Friday, July 30, 2010

Singapore held by the neck

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The defiant British author, Alan Shadrake, whose passport is being held in Singapore and waiting for his trial for contempt of court has got Singapore in his grip, and there is nothing they can do.

This time, unlike always in the past, the proverbial shoe is on the other foot. Singapore will have to explain themselves whether it likes it or not, because Shadrake demands an explanation.

As was what Singapore has all along been accustomed to, whenever they went against anyone for contempt of court, especially newspapers, such as Wall Street Journal, they all invariably cringed, crawled, and groveled at Singapore's feet, apologized, and paid up whatever they wanted and got out.

Being accustomed always of getting their way, I suppose they thought this time with Shadrake was going to be no different. But this time, what they got was not an apology but a painful shock. Shadrake, was not going to apologize after all, no matter what. And whether they liked it or not, Shadrake is going to force them to explain every accusation they made against him. And that is not going to be a pretty sight.

As with all bullies, Singapore will go after you mercilessly, when they know you are helpless. But when you are willing to face up to them, Singapore just like all bullies, tries to run away. And this is exactly what Singapore is doing here.

The press reports indicate that after being aware that Shadrake is not going to buckle under their pressure, the Singapore Attorney General, just as all cowards who make a living in that island licking the boots of the dictator, has offered to drop the contempt of court charge against him if he apologized. The excuse for this sudden turn around from their precious bravado was that Shadrake is 75 and has a heart problem.

Anyone with eyes can see that they making this offer only because of their fear of having to face Shadrake in open court to justify their baseless politically motivated charges of contempt of court. They know, no matter what they do, that these charges are indefensible. They are going to look very small no matter what they do to Shadrake.

This is what Shadrake should do, and I believe he is going to do. Challenge every one of these groundless charges tooth and nail. Resulting from the immense international interest in the case which is completely against the Singaporean dictatorship, they may offer only to fine him instead of a prison sentence. Shadrake should refuse to pay the fine, since paying the fine would be tantamount to accepting their judgement. Instead he should go to jail, at which time the whole free world would be in uproar against this puny tin pot dictatorship.

Result. Singapore's ranking, rock bottom.

Shadrake, we love you.

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.

Thursday, July 29, 2010

Singapore. Alan Shadrake stands defiant in the face of bullies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I read the great news that Shadrake has publicly declared he is going to fight these baseless charges. Well done, Shadrake. We all have a sigh of relief here. We are proud of you and you are doing us a great service by your sacrifice and defiance in the face of these bullies. No matter what they do to you, you are the hero to all of us now.

Justice is on your side.

Thank you Alan Shadrake.

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.

Singapore. Shadrake should seize the moment. Now is the time.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Bloomberg news agency just now reports that Alan Shadrake, the international British author and investigative journalist arrested in Singapore for publishing his book "Once a jolly hangman" in which there were references of Singapore's selective justice in capital cases, has had his case in court adjourned for his lawyer to prepare his defense.

Bloomberg also reports that he was given until July 29, 2010 to unconditionally apologize, to use their words, which will presumably mean a lesser punishment. So far, it appears that he has not apologized, unconditionally or otherwise.

Not being privy to Shadrake's present personal circumstances in Singapore, I do not know whether it would be possible for him to defy the Singapore government on this. He is of course away from home, Britain, and the prospect of an extended stay in Singapore might be difficult for anyone, not to mention the expense and disruption occasioned by it.

But if it is at all possible, I hope Shadrake refuses to apologize, and disputes every single one of these baseless charges all the way, to assert that inalienable right of man to free speech, which this dictatorial government shamelessly tries to deny.

Shadrake is now really in an admirable position. Once again, as many others had done before such as JB Jeyaretnam, and Dr. Chee Soon Juan; he in a position, by this politically motivated trial, to expose to the whole world, with all eyes watching, how repressive this Lee Kuan Yew government is, and the truism that the more you try to stifle man's free spirit, the more he will assert it.

In this politically motivated contempt of court case, these bullies should be made to prove their case in open court, every bit of it, as to why they claim the book is in contempt of their judiciary, with Shadrake disproving every bit of it, while the world watches.

I can imagine the spectacle of these Lee Kuan Yew minions brought to their knees helpless against the truth. Yes, it will not only make my day, but that of millions all over the world who yearn to see the back of this regime that governs by abusing the law and persecuting political opponents.

Shadrake should take his time with these proceedings, drag it on for days and days, while the international press reports each and every detail, day in and day out, of argument and counter argument. The more this case drags, even more of the world would see aghast how disgusting this Lee Kuan Yew government really is.

If anyone had any doubts whether Singapore was in fact another Burma or North Korea, Shadrake would have been able to put it to rest. And in doing so, Shadrake, who is not even Singaporean would be doing the cause of a free Singapore proud, much more than any other normal Singaporean could have done.

Of course, such defiance would mean this these petty thugs who call themselves lawyers and judges would try to punish Shadrake even more severely than otherwise. But he should have no worry on that score. The world, as well as his own country Britain can clearly see that this case against Shadrake is totally without basis in law or fact. In this day and age, you simply do not do such things.

