Singapore. The father and son team of Lee Kuan Yew and son's major problem. The lack of qualified people.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Just as in other totalitarian dictatorships, Singapore’s father and son team of Lee Kuan Yew and son; use their state controlled newspapers to roll out the daily dose of good news. In Soviet Union, Izvestia published it on a daily basis. Grain production was up 50%, steel production up 45%, the GDP increased 200%. In fact the good news never stopped until the very last day of their final collapse. They could not afford to tell the truth, since had they done so, there would have been another revolution. Things in Soviet Union were as bad as that. The reason why these countries control the press, like the father and son team of Lee and son, is because the truth hurts. And the truth will unseat them.

One cannot help finding the same good news in the Straits Times, Singapore’s state controlled newspaper. Never has there been even one day when the news was bad. On a daily basis we read, Goh Chock Tong has gone to Libya to promote trade with Singapore, Australian ABC Company has set up a plant in Singapore, German DEF company has set up pharmaceutical company in Jurong, GHI company from UK has set up blah blah factory in Singapore. The good news never stops.

Yet we know there are suicides everyday. Long lines are forming for free food in temples. Thousands are unable to afford 3 meals each day.

Companies setting up in Singapore need scientists, professionals, engineers, lawyers and all kinds of skilled people. But there are no professionals left in Singapore. As soon as they graduate, they are leaving Singapore for good to settle overseas, never to return.

The one main factor that causes this brain drain from Singapore is the English language. This is something that the father and son team had not figured out, which is hurting them badly. And regretfully for them, there is no remedy to this problem.

Communist China is making great headway in science, technology and economic development. But the Chinese do not have an English western education. Also, China never had the foundations of western democratic values. Individual human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly were never part of their psyche. Therefore, the ordinary Chinese citizen does not find the need to question his government because it is assumed that the ordinary man's role in life is to accept authority. In return the government's duty is to provide the goodies.

Not being aware of Western concepts of individual rights and especially because they have no English, leaving China for the West firstly is unnecessary and secondly it is difficult as the Chinese government will not freely issue exit visas. In other words the Chinese are imprisoned in the country, and they don’t mind it at all. With this sort of thinking, the Chinese educated remain in China contented with their lot, developing their country, unlike in Singapore where the educated are, unhappy and clamoring to leave, thus hurting its development.

The Lee and son team of Singapore want to suppress the freedoms of the Singaporeans just as they do in mainland China, so that they can remain in power. Problem is, it cannot work in Singapore like it can in China, because of one major difference. In Singapore we have the benefit of English. Even though it is spoken very badly, it is nevertheless a form of English which can be improved once the person lives for even a short time in the West.

For the last 49 years, first the father Lee, and now the father and son team have been ruling Singapore through fear, by punishing dissenters and rewarding sycophants. But with the Singaporean public becoming more and more educated, there is no longer a need to live in such fear of the father and son team. Moreover, even though Lee continues to try very hard to keep human rights knowledge away form the public, the higher educated Singaporeans will certainly educate themselves as to their rights. And once they know their rights, it is impossible to prevent them from demanding it.

Living life as free men and women is such a desirable thing that no matter what, once people know their rights, they become emboldened and addicted to freedom. And once emboldened, they will demand it.

In Singapore everyone knows that if you criticize the government, the father and son team will use their goons to harass, persecute and make life as miserable for you as possible. Not wanting to go through that hardship, the vast majority of highly educated Singaporeans just leave for foreign countries for settlement. This causes industry in Singapore to suffer from lack of professionals.

And as the father and son team continue day after day to arrest opposition politicians, sue them for defamation of character and bankrupt them, this cream of talented people become more and more disinclined to live in Singapore, not wanting to live in a country that denies them their rights. A country that misuses the law to silence dissidents. Having more pride in themselves, they decide on the next best thing. Other than staying behind and fighting the father and son dictatorship; they leave Singapore.

I understand from reliable sources that the civil service at the higher levels is chronically short of staff. The same goes with every other government department and all private industry. There is sufficient numbers of unskilled 6th grade workers. There are no lawyers, insufficient engineers and all other professionals. This lack of sufficient numbers of skilled and highly talented managers and professional is hurting Singapore’s development.

While Lee's son, who was placed in the Prime Minister's position by his father, struts around threatening all others in his way, the educated are packing and leaving. But just as the Soviet era state controlled newspapers, nothing is mentioned about this. According to the state controlled press, everything is more than fine; they have more than enough skilled workers, in fact so many talented people so much so that they do not know what to do with them!

But the truth is, in order to replace those native Singapore born citizens who leave, they bring in Chinese form China, immigrants from India and from elsewhere. By the very fact that they come to Singapore is itself evidence that they are second rate. All of them were in fact wanting to go to Australia but since they are not good enough, they come to second choice Singapore. Second rate immigrants with second rate skills.

If there are those Singapore born citizens who remain, they are of the sort like the Tamil boy, K Shanmugam who was recently made minister because Lee Kuan Yew likes him, as he would do well as his errand boy. But the best educated and best capable will not be prepared to run around for Lee Kuan Yew and his son like this Tamil. Refusing to kowtow, and finding that their prospects n Singapore are limited unless they complied with the Lee administration’s rule, they would have no choice but to leave.

This fact of insufficient highly talented people in Singapore continues to hurt the government of the country, the civil service and private industry. The one thing that these sectors need is highly talented people, who unfortunately simply refuse to stay in Singapore. If some come, it is only for a limited time and they too leave. For highly skilled qualified professionals, Singapore is not a place to live long. It is no more than a sojourn of a few years and then to leave to be replaced by another set who come in and leave again. And what is worst of all, the ones who come are not the best. Singapore can only get the mediocre because if it’s bad reputation of being an intolerant dictatorship of father and son.

The English language has turned out, ironically as the greatest obstacle to the continued rule of the father and son. Funny they did not think of that.

Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/

Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.