S'pore democracy rally hailed as a success

S'pore democracy rally hailed as a success

SINGAPORE (AP): Organizers of the first anti-government rally in Singapore hailed the event as a step forward for democracy, despite the suspected presence of government surveillance teams.

Civil rights activist James Gomez, whose group The Think Center, organized the Saturday night event, said two men were spotted taking videos of the crowd and the table where money was collected from the sale of books, T-shirts and stickers.

"We noticed there was very tight surveillance," Gomez told The Associated Press on Sunday. "We had photos taken of these people."

About 2,000 people heard speaker after speaker denounce the ruling People's Action Party and demand civil liberty for Singaporeans.

The rally at an open-air sports stadium was the first of its kind since Singapore became independent 35 years ago.

"Cast off this fear! Wake up out of your apathy!" declared the country's leading opposition politician, Joshua "J.B.J." Jeyaretnam, to enthusiastic applause on Saturday.

Speaker after speaker denounced the ruling People's Action Party and demanded civil liberty for Singaporeans, who enjoy one of Asia's highest standards of living but who live under some of the world's strictest laws.

The rally was to show support and raise funds for Jeyaretnam, who faces ouster from the 93-seat Parliament. His is one of only three seats held by the opposition.

"The state has become ... a monster," Jeyaretnam said. "Some people in this country begin to think that this is normal. It is not normal. It's abnormal for a government to behave like this."

It was the first time a civil rights group has organized such a large political rally openly critical of the government. Police initially denied the activists a permit to hold the rally, but relented after organizers agreed to hire their own security guards to maintain order.

Gomez said the organizers had been expecting government surveillance, and set up its own counter-surveillance team.

He said his team caught police officers -- hired as security guards -- reporting the ethnic composition of the crowd to their command center.

"We will take this up with them when we have a debriefing meeting," said Gomez, adding that would take place later in the week.

Police initially denied the activists a permit to hold the rally, but relented after organizers agreed to hire police and their own security guards to maintain order.

Singapore police said in a statement Sunday that there "were no law and order problems throughout the event."

Gomez said they were told to hire 13 police and supply 18 of their own guards for the expected crowd of 3,000 to 5,000.

The rally was organized to show support and raise funds for opposition politician Joshua "J.B.J." Jeyaretnam, who faces ouster from Parliament.

Jeyaretnam was recently declared a bankrupt after failing to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars he owes in defamation lawsuits brought by senior government officials and their supporters.

He is appealing the decision which could see him lose his seat, one of only three held by the opposition. Under Singapore's constitution, a bankrupt cannot hold a seat in the legislature.

Critics accuse Singapore of using defamation lawsuits against politicians and journalists as a political tool. However, the government says the suits are necessary to protect officials' reputations.

Gomez said the final tally of how much money was raised from the sale of merchandise would not be known until later in the week. But it is believed to be "modest."