Monday, December 5, 2011

Singapore's uncertain future when 89 year old dictator finally kicks the bucket

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's dictator Lee Kuan Yew during the last 52 years of political control made sure that no one else will ever emerge or even allowed to become a leader in the island, which was the best way to ensure he will never face political competition.

Today every single Minister in his Cabinet and every other person who has any sort of power over the people derive it, not on their own merits, but because they have been approved and "licensed" by Lee Kuan Yew or his son, who effectively between them run the country, his father being Minister Mentor and the all powerful person in the island while his son, placed there by him as Prime Minister, as second fiddle, wields power through his father.

And these politicians who govern the island through proxy of Lee and Son, can hardly be described as leaders because they simply are not. They were all scholarship recipients who did well in school and universities who are then seconded into the government, promptly made to stand for elections and immediately thereafter get elected because of their connection to the government.

Therefore nothing they have achieved politically is because of anything political they themselves did; because all they did was to pass exams in school, which caused Lee and Son to select them for office.

And these Lee Kuan Yew backed "instant politicians" are not accountable to the people as they are in other democracies, but accountable instead to father and son, (Lee Kuan Yew and his son). Therefore they are at all times fully aware off their of their tenuous situation, which is they govern only as long as Lee and Son approve, and the moment they are disfavored, they become history.

This sort of an unhealthy political climate, where everything depends on a single family, the Lee family, simply cannot instill confidence among the citizens, because the frightening question is always this; what happens to Singapore when the dictator is dead?

In any other democracy, it does not matter when the political leader dies because there are procedures in place for other leaders who have the stature and the respect of their citizens to continue government. In Singapore, with Lee Kuan Yew having made sure that no one really had any real power or support as a leader, it is worrying what would happen when this 89 year old man finally kicks the bucket which I expect to be very soon.

Will Vivian Balakrishnan or Deputy prime Minister Teo or any other of Lee Kuan Yew's bootlickers be telling us that there is going to be no welfare for the poor, because Lee Kuan Yew wanted everyone, no matter how helpless, to fend for themselves? Will any of these yes men be telling us that foreign Chinese immigrants must flood Singapore island and dislodge the dying local population because that is what Lee Kuan Yew wanted? Would any of these characters be telling us that even a single peaceful person standing in a street corner with placard deserves arrest because Lee Kuan Yew did not appreciate any protests? And if they decided instead to adopt these silly ideas as their own and thrust it down our throats, do you think they would have sufficient respect or support of the people to except anyone to listen?

With the sad fact that all these men and women calling themselves Ministers who surround the Lee family like dogs waiting for the crumbs he throws at them, are only as good as far as they have Lee's seal of approval, I am afraid that the people are not going to tolerate any of these characters once Lee is gone. And with Lee's disappearance, it is probably going to be the end of Singapore too.

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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6 comments:

Anonymous said...

PAP puppets are treating us like idiots. Well, over at sammyboy forum, posts revealing the type of caliber of elected cabinet minister Singapore have in govt and a at that.
Eg
This Shanmugam guy was married to the daughter of an SC. While working in Allen and Gledhill, he began an affair with a Chinese colleague. He was having a right royal fling and had no qualms about visiting the various watering holes with her. His favorite lunch hangout was a coffeeshop run by Glen Knight near Hong Lim Green where he and his lady will be busy petty themselves silly oblivious to a wall mounted mirror and that people were watching.

When the wife and her family came to know, our dear minister hatched what he thought was a cunning plot. He duty rostered his Indian lawyer underlings to escort the lady every lunch time to suggest that this Chinese lady prefers the company of Indians. And he was mistaken for one of his staff. Being subordinates, our lawyers and officers of the Supreme Court had little choice but to accept.

So how did the the in-laws finally nail the prick. Obviously they did not hire ISD.

To cut a long story short, after the divorce, he was told to find a wife, so that they can make him a minister. So a quick bang instant marriage was arranged and in a month the marriage was done in Chennai.

The affair is not the issue. The ethics behind forcing his subordinates to escort his girlfriend around is pretty much sub-standard.

Anonymous said...

Mr.Gopalan Nair, the good news is that when he is finally gone, you can safely come back home to Singapore.

Gopalan Nair said...

To Anonymous who said "the good news is that when he is finally gone, you can safely come back home to Singapore".

Thanks but frankly it is no big deal coming to Singapore. It is like anything else. From outside you may think it great. But spending 2 weeks there would be enough to wish you were back home.

True I want to see change in Singapore. Continue to fight for it. But living in that searing boiling heat, overcrowded island where you don't know when Lee's police would pick you up is not my idea of paradise.

In California you can see dreams come true, without having to lick Lee Kuan Yew's boots. Nice don't you think?

And in any case, if Lee or his style of government is around, I will be muzzled if I was there. So what purpose does that serve, tell me that.

Anonymous said...

I agree with Gopalan.

Being in Australia for more than a decade and I have only been back to Singapore twice.

Both times, I encountered Third World Country fear mongering laws that sickened me. Rude and sad looking people, over-sketched public transport, taxi and services. 2 weeks is all I need to miss home downunder.

Australia offers a better lifestyle. It is great to live without fear of the government.

This is something Singaporeans cannot identify with because they are brought up to think how lucky they are to be living in Singapore. Unfortunately, those good days are over.

Singapore has reached its peak nation development. Lee Kuan Yew has destroyed all institutions necessary to create a country. It is now a profit maximising organisation with an uniquely excellent fiscal policy, a corrupted legal and stillborn political system. What future does Singapore still have if the citizens continue to be silenced and not taught how a democracy works.

Anonymous said...

According to WikiLeaks,
Source: leaked US diplomatic cables

PAP MP Charles Chong admitted that the party had to field “second and third-tier candidates” since the 2006 election.

Die lah! Getting high pay for less than average Tans Gohs & Lees.

Lee Kuan Yew has made Singapore politics dyfunctional.

Mr Nair, you can imagine the fallout of this "cancer" to other vital organs of Singapore.

I ended up running away from home Singapore because my single "parent" PAP is dyfunctional.

Anonymous said...

Wife of Defence Minister is new SingHealth CEO

Of course the appointment of a cabinet minister’s wife to key-positions is not new in Singapore. Ms Ho Ching, the wife of then-Finance Minister (now Prime Minster) Lee Hsien Loong was appointed to be the executive director of Temasek Holdings Ltd, a state owned investment corporation in 2002.

Speaking about her appointment to Business Week in May of that year, then-Prime Minster Goh Chok Tong said, “It is awkward. We know that. There is some conflict of interest, but you know, we work for the larger good”

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/12/wife-of-defence-minister-is-new-singhealth-ceo/