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Singapore's tough stance on human rights, however, does not negate the long and persistent existence of a human rights society that exists almost unknown to the world. The focus of this book is on independent activists and writers, documenting this tradition in Singapore society that has a legacy of defending universal values of individual human rights. It uncovers their discourses, main contentions, campaigns, survival strategies, prominent activists and their untold stories during Singapore's first 50 years of independence.
List of contents
List of Figures
List of Tables
Acknowledgement
Foreword
Introduction
Chapter 1 Tracing the History of the Anti-Death Penalty Movements in Singapore
Chapter 2 Inhuman Punishment and Human Rights Activism in the Little Red Dot
Chapter 3 Singapore's Press for Freedom: Between Media Regulation and Activism
Chapter 4 Activism on Arbitrary Detention, the Suspension of Law
Chapter 5 Socio-Economic Rights Activism in Singapore
Chapter 6 Shifting boundaries: state-society relations and activism on migrant worker rights in Singapore
Chapter 7 Against a Teleological Reading of the Advancement of Women's Rights in Singapore
Chapter 8 LGBTQ Activism in Singapore
Chapter 9 Navigating Through the 'Rules' of Civil Society: In search of disability rights in Singapore
Index
About the author
Jiyoung Song is Director of Migration and Border Protection at the Lowy Institute in Sydney and joins the Asia Institute of the University of Melbourne in July 2017.
Summary
To celebrate Singapore’s fiftieth anniversary for its independence from Malaysia in 2015, 35 students, academics and activists came together to discuss and write about pioneering Singaporean human rights activists and their under-reported stories in Singapore. The city-state is known for its remarkable economic success while having strict laws on individual freedom in the name of national security, public order and racial harmony. Singapore’s tough stance on human rights, however, does not negate the long and persistent existence of a human rights society that is little known to the world until today. This volume, composed of nine distinctive chapters, records a history of human rights activists, their campaigns, main contentions with the government, survival strategies and other untold stories in Singapore’s first 50 years of state-building.
