The arrest of a 70-year-old Singaporean man last week has seen the collision of freedoms expressed under constitutional law with new laws that give police arbitrary powers.Singapore’s Public Order Bill, introduced in April this year, was invoked for the first time for the arrest of Chua Eng Chwee on Oct. 14.
Chua, a Falun Gong practitioner, was meditating at Esplanade Park near the Suntec Singapore Convention Center—the upcoming Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) venue—when removed under the move on law.
The move on law allows police to order people to leave a place for up to 24 hours. If they return within that time, as Chua did, they may be arrested.
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