Ladies and Gentlemen,
It would be impossible to explain the Singaporean as compared to any other human outside that island.
There are so many blatant abuses of power in the island under which they live, where anyone else would have complained and if their calls were ignored, they would have booted out their government by peaceful means or force.
But yet Singaporeans appear very satisfied since no one is complaining.
These are some of what is happening there which Singaporeans accept without complaint; which no other right thinking human being anywhere else would.
The most glaring among the misuses of power is Lee Kuan Yew, the man who has been running the island even longer than Cuba's Fidel Castro, paying himself and each of his family members and his chosen ministers a salary of $3.7 million a year, several times more than what the American President pays himself.
And not just that, he siphons off secretly even more of the state's assets.
Yet the average Singaporean taxpayer has no complaint about this blatant corruption of public funds.
The law is routinely misused to destroy anyone who complains about their lives in the island, through defamation actions with the collaboration of corrupt judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean.
These days the victim of this abuse of the legal process is Singapore Democratic Party's Dr. Chee.
In the past the target for his victimization was JB Jeyaretnam. He has since died.
I too have been the target of this ever since 1984 and today they will misuse the law to have me disbarred from practicing law in the island.
The average Singaporean on his part appears unconcerned and is perfectly prepared to live under a regime where the the law has been reduced to a tool for Lee's persecution of his people.
The Constitution is violated every day where fundamental human rights are openly denied.
Chee has been convicted and imprisoned for exercising the very rights that are guaranteed to him under the Constitution before the peoples very eyes.
Yet they do nothing.
They appear quite prepared to live literally at the mercy of Lee Kuan Yew and his friends.
Today hordes of foreigners are given settlement in the island deliberately calculated to take away the jobs of locals to bring the wages down.
As a result, Singaporeans become jobless while the recently arrived foreigners are happily working.
The average Singaporean can see this before his very eyes, yet he does nothing to complain.
The newspapers have been hijacked by Lee Kuan Yew and his friends who now control the entire media in the island.
Therefore what you read is only what Lee Kuan Yew wants you to hear, nothing else.
An entire generation of Singaporeans live under propaganda. Singaporeans are aware of this, yet they accept it willingly.
Till today, I am puzzled and at a loss explaining this life that Singaporeans live, which appears one of complete contentment no matter how much they are kicked.
A sort of abdication of all their rights they ever had to their ruler Lee Kuan Yew as if to say that they completely trust Lee Kuan Yew and will abide by anything he wants.
To put it rather crudely, it is as if the entire citizenry of Singapore has lined up in a neat row, pulled down their pants, exposed their buttocks and told Lee Kuan Yew to do as he pleases!
But yet, their ruler steals millions of dollars of their money, refuses to allow them freedom of speech or expression and misuses the law to bankrupt anyone who dares to complain.
A human being anywhere else in the world would call a man such as this Lee Kuan Yew nothing but a bully and would have fought him tooth and nail.
Singaporeans on the other hand, the ones that remain within the island, simply accept this abuse without any objection whatsoever.
There are of course those who don't like any of this and just pack their bags and leave for the west.
But those who stay behind in the island are simply content to live under Lee Kuan Yew and his family and friends and accept anything he wants, never mind how preposterous they are!
It is true that we do have men such as Chee and his Singapore Democratic Party who write a blog voicing these grievances.
But the blog does not reach the entire population like the newspapers do, which means that only a small percentage of the island get his message.
It may well be, and I would like to think so as well, that with time the readership of his blog would increase.
True, but then, with time, we are all dead.
Unless something else is done, even by a few people to resist these injustices, we would just have to be content thinking that Singaporeans are indeed an unusual people who do not have the normal impulses that people everywhere else would have.
If that indeed is the case, then all I have to say that it is a very sorry state of affairs, which by the way makes me happy to know that I Gopalan Nair continues to be a normal human being unlike these unusual Singaporeans.
Singaporeans are indeed a contented people.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
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9 comments:
If Singaporeans are constantly being painted a picture of West as a decaying wasteland, esp its nearest democracy Australia as a climate change disaster zone - it is a wonder that they prefer sheltered and safe Singapore, built from the tears and hardship of Lee Kuan Yew. (Don't laugh - that last part of of my sentence comes from my mother and sister, after asking me to return to Singapore)
Gopalan
I am saddened. But I am sure that nobody can cheat justice and history. The day will come. The outcome is certain but the time is unknown.
The great Babylonian king Nabuchanezza was over thrown by surprise. The Romans were defeated by the Babarians. The British lost Singapore to the Japanese by pointing the gun the wrong direction.
The day will come. Just pray for mercy for the people and all.
According to Transparency International, Singapore is the world's least corrupt country - even with Denmark and New Zealand. This says more about Transparency International than Singapore.
NGOs which claim to work against corruption and authoritarian regimes, but fail to do so, is something one should really be aware of. I have commented this here: www.fampo.no/rwb.html
See also Chee Soon Juan's article "US interest and the PAP" at yoursdp.org/index.php/perspective/vantage/4568-us-interests-and-the-pap an my comment (no 5).
Hi Gopalan, the Malays actually know they are oppressed, but they do nothing about it because of their culture of patience and also they have a bit of food on the table.
