Sunday, February 28, 2010

Gopalan Nair's impending lawyer disbarment in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

As there is no need to take any bets whether I will be disbarred from the Rolls of Lawyers in Singapore which is a forgone conclusion; for persistently criticizing Singapore’s bully boy Lee Kuan Yew, his corrupt judiciary and his "unique" legal system; and since my date for disbarment is fast approaching, with my trial set for May this year in Singapore, which by the way I cannot attend since I have been denied entry into Singapore; it is time to re-visit it's cause and effect so as not to forget what this is all about.
There are 5 charges against me as follows.

Charge 1 and 2, are for the allegations that on July 4, 2008 I had had used abusive language against Lee Kuan Yew’s policemen in a Singapore street, and had behaved in a disorderly manner.

I denied these charges and went though an 18 day trial in Lee’s court totally refuting the incredulous claims of 5 policemen who dutifully repeated the same accusation that I behaved in this way.

As to what motive I would have to do this while my passport was held by them prohibiting my leaving the island was never explained.

Neither was it proven that I was mentally of unsound mind as only someone unsound would want to be doing this for no motive at all!

The evidence of the chief witness, a policeman was so incredible; it was more apt for the pages of Alice in Wonderland.

If alcohol was an issue, which too was demolished since the amount, was less than a tenth of the limit even for driving a motor vehicle!

And finally what crowns it all is the Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times reported earlier that as many as 25 bystanders had witnessed my unacceptable behavior but strangely not a single one of them, an independant witness, was called at trial.

All we have is policemen repeating the same thing after sufficient coaching. In any case, even in the assumption that I did it, which is not the case, these charges are not something which requires a lawyer to be struck off the rolls in any law abiding country.

Charge 3 relates to this blog Singapore Dissident. It states that in this blog, on May 28, 2008, while in Singapore, I had written the following words about Lee Kuan Yew's judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean following her corrupted biased and totally unjust court decision granting her master Lee the sum of over $400,000.00 against Dr. Chee Soon Juan for criticism which was completely acceptable and normal in any democratic society in the world.

I had said: "The Judge Belinda Ang (Belinda Ang Saw Ean) was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders".

I had said these words of the Singapore strongman's judge and I would gladly repeat it again. It was a correct usage of the English language to indicate a total abdication and corruption of her role as a judge in her thoroughly denying Dr. Chee Soon Juan a fair hearing between May 26 and May 28 2008 in Singapore at which time I was present.

The reader is invited to read my blog post again as well as perusing the correct dictionary meanings of "prostituting" in the circumstances in this case.

This is not a case where any lawyer in any respectable democracy would be disbarred.

Charge 4 refers to my retracting the assurances I gave in Lee Kuan Yew's courts just before I was released from Lee's jail and permitted to leave the country.

The circumstances are as follows.

On or about August of 2008 I had already been convicted and sentenced as relating to Charges 1 and 2 above, “the disorderly case”.

In September of 2008 I was sentenced to 3 months jail for "insulting" Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean as in Charge 3 above.

While in jail, when I had only about a week to go before my date of release from prison of November 20, 2008, around the 12 of November 2008, I was visited by Lee’s police in the prison and charged this time for contempt of court for statements I made earlier in court during my "disorderly" case as in Charge 1 and 2 above.

The statements included such as “I have no trust in the impartiality of this court” and “this is a politically motivated case”.

If I denied the charges, I would certainly have lost in Lee Kuan Yew's courts; this would also mean my having to stay even longer in Lee Kuan Yew’s prison.

For the sake of getting out of Singapore, I would have even said that Lee Kuan Yew is the same as Mahatma Gandhi if they wanted it; I apologized to the judge several times in order to conform to the terms set down by Lee's prosecutor and promised never to criticize the Singapore judiciary again, ever. Had I been asked to say that the Singapore legal system was the best in the world, I would have said that too.

Of course when saying any of this, I had no intention whatsoever of keeping any of these promises.

Lee's judge, satisfied with my remonstrances of remorse repentance and contrition, for which had there been a Hollywood producer present, I would have received an Oscar for acting, my incarceration was not extended.

After having been relieved from Lee Kuan Yew's prison on November 20, 2008 and leaving Singapore for good on May 26, 2008, after arriving in California, I retracted all apologies given to this kangaroo court of Lee Kuan Yew in this blog and swore to continue criticizing Lee and his judges where criticism is due.

This charge relates to my blog post of November 28, 2008 in California in which I withdrew all apologies given to Lee Kuan Yew's judge in Singapore.

No lawyer in any real democracy in the world would be disbarred for this.

Charge No 5, relates to my blog post of November 30, 2008 in which I repeated the same words that I had used in relation to Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean in Charge 3, that is, Lee Kuan Yew's judge Judith Prakash had "prostituted herself" in her decision to send 3 Singapore democracy activists to jail merely because they had worn T Shirts emblazoned with the picture of kangaroos outside Belinda Ang Saw Ean's court during the Dr. Chee Soon Juan hearing referred to in Charge 3.

This judge did in fact "prostitute herself" for sending these 3 men to jail because this is not contempt of court and she was acting merely to please her master Lee Kuan Yew.

Again this is not a case where any lawyer would be disbarred from the practice of law.

Every move of Lee Kuan Yew's disciplinary tribunal in this case as well as the arguments of his selected lawyer to carry out his pleasure, will be posted on this blog.

I will of course be disbarred in Lee Kuan Yew's island for this, which will cause the rest of the world to observe another instance of Lee's routine usage of the law to punish his critics.

This will turn out to be an advantage to me for giving me another opportunity to expose the misuse of the law and another confirmation to the International Bar Association’s 72 page finding that Singapore does not have the rule of law.

With Lee’s above charges, it would be impossible to convince anyone in any place other than North Korea, Burma or Cuba that discipline is warranted let alone disbarment.

Of course, one thing Lee Kuan Yew could do is to now create new offences, by accusing me of imaginary crimes.

Why not claim that I had killed 25 people while in Singapore and the only reason they did not charge me earlier was that only now were the bodies recovered!

Why not say that I had burgled 25 houses in Singapore but since the victims only reported the crimes now, they could not have charged me earlier!

Surely with these made up crimes, which you know Lee Kuan Yew is an expert in doing, disbarment will be at least arguable.

But on these present charges as they stand, Lee is going to look silly again.

From now until May 2010, there is still time for him to do this. Can we expect murder charges?

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, February 27, 2010

Singapore. Time to abandon a sinking ship

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am not sure if the Singapore strongman is 86 or is he 87, but in the main, I don't think it really makes much difference. A man cannot go on for ever, even if he is Lee Kuan Yew. He has to die very soon, this year or next. And even if he doesn't die, he would be for all purposes useless anyway, certainly not up to running around dictating the way he used to.

And surely, is this not the time for those who have been running around in riches blowing his trumpet, to question whether is it safe to stay on in the island? Would not packing up and going to Alice Springs Australia a very good option now as things stand?

Despite all his claims for intelligence I think he is quite incompetent, really quite incompetent. Anyone wanting to preserve at least some of what he has built would have realized that governance has to spread out. All power being in him alone is not a good idea because when he dies or becomes bedridden, power does not seamlessly shift to someone else. It may happen in North Korea or Cuba, both closed societies, but it is most unlikely in a English speaking (or a form of it anyway) city state with open borders. That is why if Kevin Rudd resigns, Australia does not collapse and neither does Britain if Gordon Brown does it.

In an island city state run up till today by a man who has held power since 1959 and puts anyone in jail for criticism, ruling through fear, can it be fairly accepted that the people would turn their kowtows to his son, who will in turn become the Dear Leader?

I doubt it.

If you are not thinking about it, you should do so now. It is not safe. The Belinda Ang Saw Eans of Singapore, the Judith Prakashs, the Walter Woon Cheong Mings, the K Shanmugams should really take stock of their prospects now.

I predict Singaporeans refusing to pay homage to Singapore's Dear Leader's son in the event of his demise. I expect unrest but on what scale I cannot say. But there will be unrest. There will be a outgoing flood of foreign companies, foreign assets, and people with cash trying to save what is left of their savings. You are going to see a run on the Singapore dollar, and on the whole mayhem. After some time, just as after all calamities, the situation will become stable but to what extent one cannot say.

Singapore, will not produce a new despot such as Dear Leader Lee Kuan Yew and out of this melee, something else may come out in the end; unrest, chaos and uncertainty.

