Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
@kirstenhan.com
🇸🇬 Writer and activist. Author of 'The Singapore I Recognise: Essays on home, community and hope'. Editor-in-Chief of @mekongreview.com. Everything Elf at https://wethecitizens.net. Member of @transformjusticesg.bsky.social and @adpan.bsky.social.
You could be a mass murderer but as long as you did things for the capitalist economy there’ll be Singaporeans lining up to argue that actually on balance you did good

Meanwhile Singaporeans will also say a mule should hang for smuggling a packet of drugs across the border once
November 12, 2025 at 2:49 AM
Proud to be part of the group challenging the constitutionality of the mandatory death penalty in Singapore: www.orderandlaw.sg/press-releas...
Press Release: Next-of-kin and activists challenge Singapore’s mandatory death penalty for drug offences
Transformative Justice Collective 6 November 2025 Family members of three executed death row prisoners and activists bring constitutional challenge against Singapore’s mandatory death penalty for dr...
www.orderandlaw.sg
November 6, 2025 at 12:35 PM
Edre Olalia is a lawyer of/for the people, and experienced harassment and threats in the Philippines. In the 90s, he tried to save Flor Contemplacion in Singapore. Two decades later, his work contributed to getting Mary Jane Veloso off death row in Indonesia.

currentsnewsletter.com/p/flor-and-m...
Flor & Mary Jane: The Story of Two Filipino Women on Death Row
Listen now | Lawyer and anti-death penalty campaigner Edre Olalia talks about his fight to save two domestic workers sentenced to death abroad
currentsnewsletter.com
November 4, 2025 at 2:37 AM
Respecting his wishes would mean flinging a wrecking ball at the house but we will just delulu is the solulu until the national narrative shifts into believing LKY would have welcomed transforming his home into a heritage park
November 3, 2025 at 7:03 AM
I absolutely love our tenth anniversary cover, beautifully illustrated by @badiucao.bsky.social, paying homage to the Gen Z protesters across Asia and the way they’ve embraced One Piece as a symbol of their determination for freedom and resistance 💪🏼
Really looking forward to everyone reading our tenth anniversary edition! It’ll be with our stockists in November, and is already at the Ubud Writers & Readers Festival bookstore 🤩🤩🤩
October 30, 2025 at 2:52 AM
It really sucks that we don’t have The Projector anymore. The initial shock has worn off, but the problem of finding indie spaces in Singapore remains.

@calumstuart.bsky.social’s latest newsletter/podcast on the closure of the beloved indie cinema: currentsnewsletter.com/p/not-your-a...
“Not your average cinema”: Looking Back on The Projector
Listen now | Independent film distributor Vincent Quek and drag queen Becca D'Bus on the closure of Singapore's much-loved indie cinema
currentsnewsletter.com
October 26, 2025 at 12:35 PM
A teach-in by the Transformative Justice Collective happening this weekend, covering Singapore's crackdown on pro-Palestine activism.

The livestream link will be shared via this Telegram channel: t.me/sghs4g
October 24, 2025 at 6:46 AM
ACQUITTED! The court found that the three did not know that the route taken to deliver letters to the Istana mailroom was prohibited under the Public Order Act.

People have been walking that route to deliver letters to the Istana for YEARS.

www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/th...
Trio acquitted of organising pro-Palestinian procession to Istana
A district court found that the three women did not know that the route they took was prohibited under the Public Order Act.
www.channelnewsasia.com
October 21, 2025 at 7:02 AM
Hamzah Ibrahim's co-accused was the only woman on death row in Singapore, after the execution of Saridewi Djamani in 2023. We aren't in touch with the family, so don't have consent to name her publicly.
Two executions were carried out in Singapore today, including the only woman left on death row.

Hamzah Ibrahim and his co-accused are the 13th and 14th people to be hanged by Singapore this year so far.
October 15, 2025 at 9:10 AM
Two executions were carried out in Singapore today, including the only woman left on death row.

