a few incidents during this election campaign season has bothered me. let's just list them first:

1. PAP supporter filming a NSP walkabout
2. SDP posters being taken down
3. Car with NSP flag vandalised
4. NSP supporters wearing orange not allowed to use community center's toilets

it just got me wondering - how much of this is acting on instructions from higher up, and how much of it is acting out of the initiative of those down below. Siew Kum Hong described a situation that we are not too unfamiliar with - PAP supporters running ahead of the PAP candidate to prepare the people to receive the candidate. i wonder if this is how they wanted it done, or did it emerge out of the enthusiasm of the supporters, or is it an evolution of something that was done in the past. it could be that in the past, it was a way of being more efficient and effective in doing election walkabouts, but as time passed, and the PAP became more and more elitist, it became more like the emperor visiting rather than your election candidate dropping by. i cannot imagine the candidate telling his/her supporters to go ahead and get people to cheer for him/her when he/she arrive. really.

so these actions that are taking place, are they due to the over-enthusiasm from the ground level? some thought must have been given to it - you don't show up with a lorry to take down signs on a whim, or carry a tin of white paint with you wherever you go. what is the objective of these actions?

i have had my own brushes with being under surveillance - every Indignation event i was involved in, we were watched. i arrived early in the morning at the Singapore River, only to see more than 10 men in black polo tshirts (see this ancient post). but there comes a time when people stop being afraid. i remember the lesbian women who marched out of 72-13 after one event and surrounded the car that was spying on us. they took pictures of the car, the car plate, and even the driver inside. i wonder who was more afraid then.

it is when we expose such devious and insidious tactics of attempting to intimidate and strike fear in people that we learn that we are not alone in this. that there are people who are willing to link hands with you to say enough is enough. these tactics only work when people yield to fear. what happens when they are no longer afraid? these tactics only serve to fuel their indignation and their determination to resist.

i would have wished i was there at the community center. because i would have insisted to have the name of the person who refused my access to the toilet. only those who have done wrong who needs to be afraid of giving their names - those with clear consciences and nothing to hide have nothing to fear.