But if you are the standard Singaporean or Belinda Ang Saw Ean, one of Lee's ever willing judges, is it not time to pack up? Better to be to be able to keep some of your money and in Belinda Ang Saw Ean's case, better to be alive than dead!

The "SS Singapore" is listing badly and taking water. It may be time to abandon ship.

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, February 26, 2010

Law Society vs Gopalan Nair Disciplinary Proceedings, as of Feb 26, 2010 and my List of Documents.

Update: March 04, 2010, This post/list of documents was inadvertently not sent to Angela Chopard and Yogeswari daughter of N Vadivellu, both of the Tribunal as service earlier, which we have done now. Low, Singaporean lawyer for their Law Society was served earlier as stated.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lee Kuan Yew's work towards disbarring me from the Rolls of Lawyers in Singapore continues without much activity.

First, the Tribunal had ordered the parties to file and serve their list of documents latest today. I understand by this that Lee Kuan Yew's preselected lawyer commissioned for the dirty work, to successfully prosecute me and having me disbarred was required by court order to do this latest by today.

As it is the 27th of February 2010 in Singapore as I write in California, this Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked prosecutor appears to have overlooked the dateline, since as of now, no list of documents has been served on me. I suppose we can assume that since my being struck off the Bar in Lee Kuan Yew's paradise island is a forgone conclusion, it really does not matter whether they follow the rules or not.

As for me, I will be doing the same now (filing and serving the list of documents) in this blog post, which will double as my list, and serving the same on Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked lawyer and his judges who must have by now, already received orders to finish me off, in Singapore's "best legal system".

This is another case where you know the verdict even before you enter the courtroom. Gopalan Nair is disbarred. Another gentleman in Singapore who also knows the verdict even before the trial is Singapore's Dr. Chee See Juan. When Lee Kuan Yew sues him for defamation it is no point taking bets. You won't find any bookie willing to do it. Verdict Lee Kuan Yew 10, Dr. Chee Soon Juan 0.

You are already aware from my previous post that Lee Kuan Yew's Immigration authorities have refused up till now to give me permission to enter Singapore for my trial there which has been fixed from May 17, 2010 to May 21, 2010. As you are aware, I have been refused entry into Singapore without express permission from the Immigration authorities although I hold an American passport.

Lee's immigration authorities nor his Tribunal nor anyone else, nor Woon Cheong Ming Walter Lee's Attorney General nor his Tamil Minister for Law K Shanmugam nor anyone else has ever responded to my request for safe passage in and out of Singapore since demonstrably according to them, I have committed numerous crimes by my writings in this blog by calling his judges corrupt. Moreover I had retracted my apology in this blog after my return to California, which I had given in his courts imprisoned and in chains for criticizing him and his corrupt judiciary.

All this means that unless I have a firm guarantee that I will not be harmed by his police and his corrupt judges, travelling to Singapore to defend myself would be tantamount to willingly going to his jail.

As for my request to them to provide the court transcripts, up till now they have refused to do provide them. They have also refused to provide the audio recordings of my trial in the High Court.

As of now, since the last communication from the Singapore Disciplinary Tribunal they have totally shut themselves off from any further communication with me.

Gopalan Nair's List of documents: I shall be relying on all correspondence and evey bit of evidence available that is material to these proceedings

This blog post that doubles as my List of Documents for my Singaporean Disciplinary Inquiry is being served on the following via Email:

1. Angela Chopard, Head Singapore Disciplinary Tribunal, angela_chopard@supcourt.gov.sg
2. Yogeswari daughter of N Vadivellu (Yogeswari d/o N Vadivellu), Chopard's sidekick, yogeswari_n_vadivellu@supcourt.gov.sg
3. Peter Cuthbert Low, a fancy Western name but a thoroughly local Chinese who manages to speak only Singlish. He is the man selected for the dirty job of prosecuting me and to see to it that I am disbarred from Lee's courts, not a difficult task at all since the courts decision has to be pleasing to Lee in any case. He works in the firm Colin Ng and Partners in Lee's city state, 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/


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, February 25, 2010

Even more instances of Singapore style "rule of law"!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Feb 26, 2010 has an incredible story titled "New Sub Court Initiatives".

It talks of yet another of Singapore's "brilliant" (or harebrained, depending of which way you look at it) story of it's government compliant chief Justice introducing new initiates in the Subordinate Courts.

It says, since at least a 3rd of criminal litigants represent themselves, because they cannot afford fees for private attorneys, a body has been set up in the courts to provide resources to help them with "basic court procedures and processes".

You can see the hypocrisy of this uncaring government staring at you. If what this means is a set up to teach criminal defendants defend themselves in court, tell me how is this possible in a few minutes to accomplish this, when it takes at least 4 years of tertiary education and several years more of legal experience to be able to defend oneself in court in even a rudimentary fashion!

If I am hearing this nonsense correctly, is this report saying that since these poor litigants are unable to defend themselves in their criminal cases, this body to be set up in the Subordinate Court is going to provide sufficient instruction and training for them to defend themselves before a trained judge and a trained prosecutor? And how long is this training going to take? A few hours?

You can see the dishonesty of this government clearly. First it is the government's responsibility to provide trained lawyers at government expense to defend indigent accused citizens. This they refuse to do, when every other self respecting democracy accepts it's obligation to these people as a duty under the tenets of the rule of law. Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada, USA, Finland, Spain and every other self respecting country do so.

Singapore on the other hand goes out with a great deal of hot air in their state controlled newspapers claiming to have the best legal system in the world and even more hogwash. Yet they refuse criminal representation to their needy citizens, a duty that goes to the root of any democracy based on the rule of law.

The Chief Justice is not fooling anyone by this stupidity. If you are serious provide assisted legal representation to the indigent. If not, just shut up.

The truth is, there is great injustice going on in Lee Kuan Yew's courts. It is one law for the rich who hire government connected lawyers and get away with driving a car and killing a motorcyclist while speaking on the cell phone like the Chinese woman editor of a state controlled Chinese newspaper who manages to walk away with just a fine. I mentioned this case in this blog.

It is quite another law for the masses who are uneducated and indigent who cannot speak English let alone understand complicated criminal procedure who have to defend themselves against a trained Singaporean prosecutor. Or go to jail.

Mr. Chief Justice, who are you kidding? You are making a fool of yourself! Stop it! Stop it now!

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.

Silviu Ionescu and Romania appear to have had the last laugh after all.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's state controlled newspaper’s online edition of Feb 26, 2010 has this story, "Inonescu not likely to return". And I have to say of course, that I told you so.

It seems after all that Romania and Silviu Ionescu, one of their diplomats, formerly in Singapore, accused by Singapore’s government of having killed a pedestrian and injured 2 others in a road accident there seem to have had the last laugh after all!

The Government of Romania, as it appears, has snubbed this tiny tin pot dictatorship that Lee Kuan Yew struts around in, and in so many words, has simply told him and his totalitarian regime to go to Hell.

A short background that you already know. Silviu Ionescu, a Class A diplomat, fully covered by diplomatic immunity, attached to the Romanian Embassy in Singapore had been accused by Singapore police to have allegedly been drunk while there, drove an Audi automobile with a diplomatic license plate, beat red traffic lights, and ploughed into 3 people, resulting in a death and seriously injuring 2 others.

One has to remember that these are allegations made by Singapore police, a government which is well known for it's lack of the rule of law, an island that is in effect run by a strongman Lee Kuan Yew who has been in power since 1959 (longer than Cuba’s Fidel Castro), with a legal system which has systematically used its courts for decades to stifle and silence any dissent and a government that has imprisoned a man in it's jails (Chia Thye Poh) for a period longer than even Nelson Mandela.

To confirm this island being a banana republic with a legal system which is a principle political weapon for Lee Kuan Yew, the International Bar Association in it's 72 page report in 2008, describes it not too differently from that of North Korea and Singapore’s judges as a corrupt lot, beholden to Lee Kuan Yew for bribes, which they call a salary, in return for which they punish their political victims.

On the time honored legal principle that a man is innocent until proven guilty beyond reasonable doubt, we have to assume, at this moment Mr. Ionescu is innocent of these charges coming from Lee Kuan Yew's island city state, which he runs at will.

3 hours after this accident, Mr. Ionescu had reported this car to have been stolen, he has consistently denied any wrong doing and left Lee Kuan Yew's island 3 days later for medical treatment. Mr. Ionescu now lives in his home country Romania.

