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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
@kirstenhan.com
2.5K followers 410 following 1.1K posts
🇸🇬 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.
wethecitizens.net.
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Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 6h
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.
Pannir Selvam Pranthaman was executed in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and laid to rest yesterday, on World Day Against the Death Penalty. A couple of days before his execution, his sister Sangkari said he had a message for me. “Pannir said you’re like a lion,” she told me with a smile. “The way you talk even when you get in trouble with the government.” The day before, I’d printed out the newsletter I wrote about his book launch, alongside a few news articles and statements, for him. He’d asked for them; he was curious about the media coverage about him and his book. Sangkari said the prison allowed him everything else, but not my newsletter. There’s a common pain and anger that follows every execution. It comes from disgust at how the authorities behave, from a deep sense of injustice, from the knowledge that the only reason these people are dead is because others with more power and money and opportunity judged them from up high and decided they could be discarded. None of these executions disrupted the drug trade; none of them made Singaporeans safer. Yet we’re forced to swallow the propaganda the state churns out to make us believe that some humans deserved to be sacrificed. For people like Pannir, like Datch, like Syed and Masoud and Roslan—who I’ve known, whose families I’ve befriended for many years—there’s an additional layer of grief and loss. During his final family visit on his last day on earth last November, Roslan told his sister to send his regards and thank me for 10 years of solidarity and support. I am so sorry that, throughout those 10 years, there was so little I could do for him. There are days when it feels like there’ll be no end to the killing, no end to the brutality. When it feels like we Singaporeans will always live in a murderous state. But even during those days when it’s hard to feel anything but exhaustion and defeat, I know that we will ultimately prevail, and one day future generations of Singaporeans will be horrified that executions had ever taken place in our country, that we’d taken this long to get rid of something so blatantly unjust and evil. All of us who see the death penalty regime up close have days when we don’t want to do anything but curl up in bed and escape from this terrible world. Every one of us has to find some way to cope with the pain and trauma we witness when the ones with blood on their hands don’t even have the guts to look these families in the eye. But no matter how tough it is, we will keep going. Pannir, the bravest person I’ve had the privilege to know, thought of me as a lion. I hold on to this courage he saw in me, even when I struggled to see it myself, and keep on. We’ve come so far already. There’s no stopping now. Thank you, Pannir. They took so much from you, but they never took your strength and your spirit. You wrote your own story, and now you’re free. Don’t let the bastards grind you down.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 3d
The court has dismissed Pannir’s application for a stay of execution. The execution is set to proceed tomorrow morning.
kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 7d
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.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 4d
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.
kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 4d
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...
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 4d
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...
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 7d
Earlier this aeek I’d written about Pannir’s book launch; that was just last Saturday in KL: bsky.app/profile/kirs...
kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 11d
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...
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 7d
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.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 10d
pls sir the business bros have done enough www.channelnewsasia.com/singapore/ch...
Business leaders have responsibility to shape outcomes in fragmented world: Chan Chun Sing
Describing the two extremes of global fragmentation and integration, the defence minister said corporate leaders need to raise their voices for the type of world they want to see.
www.channelnewsasia.com
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Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
andreasharsono.bsky.social
Andreas Harsono @andreasharsono.bsky.social · 10d
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
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Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
ninazu.bsky.social
gugalanna daddy issues @ninazu.bsky.social · 10d
Very interesting summary of the government-toppling Nepali ‘Gen Z protests’
kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
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
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Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
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
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 11d
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...
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 12d
Yeah I’m also a little lazy and time-starved to go through and block manually; I did follow a blocklist and hope that’ll be good enough…?
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
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.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
Aha! Thank you!
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
I'm very curious as to what it is, but can't figure out how to find out...
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
There's a labeller...? I'm going to have to Google what this means 😅
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
Is this happening to anyone else on Bluesky? What’s going on?
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 13d
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
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 14d
Huh, I woke up to suddenly having a bunch of follows even though I haven’t posted that much recently. Hello everyone… but did something happen?
Reposted by Kirsten Han 韩俐颖
jinxremoving.bsky.social
Nine @jinxremoving.bsky.social · 15d
Datch died, and people loved him. @kirstenhan.com describes the final wait, the final cruelty, and his mother finally being able to touch her son again, after so many years, after Singapore killed him.

www.wethecitizens.net/no-more-not-...
No more. Not in my name.
There was no reason for Datch to die, except that powerful people decided it would be so.
www.wethecitizens.net
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 17d
That option is for Singaporean bank accounts only… haven’t worked out a neat way for those outside Singapore to donate yet.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 17d
If you would like to contribute, please send your donations via PayNow to the UEN 201025212ETJ8 (Function 8 Limited), or scan the QR code provided in this post. Please remember to add “For Datch” in the reference so we can identify your contributions.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 17d
continue to hope desperately for a miracle to save Datch. But if the execution proceeds on Thursday, his family will need help to cover funeral expenses.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 17d
In recent years I have witnessed his intelligence, his strength, and his resolve. Even if you strongly disapprove of drugs or the drug trade, he has demonstrated over these past ten years that he is not beyond redemption and change.
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kirstenhan.com
Kirsten Han 韩俐颖 @kirstenhan.com · 17d
His family tell us how changed he is, how he has matured after all these years, how the young man Singapore arrested and condemned to death is not the man Singapore will march to the gallows on Thursday morning.
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