This injustice in this case cries out sky high, without even going into details, it is is one classic case of the abuse of law by a corrupt legal system to silence criticism. Simple as that.

No matter what Shadrake does now, no matter how defiant he becomes, these corrupt Singapore judges who are just doing this under orders of Lee Kuan Yew simply cannot do much. Remember, he is not Singaporean; you have to take Britain into account as he is British.

With this trial, Shadrake is in a win win position. He has got these Singapore thugs who call themselves lawyers by the neck. They simply cannot do much against him in this case. Singapore has wider considerations to reckon with, such as it's already badly tattered international image which is about to take another beating.

He should take this golden opportunity that he has now, go all the way, and tell these thugs exactly what they are.

And after this, Shadrake will go home, with the eternal honor of having stood up to these Singapore bully boys and in the process the knowledge that he has done a great service to the people of Singapore and to the cause of freedom.

Writing the book, the name of Alan Shadrake is already etched in the history of Singapore as one who stood up for rights of the ordinary man. With this trial, he would be giving this bullying government that rules by fear, a clean knock out.

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.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Singapore's fear factor

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With Singapore's recent arrest of British author, Alan Shadrake for criminal defamation and contempt of court, after he wrote a book critical of it's government, Singaporeans will only become even more afraid of Lee Kuan Yew. Such crippling all consuming fear can only hurt the island's progress in more ways than one.

Anyone whether a doctor, lawyer or department store clerk, has a life other than work. He has to go about living his life, going to the store, walking about and living. And this is where, regardless of who you are, life in Singapore becomes unpleasant.

For instance, if you walk along the street, any policeman for no reason whatsoever can accost you, demand to see your ID, and speak to you in any fashion he wants. There are no laws that require probable cause to stop and search, no Fourth Amendment rights, no requirement for any decency or human respect or nothing. If you are abused, there is nothing you can do. No one in Singapore's entire history has sued the Singapore government and won, let alone the police force. You are at their mercy, and you should understand that.

The same if you go into a government office. They can deny you service, discriminate against you, deny your lawful claim, throw you out of your government owned apartment, and there is nothing you can do. You can complain as much as you want, but it is entirely up to Lee Kuan Yew. They take advice from him whether you should helped or neglected.

Since suing them in their courts will not do anything for you, since the judges take orders from them and not the law, you may be naive to think of trying other means to solve your problem. There is simply no other way for you.

The courts are no help since the government controls them. The newspapers are no help either because they are all owned by the same people, the government.

If you thought you can mount a peaceful protest outside Lee Kuan Yew's palace, you are mistaken once again. In Singapore it is illegal to protest unless you have a permit from them and by the way don't bother applying. Since 1959, no one in Singapore has ever been given a permit to protest or do anything.

And if you are in Lee Kuan Yew's island and wrote a book criticizing Singapore like Alan Shadrake had done, he would arrest you and throw you in jail. And the same thing if you wrote a blog like myself in 2008, when he sent me to jail for 3 months.

And don't try to spread the word of dissatisfaction among your friends and family. Walls have ears. You will be found out and tailed. A dossier will be kept on you and you will be effectively marked for punishment. How and when you will be punished is entirely up to Lee Kuan Yew, but punished, you will.

It is not only I that knows this, every lawyer, every doctor, every scientist in that island knows this as well. And what do you think of these people, professional men and women, who willingly live in that island, effectively as slaves? Not much I guess.

And that is why the caliber of Singaporeans must continue to deteriorate. Singaporeans today, those still remaining there, are by an large a cowardly, unprincipled, unscrupulous, craven, boring lot. If among these, there was anyone with some gumption, they have either left or are on their way out. The ones that are coming into Singapore has to be by reason the same miserable sort that presently live there.

Today we read the island's legal profession has no more than 3,000 lawyers for a population of 5 million; Sydney Michael Hwang until recently the Singapore Law Society President had suddenly and mysteriously abdicated and claims to have gone to Dubai, my guess is in shame; the medical profession in Singapore has declined with their having to import huge numbers of foreign doctors; same with nurses and you name it every other profession.

And those that are coming to replace those who have left, presumably either in disgust or shame or both, are primarily from Communist China, totally without the English language. You can imagine what Singapore is turning into.

No, arresting Alan Shadrake was a very bad idea. But if only Lee Kuan Yew cared. And by the way, the only reason why I can write this blog is because I am in Fremont, California. Had I written this in Singapore, you can imagine what would have happened to me of course, which is why I will have to live forever in exile. Well not entirely forever; just as long the Big Boy Lee and his government are holding the reins. For now, the moment I set foot in Singapore, I would of course be arrested.

And by the way, you may have known that they are going to disbar me from practicing Singapore law in Singapore very soon, in my absence! By the way, despite my repeatedly asking them, they won't promise not to arrest me if I physically attended my trial there! So in effect, they are denying me the right to be present at my own trial! You can imagine a country like that. A banana republic.

