Leslie Chew cartoons

These are the Leslie Chew cartoons that attracted police/legal action. The first was deemed by AGC to be in contempt of court:




The second was deemed to be sedition:

Singapore police arrested Mr Leslie Chew, 37, the person behind the cartoon strip, Demon-cratic Singapore, on Friday morning, for alleged sedition.


He was held in custody and questioned over the weekend, and was released at 8.45pm on Sunday after posting bail of S$10,000.


The police confiscated his handphone, computer and hard disk. He was also asked to surrender his passport to the police at the Cantonment Police complex.


The charges relate to two of the comic strips on his Demon-cratic Facebook page. Mr Chew has produced more than 600 cartoons thus far, including those on the page. The two in question are this one and this one.


The first cartoon, published on his Facebook page on 14 December last year, and titled “Demon-cratic Singapore Episode #438, Eliminating the thorn first...”, had also been the subject of a letter of demand from the Attorney General Chambers (AGC) last year.


The AGC, in a letter to Mr Chew on 17 December, said the cartoon “scandalises our Courts through allegations and imputations that are scurrilous and false."


However, it said it would not commence further legal proceedings against Chew if he posted an apology on the page, removed the cartoon and “all accompanying comments” related to the post, which has gathered over 600 likes, shares and comments since December.


Chew, however, decided not to comply because he said his work is fictional, and not related to any real events or persons, as stated on his Facebook page. On its page, which has 19,000 likes, Demon-cratic Singapore describes itself as a "100% fictional comic series about a country that does not exist".


In the second cartoon, Chew said the police questioned him about the population statistics in the cartoon, and its words – “Malay population… Deliberately suppressed by a racist government.”


Under Singapore's Sedition Act, among other things, it is an offence to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the Government; and to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different races or classes of the population of Singapore.


Anyone found guilty of the offence can be fined up to S$5,000 or jailed up to three years, or both.
Chew, however, denies any such intentions, again pointing to the disclaimer in each of his cartoons which says that the portrayals in them “are purely fictional”.


“I also explicitly stated that Demon-cratic Singapore is an entirely imaginary country and is not the Republic of Singapore,” Mr Chew says, referring to this page.


The latest arrest follows a spate of legal action by members of the Government against online commentators and sites.


In January, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong demanded writer and activist, Alex Au removed his blog posts about Action Information Management, the PAP-owned company embroiled in the controversy over the PAP-run town councils’ computer system.


And on 18 April, the AGC demanded an apology and the removal of posts from several websites which it alleged cast doubt on the judiciary's integrity.


Chew, who says that the police was “very professional” in the way they treated him, has been asked to report to the police on 30 April.


“Most fans know that Demon-cratic Singapore is fictional and are just for laughs,” said Chew.


“Even when there are new readers who thought otherwise, they are usually quickly reminded by other readers that everything on my Facebook page is fictional."

Andrew helms publichouse.sg as Editor-in-Chief. His writings have been reproduced in other publications, including the Australian Housing Journal in 2010. He was nominated by Yahoo! Singapore as one of Singapore's most influential media persons in 2011.

i

t is an offence to bring into hatred or contempt or to excite disaffection against the Government

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Fuck you PAP govt! You can have my hatred as appetizer, contempt as the main course, and disaffection as dessert.

We're not allowed to hate, show contempt or express disaffection against the government? Is this North Korea? At least North Korea is less hypocritical.

We're just like North Korean regime when dealing with political dissenters..

This is really an odd case. He is not even attempting to couch these cartoons or use satire. He is also very confident of himself. He has already defied the AGC once.

The other thing is that Police arrested him at 10.30pm and threw him in the lock-up for the night. Only the next morning did they start interviewing him. This is an abuse of the process. The guys is not a thug, a terrorist or your normal socially deviant criminal. They could have asked him to turn up in the morning at the Police Staton and place him under arrest.

