Ladies and Gentlemen,
Since my recent hoax on heart attack of the 87 year old Singapore dictator, I have tried to follow up on this very important eventuality, which can happen any minute or any day now.
I can of course completely ignore it but to do so would be wrong on my part.
Ignoring this inevitable eventuality will have catastrophic irreversible consequences to the island republic.
The more you realize that there is going to be chaos and upheaval in that small island coupled with total collapse of the economy there, the better you can prepare for it.
Tyring to pretend that it is not going to happen will do you in, because whether you like it or not, the 87 year old man, Lee Kuan yew, who has had a number of heart attacks in the past, and today limps around with a battery powered pacemaker is, whether you like it or not, going to die, this minute or the next.
The biggest mistake that Lee Kuan Yew ever did is picking his son, who has no political experience or leadership qualities of his own as the Prime Minister; merely because he is his son.
This sort of thing happens and is accepted in countries such as Syria where Hafiz the father places his son Bashir as President or in North Korea where Great Leader makes his son Dear Leader president.
It works in these countries because, unlike Singapore, they do not have a background of democratic rule or a British based constitution which underlies the principle of a multi party democracy with a representative government.
So when Hafiz al Assad places his son Bashir as President, no one complains because it is how the system works there.
I am not sure if it is the stupidity or the arrogance of Lee Kuan Yew but he has surprisingly failed to see this.
English educated Singaporeans with a background of the British Constitutional principles view the Singapore constitution, even though Lee Kuan Yew has diluted it through illegal amendments, still as a document requiring a representative multi party government, not one that is handpicked.
And no matter how much he tries, the bottom line is that his son, whom he appointed the Prime Minister does not represent the people, because no one elected him in the real sense. There were no free and fair elections and his son was thrust upon the people as their Prime Minister whether they liked it or not.
Second the son himself has had no real political experience anyway. He went to school, he got a scholarship to England, he passed his exams, he returned and was made a Colonel and overnight a Brigadier, then he resigned immediately and stood for elections which he won without even have to do anything, immediately thereafter he was made the deputy prime minister then Prime Minister. That is the sum total of his achievements.
And if you expect Singaporeans to treat him as their leader just for this, Lee Kuan Yew has seriously misunderstood his people, or his digits, as he likes to call them. You might as well get a bunch of university professors, line them up and overnight make them all leaders of Singaporeans.
And what is worse, the son does not seem to have any real interest in politics either, apart from the fact that he does not appear to be able to walk straight as Army Brigadiers are supposed to do and appears, at least to me, somewhat rather effeminate. I think it best to just ignore him.
With these troubling qualities of Lee Kuan Yew's son, I can tell you that any minute now, when Lee Kuan Yew dies, the people of Singapore are not going to go along the daily business worshipping the son in place of the father. It is simply not going to happen.
Any minute now, when 87 year old Lee Kuan Yew dies, I fear there is going to be a drain on the economy which would result in the island's economy collapsing.
Those foreign investors who think the island has political stablity have got it completely wrong. By chance, they have been right so far as Lee Kuan Yew has proven to outlast his age. The only thing you could safely say for the stability of the island is "so far so good".
But with Lee Kuan Yew's clock ticking by the second, with the old man Lee Kuan Yew, pacemaker in his heart, having had a number of heart attacks and a very very old man of 87, the fact unfortunately is, he may drop dead the next minute, not even the next day. Therefore if Singapore had been stable in the past, it is no longer stable, not even a bit, and as the minutes pass into hours, it becomes progressively more unstable.
It is not for me to tell the international community what to do and neither is it my duty to tell local Singaporeans that it is not safe to remain in Singapore with your assets and your families, but it is my duty to tell you what I think, and what I think looks very bad indeed.
Other than the economy collapsing and with the people not accepting this son of Lee Kuan Yew as their new leader, you are going to have political chaos. There may be chaos in the street. Riots and civil disobedience.
My only hope is that Singaporeans will not turn violent. They should take to the streets but peaceful demonstrations and peaceful disobedience should always be maintained.
This would the moment for Singapore leaders like Dr. Chee Soon Juan to arrange massive island wide peaceful protests for democratic change. With huge numbers of Singaporeans peacefully demonstrating, Lee Kuan Yew's son may turn to force, but if he did, that will be the end, not only of him but what remains of Singapore.