Singapore had on their part had come up with almost daily reports in the their state controlled newspapers which you can imagine, has mostly propaganda, accusing Mr. Ionescu of this accident even though none of this has been proven in a court of law.

Of course, in a totalitarian country such as this, with its newspapers free to malign and vilify anyone they want at will, Mr. Inonescu is powerless to stop this character assassination against him.

You would have noticed by now that Singapore has already tried Mr. Ionescu in their state controlled media and have already convicted him, so to speak. This is the sort of thing that you see in despotic regimes all over the world. If they don’t like someone, just give him a bad name and crucify him. Simple as that.

And with great fanfare, this tiny island city state, with full publicity given in its state controlled press, had summoned the Romanian ambassador from Tokyo and handed him what are called "diplomatic notes", showing Singapore’s displeasure on what has happened and requesting that they return Ionescu to Singapore to attend a coroners' inquiry.

And it is here that we see both Romania and its Ambassador, metaphorically speaking, giving a tight slap across Lee Kuan Yew's face, politely that is. You could say a slap with an iron fist in a velvet glove!

Very politely, Romania suspends (mind you, not terminate) Mr. Ionescu for the duration of these Singapore proceedings. Since Mr. Ionescu is temporarily no longer a diplomat, very convenient indeed, they lift diplomatic immunity, but this of course does not satisfy Lee's demand that he be made to return. Romania politely says that it is up to Mr. Ionescu whether he wants to return to Singapore or not. However they on their part make no effort to help Singapore get what they want, that is, Ionescu in Singapore.

Briefly you could correctly say that Romania has shown Singapore complete disrespect. In fact they have made it known in so many words, that they are not going to help Singapore get their man, presumably because Singapore’s legal system cannot be trusted, as it stands thoroughly discredited in the international community.

As for Ionescu, somewhere in Bucharest, I suppose he too is having a good laugh at this tiny island city state run by this strongman Lee Kuan Yew and his son.

If you ask me for my opinion, I would have to say that Singapore deserves this sort of treatment from Romania. What else did it expect after brazenly and shamelessly abusing its law for decades. Lee Kuan Yew and his son have benefited from shaming their legal system and its judiciary this way, but the ones who have lost out are in fact innocent Singaporeans. By Lee Kuan Yew abusing the law for his private gain, Singaporeans have been put to shame, their courts have been put to shame and their judiciary has been subject of ridicule and contempt.

In this entire saga, Singaporeans should blame Lee Kuan Yew and what he has done to its legal system more than they blame either Mr. Ionescu or Romania. As the saying goes, you reap the seeds you sow. You get what you deserve.

I can tell you without hesitation that had this happened in Australia, New Zealand, the UK, Canada or the US, Romania would have behaved very differently. This was an accident that would have warranted lifting of immunity and handing over the diplomat to the authorities as they did in the Georgian case some years ago in Washington DC.

But of course, that case dealt with the USA, a country whose legal system is respected in the world. Here we are dealing with a rouge port with Lee Kuan Yew running it. I guess Romania in fairness to their citizen Mr. Ionescu felt that he was unlikely to get a fair trial in Lee Kuan Yew’s island. Can anyone blame them?

Of course I send my condolences to the family of the deceased and the injured. I think they would be more apt in directing their anger at Lee Kuan Yew and his son, rather than the government of Romania or diplomat Mr. Silviu Ionescu.

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, February 24, 2010

Singapore's "department store dummies".

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It was former President of Singapore Devan Nair, no relation of mine, who coined the phrase "department store dummies" for the vast majority Singaporeans who quietly take the suppression and the repression under Lee Kuan Yew in his island city state of Singapore without protest or complaint; with intelligence not more than what you would expect of the salesgirls working in the island's department stores.

No offence meant to the Singaporean salesgirls or the half starved skinny Singapore Airlines air hostesses who happily go about their lives in bliss, and of course there is nothing wrong with that; frankly the lack of awareness of what is going on in the world by many there should be worrying to the Big Boy.

My observation comes from many who dislike what I write in this blog, for instance they say it is good to live in Singapore because it is safe whereas it is not safe in the US. Anyone who has gone to the US or even had read about the country would know that the US is no more dangerous than Singapore. In any case if that were so, then why the hell am I living here, and why are 9 out of 10 Singaporeans able to leave the island coming here?

Many for instance argue that Singapore is an excellent place because it is peaceful and there are jobs there while abroad there is no peace like in Singapore and neither are there jobs. This again is the height naivety since anyone who knows would agree that this is not the case at all.

Others complain that I should not be criticizing their Dear Leader Lee Kuan Yew because it is he who has made Singapore prosperous, built all the skyscrapers and made what Singapore is today. But they refuse to see that anyone else could have also done it, and in any case whether Singapore is really prosperous depends on who you ask. For 3/4 of the population who have to scrape a living in the overpriced HDB flats, they probably are not having the goof life, but because these people are so unaware of what is happening outside, they actually believe it is paradise.

You have the same sort of situation in North Korea. In spite of all the poverty and misery that many undergo in North Korea, many there actually believe that it is in fact paradise all because of their Dear Leader Kim Jong Il.

The same sort of thing happens in Singapore's "department store dummies". Of course not every Singaporean is one. Those who are aware have already left the island and those remaining are biding their time to leave.

And another thing. These people who don't like me appear unconcerned about the inability to live as free men, none seem to appreciate the concept of democracy and all they care about are their worldly possessions, the more the better. You get the distinct feeling that they don't have much pride in themselves. Living under Dear Leader appears perfectly fine.

But those who hurl abuses and vitriol at me are these sad cases. Someone should tell Lee Kuan Yew that if this is the plaster that Singapore is hoping to build with, it is, shall I say, rather weak.

As for me, when I get these insults to Singapore Dissident, I just delete them. There is no point wasting time with these "department store dummies".

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.

An example of Singapore's "rule of law" and "democracy"!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lee Kuan Yew's order to the Singapore Law Society to commence disciplinary proceedings to have me struck of the rolls of lawyers there has begun of course. They have also fixed the dates for my disciplinary hearing in the Singapore High Court from May 17 to May 21, 2010.

On the assumption that Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore at least tries to pretend to have the "rule of law", which we of course know in reality to be the North Korean variety, one would have assumed that he would at least order his Department of Immigration to let me enter the island to defend myself at my trial, since I am at present barred from entering the island without his permission!

Alas, it appears not so. It appears he is not prepared to even let me defend myself in Singapore at my trial. Despite my having written to his Immigration authority several times since these proceedings started several months ago, the Immigration Department has refused till now to let me enter Singapore to defend myself.

I had also also asked them for safe passage in and out of Singapore without arrest and imprisonment by his footloose police and the Singaporean Attorney General but he has said nothing. I will therefore have to assume that he is refusing any guarantee that I will be safe in Singapore and not in his Singaporean Changi Prison for his amusement; what is worse, he is not even going to let me defend myself in the Singapore court!

And I suppose this is what he and his handpicked Tamil Minister of Law K Shanmugam mean by Rule of Law. I suppose it is rule of law, Singaporean style!

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, February 23, 2010

Singapore will magically increase productivity.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Feb 23, 2010has the story "Foreign worker levy to rise". It talks about Singapore increasing the productivity of it's workers which by the way is one of the lowest in the world by simply increasing the foreign worker levy.

Today, each employer employing foreigners has to pay a levy called foreign worker levy which according to the government is a disincentive to employing them, while many think it is really another form of tax to increase government coffers.

The tiny island city state, which only a couple of years ago had no more than 3.5 million people, has burgeoned to its present population of nearly 5 million, having brought in nearly 2 million, which makes up 40% of its total population, of foreign cheap unskilled workers from mainly Communist Mainland China and smaller numbers form the other impoverished neighbouring countries to do their unskilled and semi skilled work. The plan of course, just as the other usual harebrained ideas of these minsters who are paid millions of dollars is, to keep wage levels lower than its neighbours to attract foreign investment.

Fearing that Singapore would no longer have any Singaporeans left with such a deluge, and since productivity keeps falling with such unskilled foreigners, the government has decided, it seems, to increase productivity by increasing the foreign worker levy.

But the question that I, a person who his no real training in economics, and with normal intelligence and common sense I hope is how will merely increasing the levy suddenly increase the productivity of workers!

For instance, by increasing productivity, does it mean that if now, there are only 4 men to sweep the floor while previously there were 8, are they now going to sweep it faster and thereby increase productivity? And is this possible, if they are already sweeping now to their fullest ability? Or is the employer now going to employ a whip to their backs to compel them to work even faster? Is this the million dollar plan of Singapore's million dollar ministers to increase the worker's productivity?