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.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

Singapore, a watery prospect.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a lost cause. You cannot fight nature. Singapore is progressively sinking into a watery grave. And there is no running from it.

In this month alone you had 3 massive floods in a row, in what is worse, the prime shopping area, Orchard Road. It is the one location that Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore takes pride in, it is is there that the unprecedented flooding had occurred. PAP pride could not have been damaged more than this.

And if this was an isolated incident, they could come over it. No, it is not an isolated incident. It is something that is not only going to occur again and again, but with greater regularity and even deeper floods.

A cursory reading of geography should make this clear. The air temperature above Singapore progressively increases with global warming and the massive ongoing concrete building development. A higher air temperature means the atmosphere can hold a much greater quantity of moisture. Which means, with precipitation, a much greater deluge of water pouring from the skies. Simultaneously the sea water temperature continues to progressively rise and with ever increasing temperatures, it naturally continues to expand, which means encroaching sea water all around the island with ever increasing sea levels.

If the Marina Barrage keeps the Kallang river from backtracking at high tide and heavy rain, it does not stop other parts of Singapore beaches and canals from being flooded from encroaching sea water. Unless you circle Singapore with a continuous line of Marina Barrages all round the island in a cocoon, at other places water will continue to encroach. Remember the entire island is a very low lying place and Singapore Changi Airfield runway itself is only a few feet above sea level.

When I was a young, I lived at Exeter Road, at the very spot where the Somerset MRT is now standing. There was a wide visible open canal that ran parallel next to Orchard Road from where the Mandarin Hotel now stands all the way to Tanglin. From Mandarin Hotel going south, it travelled behind what was then Pavilion Theater heading towards Killiney Road and then disappearing underground, reappearing at Dhoby Ghaut. That canal used to flood on occasion but if it did, it was only very minor. I remember, as a young boy of 12 or so, I used to watch the swollen canal standing behind the PUB flats in Somerset Road across the canal where the back of Pavilion Theater stood on the other side.

Some boys used to tie a rope across the fast flowing swollen canal some distance down stream. They used to dive into the canal and be carried down stream by fast flowing flood waters and the idea was to grab the rope across the river when they reach it. Of course it was a very dangerous thing, since if you missed the rope, it was certain death since only a few more feet and the canal disappears underground at Killiney Road only to surface again some distance away near Dhoby Ghaut.

I never dared try it. I know of 2 boys who missed the rope and drowned, their bodies found much further downstream.

I have digressed but the point is this. The reason for the flooding at Orchard Road is simply bad engineering. It was a bad idea to cover the canal since today, the entire stretch where the canals runs is now a walkway, with the canal under it. With the massive quantities of rainy deluge from the sky, the engineers when they built it did not take into account global warming. Today far too much water is being forced into these hidden canals whose capacity is simply inadequate.

And with all the prime exclusive million dollar high rise skyscrapers built around them, you simply cannot expand them to take more water.

And this is not what Singapore is only facing. The bad news is this situation is going to become progressively worse, by the minute, by the hour, and by the day.

If Mother Nature was a fan of Winston Churchill, she would probably tell Singapore's tin pot tyrant Lee Kuan Yew this " I have nothing to offer but blood toil tears and sweat", or "Rain, rain and more rain".

I think if Lee Kuan Yew were eventually to become a God fearing man, it would be a good idea for him to repent his terrible sins, such as abusing the law to silence JB Jeyaretnam, bankrupting Dr. Chee Soon Juan and locking up Chia Thye Poh for 31 years. Repentance may help depending of course on whether Mother Nature will forgive a man like 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.

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Singapore. You can't have the cake and eat it.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the wake of the recent arrest in Lee Kuan Yew's one party state Singapore island of Alan Shadrake over his book "Once and Jolly hangman", one thing becomes obvious; the wisdom in the adage, you cannot have the cake and eat it as well.

No matter how much Singapore tries to argue otherwise, we all know it is not a democracy, it's judges routinely misuse the law as a tool to silence critics, there is no freedom of information with the newspapers all under the hands of the government, and ad nauseam. Quite simply it is a one party dictatorship under the total grip of the octogenarian Lee Kuan Yew and his sidekick son.

And if you have a system such as this, a dictatorship and a corrupt legal system, you simply cannot stop people from criticizing it; it is simply human nature. And that is exactly what is happening there, with a mountain of literature all condemning Lee Kuan Yew's one party state.

But what Singapore is trying to do in this lost cause is to force people through violence and imprisonment to say otherwise; to say that it is not what it is, and to accept Lee Kuan Yew's lie that it is a democracy, when it is clearly not.

Lee Kuan Yew and his Singapore should understand what must be obvious to anyone. You simply cannot silence criticism when you abuse the system for your personal gain. Regardless of how many critics you unjustly punish and imprison, there will be even more doing the same, and no matter how much you try, you simply cannot run away from the truth.

In 2008 while in Singapore I was sent to prison for 3 months for criticizing Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for what she did to Dr. Chee Soon Juan. But that has not stopped me from continuing to write about it from California and neither has it prevented Singaporeans from reading my writings. In fact, it had the opposite effect, by popularizing this blog much more than it would have otherwise been.

