijah Tay.

On Thursday, Jolovan was handed five more charges:

• Three counts under the Public Order Act for participating in unauthorised public assemblies, i.e. vigils for death row prisoners who were about to be executed
• One count under the Public Order Act for organising a public assembly in a prohibited area without permit, i.e. a group photo outside the State Courts
• One count under Section 179 of the Penal Code for refusing to answer a public servant authorised to question, i.e. choosing not to comment or respond to questions posed by the police officer during questioning

These five join two other Public Order Act charges (also for vigils for death row prisoners) that had previously been stood down and for which trial dates need to be set. And that is on top of the three counts under the Public Order Act of which he's already been convicted, and is in the process of appealing to the higher court.

Meanwhile, these are Elijah's nine charges:

• Four counts under the Public Order Act for participating in public assemblies without permit, i.e. vigils for death row prisoners, a collective letter delivery to the Ministry of Home Affairs in June 2024
• One count under the Public Order Act for participating in a public assembly in a prohibited area without authorisation, i.e. a group photo outside the State Courts
• One count under the Public Order Act for organising a public assembly without permission, i.e. a January 2025 memorial made up of shoes for Palestinian students killed in Gaza
• Two counts under Section 179 of the Penal Code for refusing to answer a public servant authorised to question
• One count under Section 298A of the Penal Code for promoting enmity between groups on racial grounds, i.e. for having chanted "from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free"

Other actions that the authorities have decided to prosecute others for include flying kites featuring the names of murdered Palestinian children at Marina Barrage, and also the Istana letter delivery action that Kokila, Sobi, and Camira had been put on trial for (they'd originally been acquitted, but the High Court overturned that decision).

It's unclear why we're seeing a flurry of warnings and charges coming from the police now, for a variety of investigations opened at different times and left hanging with little to no update for long periods of time. It's also hard to follow the logic of how the authorities are deciding who to summon to the police station, who to charge, and what for. But all of this coming at once certainly causes a lot of stress and overwhelm for those who are now facing charges, and for the abolitionist and pro-Palestine movements (where there is, unsurprisingly, plenty of overlap) as a whole.

I'm also particularly surprised by the charges slapped on Jolovan and Elijah for refusing to answer a public servant's questions. I've not seen anyone charged under this section of the Penal Code before. Many of us have received advice from lawyers to say "no comment" in response to questions, and it's something we've all done for years. Are the authorities now taking the position that doing so is a criminal offence?

Under Section 22 of the Criminal Procedure Code, a person being questioned has the right to exercise the privilege against self-incrimination, meaning that they have the right not to say anything that might expose them to criminal charges or penalties. However, the police are under no obligation to inform them of this right and, unlike what we see in all those American police procedurals, people being questioned in Singapore aren't allowed to have lawyers with them. Without legal counsel to look out for their rights and interests, the cleanest way for the average person to not inadvertently incriminate themselves is to say "no comment" in response to questions. (That said, if the case does end up going to court, a judge might draw an adverse inference against them for not having brought things up earlier. This, the police does inform people of during questioning 😒) If people now have to fear that saying "no comment" will expose them to more criminal charges, yet don't have the legal knowledge or mental equilibrium in the interrogation room to figure out how to answer questions in a way that stops short of self-incrimination, then how can we say that this right exists or is meaningful in any way?

Elijah, Jolovan, and the others will have to present themselves in court next week, and will have some time to decide how they want to plead in all the charges that they're facing. Jolovan's court mentions are at 10am, Court 4B in the State Courts on Monday, while Elijah's are at 10am on Wednesday, also at Court 4B.

(2)

Why is Singapore always so proud of the most dystopian shit? The Singapore Prison Service is launching a three-month trial, starting from October, of a pepper-spraying robot to patrol prisons and intervene in fights. The 157-cm, 510kg monster is named Prisons RObot To Eradicate Conflicts and Threats (PROTECT), because cringeworthy acronyms are basically the height of wit in Singaporean government agencies. On top of its ability to shoot pepper spray at people, the robot can also livestream video and audio to extend the range of surveillance within the prison.

Here's some footage of what the robot looks like and what it'll do:

It really boggles my mind that anyone could look at this and think, ah the wonders of technology, this is going to be lovely and good for everyone and not at all dystopian and gross! In their press release, the Singapore Prison Service attempts to perform such an act of mental gymnastics but framing the pepper-spraying monstrosity as something that helps to create "a more conducive environment for rehabilitation and enables officers to devote more time to meaningful inmate engagement". Honestly, this sort of corporatised gaslighting just makes it even more dystopian 🫠🫠🫠

Like please, I've seen Doctor Who.

(3)

Where are Singaporean men when it comes to gender equality? The Association of Women for Action and Research (AWARE) recently released the findings of an online survey conducted with 1,084 men (97% Singaporean citizens, 3% Permanent Residents) on their attitudes on gender, family, and society.

Some key findings:

• 37% of respondents are of the view that a man cannot be expected to stop sexual activity if the woman changes her mind. More than 33% believe that men who are sexually aroused "cannot control themselves".
• 67% of respondents believe that a woman who flirts is at least partially responsible for whatever subsequently happens
• 55% of respondents think that a woman who dresses "provocatively" is partly to blame if she gets harassed
• 70% of respondents say they hide emotions like anxiety, stress, sadness or fear. 64% say they feel pressured to meet "masculine" ideals.

There's more, so I recommend taking a closer look at the full report. It shows that we, as a society, have a long long way to go to changing patriarchal and sexist mindsets and attitudes that not only hurt women, but also men.

Music for the weekend! RIP Dolly Parton