You cannot help when you go to Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew's first world city state, to see and army of workers with brooms and shovels doing work which in the west would have needed only 2. This is not just because they don't have the machines, which Singapore totally appears to lack, what is more important is they have no specialized skills; insufficient schools and insufficient students to teach and learn welding, carpentering and mechanics. So when you don't have any skilled labor as expected of a developed country, how would merely reducing the number of foreign unskilled workers help!

Of course, if I can see this nonsense, so can anybody else. Merely increasing the foreign worker levy and reducing the number of foreign workers will not magically increase anything, let alone productivity.

But in a dictatorship such as this, where the men at the top can say any nonsense they want, who is there to stop them? Certainly not Lee Kuan Yew's citizens, whom he has once called, his "digits".

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, February 21, 2010

Singapore. The makings of fascism.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Reading "Blurring of state and party lines" an article by Seah Chiang Nee in The Star Online of Feb 20, 2010, a Malaysian newspaper, http://thestar.com.my/ is alarming.

It talks of 30,000 Singaporeans who are now active members of Lee Kuan Yew's national grassroots organizations, organizations such as the RCs (Residents Committees, CCCs (Citizens Consultative Committees) and CCs (Community Clubs) all funded with tax payers money and run by his People's Action Party (PAP).

These organizations are in direct touch with almost every citizen in the city state spread across the government housing estates (HDB) where 90% of Singaporeans live. One cannot therefore avoid these organizations even if one wants to.

Membership and active participation in these organizations is seen as a sign of your support for Lee Kuan Yew and his political party the PAP. This support is seen as a requirement to advance one's career and business; since the vast majority of Singaporeans work in the government or in government linked companies, which are by far the largest employers in the city state. Tumasek and the GIC are the 2 largest government linked employers who between themselves control the vast majority of local businesses.

One cannot escape the need to be a member these grassroots organizations by joining foreign multinationals, as they too are closely monitored by Lee Kuan Yew to see who is and who is not his side; with government supporters being given an advantage in jobs and career prospects while those who are stupid enough to either oppose him, God forbid, or remain independent are disadvantaged and even punished.

Today throughout the island city state, the message has clearly sunk in. To advance your career and your lives, join the PAP and praise the Dear Leader Lee Kuan Yew, if you knew what was good for you. Only an dummy would fail to see the light.

In fact Lee Kuan Yew and his government make no apologies for this. You have seen Lee Kuan Yew's judiciary making repeated statements in court in the rare civil disobedience cases, that Singapore does not allow peaceful protests (Judge VK Rajah in punishing peaceful protesters) and the repeated jailing of Dr. Chee Soon Juan and members of his party for having done nothing more than exercising their rights under the Constitution by peaceful protest.

With the press entirely controlled by Lee Kuan Yew's PAP, it is impossible to know the truth about anything, but anecdotal evidence clearly points to numerous cases of civil servants demoted and even fired for failing to join these PAP grassroots organizations and government connected individuals either not charged for crimes or let off lightly while those who are unconnected having to suffer harsh sentences.

As an example you would recall not too long ago about the Chinese woman editor of one of Lee Kuan Yew's newspapers who had killed a motorcycle pillion rider while talking on her cell phone while driving, and running a redlight, at the junction of Adam Road and Bukit Timah Road. Apparently she was late for a government function! No suprise to anyone in Lee's Singapore that she was given a small fine and let off! After all she was a card carrying member or indirectly so of Lee Kuan Yew's PAP.

Another instance more recently was the case of a female doctor, the sister of the Singaporean actor Lim Kay Tong. By the way, I used to know Lim Kay Tong when he was studying English and Drama at Hull University, UK, while I was studying law there. She was alleged to have been seated in the driver’s seat in the early morning hours of a car in the middle lane of a freeway, with her lights switched off, dead drunk! You rightly guessed again that she too did not have to suffer any real punishment; just a small fine and a driving suspension!

In Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, had anyone else had the misfortune of either of this case, Lee Kuan Yew would have sent him to jail and thrown the key away.

Which reminds one of the classic fascist states of Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini. Singapore is beginning to look more and more like these states, when there too everything depended on being card carrying members of the Fascist Party. Jobs, security, protection, a livelihood, promotions and careers all depended on who you are.

In Hitler's Nazi Germany one could not get anywhere in life without being a card carrying member of the Nazi Party. In fact it was compulsory for every German to be one, with only Jews, Gypsies and such like prohibited from joining.

In Lee Kuan yew's Singapore, he has not yet made membership of the PAP a requisite for jobs and housing but he need not do it. Anyone who knows which side of the bread is buttered would be silly not to join. It only makes sense while in Singapore to praise and support Lee Kuan Yew just as in the proverbial Rome you would do as the Romans do.

But Singapore was not meant to be a Fascist state, according to the framers of the Constitution in 1959 and not the adulterated Lee Kuan Yew version which we have today. The framers of the Constitution, as you would have guessed, expected Singapore to be a democracy which is what my father and I expected while in Singapore. Instead, Lee Kuan Yew is hijacking the entire island and turning it into something it was not supposed to be and into something bad, simply bad.

And just as the right thinking Germans did nothing from 1933 to 1939 under Hitler, watching Germany deteriorate into a ghastly monster of a state under Hitler, I fear right thinking Singaporeans today are sitting idly by and doing nothing more than complaining while Singapore is being destroyed before their very eyes.

Any student of history in Singapore should have seen the writing on the wall long ago. And history, alas, is repeating itself with Singaporeans wise enough to understand, sadly sitting idly by.

It is impossible to stop Lee Kuan Yew turning Singapore into a complete Fascist state through the elections. This much must be obvious. The only way to stop the rot is through peaceful protests demanding an end to this. It is your Singapore and you remain silent at your peril.

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, February 14, 2010

Singapore. Whither the Reform Party?

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Of course I wish Kenneth Jeyaretnam every success for his Reform Party, the successor to JB Jeyaretnam's Workers Party of which I was part of for nearly a decade in Singapore, in 1980s. Every single person wishing for freedom in Singapore would wish Kenneth Jeyaretnam well.

It bode well for the future of democracy of Singapore to see him come out as another voice for freedom some months ago.

But my question is this. What is his plan? And does he have one?

So far we have heard speeches by him which have all been reported with the invariable description of "Cambridge educated economist and son of former opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam". Of course it is an advantage for one to be "Cambridge educated" and the "son of former opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam" but is that alone enough?

I fear simply making speeches and writing excellent learned treatise on Singapore's economics simply will not do for political leadership in Singapore. No, sadly, that alone is not enough.

I had worked with his late father for nearly a decade where he did just that, making speeches and contesting parliamentary elections. Of course the late JB Jeyaretnam meant well. Of course I went around selling the Hammer, the WP newspaper with him in public every Sunday and did everything else that one would have normally done in any other normal country. But in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, which by the way is not a normal democracy, all that simply did not work, and if that is as much what Kenneth Jeyaretnam plans to do for the reminder of his political career, then he too is, sadly, is not going any places either.

Unless he is willing to level the playing field by public protests, peaceful assembly, publicly proclaiming and demanding justice and provoking this Fascist regime to see the light, speeches and writings however intelligent, even coming from a "Cambridge educated economist" still will not do.

The only way to make Lee Kuan Yew see the light is to literally exercise your rights under the Constitution by demanding free speech and expression and assembly and taking the bull by the horns; in the streets of Singapore; real physical action, not just speeches and not pretending as if the Constitution did not exist.

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, February 13, 2010

Singapore. The shocking story of Singaporean woman Diana Ng Kum Yim

Ladies and Gentlemen,

This is an unusual story.

“National Association for the Rescue of Japanese Kidnapped by North Korea” (NARKN) (http://www.sukuukai.jp/narkn/), in a report titled "North Korean Abduction Victims Worldwide" in their website, dated August 2006, reports that "On August 20th 1978 in Singapore, 2 men claiming to be Japanese requested an escort company to send 5 ladies for a floating party, after which these ladies along with the boat disappeared. They were, Malaysians, 22 year old Yeng Yoke Fun, 22 year old yap Mee Leng, 19 year old Seetoh Tai Thim, 19 year old Margaret Ong Guat Choo and 24 year old Singaporean woman Diana Ng Kum Yim."