Alan Shadrake will of course be punished and very likely sent to prison. But that is not going to stop Alan Shadrake from continuing his writings, with greater force from outside Singapore after he leaves the island.

Lee Kuan Yew has not broken me and neither will he break Alan Shadrake. And while he continues in this futile exercise of punishing legitimate criticism,, even more critics appear to join the bandwagon of criticism.

With these repeated arrests and jailing of critics, it is Lee Kuan Yew and Singapore which are made to look like a bunch of bullies taking them a step further to the likes of North Korea.

And what baffles me writing from California USA is the man's inability to understand this.

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.

Sunday, July 18, 2010

Singapore under water

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of July 17, 2010 has the story "Hit by dawn downpour". Once again heavy rain causes massive flooding throughout Singapore. This is the third time this month this has happened. And what is alarming is the fact that each time it floods, the flood waters not only get deeper but the flooded land areas consistently becomes larger and larger.

What this means is simply this. You are going to get massive flooding almost every other day and with time passing the flooding becomes more intense and worse with more and more areas of the already small overcrowded island ending up with even less living space.

As it is, Singaporeans for lack of space are having to live in high rise apartments, as if they were cabinets and the Singaporeans ensconced in their respective drawers. As it is, the entire plush shopping district of Orchard Road is already becoming not only unsuitable for business but also habitation. I would expect droves of businesses selling out and leaving the island just as the foreign residents there.

As I see it, the only alternative for the government is simply to cordon off Orchard Road as off limits to people and save them from their misery, by moving them to the few other remaining areas of higher ground. Although this is only a stop gap measure since almost the entire island is only a few inches above sea level; even more areas being underwater during the torrential rains cannot be avoided.

The state controlled newspaper reported that previously many hitherto flood free areas in the eastern part of the tiny island, Katong, Changi and elsewhere also came under water.

The massive property damage once again ran into the millions and people, both Singaporeans and foreigners have been very badly hit.

Now with Lee Kuan Yew determined to flood Singapore, pardon the pun, not this time with water but with Chinese nationals to increase the population to several more millions in the already overcrowded tiny island, the living space is going to become smaller and smaller and eventually to breaking point.

Since Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's dictator, like dictators everywhere else is unlikely to listen to you or I, I guess with the coming of several more millions of Chinese nationals human imports into Singapore according to the dictators plan, coupled with the progressively diminishing land space there, it will take nothing short of another miracle, like Moses to divide the Singaporean Sea to save them.

But since Singapore press is state controlled and saying anything unflattering of him will cause you to end up in jail, I guess there is nothing more to say.

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.

Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore arrests Alan Shadrake.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled official newspaper The Straits Times Online edition of July 19, 2010 carries the story ""Hangman" author arrested". In his compelling book, "Once a Jolly Hangman" Alan Shadrake, who was arrested, investigates death penalty in Singapore, and clearly exposes the systematic abuse of the legal system where the courts routinely treat well connected Western foreigners backed by their governments leniently, escaping death, while poor unconnected Singaporeans are always hanged.

One disturbing example in the book is the story of Julia Bohl, a young German woman who was caught red handed with more than 600 grams of heroin, an amount well above the minimum for hanging but whose charge was later quietly reduced behind the scenes, enabling her to escape the noose because the German government made a deal with Singapore promising to invest huge sums of money there. Whereas even though the evidence was contentious and unreliable in many instances, Filipinas, Singaporeans, Malaysians and others, all ordinary people with neither wealth nor powerful connections were all promptly put to death.

The frightening message by Shadrake is this. Don't ever believe that you have any real security in Singapore if you just a nobody. The government can do anything to you, anytime they want, including putting you to death, because the law is entirely in their hands and there is simply nothing you can do. Remember that whenever you step into Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.

The message in Shadrake's book cannot be more powerful than that, which is, the Singapore legal system is simply corrupt, and puts business and commerce above justice and fair play. The clear message is that in Singapore, if you are wealthy and well connected, you can do anything you want including drug trafficking, provided you have enough money and a country like Germany to back you all the way.

And that is why the powerful condemnation of the respected International Bar Association in 2008 which unequivocally stated among other unflattering things, that Singapore does not have the rule of law and that Singaporean judges are beholden to the Lee Kuan Yew government, could not have been more forcefully proven, once again, this time by Shadrake.

The reports state that Shadrake will be charged with criminal defamation and contempt of court in those kangaroo courts. I have every confidence he will not give in to these bullies and will plead not guilty to all charges. In the end, after the inevitable verdict of guilty, Shadrake will profit much more than Singapore ever would by exposing this whole shameful spectacle in another book, this time from outside Singapore.

Of course when it comes to Singapore, as in Alice in Wonderland, you might as well come out with the verdict even before hearing any evidence. Guilty as charged. They might as well dispense with the entire trial process because when you already know the verdict beforehand, you will agree that it all becomes rather boring.

