Title: Trade Union Act & Computer Misuse Act
1. Amendment to the Trade Union Act
After Air Line Pilots Association of Singapore (Alpa-S) oust the 22-member executive committee late November with a 55-45 majority, with 1,000 votes cast, and about 100 pilots attending the special meeting, just five months after they were elected, the government decided to come down hard on the union. The union were unhappy basically over the execo for giving in to easily to wage cuts and layoffs.
Presently, the only trade union in Singapore whose members have the right to approve agreements reached by its executive committee, the government now proposed to amend the trade union act to allow the executive committees of registered trade unions to negotiate and commit to collective agreements without approval from members.
Two non-citizens on the executive council have also had their approval to sit on the council rescinded by the Ministry of Manpower.
The government is upset that the union is being “confrontational” and they could no longer tolerate the “dysfunctional relations marked by confrontations and stand-offs”. Alpha-S has had as many 24 disputes with management since its 23 years ago in 1981. Our Senior Minister, Mr Lee has also said that they the government had to act swiftly or risk the airline losing hundreds of millions of dollars if the two parties failed to come to agreement again.
Many of Alpha-S publicised disputes with the Singapore Airlines management has resulted in protracted battles resolved through mediation from the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) or the Industrial Arbitration Court (IAC).
Sinapan Samydorai, President of Think Centre, Mr Jeyaretnam and Dr Chee Soon, Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party released statements supporting the union’s decision, and their right to elect their committee.
It is not the first time that the government has changed the laws to suit its whims and fancies. and this episode highlights the biasness of the government in trying to thwart the decisions of union members; who by the way, has every right to decide who is capable of representing their interests.
2. Computer Misuse Act
Security agencies can now scan the Internet and nab hackers suspected of engaging in cyber crimes that endanger national security, foreign relations, banking and essential public services.
Violators of the Computer Misuse Act can be jailed up to three years or fined up to $S10,000.
Despite Ministry of Home Affairs assurance that the new law will not be “intrusive”, one cannot help wonder at how it lead to abuse.
In effect, this new amendment could become an online version of the Internal Security Act. It can effectively pre-empt and silence opposition, instill fear into forum writers, now more wary of what they post.
Reporters Without Borders, a Paris-based media watchdog, called for an independent body to check the use of the additional internet security powers.
The government has a track record of policing and restricting the use of the Internet to spread political ideas and information.
A few years ago, a Singnet user found out that down that her computer was “scanned” by her Internet Service Provider. Online websites that engage in local politics, including political parties have to register with the media authority, Media Development Authority. James Gomez’s book on Internet policing in Singapore, “Internet Politics: Surveillance & Intimidation in Singapore” is a good starting point to understand the situation.
Since Singapore Democratic Party, a local Opposition party’s website was hacked into, causing surfers to be redirected to a porn site, the authorities has yet to do anything to remedy the situation. Another local mailing list, Singapore Review, which carries more incisive news than the average newspaper, was hacked into and its service disrupted after its address appeared in the local Straits Times.
The government should have spent their time trying to protect websites or groups that promotes democracy, openness and the spread of information rather than draw up laws to counter the effect.