The son who does not seem to have much understanding of politics, or for that matter anything; I fear he will resort to such stupidity as force.
At that time, it will be up to leaders such as Dr. Chee to maintain calm in the island, in spite of the difficult circumstances.
I expect the people quickly to accept Dr. Chee as their new leader, a man who has been tried and tested and yet maintained his ground despite insurmountable odds and persecution at the hands of the dictator. He is not only accepted locally as a true leader, very well capable of taking the helm of government, he is also well respected abroad as a statesman.
Lee Kuan Yew's son on the other hand is looked at by the world as a clown. Truly his visage does appear so too.
The other thing that Singaporeans should watch out for is Lee Kuan Yew's henchmen absconding. Men such as his handpicked Minister for Law, the Tamil K Shanmugam knows the he stands no chance in a predominantly Chinese Singapore without his master. He will try to take off with his money to Madras India from where his forefathers came. He should not be allowed to escape. So will his colleague the corrupt judge Belinda Ang. She will definitely try to run but she has to be stopped.
The death of Lee Kuan Yew will undoubtedly result in chaos, unrest and upheaval in the island. The island will sink into it's lowest in history but like the test of fire, the new Singapore that will be wrought out from the test will be a new Singapore, a better Singapore and kinder Singapore. I look to the day, which will be either tomorrow or the next.
In the meantime, I hope that Singaporeans will see the impending doom and act accordingly. The storm is brewing, the barometer is steadily dropping, there is a temporary lull about the boat, the sailboat Singapore is heading irretrievably into the eye of the storm, the rudder has jammed, and it it is impossible to change course now. All that you can do is lower all sails, go down to the cabin, batten all hatches, pray and ride out the storm as best you can.
After that you can see a better life. That I am sure. The likes of Lee Kuan Yew and his son will be discarded in the dustbins of history. There will be more babies. Less suicides. Singaporeans returning, not fleeing anymore. Smiles all around instead of frowns.
As Churchill had said in the British House of Commons after Hitler invaded neutral Poland in 1939 and England had just declared war " I have nothing to offer but blood toil tears and sweat"
Yes, with the death of Lee Kuan Yew, there will be blood toil tears and sweat. But out of it, I am sure you will have a new beginning of hope in the island instead of what you have today; despair.
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:
The first thing you have to look out for is the terrible property bubble burst.
Irrational exuberance is an underestimate for what is happening right now.
Dear Gopalan,
Do not have to worry about Singapore after the passing of the OFart.
There will be outpouring of sympathy by the dummies and the ignorants (as well as the greedy)
Security around the nation will be tightened, in case people like you return to cause problems.
Behind the scene, Pinky will be distributing money to buy support.
And eventually, everyone outside Chingapore will realise How similar the regime is to North Korea.
Of course, the residents in Chingapore will shed tears for the OFart while people like me will celebrate his passing. (The dictator is dead!)
Happy Easter.
Incompetent but wealthy. Nepotism rules!
Lee Hsien Loong currently earns an annual salary of S$3,870,000, an increase of 25% from S$3,091,200 , making him the highest paid head of government in the world.
In comparison, the President Obama of the United States earns a salary of US$400,000.
Singaporeans are packing up and heading to all other parts of the world.
If you have been taking public transport all the while , you will realise that many bus services are crowded even in the late hours of the night , which is appalling. Too much people are packed into just a small country.
The issue of bicycles on pavements is a big joke. about 1 month ago , there were news of cyclists on pavements being fined - which was shown on our state controlled media. If you are living in Singapore , you know this is a joke. The measure is just for show.
A lot of rude foreign cyclists are still cycling at top speeds on pavements and do not give a damn even if there are elderlies or little children walking around. Many even are willing to get involved into a staring incident - some even challenge the citizens into quarrels in the event of a near accident. These are the types of foreign "talents" we are admitting in huge numbers into our very own country.
Only the heartlanders can feel the pinch. The rift between the heartlanders and those who claim to take their affairs into consideration is indeed HUGE.
When the oldfart kicks the bucket, plenty of stooges will shit in their pants. The entire PAP system will have to reinvent itself. I don't see the spineless son up to the task.
50/50 chance he will take a hike.
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