Singapore Punggol By Elections. Opposition fails to see the wood from the trees

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Punggol Constituency in Singapore now has it's by elections being held. There are two real opponents, Lee Kuan Yew's PAP the ruling party and the credible Workers Party as well as two time wasters, Kenneth Jeyaretnam of the Reform Party and the Desmond Lim of the Singapore Democratic Party are contesting.

But unfortunately for them as it has been the problem with opposition political parties in the island throughout its history is this, they fail to see the wood from the trees.

Singapore although it pretends to be a democracy with a Constitution, Lee Kuan Yew has broken every single fundamental right enshrined in it, with total impunity and indifference. There is no freedom of speech, freedom of expression, right to assembly, freedom of the press or the rule of law. The courts instead of upholding the Constitution, instead willingly violate it to favor Lee Kuan Yew and his government. Any single criticism by anyone on any of this faces a real threat of criminal prosecution, jail, fines, million dollar defamation awards and bankruptcy through these corrupt courts. And even if they do not charge you with any offence, even the threat of it is sufficient to send a chill down the spine of anyone believing himself to be a free man.

Unless and until the opposition addresses this question first, which is the restoration of the rights of the individual under the Constitution, there can be no democracy whatsoever, since as matters stand with the government having omnipotent powers, any allowance given with one hand can be taken away with the other.

In effect, the opposition will forever be like a dog chasing its own tail, going round and round but never ever solving anything.

The government on its part appears not to care what anyone thinks. They are determined to do whatever they want which amounts to paying each Minister millions of dollars amounting to no less than five times the salary of the President of the United States. And they are prepared to go on denying their citizen's every single right in the Constitution.

In the last 2 days political rallies, the opposition has expectedly spoken of high cost of living, high cost of housing and high cost of medical treatment. But not one, not a single one of them has spoken of the real demands of the people, which is the restoration of the Constitution to them. And unless and until the opposition demands this, Singaporeans will forever be slaves of Lee Kuan Yew and his party as they are now.

And the opposition should not stop at merely demanding it. If Lee Kuan Yew refuses to do what has to be done, which is to give the people their rights under the Constitution, they should go on strike, hold protests, hold demonstrations, carry out civil disobedience and not stop until their just demands under the Constitution are met. Only them, when Lee Kuan Yew and his ruling party have restored the rights of the common man, should the demand of any of these things that the opposition has been speaking of these last 2 days be addressed.

As we know that Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP government would never allow the people their rights under the Constitution, because they know that once the people have been empowered, their grip on power in the island would promptly come to an end.

What Singapore needs if ever its people want to be free is not elections. It needs a revolution.  

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 4375