Five 17-year-youths are set to be charged for vandalism on Saturday, for their suspected involvement in the rooftop graffiti case in Toa Payoh.
I expected the vandals to be caught, but I did not expect them to be 17.
Most 17 year olds in Singapore are politically apathetic and in their own world..
I wonder what caused these guys to commit such an act?
“Government can’t give us freedom..”
“Wake Up, SG”
These are some of the slogans that the boys sprayed. This isn’t vandalism, this is an act of protest with a message that they want to send across.
As a fellow 17 year old, I respect their guts.
I hope they will not be served a harsh sentence.
“The five suspects will be charged in Court on 10 May 2014 for the offense of Vandalism with Common Intention under Sec 3 of the Vandalism Act, Cap 341 read with Sec 34 of the Penal Code. This offence carries a punishment of imprisonment of up to three years or fine up to S$2,000, and shall also, subject to Sec 325(1) and 330(1) of the Criminal Procedure Code 2010, be punished with at least three strokes of the cane.” - Singapore Police Force
Would their sentence be harsher than usual because they targeted the PAP?
I hope they put up a good fight if there isn’t concrete evidence and they get their legal right to counsel.
This incident may be an isolated one on paper, but all around Singapore more and more youths are waking up and becoming more conscious about the things that are happening around them.
These guys may not be able to vote, but they sure do care about the future of Singapore. To Youths out there, if you want to send a message and get involved, joining the Youth Wing of your Political Party might be a good idea.
Let’s not commit rash acts and fight the right way.
Like JB Jeyaratnam said, there is a place for Civil Disobedience, but the time has not come yet.
These guys risked caning, a 3 year sentence and even risked death just to send their message across.
I hope that there will be no caning or any other forms of Corporal Punishment in their sentence. I don’t support Vandalism but I believe they resorted to Vandalism because of the lack of free speech or a viable alternative for them to broadcast their message across.
I will be listening closely to what sentence they dish out for these boys. It can be another opportunity to instil fear in the youth, it also can be an opportunity for them to show mercy and openness.
Netizens have remarked that these men could hold a rally at Hong Lim instead, but how many Singaporeans would actually head down there to listen to them?
Or watch videos of what they have said after the event?
Not many. Maybe this was why they thought spraying slogans at the top of the HDB flats would be the best way to reach out to as many Singaporeans as possible.
Attention was the last thing these guys wanted. For them to do this even before serving NS, was it a result of our education system? Or was it a result of them witnessing their parents struggling?
What pushed them to the edge?
What actually caused them to commit such an risky act? This is something for us to reflect on. This isn’t simply vandalism, and if you treat is as such, more incidents will happen again in the near future. This is an act of protest.. this is a glimpse of the future.
I want to hear a statement from the boys.
These guys can’t vote but they sure did send a strong message across. I hope Singapore got the message loud and clear.
Do not let their message go unheard!
Wake Up, Singapore..
p.s.: Image credit to respective owners
