PS.Nov 10, 2010, I have Emailed this blog post to the Singapore Attorney General Sundaresh Menon, to his Secretary shirleyne_chan@agc.gov.sg and to Hema Subramanian hema_subramanian@agc.gov.sg. If you feel strongly about this, give them a piece of you mind as well.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What Alan Shadrake, the British author of Once a Jolly Hangman, convicted of contempt of court of Singapore's judiciary and now waiting to be sentenced is going through is nothing short of a thorough state sanctioned bullying more common in North Korea and Burma, not in a so called first world island city state.
All Shadrake did, let us not forget was simply to write a book which criticized the Singapore judiciary as being no more than an extension of the Singapore dictatorship to silence dissent, hang drug traffickers who do not have friends in high places and tailor their court judgments to suit their diplomatic and economic interests, not on their evidence.
What's wrong in writing that, you tell me. If Singapore didn't like what he said, then don't read his book. But if you are still not satisfied, then go ahead and write another book refuting what Shadrake wrote.
But no, that is not enough for this tin pot small time thug, Lee Kuan Yew and his bully boys in the police force and his Attorney Generals chambers. In the early hours of July 19, 2010, policemen break into his hotel room while he is sleeping like Hitler's Gestapo, ransack his room and in their well rehearsed and perfected procedure, look for his passport before anything else which they confiscate, handcuff him and take him away in their waiting police cars to Central Police Station where he is repeatedly interrogated day and night without the benefit of counsel.
2 days later they release him minus passport and tell him he has to wait another 4 long months in Singapore before his trial.
These tactics are nothing short of what gangsters do, they hold you against your will and blackmail you into submission if they can. Only thing in this case, Shadrake refused to be blackmailed.
Then they bring on a Tamil woman prosecutor in a predominantly Chinese country to prosecute him. I mention the word Tamil woman, her name is Hema Subramaniam, deliberately.
Singapore is predominantly ethnic Chinese and there are many ethnic Chinese lawyers in the Attorney Generals Chambers quite capable of prosecuting Shadrake.
I can only imagine why they have used this Tamil woman, probably because no other Chinese prosecutor wants the dirty job.
Chinese lawyers, with a much greater client base in a predominately Chinese society, are more capable of leading independent careers and are more and more refusing to stoop so low as to do the dirty work of a dictatorship to silence dissent.
I guess, not finding any other ethnic Chinese lawyer for the unwholesome job, they gave it this Tamil woman, who was ever ready and willing to bend any way demanded of her.
I would not be surprised that she is more than happy to do any amount of dirty work her masters want without which she would probably be without a job entirely in a predominantly Chinese city state.
I do not know how low she would be prepared to go, or what else she would be prepared to do for her master, but I shall leave this entirely to your imagination.
If someone has a picture of this woman, I would be grateful to see how this desperado woman looks.
What Shadrake is going through here is not a trial, it is a lynching. And the punishment he is suffering is not just from the court's decision, it is from every other direction.
First, he is being punished financially, being forced to remain in Singapore without any financial support. Remember he does not live in Singapore and went there merely as a visitor more than 4 months ago. He has no means of livelihood in Singapore at all and expecting him to pay his upkeep in a foreign country for nearly half a year is the worst punishment one can imagine.
Second the state controlled newspapers and media are having a field day on a daily basis defaming him and parading his picture in their newspapers. The intent in this action cannot be more clearer, it is to defame and discredit him while he is imprisoned within the island.
I hope Shadrake does not capitulate. I appreciate his difficult circumstances but there cannot be any greater joy for me than to see Shadrake standing defiant and this puny little dictatorship unable to overcome a brave man.
Lee Kuan Yew, look here; the World is watching. In your small island you use a Tamil woman and a Tamil Attorney General, both of whom pathetic souls who do your bidding because they are incapable of having any scruples in your predominantly Chinese country; to go after a man who wrote a book which you do not like. Either way you are not going to win this one, because the biggest losers would be you and these Tamils that you use for your dirty work.
