Singapore Lee Kuan Yew throws the law to the swine Part 2

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is, as can be expected in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, an exception to the principle of Stare Decisis, which is the rule that earlier court judgements bind later ones, in my blog post "Singapore Lee Kuan Yew throws the law to the swine" of August 27, 2011.

As we all already know, Singapore has one law for the rich and connected, and entirely different ones for the commoner whom Lee Kuan Yew had earlier referred to as his "digits".

In Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore "digits" are treated harshly and are expendable. On the other hand the elite and those with connections to Lee Kuan Yew and his friends, are treated leniently and accommodated wherever possible.

But the common law principle of Stare Decisis comes in the way, preventing the uneven application of the law to some and not to others.

In order to ensure the law is bent to benefit the people at the top, he orders the courts to state in their rulings involving cases of Lee Kuan Yew cronies and their friends and family where preferential treatment was given, that the judgement cannot be used as precedent, because the judge conveniently states the case is an extraordinary one based on unusual facts.

Let me give you examples. Do you recall a Chinese editor of the Singapore Chinese newspaper some 2 years ago, had driven her car while talking on her cell phone, not paying attention to the road, crossed the Adam Road Bukit Road junction against a red signal light, crashed into a motorcycle and permanently crippled the rider and killed the pillion.

Ordinarily this woman in any other country would have been sent to jail for a long time. This is gross egregious criminal negligence. Totally unforgivable. She was in fact ordered jailed but for a measly 18 months by the lower courts but on appeal, she was excused jail completely, and had to merely pay a fine.

The High Court judge as expected, stated that his ruling should not be used as precedent in other cases because it was an unusual case with unusual circumstances, which was simply baloney! One disgraceful excuse the judge gave was that she was "highly stressed" whatever that meant!

What this means of course is this. If any other common local Singapore mortal (you can call him a "digit" to use Lee's words) in Lee's Singapore would have done what she did, he would be sent to prison for 10 years, and because of the special ruling in the earlier case, her case would be no help for him to escape jail. After all she is connected to the government and their high places.

Take another case, this one about a year ago, when the sister of Lim Kay Tong, a Singaporean actor, was found dead drunk, sitting motionless in her car, in the middle lane of the Pan Island Expressway, with it's engine switched off, in the dead of night, stationary. Beside exposing herself to great danger of cars colliding into her from behind, since it had no lights, she was also exposing other motorists to great danger of mortal injury and death.

When the police got to her, she was found fast asleep at the wheel, and reeking of alcohol!

But this case too has a twist. Lim Kay Tong's sister was not a nobody like Lee Kuan Yew's "digits". She was a senior doctor in the Kandang Kerbau Maternity Hospital. Here once again the pattern was the same. The lower court had sentenced her to jail. But when she appealed, the High Court came out with the same disgraceful excuse of this case being "unusual" or other stupidity and as expected, she did not have to go to jail at all. Again the disgraceful judge gave the same warning that this judgement cannot be used as a precedent in other similar cases.

These are the only 2 "unusual" cases that I can remember but the reader in Singapore will have countless other examples of Lee Kuan Yew's selected justice, of one law for the elite and quite another for Lee Kuan Yew's "digits".

I understand the case loads in the courts are diminishing except for the criminal courts which is big money raking machine for Lee Kuan Yew in the milions in fines they collect from his helpless victims ("digits").

Funny Lee Kuan Yew fails to understand that abusing the law has it's consequences, which are distrust in the judiciary, a disrespect for Singapore law like I do, and a fast diminishing legal profession.

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/

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