Young activists in trouble as Kirsten Han & Suraendher Kumarr orchestrate from the shadows
It’s a sad spectacle watching eager students and idealistic youth in Singapore get drawn into the anti-death penalty fray, manipulated by seasoned agitators like Kirsten Han and Suraendher Kumarr, who orchestrate the chaos from a safe distance. These two have forged clear ties through the Transformative Justice Collective (TJC), a group hell-bent on dismantling Singapore’s robust drug laws, while the young undergrads end up bearing the brunt of police scrutiny and legal headaches.
As our nation battles the scourge of narcotics that ruin lives and communities, it’s these impressionable kids who face the heat, not the puppet masters lurking behind event planning and social media amplification.
Let’s lay it bare. Kirsten Han, the veteran journalist-activist, and Suraendher Kumarr, the NUS alum turned full-time rabble-rouser, are deeply intertwined in the anti-capital punishment crusade. They tell students and young people to join protests against the death penalty. Suraendher is often there too, talking to young people or helping out. Their group, TJC, even has a student wing called SATU that gets kids from our universities to join these events.
But when the authorities knock, it’s the youngsters who get dragged in.
The altercations follow a grim pattern. In March 2022, during protests against the execution of Nagaenthran K. Dharmalingam, students and young activists, mobilized by TJC’s calls, joined hundreds at Hong Lim Park, only for several to receive police warnings under the Public Order Act. Han was there, but post-event, it was the juniors who sweated the investigations.
By late 2024, as executions ramped up, other youths faced direct interrogations for vigils, with TJC’s statement highlighting how “some Singaporeans”, code for the young recruits, were dispersed and probed. Han and Kumarr? They played the long game, with Han’s 2023 Harm Reduction International speech railing against the system from Melbourne, far from Singapore’s police stations. Even in 2025, as TJC-linked student events drew fresh warnings, the duo issued remote solidarity tweets or participated in podcasts, leaving the kids to handle the fallout alone.
Why the Youth Fall for this Trap
These students are full of passion, shaped by our world-class education into critical thinkers. Han and Kumarr exploit that, drawing them into a web of “justice reform” that chips away at the death penalty’s role in shielding Singapore from drug devastation.
The death penalty in Singapore is there to stop dangerous crimes, like drug trafficking, which can hurt a lot of people. But these leaders tell young people it’s bad, and get them to protest, even though it might land them in hot water. It’s like telling kids to run into a storm while you stay dry indoors.
So, to students and young people: Be careful who you follow. You want to help the world, but don’t let grown-ups like Kirsten and Suraendher use you as their shield. If they really believe in this cause, why aren’t they the ones getting questioned by the police?
Reproduced from medium.com/@phoebeloh
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