Tag: Thaipusam

K Shanmugam: Hindu Endowment Board Should Find Out Wishes Of The People

Calls for musical accompaniment at the Thaipusam festival should be looked into, said Minister for Law K Shanmugam, speaking at the recording of MediaCorp’s Tamil current affairs programme Ethiroli.

“We should find out the wishes of the people. The Hindu Endowments Board will see how we can fulfil their wishes. They have to consult the people and see how to proceed,” said Mr Shanmugam.

Edited excerpts from the interview which will be aired on Wednesday at Feb 11, 9pm on Vasantham:

Foot processions have been banned since 1964, following riots. But the Hindu festivals Thaipusam, Panguni Uthiram and Firewalking have been exempted from this ban. Can you explain this?

Following the racial riots in 1964, it was thought that there should be no religious foot processions in a multi-racial, multi-religious society like ours. Hence a law was enacted to ban all religious foot processions.

However, Hindus were given an exemption, and since 1964 the government has allowed street processions during three Hindu festivals – Thaipusam, Thimithi and Panguni Uthiram.

Others have asked for similar permission for processions. The Catholics have asked. The Chinese have asked. We’ve received applications asking permission for processions during Prophet Mohammed’s birthday. The Government, the police have rejected these applications citing the ban. Only Hindus have been given permission.

At the same time, it’s fair that everyone expects the Hindus to conduct these foot processions in an orderly manner. We should find out the wishes of the people. The Hindu Endowments Board will see how we can fulfil their wishes. They have to consult the people and see how to proceed. The police have to agree to this.

Musical instruments were allowed during Thaipusam several years ago. Why not now? Can this rule be relaxed?

The ban on playing music during processions was imposed 42 years ago in 1973. Sometimes there has been music. They may not have enforced the rule very strictly. In some years, they would have enforced it strictly. But the ban has been there since 1973.

Over the last few years there has been a gradual relaxation of the restrictions. The Hindu Endowments Board relaxed some of the restrictions within the temple premises. And outside the temple, the police also have been assisting in whatever ways they can.

At the same time it is true that many believe that our Kavadi bearers should have music accompaniment. So it’s fair that many ask why music accompaniment is being banned. It’s something that we have to look into.

These restrictions are in place because there are concerns that in a multi-racial society, the lack of restrictions may lead to problems. In fact these restrictions are a result of incidents in the past. If we are confident that they will not happen again, if we are able to assess it confidently, then we should say it. The Hindu Endowments Board should consult with the people. It should then discuss with police.

Catch the full interview on Ethiroli at Feb 11, 9pm, on Vasantham.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 12, 2015
AGC Warns Public Comments On Case Of Three Singaporeans Arrested During Thaipusam Is Sub Judice

In the wake of the arrest of three Singaporeans for various offencesallegedly committed during a Thaipusam procession on Feb 3, the Attorney-General’s Chambers on Wednesday (Feb 11) issued a reminder warning against public comments, including on the Internet, as such statements may be sub judice contempt of court.

The accused face various charges, ranging from disorderly conduct to voluntarily causing hurt to a police officer. The three – Ramachandra Chandramohan, 32, Jaya Kumar Krishnasamy, 28, and Gunasegaran Rajendran, 33 – are out on bail and will appear in court again on Mar 6.

Said the AGC in a press release on Wednesday: “As criminal proceedings are currently before the Courts, we would like to remind the public that statements made may be sub judice contempt of court, if the statements are calculated to affect the judicial process and there is a real risk of prejudice being caused to the ongoing proceedings.”

Under sub judice laws, commenting on a case being considered by the court may be considered interference with due process.

“All parties are advised to refrain from making any public comments, or posting any statements on the Internet on these matters which may have that effect, pending final determination of the legal proceedings by the Courts,” the AGC added.

“The Attorney-General’s Chambers takes a serious view of statements made which are calculated to interfere with the integrity of the administration of justice. Anyone who has information on the case should send it to the Police.”

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 11, 2015
Law Society Orders M Ravi To Stop Legal Practice Pending Medical Examination

The Law Society of Singapore has ordered lawyer M Ravi to stop his legal practice pending a medical examination.

“The Council of the Law Society has received information relating to Mr M Ravi’s impaired fitness to practise and has issued a direction that Mr Ravi stop his legal practice pending a medical examination pursuant to Section 25C(7) of the Legal Profession Act (Cap 161, 2009 Ed),” said the Law Society in response to media queries on Tuesday (Feb 10).

Mr Ravi had reportedly been diagnosed since 2006 with bipolar disorder — which is punctuated by episodes of mania and depression — and was suspended from practising for a year in 2006.

