Mr Sinapan Samydorai sends out fierce e-mail on human rights critical of the Singapore Gov- ernment. But as Chua Mui Hoong finds out, the president of activist group Think Centre is a mild-mannered man with a simple lifestyle who believes in working within the system
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HIS NICHE IS HUMAN RIGHTS: 'Partisan politics suits some people, not me,' says Mr Sinapan, 49, who wants to educate Singaporeans on basic human rights. |
MR SINAPAN Samydorai's social conscience was fired in the crucible of Jurong factories in the 1960s.
He grew up in a village 'with near slum conditions' in Boon Lay, where answering the call of nature required a trek to the outhouse.
As a young boy, he tagged along when the parish priest visited factories after an industrial accident, counselling workers and working with them to get better conditions.
It inspired him. Later, he joined the Young Christian Workers (YCW) movement, a Catholic lay organisation advocating for workers, and became its president. One of its activities in the mid-'80s was a survey and report which opposed the change of labour laws to allow 12-hour shifts.
His father worked in the same brickworks factory all his life. Mum is a devout Catholic who hoped to see her eldest son get out of grinding poverty and become a teacher or some other 'white collar' worker.
Today, he's a human rights activist, taking up consulting and training projects for regional non-governmental organisations (NGOs) related to migrant worker and human rights issues. His work as president of activist group Think Centre is voluntary and unpaid.
It took a while, but his mother eventually realised her son did end up with a 'white collar' job - albeit one unconventional by Singapore standards.
For Mr Sinapan, though, being an activist is a career that has consumed him all his adult life. After full-time national service, he worked as a salesman, then in a factory, before finding his vocation working in YCW, the Catholic NGO.
From there, he went to Hong Kong in 1987, the same year one of the YCW staff was arrested as part of a group accused of a Marxist plot to overthrow the Government.
He remained in Hong Kong for 12 years, returning in 1999 because of his children's education. He became Think Centre president in May 2001.
His self-appointed task: the slow, uphill job of educating Singaporeans on the importance of human rights.
Tomorrow, for example, the centre is organising a forum to mark Human Rights Day, which falls on Dec. 10.
"Human Rights" is a term the 49-year-old Singaporean uses loosely, encapsulating everything from knowing who to turn to when you're in need [right to poverty alleviation programmes]; to creating jobs [right to decent livelihood]; to knowing what the police can and cannot do to you if you're arrested [protection against abuse by the state].
"People don't know their rights here. It's a long haul process, not a short cut you can achieve by joining a political party," says Sinapan Samydorai, who is one of the four founding members of the five-year-old Think Centre. It was formed as a business first, and then registered as a society in October 2001.
According to its website, it wants to promote awareness about human rights. It also wants human rights education in schools.
Mr.Sinapan Samydorai says, half wistfully, half hopefully, several times during the interview that "human rights education is the role of the state."
He knows that the Peope's Action Party government which has ruled Singapore for 45 years, and stresses civic responsibility more than human rights, wouldn't agree.
Asked why Think Centre doesn't take up the cudgels and conduct public education programmes itself, he points out that an outfit surviving on goodwill donations with "less than $800 in the bank the moment" can't do much on a mass scale.
As a society regulated by the Registrar of Political Donations, it is barred from accepting foreign funding. Anonymous donations are capped at $5,000 a year. The centre doesn't have its own premises.
With the odd Children's Day exhibition here ('using paper flowers costs less than $100'), a talk there, a letter-writing campaign using e-mail, and a website, Mr Sinapan hopes to pass on the message that human rights matter.
He also wants to let Singaporeans see that being involved in politics need not mean becoming politicians.
'We want to make the point that it's okay to occupy the political space available, that you can do things like organise exhibitions, be politically active, and not get arrested, even if the impact is not big, even if the media doesn't publicise it.
'We want to set a precedent that if you go through the procedures, work within the law, you can do things.'
Flashy acts of civil disobedience are not for him. 'You don't achieve much by sitting in a jail,' he says.
As even he acknowledges, Think Centre has made little impact in educating citizens about their rights.
But it has managed to chalk up a profile for itself, starting from the days when Mr James Gomez was executive director. In April 2001, it drew flak for its April Fool joke announcement that it would contest the General Election.
It's been mentioned by two prime ministers in their annual National Day Rally speeches: in an admonitory tone by Mr Goh Chok Tong in 2001 for its 'one-sided' criticism of the Government, and by Mr Lee Hsien Loong this August when he announced relaxation of rules on exhibitions held at Speakers' Corner.
Mr Sinapan said some among the 30-odd members, 'freaked out' at the glare of publicity.
He himself saw the mentions as a sign that Think Centre had attained a 'national level'. As for PM Lee's jocular reference to Think Centre's campaign to 'plant a hundred flowers', he said:
'I was quite happy he used us as an example, even as a joke in a healthy sense. It's good to be able to laugh at ourselves sometimes.'
Despite its high profile, Mr Sinapan himself has 'not had a chance' to speak with or meet Mr Lee or Mr Goh, or any one high up in Government.
He says he did meet Dr Tan Cheng Bock, when his sister got retrenched and he accompanied her to seek the MP's assistance.
Will he enter electoral politics?
He pooh-poohs the suggestion that it's a natural transition, from being president of the activist group Think Centre to entering opposition politics.
'Politics is not just about joining political parties. We want to promote basic rights and we need a different, non-partisan strategy. That is the niche we want to occupy.
'Each political party has its own interests. You have to subordinate yourself to the institution. Partisan politics suits some people, not me.'
The mild-mannered, loquacious man answers every question put to him with disarming detail and apparent candour.
His lifestyle is simple. He lives on 'two, three thousand dollars' a month from his research and training projects.
His three sons, aged five, eight and 11, go to a neighbourhood school in Jurong. His wife is a Hong Konger and a former social-activist-turned-housewife, who supports what he does.
'We're a partnership,' he says.
They live in a three-room flat in Jurong that Mr Sinapan bought 10 years ago and which is now fully paid for. During the 2 1/2-hour interview, he wore a five-year-old long-sleeved shirt (to mask his psoriasis skin condition) and a nondescript Casio plastic watch.
He takes the bus and MRT ('I try not to take a taxi unless I have to').
Ask him if he ever regrets not having a more lucrative career, and he says: 'I'm not a martyr, you know, sacrificing for the sake of sacrificing. You should look at the side benefits.
"I've had a chance to further my education working part-time, I've worked 15 years outside Singapore, I travel a lot in the region, I have some income. It's a simple lifestyle but that reflects what I do, which is work with workers on labour and human rights.'
Sources and Relevant Links:
Straits Times No flashy acts...you can't do much in jail 10 Dec 2004, PEOPLE & POLITICS
Straits Times: Singapore's human rights record does matter 10 December 2004, Chua Mui Hoong