I don't believe Singaporean woman Diana Ng Kum Yim who was 19 when abducted in August 20th 1978 and who should be 50 years if living now, has ever been found. If alive she is probably living in North Korea. Has anyone asked Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew or his son to look into this?

According to this report, nationals of 12 countries were abducted, 489 South Koreans, over 100 Japanese, 4 Lebanese, 1 Thai, 1 Rumanian, 2 Chinese Residents of Macau, 4 Malaysians, 1 Singaporean, 3 French, 3 Italians, 2 Hollanders and 1 Jordanian.

This news came from Charles Robert Jenkins, a US Army deserter after he managed to escape to Japan in 2002, after some 37 years of captivity in North Korea.

Jenkins, US Army Sergeant defected to North Korea across the DMZ in Jan 04, 1965, married another abductee Japanese woman Hitomi Soga, 21 years old in 1980. They had 2 daughters born in North Korea. At that time there were 3 other American defectors living in North Korea, James Joseph Dresnock, Private Larry Allan Abisher and Specialist Jerry Wayne Parrish.

Parrish had died of natural causes leaving behind his wife, one of the 4 Lebanese women, Shiham, whom he had married. Shiham and Parrish had 3 daughters. Through powerful connections North Korea returned the 4 Lebanese women but since Shiham was pregnant at the time, her Lebanese family decided to send her back. She claims she is happy in North Korea.

Abisher married the Thai woman, Anocha Panjoy. Panjoy was working in Macau as a prostitute when she was picked up by North Korean agents. Abisher died of natural causes. Panjoy still lives in North Korea.

Of the American deserters only Dresnock still lives in North Korea. He recently appeared in a British made documentary stating he loves North Korea and has not desire to return to USA. He is married with 3 children. He was first married to the Rumanian who died. He subsequently married the daughter of a Togolese diplomat and a Korean mother.

In 2002 North Korea acknowledged the existence of Japanese abductees and agreed to visits by them to Japan. Hitomoi Soga, Jenkins’s wife, managed to go to Japan in this arrangement and even though North Korea allowed the abductees families to go with them, Jenkins did not fearing reprisals by the US to extradite him. Finally he agreed to travel to Indonesia with his 2 daughters, which did not have an extradition treaty with the US, and there met his wife, after which he traveled to Japan where he now lives with his family.

The information about these abductees came from him.

If you were wondering, all these marriages were arranged by the then Great Leader Kim Il Sung. The idea generally is to pair off foreigners with foreigners. So Dresnock first gets to marry a Rumanian, and when she died, he married the mixed race woman of Togolese and Korean descent. As for Abisher, he is paired off with the Thai woman. They had told her when he died that she was to marry a German! I am not sure if that happened, since the only source of information is Jenkins who now lives in Japan. As for Parrish, he was teamed off with Shiham the Lebanese. I am not sure if they paired her off with someone else after he died. She still lives there.

The ones who are kidnapped are usually women, I suppose because they are weaker and therefore easier to abduct, and they can be used in various duties, such as spies, escorts, language instructors and espionage.

What a country North Korea!

Coming back to my question, will Singapore look into one of it’s citizens languishing in the Dear Leader’s North Korea; Singaporean woman Diana Ng Kum Yim?

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, February 12, 2010

Our "Dear Leader" Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's style of governance and that of Kim Jong Il has many similarities but their circumstances are totally different thus making it impossible for him to be another "Dear Leader".

Just as North Korea drums into their people the greatness of Kim, with such fancies like he invented Korea, that he came from the Heavens, he is the greatest and kindest man that ever lived; to some extent Lee Kuan Yew's government says the same of Lee. But the difference is that it works for Kim Jung Il in North Korea because the people really believe it. There is no independent media there, no Internet and outside information is completely blocked.

In Singapore on the other hand, such nonsense is simply not working, because even though the entire Media is owned by Lee Kuan Yew, he is unable to stop information from the alternative media, including the Internet.

Singapore's Media is state owned and controlled and dishes out a large dose of propaganda; but as the people are aware of it, it loses respect.

Singaporeans are aware that Lee's collecting $3.7 million a year as a salary is theft and he can't help being looked on as a thief.

Singaporeans are aware of the denial of basic human rights in the island because information from outside is readily available. They can see the corruption and nepotism in Lee Kuan Yew's government where select party officials just like in North Korea live luxurious lives while the ordinary man has to eke out a living. This is not so much a problem in North Korea because their people who are shut out completely from the outside world know no better and accept it as normal.

In Singapore where they are exposed to the outside world, they become angry at the way they have to live.

This awareness of there injustices done to them in Singapore is the root of all the problems the island faces.

This is the reason why you have massive emigration, people refusing to have babies causing the island to be ranked lowest in the fertility rate scale for countries.

Only a few days ago, there was a report from New Zealand that a pilot scheme targeted to attract Singapore immigrants received no less than 35,000 applicants in just 3 weeks!

The quality of the Singapore workforce is constantly falling as the island has to rely on non English speaking immigrants from China to work in sales sectors where English is necessary.

Singapore finds it impossible to get anyone from the English speaking world to work in an island so discredited like this.

Moreover blogs such as mine continue to hurt Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. As each day passes the readership increases in numbers and spread, yet Lee Kuan Yew, deeply annoyed and angered is unable to stop it.

So Lee Kuan Yew the Singapore strongman has to decide one or the other. Does he want real control over Singaporeans? If so he has to seal Singapore's borders, totally dismantle the Internet, prevent any outside information from coming into the island and sustain a continued propaganda campaign to promote Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's "Dear Leader". Over time, whatever he says will be accepted. In fact he could be like the Dear Leader Kim Il Sung whom his people believe was sent from Heaven.

If Lee Kuan Yew is not prepared to do it, and if he continues his repression over his people, what you will see in the future is more of the same bad news; continued migration, progressively falling birth rates, total non cooperation from Singaporeans to his policies and ideas, ever increasing suicides, general dissatisfaction and loss of morale and finally total decline.

And as for me, Singapore Dissident will continue reminding Singaporeans of what Singapore's "Dear Leader Lee Kuan Yew" truly is, simply a misguided despot. You see I know this and the people of Singapore know this, but even today the North Korean people do not know this of their "Dear Leader".

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, February 11, 2010

Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore in the Romanian diplomat embroglio

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore's Straits times, the state controlled newspaper's reports in it's on line edition of Feb 12, 2010 the following stories "Singapore wants diplomat back" and "Envoy claims he was framed".

The background to it is this. About a month ago an Audi automobile was found damaged during early morning hours in the city state indicating it was involved in an accident.

Somewhere else, not too far away (mind you Singapore being so small, no place is far away), a man had died and 2 others badly injured as a result of a hit and run accident.

It was reported in these state controlled newspapers that Romanian diplomat, Silviu Ioenscu attached to the Romanian Embassy in Singapore had made a telephone call claiming he lost the vehicle.

3 days later he leaves Singapore for Bucharest and has not returned since.

In the meantime, Singapore which does not have the rule of law, or a free press (every newspaper in the island is state owned and controlled) and no independent judiciary, has been regularly putting out stories in the media suggesting that it was Ionescu who was involved in the accident and to avoid arrest he fled the country.

This is despite the fact that he has yet to be given any trial and he, on his part, has all along maintained his innocence.

It is undisputed that Ionescu is a Class 1 diplomat and covered by complete diplomatic immunity. He is not required to submit to Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore's jurisdiction.

However if the Romanian government so wishes, they may voluntarily lift immunity. So far they have not indicated that they are willing to do this.

It is not uncommon for nations to voluntarily lift immunity and submit to jurisdiction of the foreign country. One case where this happened was in Washington DC around February 1997. George Makharadze, a second ranking diplomat in the Republic of Georgia Embassy in Washington DC, whose car slammed into the back of another car, with the impact sending the second car into the air and onto a third vehicle in which a girl passenger 16 year old Jovine Waltrick, daughter of Brazilian immigrants, is killed.

Bill Clinton's then US President's staff officially asked Edward Shevardnadze, then President of Georgia to waive immunity which he did, after US Attorney Eric Holder had explained that he could not bring charges without a waiver. (www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1P2-713132.html)

Coming to Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, they too have officially asked the Romanian Embassy, this time to waive immunity for Ionescu to attend a Coroner's Inquiry in the city state, soon to be held; they have also handed strongly worded diplomatic notes to the Romanian Ambassador who was summoned from Tokyo.

