Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Lee ruling family's Singapore island is no different from the Communist Chinese government. If there is a Constitution and elections every 5 years, this is only a historical nuisance which is completely ignored. For all intents and purposes, the Lee ruling family will govern Singapore through their political party the PAP from who alone all future governments will be formed, and no other. If Singaporeans do not realise this, it is only because the Lee ruling family have very cleverly painted their island to look something else which it is not.
With a state controlled press, a corrupt judiciary and a compliant police force which will arrest anyone anytime at the click of the finger, the Lee ruling family's PAP will rule Singapore forever, just as in China, the Chinese Communist Party will rule China forever.
At every single election in Singapore, scholars who have been sent to prestigious universities are secured by bond to serve the government for many years failing which they have to pay a penalty for the scholarship they had received. In reality, accepting Lee's offer to work for them is not such a hard decision to make as the salaries alone, never mind the perks that go with it, are astronomical. If you are paid millions, only a very principled human being would refuse to serve any master.
Just as in Singapore, in Communist China capable people are invited to join the Communist Party and from it's ranks, the Chinese equivalent of the Lee ruling party would select candidates to serve in important positions including being the country's president, Singapore's equivalent of Prime Minister.
Which is why, you very often read in Singapore's state controlled newspapers that Lee family laments the lack of suitable "leaders" for Singapore and their determination to go headhunting for them for general elections even far into the future.
At Singapore's elections, the opposition parties are merely serving the purpose of the Lee government because any real opposition would not be tolerated by the Family. If you were really a threat to them and are suitably qualified, such as Dr. Chee Soon Juan, you would be instantly sued and bankrupted in the courts which the Lee family controls and disqualified from running for office permanently.
The opposition that is allowed to stand and even win a few seats are the sort of Loh Thia Khiang and the Workers Party of today, actually acting under false pretences. Far from being a real opposition force, they are in fact serving Lee's purpose by asking some peripheral questions such as the cost of living but not on any real issues that matter, such as the denial of fundamental freedoms of Singaporeans (the lack of free speech, expression, right of assembly, an independent press and the rule of law). Without first empowering citizens with these rights, talking about cost of living is useless since you are still under Lee's total control.
What is totally annoying is the fact that these handpicked minions who become ministers overnight because of Lee's patronage have the gall not only to usurp power without any real support from anyone, they also go on to pontificate over us as to how we should live!
The Singapore government rules the island with a total free hand, without any question of accountability. You can see this yourself in it's daily state controlled newspapers. One day it is announced that the GST is being raised. Next day it is announced that the number of foreign workers is going to be increased. The third day they announce the intention of increasing the lawyer population. It goes on like this day after day. In Singapore unlike in the west the citizens have nothing to do with government. Once they have been elected they will do anything they want as and when they want, unlike in the west where they have to consult the people before taking these actions with town hall meetings.
In communist China too, Lee ruling family's sister country, they will do anything they want as and when they want. Build any road they want. Tear down any building they want and send anyone to jail they want. Like Singaporeans, Communist Chinese too are like a bunch of sheep to be driven any where anytime, because they are powerless, and the Lee ruling family and their Chinese counterparts have all the power.
Once they have been elected into power, which is a bygone conclusion, Singapore's Lee ruling family keep everyone in line with their subservient police force and their corrupt law courts. Whenever necessary any troublemaker is promptly charged with the necessary offenses, convicted and punished, not only for the punishment but also to deter any aspiring trouble makers. This is what is known in the Chinese practice of killing a chicken to frighten the monkeys, a practice successfully used both in Communist China and Singapore to silence dissent and destroy critics.
And to sufficiently defame and vilify the naive troublemaker, they have the state controlled newspapers at their disposal which will print and publish nay lie they want to discredit anyone they choose.
The Lee ruling family's power is so great, even high ranking ministers are not safe. Recall the late President of Singapore Devan Nair. The moment he became troublesome, he was branded a womanizer and alcoholic and promptly sent off to Coventry. He has since died in Canada, in Lee's book an alcoholic womanizer and discredited to his grave.
This sort of a political system where a person is prevented to assert himself on his own merits but can only do so with the blessing of the Lee ruling family is unacceptable to many educated people who believe in their own abilities. Since they cannot succeed in a society like Singapore where success is only possible with Lee's approval, they simply withdraw from co-operation and leave the island for settlement abroad.
If China is able to continue this way, it is only because they have a billion or so people and therefore even if some leave, there are many more who remain to do Hu Jintao's bidding. Also the lack of English proficiency makes migration to the West more difficult.
Singapore is a society where success depends on recognition from the top. Therefore everyone below the hierarchy is trying to impress those above him. No one criticizes, no one is safe from being fired, so for security, you just keep your mouth shut and be a good boy. In such societies, you have slaves and not a people who have confidence in themselves, a passion for what they do and the daring to do what is right, not what will please Lee Kuan Yew's son.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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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China said it was "highly concerned" about the arrest of four of its citizens by Singaporean authorities for their role in a labour protest, the island's first strike since the 1980s.
The Chinese nationals were charged in court on Thursday with instigating an illegal strike this week by bus drivers at state-linked transport group SMRT, according to court filings. Police arrested the four after the company said more than 170 drivers from China failed to report for duty on Monday and 88 halted work on Tuesday, disrupting some bus services.
"The Chinese Foreign Ministry and the Chinese embassy in Singapore are highly concerned about the case," Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said in Beijing yesterday. Officials had been in "close communication" with the Singaporean authorities, he said.
The Ministry of Commerce said it was very concerned about the dispute and hoped that all sides would respond to the workers' reasonable requests for equal pay and treatment.
"All parties should properly handle it to maintain the legitimate interest of Chinese contract workers," its statement said.
Singapore quelled the rare labour discord this week, reinforcing a decades-old focus on avoiding what the government calls "adversarial and confrontational" industrial relations. The last legal strike was in 1986.
The drivers could be jailed for up to 12 months or fined a maximum of S$2,000 (HK$12,600) if convicted.
One of the drivers was also charged with inciting the strike with a post in Chinese on Baidu, China's most popular search engine, entitled: "The insults and humiliations suffered by Singapore Drivers (SMRT)," that asked: "Where is the dignity of the People's Republic of China bus drivers?", according to the court document.
Strikes in Singapore are illegal for workers in essential services unless their employers are given two weeks' notice, according to the Manpower Ministry.
Singapore strike
In order to preserve ethnic purity and expand a docile but infertile, population, Singapore in about 1990 embarked on an engineered immigration push that has seen its population almost double to 5.2 million.
The government doesn't release the ethnic origins of immigrants but many have clearly come from mainland China. However, the drawbacks of this policy have started to become evident in recent months with a number of incidents which have resulted in the emergence of strong anti-mainland sentiment - particularly on social media.
Recently events took a different turn when four bus drivers originally were arrested by the authorities, accused of instigating Singapore's first strikes since 1985. Observers have been struck by the irony that the newcomers like their fractious brethren across the mainland, turn out to be difficult, argumentative and unafraid of officialdom.
The Chinese embassy in Singapore has intervened to defend these people. All this from a government that once pursued, harried and persecuted local Chinese suspected of sympathising with Communist China. How the wheel turns. One cannot but feel that this will have a profound effect on the flavour of Singapore politics in the years to come.
Add incompetence to the list of things that the Singapore government is good at
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