Singapore. One party totalitarian state and the idea of global international city are opposites and incompatible.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state owned and controlled press daily reports Singapore being an international city whose main business is international banking, commerce, high end manufacturing and education. Singapore Airlines is one of the largest, if not the largest airline in the world covering almost every continent and every country. English is the main language of commerce and tourism is a major part of the GDP with tourists from all over the world visiting Singapore.

Against this backdrop, we have a press which is entirely owned and controlled by the government. Every news media, TV and Radio are all controlled by the government; the judiciary is entirely corrupt, in the sense, they are there to do the government's bidding, not necessarily to uphold the law; a police force that has been told to deny the citizens any means of expressing their views publicly, unless it is in praise of the government; a civil service which is entirely at the mercy of Lee Kuan Yew and his minions, and not for just and fair administration of laws; where each day people live not knowing what Mr. Lee will have in store for them tomorrow. In other words, a country without a constitution, without just and fair laws, without an impartial judiciary.

It so happens, for the moment, Lee Kuan Yew has managed to intimidate and subjugate through bribes, monetary favors and high salaries, the top echelons of the power; namely the judiciary and top civil servants to obey him whatever his demands. And by this loyalty to one man, Lee Kuan Yew through his various minions, has managed to run the country this long in an orderly manner. The question is, can it last.

It should be quite obvious, that the present existence of this one party totalitarian dictatorship is surviving on thin ice. It's very present existence is precarious. Precarious because, the loyalty that Lee presently has that enables the government to go on; is not because of his greatness either morally or legally.

The loyalty is simply earned through money, lots of money. Each minister of his is paid $3.7 million a year. The high court judges too are paid several millions a year for which they are prepared to bend the law any which way Lee wants. The top civil servants are paid several millions of dollars, in return for which they are prepared to interpret any statute and punish anyone that Lee wants punished. All these people have been bought with money. And for money they dance to Lee Kuan Yew's tune.

The true Singapore is the decadent corrupt one party state totalitarian Singapore. Of course Mr. Lee Kuan Yew does not want the world to know this. So for the last 40 years, he has managed to hoodwink the rest of the world into thinking that Singapore is a democracy, by the daily propaganda and lies put out by the Straits Times and other State Controlled media in Singapore. And to a large extent Lee Kuan Yew succeeded to prolong the lie because he controlled the news.

Question is can he continue to hoodwink the rest of the world into thinking it is a democracy? Has the cat escaped the bag after all? I think it has. And I think the days of this one party state as it is now, are numbered.

The global mass media, internet technology and telecommunication means today that no matter how much Lee Kuan Yew puts out lies and propaganda in his local press; he may be able to continue to fool some Singaporeans but more and more, the young are getting the news from elsewhere. Internationally Singapore’s reputation has been badly tarnished. The world has come to know that it is nothing more than a one party totalitarian state which beats its citizens with sticks (caning) and hangs petty drug moles. But what is worse is that it is now well known that Singapore does not have the rule of law.

The greatest damage being done now is the knowledge which the rest of the world knows being that Singapore lacks the rule of law. For the last 40 years the law has been blatantly and shamelessly used as a political tool to destroy political opponents though defamation of character lawsuits; where corrupt and pliant judges would award damages of a half million dollars bankrupting them and thereby preventing them from contesting elections.

Singapore's corrupt judiciary is an impediment to trade commerce and banking. International corporations would be averse to deal with Singapore in matters of trade when they know that their contracts may not be given impartial justice. This is one reason why Singapore being a commercial city but has only 3,400 lawyers in all, a figure far below what is needed in a commercial city such as this. Lawyers are leaving Singapore for good, not renewing their practicing certificates and there are no more new entrants to the law.

The attempt to make Singapore a center for learning has also failed understandably. How can one become learned if one has constantly to look over one's shoulder whether Lee has commenced a defamation lawsuit against you for what you said, academically or otherwise? Calling Singapore an educational center is a non sequitur, a non starter, an oxymoron. Let me put it this way. It is like calling it a flying pig.

Now to the question, will it last? I doubt it very much. For any organization to last, you need a foundation. A foundation of laws, or a foundation of truth or a foundation of virtue. In other words a foundation of something good. Singapore has no such foundation. The only reason why it exists at the moment is because Lee has corruptly managed to secure the loyalty of a few minions with mind boggling bribes and salaries.

Singapore has no foundation in law or legal basis. There is no law at all. The judges are corrupt. The law is bent and broken at will by Lee Kuan Yew.

It has no foundation in virtue. We see that Lee Kuan Yew is nothing more than a thief. Anyone who pays himself $3.7 million a year is a thief.

The situation therefore begs 2 questions. One, will these minions of his who are paid astronomical bribes in exchange for their loyalty continue to be loyal and what will happen in the near future and after he dies. Second, will they also continue to show the same loyalty to his son who has inherited his position; and will his son be able to pay each of them $3.7 million a year in bribes.

The answer to both the questions is in the negative. Any prudent Singaporeans with any amount of a stake in the country will realize that unless all his massive wealth is in foreign currency, his Singapore dollar will fall to even below the Zimbabwe dollar even if a few people decide that Singapore is no longer reliable and sound. The country is too small to withstand even a small outflow of the Singapore dollar. With the lack of respect that the rest of the world has in Singapore’s vital institutions, it cannot expect to continue to be a banking center, a trading center, an education center and so on. And when Lee Kuan Yew dies, the million dollar question is whether the minions presently at the top will continue to serve the son who has been placed there by Lee senior.

I think there is grave doubts whether people have already begun shifting their jobs, their money and their assets elsewhere, since day by day it is becoming uncertain what Singapore's future will be. And what is worse, with Lee Kuan Yew going to die any minute, the exodus of people, money, skills and assets is only increasing in flow and strength. And with the demise of Lee Kuan Yew, I believe Singapore will become no longer viable.

It has no foundation in law, in morality or in truth. It is run purely by Lee Kuan Yew and a few corrupt minions who pay second fiddle because it is profitable. These fiddlers are already beginning to see the writing on the wall and they are beginning to leave fiddle and all.

I think when Lee Kuan Yew's son takes over; there may be no fiddlers at all. So it may be advisable for those who have a large stake in the country to keep reading the writing on the wall and prepare to pack your suitcases, fiddle and all.

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