We are all for you, Shadrake. Hang in there. Don't give in to these tin pot bullies. Tell them exactly what they are, which is, a bunch of cowards who strut around their tiny island in their hind legs, just because they have a compliant corrupt judiciary and a bunch of thugs in police uniforms to back them up.

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.

Sunday, July 11, 2010

A different Singapore.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If you were born in Singapore like I have, you would have noticed it has changed completely. What it was in my younger days is a far cry from what it is now.

Lee Kuan Yew's government wanting to develop Singapore, albeit for himself alone, while at the same time confronted with a serious shortage of babies, with reproduction below replacement level, coupled with massive emigration of the educated, an insurmountable double whammy, caused him to solve the problem with human imports especially from Mandarin speaking China.

This meant of course that Singapore is today a far less an English speaking country and I expect in a few years, the main language of communication, if it is not so already will be Mandarin, not English. This is not something Lee Kuan Yew, in his determination to preserve power in himself can possibly avoid, since it has already become impossible for a Malay or Indian to engage in even basic communication in several parts of the city like Chinatown and Ang Mo Kio.

With Chinese Mandarin being the lingua franca in Singapore within the next few years, Singapore can forget it's plans of becoming a great nation, albeit a small one, with a thriving science and arts culture, like the great democratic cities of London and New York. At best it can play second fiddle to Shanghai and Beijing to act as translator and interpreter in their poor English, for the Communist Chinese who have no English at all.

As Lee Kuan Yew continues to deny basic human rights and the rule of law to it's citizens, educated Singaporeans who do not see the need to live under any dictatorship continue to pack their bags for a life abroad. And this would mean an ever greater number of Mandarin speaking Chinese pouring into Singapore to replace those leaving, thereby increasing the dissatisfaction of the local Malays and Indians and forcing even more educated Singaporeans to flee the island.

As for educated Singaporeans still living there, it takes a particularly anaemic and weak individual, weak and helpless in spirit, to willingly remain in an island where he knows he has no rights at all. A meeting with any Singaporean clerk or executive will make that clear. He will say he is helpless, there is nothing he can do, to challenge Lee Kuan Yew is a dangerous thing, and according to him, the best thing is to simply accept the government's repression and go on with life. He has no courage, no sense of pride, honor or adventure. He, an average Singaporean is as good as dead. Life for him is to be lived as safely as possible without any uncertainty or challenge whatsoever. As long as you work in Lee Kuan Yew's HDB, you will get a pay check and have 3 meals a day. And that for the average Singaporean, who has opted to remain in the island, is more than enough.

But for those at the very top of society, with a college degree, preferably a foreign one, with the ability to earn a living at home or abroad, such a life is not enough. His pride, self confidence and a faith in his qualities tell him that he is as good a Lee Kuan Yew if not better, therefore who is he to talk down at me and treat me like a slave? Such qualified men an women, the very ones Singapore needs the most are the very ones who continue to leave the island in ever increasing numbers, leaving behind only those who are weak, cowardly, incapable and content individuals incapable of doing anything, except to follow orders.

In this competitive world, such unimaginative Singaporeans consumed with fear and incapable of taking risk cannot possibly push Singapore ahead into 21 century as a great nation. All it can hope to achieve is a second rate nation behind Communist China.

If Singapore is run, it is not by Singaporeans but by foreigners. Both the foreign and local banks employ foreign high level executives to run the show temporarily for very high salaries. Local Singaporeans have no part at all in this, and in any case they don't have the skills that the foreigners have, and they never will.

It is the same story with international businesses in the island and with commercial lawyers and executives of both local and foreign businesses. They are all foreign, not local. Lee Kuan Yew does not have the schools to train these people and in any case, if they did have the training, they would have left Singapore anyway.

Singapore is today and will increasingly become a joke, a one party state, with a state controlled press, where the import of gum is a criminal offense, and where a criminal is beaten with a stick in judicial punishment; a country not for Singaporeans but a place for foreigners who come in temporarily to make money and leave. As Singaporeans continue to be disgruntled by having to live as a slave in their own country, more will leave, even less babies will be born meaning even more Chinese Mandarin speaking human imports.

Progressively its position as a banking and commercial center will also be lost because banking requires English, not Mandarin Chinese and in any case there won't be any more skilled thinking Singaporeans left. They would all be in Australia or Canada.

I found it impossible myself to live under such circumstances and I am not the only one who thinks this way. And neither did I want my children to live such lives.

They live in America, a society where their success depends on their ability alone, not the patronage of a particular dictator and his political party. A society in which they can think openly and express their thoughts freely without fear. A society in which they can live as human beings, as it was intended. A society in which their destiny is in their own hands, not that of any dictator. They will never live in a country like Singapore.

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.

Friday, July 9, 2010

Singapore Law Society President's sudden departure.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of July 9, 2010 has the story "Law Society Chief steps down". It is about Sydney Michael Hwang, the Singapore Law Society President, who at 67 years of age, perhaps cannot take the shame of it any longer and decides to call it a day.

The official reason given in the story is that he has no time because Dubai has given him a job as an arbitrator.