When contacted by TODAY, Mr Ravi said he previously saw his doctor last Monday and he was not uncertified unfit for practice. He added he submitted his monthly medical report two weeks ago stating that he is well and also successfully argued a magistrates’ appeal a few days ago.

“My doctor has not certified me unfit for practice, therefore this comes as a surprise,” said Mr Ravi, in a text message. “I’m consulting my psychiatrist today and will sort this out.”

Separately, the wife of one of the three men charged with disorderly behaviour at the Thaipusam procession on Feb 3, R Angelina, sent an email to the media on Tuesday saying that she had filed an application to the High Court on Feb 5 regarding the Thaipusam incident.

The application listed the Attorney-General, the Hindu Endowments Board and Law Minister K Shanmugam among the defendents. Mr Ravi is listed as the solicitor in charge of the application.

In response, the Attorney-General’s Chambers said it has filed an application to strike out Ms Angelina’s application.

“The Attorney-General’s Chambers has filed an application on behalf of the Attorney-General and the Minister for Law to strike out the Plaintiff’s application on the grounds that it discloses no reasonable cause of action, is scandalous, frivolous and vexatious, and is an abuse of process,” it said in a media release on Tuesday.

Source: www.channelnewsasia.com

February 11, 2015
In Solidarity With Singaporean Indians – Make Thaipusam A Public Holiday!

There has been a lot of talk recently about making Thaipusam – an annual Hindu festival event celebrated by the Tamil community here – a public holiday.

We have four races here and though Deepavali is celebrated as a public holiday, Thaipusam which is an important Hindu day in the Tamil community calender is not officially gazetted as a public holiday yet.

In Singapore, every major race is given two days of religious or cultural holiday. The Chinese have Chinese New Year (CNY), which lasts for two days. Malays, who are predominantly Muslim, are given holidays for Hari Raya Haji and Hari Raya Puasa. Indians are given Deepavali and Vesak Day. Hence, Thaipusam could not be made a holiday for Indian Hindu.

Vesak Day which is a Buddhist religion is strangely been gazetted as a Indian holiday though very few Indians celebrate.

17,000 signatures were collected to date to petition online for Thaipusam to be made a public holiday here:-

https://www.change.org/p/mdm-halimah-yacob-make-thaipusam-a-religious-holiday-in-singapore

There is also this recent controversy whereby three Indians were arrested for disorderly behaviour during the recent Thaipusam when the police was called upon to enforce a ancient 1973 law which disallows the use of musical instruments for kavadi carriers.

In response to the arrest, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Law K Shanmugam made an effort to explain why musical instruments were disallowed during the Thaipusam’s foot procession, citing the 1964 riots as the main reason for imposing such an ancient law.

We hope that with the recent arrest, the government will look closely into allowing musical instruments to be played during Thaipusam foot procession under limited conditions.

This event hopes to unite all Singaporeans to support our smallest minority race to petition for Thaipusam to be made a public holiday – as only 9% of the population is make up of Indians.

We agree with the online petition statement that –

Thaipusam should be made a holiday in Singapore from 2016 in the interest of fairness to all races in Singapore.

Let us come together and speak with one voice – though we have 4 races but we are first Singaporeans!

Singaporeans supporting Singaporeans.

Gilbert Goh
Event Organiser

Editor’s note: We will co-operate with NParks and the police to ensure that the event will be carried out smoothly.

Source: Gilbert Goh

February 10, 2015
Woman Lodges Police Report Against Three Police Officers For Pushing Her To The Ground During Thaipusam Fracas

A woman in Singapore has reportedly lodged a police report alleging three police officers of pushing her onto the ground during a scuffle that led to three men, including her husband, arrested for rowdy behaviour.

The men were arrested during the annual Hindu Thaipusam procession last Tuesday, and charged with disorderly behaviour.

The incident, where the woman was at as well, allegedly occurred at the junction of Serangoon Road and Desker Road, when three men were arrested for allegedly disrupting, in a rowdy manner, police efforts to stop a group from playing music to accompany kavadi carriers in the area.

A video clip of the incident, uploaded by sociopolitical site The Online Citizen, showed a woman falling to the ground at one point.

Responding to media queries about the report filed, police reportedly said in a statement that a 30-year-old Indian female had lodged it on Wednesday.

“(She) alleged that three officers had hit or pushed her on 3 February 2015 at Desker Road, during the Thaipusam procession,” the statement said while confirming that she is the wife of one of the three accused of disorderly behaviour at the scene, as quoted by Channel NewsAsia.

“Police take a serious view of any allegation against its officers and will investigate each case thoroughly,” the police continued. “However, if the allegations are found to be false, appropriate action, in accordance with our laws, will be taken against any persons found to have furnished false information to the Police.”

Read more about the scuffle that took place at the Thaipusam festival procession here.

Source: https://sg.news.yahoo.com

February 9, 2015