They base their request on the fact that coroner's inquiry is not exactly a trial and since the suspected diplomat had maintained his innocence, this would be an opportunity for him to clear his name.

As for Ionescu on the other hand who is safely in his home country, he has denied all along these accusations, maintained his innocence and now claims that he was framed by the Singapore government. As evidence of such illegality on Singapore’s part, he claims that in 2007, in similar circumstances, he was falsely accused. He believes this is because he has reported many times to his government of Lee Kuan Yew's ongoing human rights abuses, which by now is well known.

I had in my earlier blog post stated that it is in the best interests of the Romanian government not to lift immunity and they should not repatriate Ionescu at any cost. From the legal standpoint and observing Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, most others, I believe will come to the same conclusion. Ionescu will simply not get a fair trial in Singapore.

On the premise that a man is innocent until proven guilty, Ionescu is at present innocent. What is more, he maintains this position and advances a reason for it, the 2007 attempted framing by Lee Kuan Yew's men in Singapore.

Ionescu's claim of Singapore's human rights abuses is given credibility because they are true. The human rights abuses in Singapore are rampant but a few salient examples would remind us of them. JB Jeyaretnam, a political opponent of Lee Kuan Yew, had over decades been systematically and repeatedly sued, bankrupted and jailed by Lee's corrupt judiciary. The same fate has befallen every single political opponent of his from Chia Thye Poh to Dr. Chee Soon Juan and myself.

Ionescu's claim that Lee Kuan Yew tried to arrest him on framed up charges in 2007 appears all the more likely since I have my self experienced it.

In 2008 while in Singapore I had written a blog post criticizing one of his judges Belinda Ang Saw Ean in this blog in Singapore. I was immediately arrested and while being interrogated by Lee Kuan Yew's policeman while in solitary confinement, I was shown various Emails presumably sent by me to this judge and various high ranking people in Lee's government even though I had never sent any emails.

The police had managed to get hold of my Email password from my notebook which they seized from my hotel room, and sent it themselves with my name on them except they made a mistake in using my former name "Pallichadath Gopalan Nair" instead of my name "Gopalan Nair". The one mistake they made was, they did not know that since 2004, I had stopped using the earlier name since a formal name change by me.

I was repeatedly threatened and charged while in police solitary confinement, for sending Emails critical of Lee Kuan Yew’s judges even though they had sent them themselves.

In these circumstances, it is completely possible that Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore had a desire to discredit Mr. Ionescu since 2007 for his reporting on Singapore’s rampant human rights abuses.

Not too long ago, the International Bar Association too had made it very clear in their report on Singapore that it simply does not have the rule of law, and it's judges always deliver verdicts to please Lee Kuan Yew and his government and unjustly punish anyone who dares to criticize him. As a matter of fact, what is telling is that in Singapore's entire history, not a single political opponent has ever won a lawsuit brought by Lee.

If it's courts can ordinarily abuse the law in this way in political cases, what guarantee is there that they will not do it in a case such as this?

Since I was sent to jail for 3 months there merely for criticizing this judge in this blog; as I had been suspended for 2 years from practicing law there merely for writing a letter to Lee Kuan Yew's Attorney General on a matter of public interest, and since I had been fined $8,000.00 and costs merely for making an election rally speech in Singapore on a similar matter; I think Ionescu's fears are real if he returns to Singapore. The same thing that happened to me will in all probability happen to him because of his reporting on human rights abuses in the island, as he claims.

Although I sympathize with the family of the dead man and the 2 others injured, they are not going to get any satisfaction if Ionescu is not given a fair trial in Singapore. Therefore Romania should not, and I am sure they will not accede to any request from Singapore to waive immunity in this case.

I had referred to the Washington DC case where the Georgian government had lifted immunity after which the diplomat was tried in the US and received a jail sentence of between 7 to 10 years.

But, then, there is a difference surely. The United States is not Singapore. The US has the rule of law and does not go around framing diplomats merely because they wrote badly about them, or they do not send JB Jeyaretnams and Gopalan Nairs to jail merely because we criticized them.

There have been many previous cases where countries have lifted immunity for their diplomats in England and the USA and the reasons must be obvious. These are proud human rights abiding, self respecting countries with proud tradition of the rule of law. Singapore on the other hand is run by Kim Jong Ils Singaporean version, Lee Kuan Yew.

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, February 8, 2010

Singapore. What is lacking is integrity

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Above anything else, what a country needs is integrity. And this is what Singapore lacks. Without integrity, every segment of society inexorably fails and Singapore continues in decline.

Parents in fear of Lee Kuan Yew warn their children not to speak their minds against Singapore's Lee. Teachers themselves living in fear subdue their students political thoughts for political correctness.

Singaporeans detest Lee Kuan Yew 87, the Singapore strongman, whom they see as a small minded mean spirited old despot, who steals any amount of money he wants calling it a salary, a wicked man who has put away his political opponents for decades, and bankrupted and ruined them. Singaporeans instead of respecting him, live in fear of him; just as North Koreans live in fear of Kim Jung Il.

Singapore's judges have lost all respect and seen as political tools to punish Lee's opposition. In return for the dirty work, they get paid highly.

Civil servants have lost all respect, seen as benefiting Lee's party officials and elites and denying the rights of ordinary people.

Like the Black Mamba, Lee Kuan Yew repeatedly strikes and punishes Dr. Chee Soon Juan, his political opponent in his courts.

Honesty, courage and integrity are no longer seen as virtues in Lee Kuan Yew's city state; virtues there are the willingness to lie and torment political opponents like Lee's Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean does for a living, as in the case of Dr. Chee Soon Juan.

The state does nothing for the people. There is no unemployment insurance, no state welfare for the poor, no nothing. Lee's city state only takes your taxes. If you fall into poverty, they can only watch.

With no security against misfortune whatsoever, Singaporeans do not have any children. Their birth rate is the lowest in the world. And now their migration rates to the west are also one of the highest in the world.

Singaporeans are not giving birth and those remaining are fleeing the country.

Singapore's lawyers are arguably, the most dishonest in the world. With only 3,000 in that city state of 5 million, there are many making off with their client's money each year. Only a year ago Singapore lawyer David Rasif made off with something like $15 million of his clients money. He remains at large. That case has caused the income of lawyers to fall overnight because of the unprecedented loss of confidence. Lawyers in Singapore are seen as the most dishonest of people in the island.

The Singapore Law Society does nothing to advance the law in Singapore. By law, they are prohibited from commenting on laws, a very strange rule indeed. It's President Hwang has no problem accepting it and has vowed not to campaign for the rule of law. He has repeatedly said he will do nothing because he simply cannot. If he did anything good, he will be punished by Lee Kuan Yew.

One of Singapore's best lawyers is Davinder Singh. His job is principally suing Lee Kuan Yew's opponents, in collaboration with corrupt judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean misusing the law and bankrupting Lee's victims.

Singapore's journalists have no professionalism whatsoever. They are quite content to work for a media voted 133rd down the list for countries lacking press freedom by Reporters Without Borders. Rather than newspaper reporters, their work is that of propagating government propaganda. They willingly do the dirty work.

With a place like this, where ordinary human decency is lacking, where it is acceptable to cheat and lie to advance your career like Judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean, it is not a place that is going places anytime soon.

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, February 7, 2010

Singapore. A glaring lack of artisans and tradesmen

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was reading the SDP's excellent articles on the the Singapore economy which I strongly recommend, "The SDP's alternative economic programme Part I and 2: Getting rich quick, The Party - Manifesto" Monday, 08 February 2010 Singapore Democrats, www.yoursdp.org.

It describes among other things, the lack of Singaporeans productivity, something which I have always noticed.

I see an extreme shortage of motor mechanics, plumbers and technicians of all sorts and anyone who is in it apparently appears to have learnt his trade from an apprenticeship of sorts. Usually no formal training, and neither is it required by law. There appears, by and large, no formal education for any of this, unlike the United States and every other developed country.

Being Singaporean myself, with personal first hand knowledge of the mentality, I see at least 2 reasons for it. One the Asian mentality that looks upon manual work as menial and fit only for the ignorant. Smart students are supposed to study medicine and become doctors.

So every child that goes to school opts only for academic education and stay away from the technical trades.

The other reason is the very low pay and lack of respect given to tradesmen. Singapore society as a whole disrespects a tradesman mainly because he earns very little compared to office workers. Second he has to dirty his hands which is not appreciated.