Hamzah Ibrahim and his co-accused are the 13th and 14th people to be hanged by Singapore this year so far.
October 15, 2025 at 8:25 AM
Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
The Criminal
October 13, 2025 at 9:07 PM
There is only one playbook in Singapore.

But I haven’t seen any explanation of what we’re going to do if the scammer is holed up in some compound on the Myanmar border, presumably the rotan doesn’t stretch that far

www.straitstimes.com/singapore/po...
Caning scammers: Up to 24 strokes for syndicate members, recruiters; maximum 12 strokes for mules
The Bill also proposes discretionary caning for other forms of cheating, like traditional fraud. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.
www.straitstimes.com
October 14, 2025 at 8:37 AM
I don't want to give too much away but the upcoming @mekongreview.com cover (and the whole issue) is absolutely 🔥🔥🔥

So if you haven't subscribed to our magazine yet, you should right now: mekongreview.com/subscribe

We're compiling the mailing list for this issue TODAY so this is your last chance!
October 13, 2025 at 3:25 AM
I lack the motivation to create a long thread out of this, so please just read these screenshots.

And also this celebration of Pannir’s spirit, love, and triumphs: www.wethecitizens.net/goodbye-pann...

Goodbye, Pannir. You’re free now.
October 11, 2025 at 3:13 AM
The court has dismissed Pannir’s application for a stay of execution. The execution is set to proceed tomorrow morning.
Terrible news in Singapore again. This morning, the family of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was informed that the Singapore Prison Service intends to execute him on Wednesday.
October 7, 2025 at 4:32 PM
Pannir has been scheduled for execution on 8 October. But an investigation into a drug syndicate is ongoing in neighbouring Malaysia, for which he might be needed as a prosecution witness. An application for a stay of execution has been submitted to the Singapore courts. It’s down to the wire again.
Hong Lim Park, the only space in the country where Singaporeans can gather without a permit, is fully booked for the whole week for some reason. But that won’t stop us.

There’ll be four vigils across Singapore tomorrow night: www.wethecitizens.net/vigils-for-p...
October 6, 2025 at 2:26 PM
Hong Lim Park, the only space in the country where Singaporeans can gather without a permit, is fully booked for the whole week for some reason. But that won’t stop us.

There’ll be four vigils across Singapore tomorrow night: www.wethecitizens.net/vigils-for-p...
October 6, 2025 at 1:34 PM
Terrible news in Singapore again. This morning, the family of Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was informed that the Singapore Prison Service intends to execute him on Wednesday.
October 4, 2025 at 6:27 AM
Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
Successive Indonesian governments made vague promises that they failed to keep. Bedjo Untung of the 1965 Murder Victims Research Foundation said, “Not a single 1965 survivor or family could get a court decision to document what they had suffered” www.hrw.org/news/2025/09...
Indonesia’s Mass Killings 60 Years on Still Demand Justice
The 1965-66 massacres were among the darkest days in Indonesian history. Marxism and communism remain banned in the country and continue to be applied to target critics of the government.
www.hrw.org
October 1, 2025 at 12:18 AM
Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
Very interesting summary of the government-toppling Nepali ‘Gen Z protests’
September 30, 2025 at 3:50 PM
Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
LISTEN: @calumstuart.bsky.social talks to Pranaya Rana about what’s been going on in Nepal and where it might go from here.

currentsnewsletter.com/p/its-their-...
“It's their revolution”: Two weeks on from Nepal's Gen Z Protests
Independent journalist Pranaya Rana talks about what led up to the movement that overthrew the Nepalese government — and what might happen next
currentsnewsletter.com
September 27, 2025 at 11:41 AM
Reflections from the launch of Death Row Literature, a collection of poetry by Pannir Selvam Pranthaman, a Malaysian national on death row in Singapore: www.wethecitizens.net/death-row-li...
September 29, 2025 at 5:40 PM
Yesterday, at the launch of Death Row Literature, a collection of poetry by Pannir Selvam Pranthaman from death row in Changi Prison.

The launch was made all the more poignant, powerful and heartbreaking by the knowledge that, after Datch’s execution on Thursday, Pannir is next on the list.
September 28, 2025 at 2:33 AM