"Nurse who claimed Facebook account was hacked charged (with Sedition Act)! - AsiaOne Apr 07, 2015
SINGAPORE - A Filipino who previously worked as a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital has been charged for sedition and providing false information to the police.
Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 28, had allegedly posted a seditious comment on Facebook which said that Singaporeans are "loosers (losers) in their own country". The post also said that Singaporeans would be evicted out of their own country. "I will be praying that disators (disasters) strike Singapore and more Singaporeans will die than (sic) I will celebrate," it said.
The two charges of sedition against him state that the statement posted had a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Filipinos and Singaporeans.
He is also accused of lying to the police at Chong Pang Neighbourhood Police Post on January 3. He had told the officer that he did not post the comments online. Ello allegedly lied to the police again on January 4 and 5, this time at Ang Mo Kio Police Division Headquarters. He told the officer then that he did not post the comments and that his Facebook account had been accessed by someone else without his permission. He faces three charges of providing false information to a public servant."
Just as the young Amos Yee's case came up the other day after Mr Lee Kuan Yew's passed away and was charged under the Sedition Act among others, someone was asking about the 'Filipino nurse' who posted disrespectful and seditious comments a few months ago. Now we know the laws have finally caught up with him.
Lessons for me are:
1. when I visit a country to rest and recreate or to make a living, I will be respectful of that country, its people and their customs. Like some famous politicians said in the past: "We never ask you to come to our countries. You decide to come. So, be respectful!";
2. the Western notion of 'freedom of speech' is flawed and even some of their own kind believe that it is WRONG to be disrespectful or to haul physical and death threats on another fellow human being on earth regardless of his/her/their race, language and religion! Certain degree of self-censorship or sense of responsibilities (if you don't like the word: 'censorship') must be born by the speaker or initiator. If not, any unintended consequences must be born by the person as well;
3. our Little Red Dot is a very small and fragile nation. The human density is very high per sq. km. Misinformation and malicious information travelled at the speed of light and can reach millions of people living on this 600+ sq km land. With it, the readers and recipients of such messages MAY be misled and got incited emotionally and the raging emotional energy CAN influence people to do totally irrational things that can rapture the delicate fabric of peaceful co-existence in a split second. This destructive force is scary. Some emotional actions may cause irreparable damages that will take ages and tons and tons of mutual sincere efforts to mend. So, we MUST BE VERY CAREFUL about NOT letting it happen in the first place.
May Mr Bello gets an open and transparent trial with the officials of the Philippines present all the way. It MUST be contained in Singapore. The peace, harmony and mutual respect between Singaporeans and the Filipinos must be preserved. Let's deal with the 'exceptional case'.
SINGAPORE - A Filipino who previously worked as a nurse at Tan Tock Seng Hospital has been charged for sedition and providing false information to the police.
Ello Ed Mundsel Bello, 28, had allegedly posted a seditious comment on Facebook which said that Singaporeans are "loosers (losers) in their own country". The post also said that Singaporeans would be evicted out of their own country. "I will be praying that disators (disasters) strike Singapore and more Singaporeans will die than (sic) I will celebrate," it said.
The two charges of sedition against him state that the statement posted had a tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Filipinos and Singaporeans.
He is also accused of lying to the police at Chong Pang Neighbourhood Police Post on January 3. He had told the officer that he did not post the comments online. Ello allegedly lied to the police again on January 4 and 5, this time at Ang Mo Kio Police Division Headquarters. He told the officer then that he did not post the comments and that his Facebook account had been accessed by someone else without his permission. He faces three charges of providing false information to a public servant."
Just as the young Amos Yee's case came up the other day after Mr Lee Kuan Yew's passed away and was charged under the Sedition Act among others, someone was asking about the 'Filipino nurse' who posted disrespectful and seditious comments a few months ago. Now we know the laws have finally caught up with him.
Lessons for me are:
1. when I visit a country to rest and recreate or to make a living, I will be respectful of that country, its people and their customs. Like some famous politicians said in the past: "We never ask you to come to our countries. You decide to come. So, be respectful!";
2. the Western notion of 'freedom of speech' is flawed and even some of their own kind believe that it is WRONG to be disrespectful or to haul physical and death threats on another fellow human being on earth regardless of his/her/their race, language and religion! Certain degree of self-censorship or sense of responsibilities (if you don't like the word: 'censorship') must be born by the speaker or initiator. If not, any unintended consequences must be born by the person as well;
3. our Little Red Dot is a very small and fragile nation. The human density is very high per sq. km. Misinformation and malicious information travelled at the speed of light and can reach millions of people living on this 600+ sq km land. With it, the readers and recipients of such messages MAY be misled and got incited emotionally and the raging emotional energy CAN influence people to do totally irrational things that can rapture the delicate fabric of peaceful co-existence in a split second. This destructive force is scary. Some emotional actions may cause irreparable damages that will take ages and tons and tons of mutual sincere efforts to mend. So, we MUST BE VERY CAREFUL about NOT letting it happen in the first place.
May Mr Bello gets an open and transparent trial with the officials of the Philippines present all the way. It MUST be contained in Singapore. The peace, harmony and mutual respect between Singaporeans and the Filipinos must be preserved. Let's deal with the 'exceptional case'.
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