Here in California the situation is very different. You can become very rich by working as a plumber and very often earn very much more than many lawyers even though the lawyer wears a tie and looks affluent. Air conditioning technicians, motor mechanics, construction workers are all very highly paid people.

And not only that, the society looks upon them as professionals too and know they are very skilled and certified, having spent several years training and studying for them.

So in this society, you see people who actually have ambitions to become mechanics and spend an entire lifetime brushing up their trade; having to attend periodical seminars and educational conferences to keep abreast of developments.

In Singapore many tradesmen receive no respect at all, are paid minimum wage and are shunned by society. They are looked upon as life's failures unable to become doctors. No wonder productivity of Singapore workers continue to fall. And since Lee Kuan Yew and his government have no real plans to address the problem other than to periodically write some high sounding reports, can it be assumed therefore that the bully boys are now on the receiving end of the economic equation, or rather the lack of it.

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. Say it like a man.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

To all out there who comment on the Internet. Say it like a man, if you are one. Identify yourself. Who are 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.

Singapore's fear factor. The hidden commentors.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is a sad thing to see this much fear among Singaporeans. I am referring to those who take an interest in Singapore politics or social conditions and seriously comment on it in the Internet. Very sensible researched learned views, but alas the author remains so afraid that he is unable to say who he is. And this applies to every single one who comments on political matters.

Take for instance the Singapore Democratic Party's website yoursdp.org. There you see BryantT, AhKow, Robox who is a prolific commenter, quantum, nobody and so on and so forth. In this blog almost all commenters sign off as "anonymous". And this is sad. Very sad.

It is sad because each one of these commenters provide a valuable input on the state of the case in Singapore. Very valuable indeed. And in normal reckoning, we all like to take credit for our hard work and contribution and look to it's appreciation by the reader. But it is impossible to take credit when you are forced to conceal your identity and that must be painful to each and every one of them who do so much for the betterment of Singapore.

This fear of identifying oneself has to be peculiar to Singapore. Nowhere else do I see people so afraid like this.

Take Robox and Mycroft for instance, Robox of SDP and Mycroft here. They have provided such excellent commentary from which not only myself but I am sure many others have benefited. Singapore too has benefited from their writings.

But who are they? And what a pity they have to hide.

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.

Keeping me away from Singapore does you no good.

My letter to Lee Kuan Yew below
Gopalan Nair


LEE Kuan Yew
Prime Minister's Office
Istana Annexe
Orchard Road
Singapore 238823

Your telephone: (65)67375133
Your Email: lee_kuan_yew@pmo.gov.sg
My Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Feb 07, 2010

Letter sent via Email

REQUEST THAT I BE TAKEN OFF YOUR BANNED LIST

Mr. Lee Kuan Yew,

In 2008 after I was sent to your Singapore jail for 2 months (3 month sentence) for criticising your corrupt judge Belinda Ang Saw Ang for judicial bias in the defamation law suit that year against Dr. Chee Soon Juan, and I suspect also because I showed you my middle finger when I saw you in court that day; I was declared by your boys at the Singapore Immigration as being "unlawfully present" in your island(a Singapore term of art meaning I am banned from entry into Singapore without permission) and unceremoniously deported from your "island paradise". Of course I say "island paradise" in a tongue in cheek manner of speaking.

In any case, I want you to know something. Regardless of whether you ban me from your country, through your boys at your Immigration Department or whether you get your boy Mr. Woon Cheong Ming Walter, your Attorney General to prosecute me for no rime or reason, I will still say what I think has to be said; which among other things is that you abuse the legal system for your political ends, your judges are corrupt and you are a thief for paying yourself $3.7 million every year.

Since you know this, and no amount of punishment will change this, why don't you use your common sense and do the most sensible thing; which is to allow me to visit Singapore periodically and order your boy Woon Cheong Ming, your Attorney General to stop harassing me.

I am sure you know that I am not your enemy. I truly believe that you are no good for Singapore and I am trying hard to persuade Singaporeans know that.

But keeping me out of Singapore is not going to stop what I do or say. And your actions are therefore just mean spiritedness for no reason at all, since you are not going to frighten or change me.

It so happens I have a yearning to periodically visit the country of my birth. Places like Exeter Road where I lived all my younger days before England(I know it has changed a lot now and my house was demolished with the Somerset MRT below the spot), Devonshire Road nearby, Klinney Road where my father used to patronize the coffee shop, Changi to see the planes landing from Kong Kong approach from the sea, and Seleter Airfield where I lived before I came to America.

You would be a mean spirited old man not to allow me to visit Singapore since regardless I am going to criticize you anyway, because you deserve to be criticized.

I therefore ask you to do the right thing and reverse the silly prohibition orders because it is simply not doing you any good.

Last year was the only year I did not visit Singapore because of your silly prohibition. Before that I used to visit the island every year, and several times in some years.

Sincerely

Gopalan Nair

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. A burning fuse ready to explode

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There were moments of uncertainty in my mind over the Singapore political scene. Was the island destined ever to remain under the despotic rule of Lee Kuan Yew and his descendants? A look at North Korea gave me a certitude of confidence. There is not only hope, change is really offing in the horizon.

The Discovery Channel program on North Korea, which is available in the Internet, confirmed the grim picture that we all knew. A few well fed elites of Kim Jung Il, his public face of his people, sang their required praises, and lived very well indeed. But the rest of North Korea were kept away from international gaze, starved, brainwashed, uninformed about the rest of the world, uneducated and forgotten. The dictator made sure that foreign news and information never reached his obscure country and the people really believed that theirs was the best country in the world.

Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's equivalent of Kim Jung Il, is unable to act just like his North Korean counterpart even if he wants. For one, unlike North Korea, Singaporeans are English educated. Second, they are internationally mobile, it's borders being open whereas North Korea is not. Third, it is impossible for Lee to keep out the Internet given the nature of Singapore's mainstay, commerce. Fourth, Lee can try to use his agents to discredit his opponents like Dr. Chee or myself in Singapore's official newspapers or under false pretences in the Internet, but it has little effect, since the people are open to outside information sources. And fifth, the greatest of Lee's enemies is education itself. He does try to educate the kids in only technical aspects but however much he tries, many would realise the lack of important intangibles such as fundamental freedoms, and begin to clamour for them. This is especially so with the Asian quality of hard work and a desire for learning.

And finally Lee's punishments meted to his opponents is clearly ineffective in producing the desired effect. Kim Jung Il's prisoners are tortured starved and executed thus effectively preventing any form of dissent. In Singapore, Dr. Chee only gets a single week or a couple of weeks of jail each time, and jail is not all that uncomfortable either. I was in a Singapore jail for full 2 months for criticizing his corrupt judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, in which time I had 3 meals a day. I was never tortured and can vouch that to be the case for all inmates of his jails. If Lee really wants to silence dissent in Singapore perhaps he should learn from Kim Jung Il and starve and torture Dr. Chee Soon Juan next time around, since we know that he is, after all, going to jail again.

If Lee Kuan Yew does not starve and torture his prisoners, it is not that he doesn't want to; he simply cannot. If he did, the world's Media would pick that up the next minute, and this time relegate Singapore to the ranks of North Korea once and for all. They are boiling with rage as it is, having been repeatedly sued for no reason at all.

Singaporeans just like any other human species are made of different sorts. There are the usual Ah Bengs who obediently lick Lee's boots at his every command and quite happily live in fear. There are other Singaporeans like me, who are educated enough to understand that there is another way to live. The young Singaporeans now make up the third generation. The first generation is or was understandably docile and timid. They came as peasants from China and India and the local Malays. They had no education and no aspirations other than to survive.

The second generation were born and educated in Singapore, during a time when there was much more freedom than now. Now the younger generation is better educated, with eyes open to the wide world where people live very differently from Singapore. And this is the generation that would usher the end of Lee and his bullying ways.

Truly you do not need an army of thousands to bring about change. What you need first is the knowledge that something is wrong. This I think has already been established on the ground. Second you need a handful to openly agitate. Once that happens, the truth that has already been achieved would bring out the masses and Lee Kuan Yew and his sycophants would be relegated to history.

In fact I am so confident of it as to say, even if Dr. Chee and his good people did nothing, change will come about and very soon as well.

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, February 3, 2010

Singapore's James Gomez, chained shackled and gagged.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's official state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Feb 04, 2010 has this story, "New Association Approved". It is about James Gomez, a former Singapore opposition politician's receiving government approval to form a new society, Singaporeans for Democracy(SFD) to, as the name suggests, advance democracy in Singapore.