They sometimes talk of moving to Malaysia or the West but wouldn't maybe because of a lack of financial resources or education due to the govt instituted racial discrimination policies propogated by LKY's speak Mandarin Campaign, accusing Islam of being too strict, Malays are daft, lazy etc. According to him, the only "good" thing about the Malays is that they breed well, thereby needing the import of these uncough Chinese from PRC.
Needless to say that these PRC Chinese are peasant class and with no education, are ignorant of the ways of LKY. Hopefully they will wise up and realize that they are just pawns of his schemes.
I wish LKY will come out clean with a clear announcement that he does not want Malays in Singapore. Stop having all these insideous pro Chinese campaigns and stop saying that all races are treated equally. They are definitely not!
Gopalan, tell the Malays directly not to be contented with their lives in Singapore. It is obvious that they need a good kick in the butt to wake them up into mobilization and emigrate out of Singapore. I have done so, and its so good not to have anything to do with the HDB, reservists, disappointment at every interview and rude uncough Chinese at every turn in Singapore.
Leave LKY's nurtured Chinese Stinkaporeans to now be discriminated by the very LKY PRC imports. Only the Chinese Stinkaporeans can tell their master LKY that they are suffering from depressed wages and actual discrimination for jobs, different chinese cultural practices, etc, for him to listen.
Gopalan, please help me splash water to the faces of these stupid Malay Singaporeans. And after that the kick in their butts. They must realize that they have no place in Chinese Singapore. When the malays have left, then time is ripe for region of Malay countries to look at Singapore with teeth showing.
Its true that I am now a second class citizen in a foreign country, but this is much better than being a third class citizen in my own country. I wish my Malay brethen in Singapore have what I have now... a fulfilling life that was denied in my own country.
The Malays are now moving over to live in Johor Baru because they cannot sustain the high cost of living in Singapore with their low income.
Singapore is only good for the top 10% of income earners. The rest are exploited working class just digits in LKY's own words. More than 400,000 are living from hand to mouth. Imagine earning $1200 a month in Singapore today. This could have sustained them in the 1980s but not now.
Seems like Singaporeans are dependent on "opium". The latest "opium" being the LKY latest book - currently SOLD OUT.
$1200 a month wage earners are being realistic, they can ill-afford to break this misery wages by causing unrest because First-world Singapore do not recognise their rights and do not provide dignifying human services to those in need.
Yes, they are "contented" to a Third World life in First World Singapore because the government thinks it is their own fault that they do not progress. LKY bullsh*t about taking case of the poor is exactly that, BS!
Now the cunning govt is giving $800 to everyone. This vote buying is possible because it is taking "opium" withheld from the people previously, and giving it back to the people.
Timing, my friend, timing. Days of reckoning is coming and death of Emperor Lee is on the card.
Sinkies are currently enjoying the fruits while it last. When Sinkies become like Egypt, the whole region of SEA will be unstable.
Gopalan:
You have a lot to learn. You got excited by the Middle East and romanticised similar protests and overthrow of the PAP and the LKY dynasty, in your earlier blog postings. Sorry, you are deluded for the following reasons:
1. Singaporeans are more “woosy” than most other people. Their tolerance for pain is almost superhuman, so they lack the “balls” to do anything (please excuse the language). They see people like Chee Soon Juan and others paying a heavy price for their actions and are scared senseless
2. The PAP is a very clever political party. It has given a surface view of democracy, while doing the exact opposite. All credible opposition is bankrupted or wiped out, so at election time, the only half-decent candidates are the PAP candidates. So people vote for them. To the western world and others, it Singapore is a “free democracy,” as the people chose to vote for the PAP voluntarily, which in fact they did. That brings me to the next point
3. The Middle East and the former eastern European states DID NOT have free and fair elections and they proudly flaunted it. They never allowed opposition parties or shadow governments even in a nominal sense (like Singapore). The abuses were open and not covert like Singapore. Hence people got fed up and western powers withdrew their support.
4. Poor people in Singapore are MUCH better off economically than the poor of the Middle East or the former eastern bloc countries. Their quality of life comparatively is better, so the prospect of protesting on the streets and having a revolution is furthest from their minds as they do not want to lose their meager incomes. In the Middle East in unrest, unemployment was at 25-40% and the people missed major meals days on end. That is not the case in Singapore.
5. For the above reasons, Singapore enjoys western support, which is a stumbling bloc for the citizens.
Long story short, the PAP is too smart (unlike Ghadaddfi and Mubarak who flaunted their abuses) and Singaporeans are screwed. Gopalan, I am sorry you were given the shaft by Singapore. But romanticizing a revolution in Singapore is only in your mind and is not a reality, at least for now.
I suggest you get over the hurt LKY and Singapore did to you (you should have known better than to open your mouth in Singapore and inviting destruction upon yourself).
Take care and God bless. Please get over it for your own sanity. Things are not going to change and you are not going to get your revenge through a revolution.
PS—I am not a PAP stooge or LKY supporter. I do not approve of them or their methods, but I am just a realist.
They should do a research on Singapore. Its a perfect social lab, the mind of the people been hijacked by authoritarian government. How? When? What happened? Why oh why?? Etc etc...
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