Tuesday, February 17, 2009

Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked Minister for Law K Shanmugam says "Voting not a mere privilege"!

Readers of this blog who are unfamiliar with the goings on in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, may think reading the comments that there are many who think Singapore is a democracy based on the rule of law. The reader is warned that they may be Singapore government employees whose job is to discredit those who criticize Lee Kuan Yew's authoritarian rule. Please use your discretion as to how much weight you will give these comments.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Feb 13, 2009 has an article, "Voting is not a privilege". Lee Kuan Yew's one party state's handpicked Minister for Law has categorically stated in Parliament recently that in Singapore voting is not just a mere privilege, but a constitutional right. This might be reassuring to the uninitiated in Singapore's unique style of doing things. But tell me, Mr. K Shanmugam, is this right worth anything in reality? My guess is this. Most Singaporeans if given the choice, would rather not vote at all, thank you very much.

Lee Kuan Yew has rigged every parliamentary election in that island, since the country's inception. And after rigging the elections to ensure Lee Kuan Yew's party wins hands down each time, what is the point of even voting, let alone the right to vote? But the voter is denied even the privilege of not voting, as in Singapore, voting is compulsory and for refusing to vote, you will be fined and sent to jail. The situation becomes intolerable as you can see. Lee Kuan Yew will insist on rigging the elections first, and after the rigging, you are forced to participate in the same elections that know was rigged in the first place!

If what I am about to say is not rigging, then what is it?

At every single election in the history of Singapore, any opposition politician who wants to stand for office, if he happens to be worth anything, is promptly sued for defamation (Lee Kuan Yew's favorite trick) or convicted of real or imaginary offenses. Lee Kuan Yew's willing judges will bend and twist the law for him to bankrupt and criminalize his political opponents. Since bankrupts and criminals are not allowed to stand for elections, even before the election campaign has begun, any opposition politician of any substance is already eliminated! If this is not rigging elections, then what is it?

JB Jeyaretnam who was Lee's political opponent for decades was repeatedly disqualified from standing for office through Lee's trumped up defamation charges and bankruptcy. Dr. Chee Soon Juan, another opposition politician was repeatedly bankrupted and sent to jail and vilified in the state controlled press, on criminal charges disqualifying him from standing for political office.

It was the same with Francis Seow who had to flee to the US and Tang Liang Hong who ran to Australia, all bankrupted and vilified as thieves and child molesters by Lee Kuan Yew, his compliant judiciary and his state controlled press before they even had a chance to contest elections.

And as Lee Kuan Yew intends, this sends a chill down the spine of every Singaporean not to meddle in Singapore politics unless it is in praise of Lee Kuan Yew, and his sole political party in power, discouraging anyone with a head on his shoulders never to challenge Lee Kuan Yew's authority, let alone stand for elections against him.

The only ones who can effectively stand for elections are bicycle thieves, illiterates and those without any merit whatsoever. Lee Kuan Yew knows they are no threat to him, since they have no substance anyway and will be defeated. They of course are very welcome to stand for elections, and after they have lost their deposits through lack of votes, Lee Kuan Yew's press will discredit them, calling them a bunch of names while extolling his greatness and his party!

As if this was not enough, the time for electioneering by opposition parties is only 8 days while Lee Kuan Yew has the entire 4 years to campaign anytime and anywhere he wants, the state controlled media giving him and his party full exposure in his state controlled press.

Furthermore the deposit needed for standing for elections has been steadily increased now standing at several thousand dollars, making it financially impossible for many to contest elections; and each candidate has to get more than a dozen sponsors with their identity card numbers, addresses revealed, making one reluctant to sponsor a political opponent, in fear of reprisals from Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's strongman.

Thank you Mr. K Shanmugam. I would prefer not to vote, if you can make that possible. At least one can retain at least some dignity, that way.

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/

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5 comments:

Anonymous said...

It seems like everytime LKY's lapdog, K. Shanmugam, opens his mouth, it is for the express purpose of putting his foot in it. He is proving to be a very entertaining character, in the way a clown entertains the audience in a three-ring circus.