But the whole thing is really nonsensical, as is the story of this island republic itself controlled by the strongman Lee Kuan Yew.

According to the report, he only got government approval because he agreed to the following conditions, and if not, he would not have been able to form this society at all.

One, he was not allowed to receive foreign funding; two, foreigners were not allowed to participate in its activities; three, he was not allowed to operate as a political party; four, he is not allowed to affiliate with any local or foreign political party and five, he cannot sponsor any political party or any candidate in parliamentary elections.

Gomez, being unable to have the society without obeying these ridiculous conditions has, it appears, agreed to all of them.

Each one of these conditions and the requirement for registration itself is not only an illegal act by this Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew, they stink to high heavens.

The Constitution guarantees the right to assemble and form associations, repeat, this is a constitutional right. Therefore the requirement for registration itself is illegal. And furthermore, every other condition above mentioned is illegal and the government has no right to demand any of this.

For instance, why is it illegal to receive foreign funding per se? Yes, it may be wrong to to use foreign funding to overthrow the government but receiving it alone should not be illegal by any stretch.

Why is it any of Lee Kuan Yew's business if Gomez invites foreigners to his society? The constitution does not criminalize that. Why is it illegal for him to operate as a political party? Does not the constitution allow anyone to engage in politics? Why is it illegal for him to work with political parties and support candidates? The Constitution does not prevent that.

It is the height of incredulity to even suggest that an organization such as this, which is inherently and completely political in nature, is not to be allowed to engage in such political activities, which was the very purpose it was set up in the first place.

What has happened is this. Gomez has been chained shackled and gagged and then released into a boxing ring to fight his opponent, in this case Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP. This is what one could call a tragic comedy, and Gomez is the star attraction.

In 1948 when the United Nations partitioned Palestine and gave a small stretch of sea front to the Jews as Israel, which by the way was only a quarter of the size of Israel now, David Ben Gurion was asked why he accepted it, a small piece of desert beside the sea. His answer was "Half a loaf was better than none".

If that is why Gomez accepted, he was badly mistaken. One can understand Ben Gurion since Israel may get bigger in time. As for Gomez, with these conditions placed on him and with Lee Kuan Yew in power, he has no hope at all.

If democracy is what Gomez intended to promote, with these conditions, and with Lee Kuan Yew breathing down his neck, he has no hope at all.

If I was Gomez, I would not comply with any of these conditions since they are all illegal. I would do whatever I want, according to universal laws as understood by the free peoples of the world, since it is these unjust laws that prevent democracy from ever taking root in 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.

Tuesday, February 2, 2010

Singapore. A place bad for your soul.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Truly, life in Singapore is detrimental to your spirit; if you can leave Singapore with your family, it would be the best thing you ever did, not just for yourselves but especially for your children.

Living in Singapore, one may not realize this, but any time out of Singapore would tell you this.

A life in Singapore is best described as one where you go to work and fend for your family while Lee Kuan Yew's government decides everything else for you. They build flats for you, decide where you live, what jobs you can have, what salary you will receive, whether you should be fired or employed, in other words everything; and your job is simply to go along with anything they do to you.

Even if you disagree, there is nothing you can do, since the 2 miserable opposition Members in Parliament, are in effect PAP members, out of which 82 are Lee Kuan Yew's men, and they are incapable of doing anything for you.

Fear consumes your life. If you openly criticize the government, you may be arrested or all sorts of other harm real or imaginary may befall you. This dampens your spirit, this stifles your enthusiasm and you turn yourself into a frustrated caged animal, devoid of humanity.

Your children fare no better. Terrified parents instill a similar fear in their children, fear of authority, fear to question and the necessity to conform one's actions to suit their political masters.

In the end both parent and child have deformed and maladjusted personalities, with all the goodness of humanity, courage and integrity extracted. You end up as lesser humans compared to others elsewhere in the world.

You can see this everywhere in the island. In any meeting, Singaporeans dare not publicly speak or raise questions. In school Singapore students are never seen to ask any questions or comment on anything. In a public place, if you hear a child speak to her parents, it is probably not a Singaporean child.

A Singaporean spends his entire lifetime conforming his actions and speech to what his masters want to hear. Success depends on being recognized as a conformist, not as a rebel.

And that is why Lee Kuan Yew and his friends hate Gopalan Nair. He simply refuses to be like everybody else. He is not supposed to be criticizing the judiciary, his Attorney General, his newspapers and his dictatorship. Similarly he hates Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his political party because he too refuses to conform to his liking. This sort of criticism and activism is unacceptable to him, and so he punishes us.

But the rest of the Singaporean population are not punished because they behave as expected of them, as compliant obedient souls.

This sort of living, I can tell you is bad for you and bad for your children. This submissive attitude will carry over in every other aspect of their lives anywhere else in the world. Singaporeans will not succeed in competition with an American or Australian worker with this sort of mentality. They will lack leadership qualities and most of all they will not have the human qualities that one would like a human to possess. They could of course, live as obedient sheep to serve the Lee Kuan Yew family but as human beings anywhere else in the world, they would be complete flops.

That is why Gopalan Nair is a far superior human being than the vast majority of Singaporeans who live their timid lives. Dr. Chee Soon Juan and the handful of human rights activists with him too are the exception because unlike the vast majority of Singaporeans they have integrity and courage, qualities that one admires in a human being.

You know I have been regularly telling Singaporeans to rise up and protest these injustices in Singapore in Singapore Dissident. As an example of the Singaporean mentality, let me tell you that I had numerous letters asking me to come back to Singapore to lead them! Any other person from any other country would not have asked me to do that; since they can protest by themselves if they want and they surely don't need me. A Singaporean it appears, is incapable of doing anything unless he is led!

Another example of the Singaporean is this. They say that I only dare to write criticism of Singapore from abroad; but I wouldn't dare to do it there. Yes, it is true because I would be imprisoned by Lee Kuan Yew if I did. However as for them from within Singapore, they prefer to do nothing at all except to challenge me to return, something which I am banned from doing anyway by the Singapore government.

And what is the best example of their mentality is they say all these things hiding under false pretences! Not a single Singaporean is prepared to identify himself in their letters!

Therefore for your own good and that of your families, if you can get out of the place, you should do it. Make your home in a free country where your children can walk tall as human beings, not having to hide from some bully like Lee Kuan Yew. Your children would appreciate you for giving them their new found freedom and you too would realize that you are a much freer human being with a voice, with courage and with integrity to do the right thing.

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, February 1, 2010

Singapore. Escape by sea!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

You know what happened to me in 2008 in Singapore. I had criticized Lee's judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean and got held up in Singapore for 6 months as the earliest date they would give me for trial was in September while my arrest was in May.

Naturally I was desperate, to get out, to take care of business in California, but with my passport held, I was helpless in the island.

You know by now that I know how to sail a boat, sailing being one of my hobbies. On a couple of occasions while I was at Changi beach, overlooking the Straits of Johore, I must say I had some rather dangerous ideas.

If I could get hold of a dinghy, I thought, sailing across to the Malaysian side did not seem a problem. Many years ago when I had a Laser dinghy,at Changi Sailing Club, I sailed it past Tenkong Kechil, Tekong Besar and nearly up to Pengarrang Johore which has a immigration and customs post.

I realise there were police boats patrolling the area but I doubt they would stop a completely normal pleasure sailing craft and mistake it for an immigrant smuggler. In a few hours, I would have been on the Malaysian side, and with a few dollars and belongings, beach the boat in an isolated stretch, find my way to the American Embassy in Kuala Lumpur and hope to get a passage to California.

Although I thought of this, I never planned to do it. Once I had written a blog post in this blog asking if anyone could lend me a boat while I was there merely to do a bit of sailing for fun, escape was never in my mind when I asked for a boat. But ASP Zakaria, the Lee Kuan Yew bootlicker, who was prosecuting me for for criticizing Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean became all exited about the blog post thinking that I was trying to escape by sea! I saw him with the printout out of it, going to court and for a moment I thought he was going to accuse me of attempting to escape.

But I wonder whether I would have made it had I really tried. Imagine Singapore newspapers headlines the next day "Gopalan Nair's daring escape by sea"! Or I may not have been so lucky, arrested by Malaysian police and handed over to Singapore for a long time in a Singapore jail. On the other hand, I could have been another "Papillon" who escapes from Devil's Island, French Guiana.

I tell you, there is nothing like true adventure.

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.