Skip to main content

Advertisement

Advertisement

Police investigating pair who wore anti-death penalty T-shirts at Yellow Ribbon Prison Run

SINGAPORE — The co-founder of a non-profit group and his wife are being investigated by the police after they turned up at Sunday’s (Sept 15) Yellow Ribbon Prison Run wearing T-shirts bearing a message against the death penalty.

Mr Nafiz Kamarudin (right), co-founder of Happy People Helping People Foundation, had put up a Facebook post about his plan to wear a runner’s bib bearing the message “2nd Chances Means Not Killing Them” instead of his name.

Mr Nafiz Kamarudin (right), co-founder of Happy People Helping People Foundation, had put up a Facebook post about his plan to wear a runner’s bib bearing the message “2nd Chances Means Not Killing Them” instead of his name.

Follow TODAY on WhatsApp

SINGAPORE — The co-founder of a non-profit group and his wife are being investigated by the police after they turned up at the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run on Sunday (Sept 15) wearing T-shirts bearing a message against the death penalty.

In a press statement issued on Tuesday, the police did not identify the pair but said that they are “investigating a 38-year-old Singaporean man and a 30-year-old Singaporean woman for offences under the Public Order Act”, which were committed at the event organised by the Singapore Prison Service.

Confirming that a police report was made after the run over what the pair did, the police reiterated that it is “a criminal offence under the Public Order Act to take part in a public assembly or procession without a police permit”. The offence carries a maximum fine of S$3,000, with repeat offenders liable to be fined up to S$5,000.

Earlier, Mr Nafiz Kamarudin, 38, co-founder of Happy People Helping People Foundation, had put up a Facebook post on Aug 31 about his plan to wear a runner’s bib bearing the message “2nd Chances Means Not Killing Them” instead of his name. The post was accompanied by a picture of the bib.

On Sept 12, he put up another Facebook post — along with a picture of himself holding up the bib — saying that the run’s organisers had called him to tell him to change his bib. They gave the reason that the message was “not in line with their cause", he added.

“If they were to tell me that I need to have my name on my bib, I would gladly exchange my bib with a new one,” he said.

“But telling me that my anti-death penalty message is not in line with their ‘I Believe In YR 2nd Chances’ message is not only ironic, it's moronic.”

Just before the run on Sunday morning, Mr Nafiz took to Facebook again — this time putting up a picture of himself wearing a T-shirt bearing the anti-death penalty message. He said that he was not allowed to take part in the run unless he changed out of his shirt. “This will not stop me from achieving my goal on my birthday. I will be running parallel to them,” he said.

In a separate media statement on Tuesday, the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run Organising Committee did not name Mr Nafiz or his wife but said that more than a week before the event, it was made aware that the man, who had registered for the run, had printed “2nd Chances Means Not Killing Them” on his running bib instead of his name.

The committee said that it had “contacted the man twice" on Sept 6, to explain to him "why his bib was inappropriate, as the (run) should not be used by him as a platform to advocate (for) other causes, or to campaign against existing laws”.

“He was offered the opportunity to exchange his inappropriate bib with one printed with his name,” it said. “On both occasions, he rejected the organising committee’s offer despite being informed that he would be deregistered from the event and his registration fee refunded if he refused to change the bib.”

The committee reached out to Mr Nafiz again for the third time on Sept 13, “and agreed to his request to meet in person that same night”. “The meeting took place and he exchanged his bib for one bearing his name, so that he could participate in the event,” the committee said.

However, on the day of the event, Mr Nafiz and his wife turned up at the event venue in Changi wearing identical T-shirts with the words “2nd Chances Means Not Killing Them” printed on the front of their own T-shirts, and the words “#ANTIDEATHPENALTY” printed on the back.

The committee said it informed him that he would not be allowed to participate in the run if he was wearing that T-shirt.

“This was no different from his original intention to wear the running bib with the message printed on it, and as the organising committee had earlier advised him, it was inappropriate and not right for him to exploit the (run) to advocate (for) and campaign on his causes,” the committee said in the statement.

It added that it offered him another event T-shirt to wear instead, so that he could still take part.

However, the offer was rejected. The committee noted that Mr Nafiz “ripped off his bib and threw it on the ground, and ran separately by himself on the public road that ran alongside the event running route”. His wife left the event venue.

At around 8.15am on Sunday, Mr Nafiz reached the entrance to the Changi Prison Complex, which was the end point for the run. He was informed by the organising committee that he would not be allowed into the premises. He then stood outside the prison complex and eventually left at around 10am.

The committee reiterated in its statement that over the past decade, the Yellow Ribbon Prison Run has “helped to rally community support for ex-offenders who have served their sentences and made a commitment to turn over a new leaf”.

“The duo’s actions at this year’s (run) are a disservice to offenders, ex-offenders and their families whom the Yellow Ribbon Prison seeks to help,” it said.

Speaking to TODAY on Wednesday, Mr Nafiz said he had initially refused to assist with investigations when the police called him. However, he changed his mind a day later under advice from his friends.

He said his actions were not meant to be a form of protest. “I wanted to extend the second chance message (to) those who have been sent to the gallows,” said Mr Nafiz, adding that his wife was present at the event wearing a similar T-shirt to support him. 

He reiterated that the organisers should have let him take part in the event, instead of “making this a really big deal” — which has “actually created more awareness for the message on my shirt than if they had just let me run that day”, he said.

Related topics

Yellow Ribbon Prison Run death penalty police ex-offenders

Read more of the latest in

Advertisement

Advertisement

Stay in the know. Anytime. Anywhere.

Subscribe to get daily news updates, insights and must reads delivered straight to your inbox.

By clicking subscribe, I agree for my personal data to be used to send me TODAY newsletters, promotional offers and for research and analysis.