He claims to have had an education in England and had worked in an establishment law firm in Lee Kuan Yew's one party dictatorship all his life. Looking at his long Singaporean legal career, we see he did well under Lee Kuan Yew's intolerant regime, because it appears, he had no opinion whatsoever about anything; no opinion on Lee Kuan Yew controlling his Law Society; no opinion on the gradual and by today complete erosion of human rights in the island; no opinion on the abuse of the law to silence political dissidents; and now he willingly commences disciplinary proceedings against me in the name of the Singaporean Law Society, an organization which he heads, which will inevitably have me disbarred, merely because I criticized one of his master's judges Belinda Ang Saw Ean.

And what sort of a hot shot lawyer is that, which he claims he is, when he shows not the slightest concern when a dictator of a country hijacks the law for his personal interests and treats the entire population as slaves?

Sydney Michael Hwang claims to be an arbitrator. And how do you respect or even trust an arbitrator who is so afraid of authority that he completely ignores the misuse of the law around him by his rulers. What, has he no shame? What guarantee does one have that he will decide the law fearlessly for the Dubai courts, when in the past, all his life, he has been as afraid as a mouse not to offend the Singaporean supremo Lee Kuan Yew, and in the process enrich himself?

No, this man is not an arbitrator. An arbitrator is one who can be trusted to act fairly even under pressure and disadvantage to oneself. An arbitrator is one the people consider a hero, who would stand selflessly for the truth and justice. This man is far from it. A careful examination of the cases he conducted so far, would very probably show his fear of and bias for his master's government.

The newspaper story claims that he is appointed a judge in Dubai's courts. Such a man can only lower the integrity of those courts, since, if he is unable to show any legal courage in Singapore, how can he do it in the future for Dubai? Will he not now try to please the Emir's government in his cases?

What a judge needs to have in Singapore or anywhere is principally not just the law. Much more important than the law, he needs courage to stand up to the truth, something this man lacks completely. This is a man who will merely stand and watch even if a child is drowning if that is was it takes.

I understand he is going to remain in Singapore and handle Dubai's cases. If I can give some advice to the government of Dubai on these matters it is this. You are much better of finding an English Judge, an Australian or New Zealand judge than this man. He is a shameless pretender who is not fooling anyone about the law, not anyone who knows what he and Singapore truly are. You would be hurting the reputation and integrity not only of the government of Dubai but the credibility of your legal system to have this man anywhere around you.

The reader will see of course that I have made a scathing attack on the reputation and integrity or rather the lack of it in this man Sydney Michael Hwang. I have attacked his impartiality as an arbitrator, an occupation from which he claims to earn a living. If people are to read this blog and believe it to be true, and if in fact untrue, he stands to be seriously affected in his office as arbitrator. If he does believe that what I said is a lie, he should of course sue to protect his reputation. But you know what, he will not sue me in the US simply because what I say about him is true and because California courts are independent, impartial and fearless.

Of course in Singapore under the protection of his kind and loving benefactor Lee Kuan Yew, he will not only win, he will have me crucified.

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.

Wednesday, July 7, 2010

Long arm of the law closing in for Singapore

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Singapore Democrats, the SDP online magazine of July 7, 2010 has the story
"US Justice Dept targeting offshore accounts in India, S'pore" by Aruna Viswanatha
of Main Justice magazine.

It tells of the US government demanding the names of US tax cheats who keep fraudulent accounts in Singapore, for prosecution for tax evasion.

Lee Kuan Yew may have thought himself smart to turn Singapore into a tax haven and money laundering center for foreign crooks and thieves but as always the case in such cases, they don't turn out so smart in the end. The long arm of the law always closes in sooner or later as in this case.

I can only imagine the days of dirty money for Singapore is at an end. Of course they have other sources of dirty money such as gambling and prostitution, but I doubt if any of this will ultimately save it's collapse.

With the 88 year old Lee Kuan Yew walking around with a pacemaker, not knowing when he will kick the bucket, one thing we are certain is that this entire business of living off prostitution, gambling and money laundering cannot last.

Like a pack of cards it will crumble sooner than later, along with the 88 year old Lee Kuan Yew, with the strong arm of the law closing in fast.

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.

Monday, July 5, 2010

Another blow to Singapore's image.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled official newspaper's online edition of July 6, 2010 has the story "SDP's Chee, supporter fined". It tells of the case of Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party, Lee Kuan Yew's political nemesis, and Yap Keng Ho being once again fined $5,000.00 and $2,000.00 for making a political speech without a permit in 2006. If they don't pay the fine, which they will not, they will go to prison for 35 days and 14 days each.

It is indeed a tragic irony to say that I am glad they had the courage to do it again, be convicted again and for going to jail again. Tragic irony because, to take the example of Christ who gave his life to save his people, these 2 would be suffering jail once again to expose to the world the hypocrisy that Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore is, on the one hand pretending as if they were a model democracy and on the other jailing their citizens for doing nothing wrong at all, but just speaking.

