<hollywood-not`>

if you want to insult me, dare to in my face*

Thursday, June 15, 2006
7:26 PM

high fever yesterday.still recovering from shock. one more time i watch I'M NOT STUPID 2 i might crack. my bro is crazy about it. i wake up to it and fall asleep to it almost everyday.
getting used to life without school. wondering if i will ever get use to life with school.

noted*

if you want to insult me, dare to in my face*

Sunday, June 11, 2006
10:24 PM

i did some research recently and found out why Jehovah Witnesses are banned in Singapore.
below is an adaption from a website i researched.
http://atheism.about.com/library/irf/irf04/blirf_singapore.htm

Restrictions on Religious Freedom ( read if interested. If not, don't bother)

The Government restricts certain religions by application of the Societies Act. In 1982, the Minister for Home Affairs dissolved the Holy Spirit Association for the Unification of World Christianity, also known as the Unification Church. In 1972, the Government deregistered and banned the Singapore Congregation of Jehovah's Witnesses on the grounds that its existence was prejudicial to public welfare and order because its members refuse to perform military service (obligatory for all male citizens), salute the flag, or swear oaths of allegiance to the State. At the time, there were approximately 200 Jehovah's Witnesses in the country; now there are approximately 2,000. Although the Court of Appeals in 1996 upheld the rights of members of Jehovah's Witnesses to profess, practice, and propagate their religious belief, and the Government does not arrest members for being believers, the result of deregistration has been to make public meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses illegal. Nevertheless, since the 1996 ruling, no charges have been brought against persons attending or holding Jehovah's Witness meetings in private homes.

The Maintenance of Religious Harmony Act, which was prompted by actions that the Government perceived as threats to religious harmony, including aggressive and "insensitive" proselytizing and "the mixing of religion and politics," allows the Government to restrain leaders and members of religious groups and institutions from carrying out political activities, "exciting disaffection against" the Government, creating "ill will" between religious groups, or carrying out subversive activities. The act also prohibits judicial review of its enforcement or of any possible denial of rights arising from it.

The Presidential Council on Religious Harmony reports to the Minister for Home Affairs on matters affecting the maintenance of religious harmony that are referred to the council by the Minister or by Parliament. The council also considers and makes recommendations to the Minister on restraining orders referred to the council by the Minister. Such orders are directed at individuals to restrain them from causing feelings of enmity, hatred, ill will, or hostility among various religious groups or to restrain them from mixing religion with politics. The orders place individuals on notice that they should not repeat such acts, and advise them that failure to comply would result in prosecution in a court of law.

The Government does not tolerate speech or actions, including ostensibly religious speech or action, that affect racial and religious harmony and sometimes issues restraining orders barring persons from taking part in such activities.
Missionaries, with the exception of members of Jehovah's Witnesses and representatives of the Unification Church, are permitted to work and to publish and distribute religious texts. However, while the Government does not prohibit evangelical activities, in practice it discourages activities that might upset the balance of intercommunal relations. In the period covered by this report, authorities did not detain any members of Jehovah's Witnesses for proselytizing.

The Government has banned all written materials published by the International Bible Students Association and the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society, both publishing arms of Jehovah's Witnesses. In practice this has led to confiscation of Bibles published by the groups, although the Bible itself has not been outlawed. A person in possession of banned literature can be fined up to $1,176 (S$2,000) and jailed up to 12 months for a first conviction.

In 2003, the authorities seized Jehovah's Witnesses' literature on 30 occasions from individuals attempting to cross the Malaysia-Singapore land border. In 13 cases, authorities warned Jehovah's Witnesses but did not press charges. The other 17 cases remain open. At the end of the period covered by this report, 11 individuals were detained briefly for attempting to bring Jehovah's Witnesses publications into the country. The literature was confiscated, but no charges had been filed.
During the period covered by this report, two Jehovah's Witnesses students were suspended for failure to sing the national anthem and participate in the flag ceremony. Letters received by their parents stated clearly that they were welcome to return to school if they were willing to sing the anthem and salute the flag. In April 2001, a public school teacher, also a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, resigned after being threatened with dismissal for refusing to participate in singing the national anthem.

In October 1999, the Government proposed compulsory education for all children, which prompted concern from the Malay/Muslim community regarding the fate of madrassas (Islamic religious schools). In response the Government exempted madrassa students from compulsory attendance in national schools when the legislation was enacted in October 2000. However, madrassas were given 8 years from the time the law went into effect to achieve minimum academic standards or they would no longer be allowed to teach core secular subjects such as science, mathematics, and English. Compulsory education began with the school term that started in January 2003.

The debate over the "tudung" (woman's headscarf) continued. In early 2002, three female Muslim secondary school students were suspended from public schools for continuing to wear the tudung in violation of school uniform requirements. A fourth girl's parents withdrew her from school over the same issue. The girls' parents objected to the suspensions and filed a lawsuit. The lawsuit was later withdrawn. In February 2002, an opposition leader criticized the Government's ban on wearing of tudungs in public schools during a speech at "Speakers' Corner," which occupies a portion of a public park. He continued despite a police warning that the speech violated the venue's restrictions against discussing sensitive ethnic or religious issues in public. In July 2002, he was convicted of violating the Public Entertainment and Meetings Act and was fined $1,765 (S$3,000); fines over $1,176 (S$2,000) automatically bar a person from seeking public office for 5 years.

The Women's Charter, enacted in 1961, gives women, among other rights, the right to own property, conduct trade, and receive divorce settlements. Muslim women enjoy most of the rights and protections of the Women's Charter; however, for the most part, Muslim marriage law falls under the administration of the Muslim Law Act, which empowers the Shari'a court to oversee such matters. Those laws allow Muslim men to practice polygyny. Requests to take additional wives may be refused by the Registry of Muslim Marriages, which solicits the views of existing wives and reviews the financial capability of the husband. Of the approximately 4,000 Muslim marriages registered in 2001, only 20 were polygynous.

At the end of the period covered by this report, there were 21 members of Jehovah's Witnesses incarcerated in the Armed Forces Detention Barracks because they refused to carry out the legal obligation for all male citizens to serve in the Armed Forces. There were no known conscientious objectors other than members of Jehovah's Witnesses during the period covered by this report. The initial sentence for failure to comply with the military service requirement is 15 months' imprisonment, to which 24 months are added upon a second refusal. Subsequent failures to perform required annual military reserve duty result in 40-day sentences; a 12-month sentence is usual after four such refusals.

noted*

Joanna "Jojo" Levesque

vay qiting
13 '1/2'
Mate3022

Justin Timberlake

mungyu ning qian
our class nobelle
charlene weilin
Grace huixin
hueyyiing jiayi
yulu zk
xinmun peiwoon