Human Rights Day Walk 10.Dec.2006

Below: Google Earth satellite image of the path taken on 10.Dec.2006 FREEDOM WALK for International Human Rights Day. CLICK MAP TO ENLARGE.

Below: The Freedom Walk launching & departure from HongLim Park Speakers Cornered.

Below: The Freedom Walk reached Istana.

Below: Chee Siok Chin; Gandhi & Privin sending Human Rights Days message to President at Istana on 10.Dec.2006 as a part of Freedom Walk activity. International press & photographers were also there to cover the event.

Below: Plainclothe Police filming activist outside Istana, this is one of the 5 police camera teams, each team as 2 plainclothe police men. 4 other teams beside this one was positioned along the road directly opposite Istana gate pointing camera this way towards us at the gate of Istana.

Below: Chee Siok Chin; Gandhi & Privin sending Human Rights Days message to President at Istana on 10.Dec.2006 as a part of Freedom Walk activity. International press & photographers were also there to cover the event.

Below: After waiting for 7 minutes the Senior Officer in white shirt came out from Istana to receive the Freedom Walker' Human Rights Day message on behalf of President.

Below: The Freedom Walk reached Borders at junction of Orchard Rd & Scotts Rd.

Below: Night fall - the Freedom Walkers finally reached destination Queenstown Remand Prison from HongLim Park.

• Reuters' News 1
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• AFP News 1
• AFP News 2
• 146th News1
• Forum Photo Album 1
• Yahoo Reuters' Photo1
• 146th TODAY PDF
• The Nation news page

The police failed in stopping the Freedom Walkers this time:

They tried but had failed to stop the activists. They didn't try in the busy city e.g. HongLim Park; Bras Basah Rd; Orchard Rd; Tangling, but they only send cars and 2 men on foot to tail each of our walking teams. I belive our transportation cars which fetch the others to the relay points were also tailed by police cars.

During the last lap of the relay, Miss Chee & Mrs Chee were not on foot because they were taking Dr. Chee's children on car to wait at Queenstown Prison. Several organizers were also taking car to prison directly. Mr. Gandhi & myself were on foot all the way from HongLim. But none of us both are part of the organizing meeting because were were in jail at the time these guys held meetings to organize this walk.

Mr. Gandhi had to take a toilet break as we pass by Tanglin Mall, actually to remove his inner T-shirt as he got warmer after long walking. As a result, we ended up stopping for few minutes at the mall, and thus the originally distanced and seperated small teams got aggrigated together and as we departed from Tanglin Mall again, the police would had seen us as almost a large group of about a dozen walkers.

So I noticed at least 2 police patrol cars kept tagging alone as we walked Tanglin / Kay Siang Road, and their camera teams began to film and tail us very closely. Later, some 8 plainclothes were dropped off by a police van behind us, and tail us very close. I signaled my observations immidiately.

Mr Gandhi was the front most walker along the remote Tanglin / Kay Siang road. I ran up to him to inform him about the suddent large number of matas tailing behind. As the matas saw me changing from walking to running, they also began to run up from behind passing the other walkers. They went up ahead of Gandhi, as I moved backwards to inform other walkers to break up into smaller groups less than 4 persons and maintain distance between groups. I also told activists not to stop if some of us got stopped, just proceed to Queenstown Remand Prison via any routes or detours, don't stop just to watch them stoppin some of us.

As I past messages around, I saw an ASP in plainclothe from Tanglin mata-chu stopping Mr. Gandhi, but like I expected, he only managed to speak to Gandhi for 1 to 2 minutes, and Gandhi managed to proceed on, so did the rest of us. 4 other plainclothes were assisting next to that ASP when they stopped Gandhi.

I found out later that matas told Gandhi that he was taking part in an Illegal Assembly, and demanded him to disperse, this was denied by Gandhi, and he insisted that he was walking alone far enough from the rest, and there was no assembly as we are all just walking along a public road.

The matas failed to stop Gandhi as well as any of us. We proceed along Tanglin / Kay Siang Rd, and then right-turn into Margrat Drive & then the Queenstown Remand Prison smoothly as the night also fall.

Police car tailed up & down along Kay Siang Rd, and they had their van picked up most of their men on foot after failing to stop us. They set up tripod video camera outside prison's visiting center to film us for about an hour. We used digital camera & handphone to photo them.

There was a red colored private plate car - old Honda Accord, stopping at busstop near prison to observe us, it had camera flash light as Francis & myself past it when we went out to buy drinks for all the activists. I went behind this car with digital camera to take few pictures, and immediately it drove off. There were 4 people inside that car, could be either ISD from Pheonix Park or some press camera team.

:-)

Freedom Walk was a success, printed photos were given to Dr. Chee in prison yesterday during his family visit, I think he would be very happy about this.