Just to remind those who may have forgotten, in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, it is illegal to speak publicly unless you have a permit. And what is more, since 1959, throughout Lee Kuan Yew's grip on power in the island, not a single person has ever been given that ever illusive permit. You guessed it, it is a no win situation. You are simply not allowed to criticize Lee Kuan Yew in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore period, and if you did you go to jail.

I hope this shameful epizode is picked up by the world's news agencies, so that the tourism industry will be effected, since who would want to visit an island where it is illegal to criticize; foreign students will stop coming because how do you learn anything if you can't open your mouth; Singapore's legal system will be given a body blow because how do you trust a system which abuses the law; no one would want to become a lawyer unless you are a dishonest opportunist as the 3,000 or so lawyers there are; and I can go on but you know it as well as I.

Thanks very much Dr. Chee and Yap. I admire you guys. And I am sure Lee Kuan Yew is turning blue in the face with rage, not know what to do with the likes of you. Perhaps the 88 year old dictator with a pacemaker will get a heart attack afterall.

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.

Singapore. Money talks for Lady Vadera

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was aghast to read the story about former British politician and government adviser, Baroness Shriti Vadera, joining one party state Singapore's Tumasek as advisor, Telegraph.co.uk, July 04, 2010, "Baroness Vadera advises Singaporean wealth fund Tumasek".

Surely this is a most unwise decision. The world knows Singapore as a one party state, run by Lee Kuan Yew and his family members who misuse the law for their political ends, routinely sending critics to jail for seemingly normal everyday actions like peaceful protests, controlling the press and in every which way denying democracy to the island to perpetuate their rule.

Lady Vadera, not just for being a prominent British citizen, which alone would demand that she defends her country's honor not to associate with tin pot dictatorships such as this; but particularly so because she was a former British politician and even though no longer one today, her actions internationally has a very real effect of tarnishing the good name of Britain.

Her willingness to work with a country such as Singapore well known as a island not far better than repressive Burma, hurts not only her reputation but also that of her country Britain. For instance if Adolf Hitler was around today, would she be willing to work for him and would that not be a terrible shame on Great Britain.

Lady Vadera should refuse to have anything to do with an island such as this, a one party state run by a tin pot dictator Lee Kuan Yew and his son. She should refuse, even if not for herself, at least for the honor of Great Britain, a country I am very proud of.

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.

Saturday, July 3, 2010

Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew's son's call for young leaders.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

According to Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times Online edition of July 4, 2010, Lee Kuan Yew's son, whom he appointed Prime Minister is calling out for young leaders to join his party to run the country.

To quote the state controlled newspaper "Speaking at a grand dinner to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the People's Association, Mr. Lee (the son), reminded 5,000 grassroots leaders of the need to bring in new members and steadily hand over leadership positions to a younger generation!"

This statement doesn't sound like what you would hear in a democracy at all, but rather what you would expect in Stalin's Russia or present day Communist China, where the eternal communist party would select suitable candidates and "groom" them into positions of leadership, never mind who the people want! This is not a democracy, it is Fascism, Communism or Totalitarianism. This is just plain dictatorship, a blatant abuse of the Constitution.

Consider, the son does not even appear to recognize that Dr. Chee Soon Juan is an opposition politician in the SDP, a legally constituted opposition political party and that he or his colleagues may, at least in theory, be elected into power by the people, yet being not not one of those selected by him!

The son (let us call him that), appears not to appreciate that Singapore is supposed to be a constitutional democracy, which requires periodical elections from which political leaders are chosen; not how the son goes about it by personal invitation.

And that is why repeated statements, a blatant disregard of the Constitution, such as this by the father Lee Kuan Yew and his son should have made it very plain to anyone what Singapore really is, simply a Stalinist one party central planning state, where leaders are chosen by the dictator, not by universal free and fair elections.

And that is why I say Singapore's minuscule opposition political parties should see what is plain to anyone including me, that they should not be wasting their time contesting elections. Boycott elections. Take to the streets, not by violence but peaceful protest and demonstrations and civil disobedience.

Dr. Chee Soon Juan, for whom I have great respect, and his colleagues, whom I consider the only real political opposition in Singapore is fully aware of this pathetic hopeless situation as I am. Yet he (Dr. Chee)appears to have decided, a decision which he has every right to make of course, to follow the decision of those around him that they should continue contesting elections because any mass political protests would alienate the people instead of winning their support.

In the present political situation, any true observer can see that this view, whether real or imaginary is wrong. Second, a political party should not be pandering to anyone for votes but should do what is right regardless of consequence. And third, history has shown that doing what is right always works.

The son here once again confirms that he has no intention whatsoever of complying with the Constitution. Democracy is the last thing on his mind. And if he did get any grassroots leaders to join him, you can expect them to be the same as what we now have, bootlickers, sycophants, trumpeters and hypocrites like the Minister for Law K Shanmugam who passes a law requiring even one peaceful protester to have a police permit, which by the way would be automatically denied ever if applied for.

Singapore is going to the dogs with the father and son duo. You are ending up with massive emigration of the educated, a fast declining population, Chinese human imports with no English nor any sense of democracy and a population of commercial thugs and crooks running away from their countries to hide in Singapore with their money.