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.
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17 comments:
So, what's new.
The Lees tend to bring their cases in Singapore, where a win seems guaranteed.
http://www.theage.com.au/business/court-of-the-lion-kings-20101029-177fu.html
Is the ruling party under pressure from China?
Many had observed that the Singapore authorities seem to be under pressure from the China government in the way it carries out its law.
http://www.temasekreview.com/2010/11/11/is-the-ruling-party-under-pressure-from-china/
The persecution of Shadrake for merely writing a book critical of the Singapore government is symbolically as near as dammit little different to the book burning that was carried out by the Nazis on 10th May 1933. Even the reason given by then Minister of Propaganda in Nazi Germany, Joseph Goebbels, that the books being destroyed 'smeared' Germany, eerily echoes Singapore's claim of 'contempt' of its judiciary.
Pre-war Germany and post-war PAP-run Singapore - two Fascist nations linked by a common obsession to subjugate and intimidate all opposition, by force if necessary. We all knew Shadrake didn't have a snowball in hell's chance of a fair hearing and so it has proven. Shadrake must have known it too, so if he deliberately walked into Lee's den of legalised thuggery to tweak his nose he is indeed a man of great courage. Hopefully, he will never give in to the tin-pot tyrant's sick addiction to see his opponents beaten and begging for mercy. That would negate everything he has endured over the past months and embolden the bullies not just in Singapore but also in those nations looking to copycat the 'benign police state' model of governance patented by Lee.
Thank you for providing email addresses so those of us can protest against these monsters in the Singapore government.
To Mr Gopalan Nair,
I agree with your views on LKY and I respect your for your courage to englighten the people about the truth.
My take is LKY is actually very supportive of Sharia. Virtually all offences committed in Singapore, whether violent of not are punishable by death, whippinng aka torture and other inhumane treatment. I woulf LKY a dhimmi, a sympathizer of Islam because of his refusal to ban torture and his pandering to the islamists as shown by his craving for islamic laws because only Sharia sanctions torture.
Yes, LKY is a dictator, but more importantly, he is turning Singapore into a living hell and this is intolerable. Having said that, not only human rights are eroding but also civi rights/ liberties, etc. Man, a pastor was tortured and jailed for 'insulting' islam. You must have heard of that.
Thank you.
LKY is simply a small boy who has a very bad and abused childhood.
Singapore keep delaying the verdict, because they are trying to wear Shadrake down so that he can apologize. Even when he apologize, they say it's not good enough, and then the judge need another week before he can decide. Obviously, they are just playing delaying tactic here, because time is on their side. Shadrake is old,in poor health, and suffering financially. The longer they drag on, the greater is the possiblity that Shadrake will apologize, and then the dictator will not "lose face" ( a chinese concept).
George Bush says he authorised detainees be tortured waterboarded etc
http://www.counterpunch.com/quigley11112010.html
So he too is supportive of sharia?
Watch out, all your readers of this blog. The Lee Dynasty is preparing mental hospitals for you.
As always, they will be inspired by the motherland.
Xu Lindong’s confinement in a locked mental ward was all the more notable, his brother says, for one extraordinary fact: he was not the least bit deranged. Angered by a dispute over land, he had merely filed a series of complaints against the local government. The government’s response was to draw up an order to commit him to a mental hospital — and then to forge his brother’s name on the signature line.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/12/world/asia/12psych.html?_r=1&hp
Keep typing the Singapore brand to the PRC, and see where the country ends up.
American Singaporean
Mr Nair , is there any way for us to send encouragements to Mr Shadrake? He is doing a favour for Singaporeans. They are a tiny lot compared to him. Now the people who apprehended him are in a catch 22 situation. If they let him go, he will continue his fight, if they punish him, he will fight ferociously when he is let go, if he dies in jail due to his health condition and age, they will be in great shame.
Singapore cannot win the (image) battle unless Shadrake relents. Whoever came up with the great idea to arrest Shadrake should be in big trouble.
