Ladies and Gentlemen,
I had called yesterday to the Singapore High Court asking about a judgement in a certain civil case.
Gopalan Nair: I would like to know if a case was heard in court, does it mean that it goes into Lawnet or other search engines immediately.
Rashida Mohamad Yatim (A clerk who works there): If you want to inspect a file you can write to the Registrar requesting permission
Gopalan Nair: Does that mean that if the Registrar refuses the man would have no right to inspect it?
Rashida Mohamad Yatim: I did not say that.
Gopalan Nair: But you did say that you have to get the "approval" of the Registrar in Singapore to inspect the file.
Rashida Mohamad Yatim: Yes
Gopalan Nair: Then it would follow that if the Registrar refuses to give his "approval" you would have no right to inspect it.
Rashida Mohamad Yatim: You are twisting my words.
Gopalan Nair: I am Gopalan Nair. I have a blog "Singapore Dissident". I was in Singapore last year and was arrested and jailed for criticizing a Singapore a judge. You must have known me. I was in the newspapers almost everyday.
Rashida Mohamad Yatim: I do not know who you are and I never read anything about you.
Gopalan Nair: This right to inspect a court file should not depend on the Registrar's wishes. It is a public document and the right of anyone to inspect it. We should not have to request permission of the Registrar. In California anyone can walk into a court house and demand inspection of any court files there. This is a violation of a citizen's rights.
Rashida Mohamad Yatim: I do not know. If you want you can speak to my supervisor. You do not have my permission to write about this in your blog. You are twisting my words.
Gopalan Nair: I will explain that you refuse to give your consent and you accuse me of twisting your words. Surely that is fair.
Rashida Mohamad Yatim: This conversation is being listened by other officers. You can do what you like Sir.
End of conversation.
So Singaporeans do not have a right to inspect a court file. It will depend on whether the Registrar gives you his consent. If not you cannot inspect it. I suppose if Gopalan Nair had gone to the Registrar, he probably would not get any consent. What sort of a country is that? At the mercy of the High Court registrar?
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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10 comments:
Mr Gopalan,
Is this some kind of jocular post?
Alas! Not if it involves Singapore.
Singapore public service is very "efficient". Everyone is at the mercy of someone higher (.. someone listening, someone watching ..I am scared shit), and public servants spend more effort closing the gate than providing customer service.
It is amazing that these public servants do not spend more time covering their own back than getting the job done. Hmmmm...
I learnt one new thing about the Singapore system. "Non approval" does not necessary mean "not approved", perhaps it means "failed to reach approval". If so, I need to get myself brainwashed to accept this unique Singapore concept. Any recommendation on where to go for a course on dictator-speak and understanding how to be a uniquely obedient servant? Perhaps PAP should take up a whole page in New York Times to explain what "Approval" means in Singapore context?
BTW, Did you finally get "approval" to see something concerning you, written by public servants at a public-funded court of justice?
Now, once again .... how so you define "public access" in Singapore or what are the functions of the LKY service ... I meant ... public service?
Haha, you're a bad man, Nair! Poor Rashida must have been wetting herself in terror of accidentally revealing some innocuous bit of information to the notorious judge-bashing dissident and so incurring the wrath of Lee.
"I don't know who you are" BUT__BUT__BUT: "This conversation is being listened by other officers".
ROFLMAO!!
Nair: 1, Singapore High Court: FAIL!
Stop using your lawyer lingo on underlings and let them do their jobs. It is no use ask them questions they are just obeying orders.
They must be scared shit out of you. The clerk took your shit while the bigger ones listened on.
Read LKY reply on "will he send in the army if there is a freak election result"
http://catherinelim.sg/2009/09/03/sir-would-you-send-in-the-army/
Dear Gopalan,
If you read SDP web comments, there is this guy BryanT who seems to spend the whole day critizing SDP and Dr Chee. He also claims that his comment is censored by you. This guy sounds fishy and could be planted by PAP. He is a good commentator but unfortunately, he belongs to the dark force. Can anyone find out his background? Singapore is slowly awaken by his neighbour's tireless opposition party to topple ruling government in the next election. And we have this poor soul BryanT champion of PAP.
But before you can get them into trouble, they have gotten you into one! Or so they thought. This is the latest news, hot from the press. I wonder if the news have reached you yet, since you didn't blog about it:
http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/singaporelocalnews/view/1002981/1/.html
Two-man tribunal to determine if Gopalan Nair is guilty of misconduct
By Ansley Ng, Channel NewsAsia | Posted: 04 September 2009 2328 hrs
SINGAPORE : A two-man disciplinary tribunal will be appointed by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong to determine if former Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair is guilty of misconduct "unbefitting" of a lawyer.
The application on Friday morning was submitted by the Law Society.
It said Mr Gopalan has "brought the profession as a whole into disrepute and lowered its esteem in the eyes of the general public".
It cited examples of Mr Gopalan's previous brushes with the law, including insulting the judiciary and verbally abusing police officers.
Mr Gopalan was jailed last year for contempt of court after he insulted a High Court judge and was later released after he apologised for insulting another judge on his blog.
But on his return to the United States, where he is now a citizen, Mr Gopalan retracted his apology and continued making attacks on his blog.
The Law Society's application was allowed on Friday morning, and a two-man tribunal - consisting of either a senior counsel, former high court judge or judicial commissioner with a senior lawyer - will be formed.
Its findings will be submitted to the Chief Justice.
Mr Gopalan will be invited to attend the tribunal hearing. - CNA/ms
Why do you try to have fun with clerks ? I mean they are working there for a living and probably do not care about the system nor support any particular political parties.
I think you are being very mean to the clerk. If you would like to have your fun, try having with someone you think have POWERS and are directly responsible for your suffering.
Dear Gopalan,
"A two-man disciplinary tribunal will be appointed by Chief Justice Chan Sek Keong to determine if former Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair is guilty of misconduct "unbefitting" of a lawyer."
Now, you are not just making a clerk panic, you have brought the entire Singapore justice system worried and under scrutiny.
Hopefully this will bring more publicity to your blog and the unique Singapore justice system.
I am sure you are able to defend yourself against those stooges who can only narrowly interpret Singapore laws in LKY definitions.
I wrote earlier about Singapore needing to buy a page in NYT to explain the meaning of "Approval". Well, the disciplinary tribunal will now need to buy all the advertisement spaces in the New York Times to explain the unique Singapore laws that sent an American blogger to jail and more explanations as to why you need discipling.
Too many websites are now exposing PAP failures. PAP cannot stop them or you, unless they unmasked themselves as puppets serving a master.
Why the hell are the courts in Singapore so secretive.
What is there to hide.
Up till today, you still cannot find the transcripts between Dr Chee Soon Juan and Lee Kuan Yew and Lee Hsien Loong.
You can only find them in blogs, WSJ and other online news.
What else do you expect from the Singapore judiciary system?
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