Dr. Chee Soon Juan is not getting anywhere with contesting elections with the father and son controlling the reins. He will not now or ever. In this sort of situation, Dr. Chee has to do what is necessary even if it means the dismantling of his entire apparatus. From the streets and civil disobedience, a new Singapore will arise. The father and son are doing enough damage to the country. They have to be stopped.

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.

Singapore's daily floods

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Can anyone advise over there? Did Singapore flood again yesterday and if so, by how many feet of water this time?

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.

Friday, July 2, 2010

Singapore's Orchard Road businesses emptying out.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

With prime businesses in the Orchard Road Scotts Road submerged daily under water through flooding, after torrential thunderstorms discharging more than 100mm of rain each time, can anyone fault them if they are shoring up the their businesses and going home.

And can anyone blame them if they did, if they had, like you and I, a head and a brain within it?

Tell me how can anyone do any sort of business if their shop is flooded and their merchandise destroyed and their customers kept out, every day on a daily basis. And what is worse, rain and flooding does not necessarily fall during office hours, sometimes coming at the middle of the night, when no one is there to keep an eye!

The uncertainly is simply too much, the losses just too heavy for anyone to bear.

Hermes of Paris, a luxury clothier and haberdasher, one of the recent floods worst victims, just by themselves, is reported to have suffered several millions in loss. Granted, the Singapore outlet maybe just a franchise, but still, what about the loss of reputation for the French Hermes, for having located their store at a flood prone location like that, looking very silly.

Wendy's at Wheelock, another worst affected victim at the basement of Wheelock lost everything, their hamburgers and their entire equipment. It is unlikely they will remain at that location because it is simply going to be flooded again tomorrow.

I have heard the entire basement of Luck Plaza, which is being turned into a swimming pool on a daily basis, thanks to Mother Nature, is completely shored up and gone. They have naturally decided that it is impossible to do business under water, and customers will have no access unless they have Self Contained Underwater Breathing Apparatus (SCUBA).

But of course, the Singapore state controlled press belonging to the duo, Lee Kuan Yew and his son, have decided not to print any of this; having to leave us guessing what in Heavens is happening to these submerged businessmen.

Never in the history of Singapore has 100mm of deluges of rainfall become a daily phenomenon as it is today. The writing is clearly on the wall. You are going to have these deluges of downpour on a daily basis. The entire island is only a few inches above sea level. Global warming appears to have taken over with a vengeance. Very soon you are not going to have any tourists unless they are prepared to get wet or stay indoors which no one wants. With its already small size, there is no where else to turn.

I would have given Lee Kuan Yew and his son, who among them decide everything in the island, some advice but unfortunately I have none. Perhaps discontinue Orchard Road Shopping and move them elsewhere but where, I do not know, since everywhere is the same, except perhaps to the duo's residence, Istana.

I am at a loss. Perhaps this is the wrath of God.

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.

Singapore. Civil disobedience

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Are not Singapore's democracy activists in opposition parties wasting their time once again trying to fight another general election, when Lee Kuan Yew owns and controls everything in the island? Shouldn't they by now have realised that it is a hopeless exercise? Shouldn't their efforts be directed instead to civil disobedience, to change the present system in which they know they will never succeed through the ballot box.

Lee Kuan Yew has managed to hijack the courts, the newspapers, the police and everything else to do exactly what he wants anytime. Which simply means that there is no way in Heaven that anyone from the opposition will ever win any elections, let alone forming the government. In fact Lee Kuan Yew himself has admitted just that, his words being something like "I have managed to fix the system in such a way that no opposition can ever form the government".

Dr. Chee Soon Juan continues disqualified from elections, numerous others have been banished and disqualified from returning, and fear is so completely and effectively entrenched in the minds of Singaporeans, so that nobody dares to do anything.

The Singapore Democrat speaks of going around the city meeting the people for support at the the elections. So do the other similarly minuscule opposition parties. I think it is simply a waste of time. They are simply not going to win any elections and even if they did, they would immediately be sued bankrupted and imprisoned. We all know that.

Civil disobedience is a powerful weapon and is the best use of their efforts in their present hopeless situation. You may not get many to do it, since it means tremendous suffering at the hands of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, but I am sure you can find a few. And I believe, even a few is enough as a catalyst for change.

It is already well known that Lee Kuan Yew and his son are unpopular both at home and abroad for being dictators. If a handful continue a sustained drive at civil disobedience, more will join, and the international media publishing the injustice of imprisoning innocent law abiding citizens worldwide will have adverse effect on trade and business, thereby weakening Lee and Company.

If you really thought about it, for anyone to argue that Singaporeans should not do anything that would adversely affect Singapore business is simply wrong. A quick look at South Africa reveals the ANC's political agitation against apartheid very badly affected business but in the end it was a price worth paying for freedom.

Since justice is on the side of the democracy activists, I cannot see how they can fail as the movement can only grow with time. This I think is a better strategy to bring about real democratic change in Singapore, because contesting the elections again can only result in nothing.

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.