A tribute to 23 year old hunger striker Seelan Palay

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dec 31, 2007 Straits Times, the state owned and controlled newspaper in Singapore has the following heading "S'porean says on hunger strike to support M'sian Hindus". This twenty three year old Singaporean man, Mr. Seelan Palay, has embarked upon a five day hunger strike, sworn only to drink but not eat for five days beginning Dec 31, 2007. Five days is because five Malaysians have been incarcerated in Malaysia under the Internal Security Act for human rights activity at the Kebunting, Perak Malaysia interment camp. They were members of Hindraf, a Tamil organization.

I salute Mr. Seelan Palay. He has conviction. And courage to go with it. He strongly believes like other Singaporeans that imprisoning a man under the Internal Security Act is wrong in principle. Under the Act, the accused is not given a trial. This goes against normal human decency. Goes against natural justice. It is not right to do so. That is, throwing a man in jail without even a trial.

I am sure there are thousands; even millions of Singaporeans believe what this young man believes. That it is wrong to imprison someone without trial. But Mr. Seelan stands out from the rest because of this important difference. Unlike the thousands and millions of others who also believe that imprisoning someone without trial is wrong; Mr. Seelan had the courage to act according to his conviction. Whereas thousands of others just remain silent for fear. Fear of Lee Kuan Yew in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. But Mr. Seelan is made of sterner stuff. He has one thing that the thousands of others do not have. That is courage. That is tenacity. That is steel. That is being a man. That is what is meant by being free. Whereas the others live in bondage. Like slaves. They are afraid.

I am gratified, satisfied and pleased of Mr. Seelan's actions. I am hoping that there will be others like Mr. Seelan who are ready to come forward and throw the gauntlet to all those tyrants out there, and tell them this. I too am a man. And I will not take this anymore.

With my admirations and congratulations to Mr. Seelan, may I ask him and others like minded, if there are any, to do the same thing against the Singapore dictators. Stand in front of Parliament House and decry the millions that Lee Kuan Yew and company steal. Decry the refusal to pay out CPF to older Singaporeans. Decry the cost living increases. Decry the arrogance of Comical Vivian (Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan, another million dollar minister).

And a happy New Year to you all.

Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914 Email: gopalnair@us-immigrationlaw.com