Tak Boleh Tahan

"Tak Boleh Tahan", colloquial Malay loosely translated as "I can't take it anymore",^[1] was a protest campaign launched by the Singapore Democratic Party over the escalating cost of living in Singapore.^[2] According to the SDP,^[1]

The Government's raising of the GST to 7 percent and its setting up of ERP gantries all over the island have all contributed to the inflation rate that is at its highest in a quarter of a century.

The result is that the crushing burden on working folks gets even more unbearable.

March 15 arrests and trial

On March 15, 2008, SDP secretary-general Chee Soon Juan and 18 others held a demonstration at Parliament House, all wearing red Tak Boleh Tahan T-shirts to kick-start the campaign. At Parliament House, the protesters were warned by police to stop their unlawful assembly.^[3] When the warning was ignored, the police dispersed the protest by force, arresting the demonstrators one by one.^[4]

The trial PP vs. Chee Soon Juan and 18 others began on October 23, 2008, with the defendants charged on two counts of violating Section 5(4)b Chapter 184 of the Miscellaneous Offences (Public and Nuisance) Act. In their defense, the "defendants claim that they're innocent by virtue of their right under the Singapore constitution to enjoy the guarantees of freedom of assembly and expression", and the trial has been described by the Washington Times as "a test about whether Singapore's judiciary is independent".^[5]

References