Singapore police investigate ruling party MP over alleged illegal public assembly

Louis Ng of the People’s Action Party visited a hawker centre last June and posted photographs of himself holding a placard that read ‘support them’

Under Singapore’s Public Order Act, all forms of protest – including single-person demonstrations – are illegal without a police permit

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Singapore MP Louis Ng during his visit to the hawker centre in June last year. Photo: Facebook

Published: 3:29pm, 3 Mar 2021Updated: 6:58pm, 3 Mar 2021

A lawmaker from Singapore’s ruling People’s Action Party is being investigated for allegedly taking part in an illegal public assembly, according to a Wednesday police statement.

In June last year, member of parliament Louis Ng visited a hawker centre and took photographs of himself holding a placard that read “Support Them”, accompanied by a smiley face.

Singapore’s Public Order Act bars all forms of protest, including single-person demonstrations, that are held without a police permit – with the exception of those at the Speakers’ Corner area in Hong Lim Park. Under the act, anyone convicted of organising or participating in a public assembly without a permit can be fined up to S$5,000 (US$3,750).

In their statement, the police said they had interviewed Ng and investigations were ongoing.

Ng on Wednesday posted on Facebook that he had been on a “regular walkabout” around his constituency of Nee Soon last year, close to the end of Singapore’s two-month partial lockdown, or so-called circuit breaker, to curb the spread of Covid-19 – during which dining out was banned.

“I was there to make sure our hawkers were doing okay. As we all know, they suffered badly during the circuit breaker,” Ng said. “I also wanted to urge our residents to support our hawkers and held a sign indicating this and took photos together with the hawkers.”