Their only way out without taking the flak worldwide is to deport Shadrake and claim "victory" in local press. But PAP tends to be more hardcore just before the election. So a short jail term, maybe a couple weeks, followed by deportation is most likely.
With big thugs creating international news, no wonder local small gangsters thugs are also making headlines.
Can someone do a book review of Shandrake's book and post it here.
Let's see what truths the Lee Dynasty is trying to suppress.
Here you go:
New book puts death penalty on trial « Yawning Bread
Review : Once A Jolly Hangman | The Online Citizen
Asia Times Online :: Once A Jolly Hangman review
The judiciary in Singapore is impeccable. It is the evidence gathering before a case is heard that is to blame. The judge decides on the relevant evidence before it just like Justice Lai Kew Chai did in Nguyen Tong Van's case. No judge in Singapore is willing to invoke equity (in the word's of Lord Diplock) in tempering the winds of mercy upon a shorn lamb. Law is not about justice but more importantly mercy and honesty. What is lacking is the humane element which really boils down to constitutional issues such as the Miranda doctrine and entrenching a Bill of Rights in the constitution. This will not happen in the foreseeable future. Alan Shadrake was mistaken when he commented on the judiciary. He was barking up the wrong tree.
Justice Quintin Loh have not erred in his decision.
For the bloggers here who have read Fransis T Seow's book "To Catch A Tartar", the use of Woodbridge Hospital by the Lee Dynasty to discredit foes is not new. Its easier to discredit evidence of a witness in the opposition than to bear the legal burden of proof on a case. Look at the cases brought against the opposition, its all about destroying the credibility and character assasination as its ultimate objective.
If anyone of us is forced into mental hospitals, be resilient, and don't take medication such as Olangzipan or "Zyprexa" or injections of like nature, its for long term mental patients which the Lee dynasty will be happy to lure you into. Do not be misled.
Check with Franscis T Seow first or Gopalan Nair on the ins and outs of the Singapore Internal Security Dept. Of late they are even using the Christian organisations for this purpose because they are more prone to trusting in one another.
This blog must survive for the long term good of our once fellow citizens of this "first world oasis" in a "third world region"
See this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/09/11/world/asia/11lee.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&hp
I shared this article with the SDP and shortly after Mrs Lee died. If she had died because of this article then it was collateral damage. But the full force of the Singapore Internal Security was upon me wielding the draconian powers under the Anti-Terrorism, Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Drug Trafficking Laws. If I am a terrorist just because I shared it on the 9/11 anniversary of 9/11/2010 and it originates from ground zero in New York City then I would have intended maximum damage which is the hallmark of terrorism.
There were numerous attempts to frame me up just like what they did to Tan Wah Piow and others in living memory, the list is too long.
Gopalan, you must keep this blog open so that Truth Shall Prevail. The Singapore judiciary must wake up to the truth.
What matters in freedom of speech is the freedom to comment on the conduct of public men as the following beautiful and classical words of Mr Justice Malcolm in U.S. vs Bustos (37 Phil. 731)are worth citing:
"Complete liberty to comment on the conduct of public men is a scalpel in the case of free speech. The sharp incision of its probe relieves the abscesses of officialdom. Men in public life may suffer under a hostile and unjust accusation, the wound can be assuaged with a balm of a clear conscience."
Is the judiciary public appointments? Yes. Then Alan Shadrake was merely asserting his freedom of speech in print media.
What is there to fear if the judges' conscience is clear. It is the probable extra-judicial factual matrix not put to the court on record that is troubling their conscience.
Tunisia is rich in oil and natural gas and conjecturely there may be economic considerations that override the rules of natural justice. PetroChina is in Tunisia. PetroChina is now the owner of Singapore Petroleum Company a recent acquisition. There may be production sharing contracts at stake. Such is the wide maze of factual matrix that the judiciary may have been apprised along the way. That is a possibility why the Tunisian was spared the death sentence.
Let the truth prevail. Until the truth is made known such lingering thoughts still remain which ought to be open to free and fair comment.
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