He dissenting against the Govt in a manner that he sees fit and if the authorities feel that it is seditious, they should treat it in that context and conduct the investigation. Bear in mind that the Sedition Act also provides for a legitimate reason for publishing content. And that he feels that the govt is wrong with what they have been doing.

scroobal said:

The guys is not a thug, a terrorist or your normal socially deviant criminal.

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Oh, but the darlings of law enforcement, the AGC and PAP politicians are thugs, terrorists and socially deviant criminals.

Excuse me, was the above statement too seditious too? Too much hatred, contempt, disaffection and vitriol for the government? Would you prefer love, adoration, affection and praise instead?

laksaboy said:

Excuse me, was the above statement too seditious too? Too much hatred, contempt, disaffection and vitriol for the government? Would you prefer love, adoration, affection and praise instead?

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You won't believe how close you are to the truth where this cunning piece of shit is concerned.
His hatred is because he felt he was discarded too early and his "talents" were underutilised, yet he is so eager for their affection and to get back in their good books, hence the snide and sometimes cryptic cowardly attacks on the opposition.
What a cunning cartoon manipulative kaypohchee Scroobal is.

On the interesting note on sedition on the days of old - Francis Seow prosecuted Chia Thye Poh for sedition.

laksaboy said:

Oh, but the darlings of law enforcement, the AGC and PAP politicians are thugs, terrorists and socially deviant criminals.

Excuse me, was the above statement too seditious too? Too much hatred, contempt, disaffection and vitriol for the government? Would you prefer love, adoration, affection and praise instead?

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Imho, the cartoons were too direct and blatant. He didnt even allow himself some wiggle room if he is caught.

Political caricaturists in the West can be very caustic, but they are very sophisticated in the message. It's usually fair comment and public knowledge. But then again, in the U.S. for example, the Press is a Fourth estate.

if he want to draw such comic, he should at least leave singapore so they cannot catch him so easily.
silly rabbit.

kingrant said:

Imho, the cartoons were too direct and blatant. He didnt even allow himself some wiggle room if he is caught.

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Agree.
I enjoy those by the Cartoon Press much more. The satire is more indirect, but no less poignant.
If anyone is interested, Cartoon Press is on FB. They come up with new ones quite frequently.

This unsinkified Singaporean got balls, a fine example of a real human being. Unlike sinkie losers in this forum.

This is an example of a govt whom you pay tax to, try to put fear into you.

It is the same as those gangster who use a gun or knife and surround you with the rest of the gang and tell you not to touch their girls or else , they kill you.--> Fear tactics.

This time, your sinkie govt uses the police as thugs against you.., you will lose your freedom(jail) if you get rid of the PAP and again ---> same thing, fear tactics.

Are you going to give in to such low life, low class tactics, by the one whom you pay tax to.

You pay tax is to give them power to arrest you by saying things that is truthful??? what sort of logic is that???

zeddy said:

We're just like North Korean regime when dealing with political dissenters..

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or Russia. Don't forget Vladimir Putin is also a dictator.

laksaboy said:

Excuse me, was the above statement too seditious too? Too much hatred, contempt, disaffection and vitriol for the government? Would you prefer love, adoration, affection and praise instead?

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Yeah, I should think so.

I have always held the view that we should keep our real thoughts, opinions and feelings to ourselves and when the general elections are around the corner, only then will we make them known via the internet, etc... I believe LEEgime will be caught off-guard by such a strategy.

kingrant said:

Political caricaturists in the West can be very caustic, but they are very sophisticated in the message.

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Agreed. I much prefer caricatures by continental Europeans. They have class.

lesMISERABLES said:

Agreed. I much prefer caricatures by continental Europeans. They have class.

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I beg to differ. The level of LC sophistication is commensurate and a tad higher than the manners of Leegime.

Leslie Chew got balls...........keep going.

lesMISERABLES said:

or Russia. Don't forget Vladimir Putin is also a dictator.

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In Sinkie Land, its considered an offence of Lese Majeste if you make fun of the Royal FamiLEE and their cronies..