That Singapore's "elections" are rigged, comes as no surprise to its citizens. The whole compulsory voting process is nothing more than a facade to deceive the rest of the world into believing that Singapore is a democracy. Singaporeans, of course, know better: the outcome of these "elections" is always predetermined.

The ballots aren't secret either. Back in the eighties, during the one and only time I voted in a GE, I was at the local CC to cast my vote. After I handed the lady my IC, she verified my name against a computer printout (which I assumed was a voters' register). Then she pulled a ballot card from a pile on the table, flipped the card over, and recorded the number printed on the rear of the card down on the printout, next to my name, before handing the card and my IC to me. I cast a quick glance down as she was copying the number, and noticed that many of the names on the printout had handwritten numbers next to them.

I leave you to draw your own conclusions.

Anonymous said...

honestly, i am more angry with people who moan and bitch about government and when come to election time, chose to vote against opposition either out of fear or for upgrading etc.

singaporeans have been educated in a way that we will sacrifice democractic ideals for personal or selfish gains.

so mr nair, you can continue to talk and discuss about PAP but if our guys dont walk the talk, by the time you pass away, there would NO opposition in parliament. so maybe you need to address this in your blog and tell singaporeans that they dont own PAP anything, we also need to pay for upgrading!!!

Anonymous said...

I did this because I was quite confident of proving K. Shanmugam wrong.

I scannned the Constitution very quickly, and unless I overlooked something because of the little time I used for this exercise, no provision for the franchise is made anywhere in the document: voting is NOT a constitutional right.

The esteemed Law Minister Kangaroo Shanmugam knows not what is contained in the law books nor what he speaks of.

Not surprising since this drivel also comes from the same person who spoke of a fictitious 'constitutional system' that Singapore supposedly has and one that the PAP supposed adheres to, at the begining of this year.

Given that the PAP government has all but forgotten the existence of the Constitution, I wonder if the Kangaroo minister is merely looking for opportunities to show off his (in)ability to cite constitutional authority.

My guess is that he must have only recently learnt to pronounce the word - CONS.TEE.TIU.SHEN - that he cannot contain his zeal to use the word. Unfortunately, he is also displaying his gross ignorance, not unlike that lump of lard, Walter Woon, and his own ignorance of the law books.

Such is the quality of the legal profession in the PAP's Singapore.

Well, the upside of all this is that at least one PAP MP/minister has started using the C-word, even if it is at the expense of being factual.

Still, I waste no time in including this next bit of information.

Despite, voting NOT being a constitutional right, voting rights would still be subject to Article 12 (the "equality clause") of the Constitution; the PAP cannot legally tinker with the present system except to dispense with voting altogether.

j_yama said...

This is a flashback to the Goh Chok Tong days when he called for a quick election (that was announced over a few days before the ballot) and the "prestigious" party news channel, Channel News Asia, asked him why he called for an election with such a short notice. He replied -something to the effect- that he just wanted to "get it over with."

Millions of lives have been killed or sacrificed in human history fighting for democracy and the right to vote - and the right to voice their issues - only to be given such a casual "wing-it" from the so-called leader of a nation.

Goes to show how much the "leaders" in Singapore view democracy. Maybe its time your current regime look to abolish the contentious and fictitious constitution and adopt the rule his majesty King Lee the second! The Kindgom of Singapore has a good ring to it!!

Anonymous said...

This reminds me of the Goh Chok Tong days when he called for election in a few days before the ballot. Asked by the "prestigious" Channel News Asia why he was in a hurry for an election, he replied - something to the effect - that he just wanted to "get it over with."

Millions of lives in the history of mankind have fought and sacrificed their lives for the right to a free, democratic vote and for their voices (their childrens and children's childrens as well) to be heard. Not for an imbecile "leader" of a nation to casually "wing-it" and overlook these sacred rights as if it was a trivial process. Where they dug this dim-wit up and who voted for him still mystifies me. Actually this is reflective of the country's citizens, don't you think?

Maybe your country should abolish the contentious and fictitious constitution, crawl out of the pseudo-democracy veil and rename it the Kingdom of Singapore, ruled by his Royal Highness, King Lee the Second!! Kinda nice ring to it, don't you think?