Singapore lawyers shouldn't take this lying down

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If you had any sense of decency or righteousness, Singapore lawyers should not tolerate this law abuse in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. It is simply unacceptable for lawyers who had spent many years reading the law to have to accept this unashamed abuse of the law by the Singapore dictator Lee Kuan Yew and his friends; and do nothing.

You have seen the repeated misuse of the law to silence political opponents such as JB Jeyaretnam, Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Tang Liang Hong and myself.

No one can expect you to merely stand aside and let this dictator go about misusing the law. Don't forget, you the lawyers of Singapore are the guardians of the public liberties. It is upon you that the burden lies to ensure the law is not misused against it's own people, which is exactly what this dictatorship is doing. It is upon your shoulders that the burden lies to make sure the Constitution is upheld.

I need not repeat the shameless abuse of the law. The repeated defamation actions against JB Jeyaretnam which bankrupted, impoverished and jailed Jeyaretnam. The repeated law suits against Dr. Chee Soon Juan for defamation, repeatedly jailing him for public speaking or protests, and bankrupting him.

Only yesterday I wrote in this blog about the Singapore Law Society in their disciplinary proceedings against me, refusing to permit me to enter Singapore to defend myself there in court. What sort of law is this for them to invite me to attend a court hearing in Singapore, brought against me, but yet refuse to give me permission to enter the island to do so? Remember I am in the USA. Singapore government has banned me from entering the island without permission.

These are blatant abuses of the law that should not be tolerated by anyone.

You lawyers should not take this lying down. How can you look yourself in the mirror if you did?

As it is, Lee Kuan Yew's administration is already hurting for lack of lawyers. Presently there are only about 3,000 lawyers in the entire island. This is so because the Singapore legal profession has lost credibility resulting in increasing numbers leaving the profession and young students refusing to train as lawyers.

Those who are standing up to this law abuse are already winning as evidenced by the extreme shortage of lawyers there and it has begun to seriously hurt Lee and Company. You see, you cannot efficiently run an island with 5 million people with just 3,000 lawyers, especially if it relies on industries such as banking and commerce. As even more lawyers leave the profession, it would require them to accept very poorly qualified people, as the best would refuse to have anything to do with a profession which has lost all credibility.

In every other country, the best students enter the legal profession. In Singapore, only the worst students end up in law. What you get is weak lawyers and a weak administration of justice.

The lawyers presently practicing in Singapore can do their part by themselves resigning in even greater numbers from the profession thereby reducing the number of lawyers there even further. I am also asking prospective students not to enter the legal profession there, if you want to live with your conscience.

If law is what to practice, do it elsewhere, not in Singapore.

To all engaged in the law in Singapore I make this plea. Search your hearts and you will see that practising in Singapore is hurting your conscience and by remaining in the profession you are permitting Lee Kuan Yew and his son to abuse the law at will as they now do.

In fact by continuing to practice there, you are in fact collaborating with a fascist regime which denies human rights.

Don't stand for it. Resign from the profession. This itself will be the greatest protest you will make to show your displeasure.

Make sure the lawyer population diminishes to less than 2,000. By this, you will cause this government to rethink their repressive actions.

Do your part. Resign from the Singapore legal profession. And let us see how Lee Kuan Yew manages that. As it is, with no more than 3,000 lawyers in an island of 5 million, Singapore is barely able to function.

In fact I myself have been greatly responsible for the dearth of lawyers there. In the 1980s when I was practicing law there, when the Singapore government shamelessly abused the law by a handful of well publicised cases against me to have me politically silenced, my refusal to cringe and surrender resulted in the Singapore administration having to go through lengthy court cases to have me punished.

In the process with their misuse of the law being repeatedly exposed in their state controlled press, many lawyers of my time simply packed up and left Singapore and went to Australia.

Now, with this case against me, where the injustice cries out in your face, I hope at least a few more lawyers will pack up and leave the profession or better still the country. That is what I am looking forward to.

This blog post is being sent to the following:

1)Ng-Goh Siew (Mrs), Immigration and checkpoint authority: ica_feedback@ica.gov.sg
2)Angela Chopard, Singapore Disciplinary Tribunal: angela_chopard@supcourt.gov.sg
3)Yogeswari d/o N Vadivellu, Singapore Disciplinary Tribunal: yogeswari_n_vadivellu@supcourt.gov.sg
4) Peter Low (aka Peter Cuthbert Low) of Colin Ng and Partners, Lee Kuan Yew's lawyer deployed to argue for the Singaporean Law Society to have me disbarred: peterlow@cnplaw.com

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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