Lee Kuan Yew's PAP government is based on a fraud. It must collapse.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lee Kuan Yew's PAP government which has ruled Singapore since 1959 is simply based on a fraud. It has no legitimacy under law whatsoever. And with increasing clamor for more freedom from the increasingly educated and world savvy Singaporean society, it must crumble and collapse. This is why.

Officially Singapore has a Constitution based on democratic principles, replete with human rights and the rule of law. But Lee Kuan Yew had decided long ago, that he had no intention of complying with any Constitution. He is going to rule his way, never mind what anybody thinks.

The Constitution requires free and fair elections, rule of law, an independent judiciary, a free press and basic human rights including the right to free speech, expression and assembly and equal rights for all. It was based on the premise that a government should reflect the will of the people and should have leaders elected based on the will of the people.

You can see that every one of these principles are violated. There are no free and fair elections. The citizenry is intimidated and threatened to vote for the PAP or suffer reprisals. The fear factor has been so successful that even without much threats, many Singaporeans simply take the safe option by voting for them. Despite these threats and intimidation, many Singaporeans emboldened by education and awareness, have voted for the opposition. The PAP being aware of this have decided to do the next best thing, if they cannot stop them. So they make a pact with the Workers Party and in fact encourage those disenchanted to vote for the Workers Party.

During election rallies the Workers Party is allowed to say almost anything they want, without any threat of defamation action, realizing that a vote for them is almost a vote for the PAP.

But a vote for the Workers Party is in effect a vote for the PAP since they have agreed not to be a real threat but merely give lip service to opposition demands. The PAP's hope is that if Singaporeans are going to vote for the opposition anyway, it is best that they vote for the Workers Party who are  actually on their side.

Loh Thia Khaing's Workers Party has been in Parliament for decades now. Yet during that entire time, they have not really furthered the cause of democracy one bit. Their job, it appears is simply to run their Town Council, a job which the PAP can not only do, but do it even better.

As for the judiciary, far from being independent are in fact an arm of the PAP whose job it is to punish anyone who threatens PAP's power and dish out million dollar defamation court awards, not so much to compensate the victim but intended to bankrupt and destroy them politically. As  result no one in his right mind ever dares to challenge the PAP at elections or otherwise.

The press is effectively muzzled. Every single newspaper and news media is licensed, owned controlled and run by the PAP whose job it is to further their interests, not to report real news. What you read and hear in the media is exactly what the government wants you to hear.

The universally recognized rights of free speech expression and assembly have all be nullified. Although the Constitution does refer to these rights, at the same breath it requires police permits to engage in any of it, which by the way, the police have never issued a single permit since 1959!

You will recall Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party being repeatedly arrested and jailed for speaking in public for not obtaining a permit, but his protestations that he did apply but was always refused fell on deaf ears, tragically comic I must say, of these judges who serve the PAP. As a result the Singapore public although entitled to speak peacefully in public, protest peacefully or to assemble peacefully, are effectively prohibited from doing any of this despite the Constitution.

Lee's PAP have decided long ago that it is they who will rule Singapore, they know best and any attempt to unseat them must be crushed.

So what then is the Singapore style of government? It is broadly based on the ancient Imperial Chinese feudal system, where the emperor chose bright young men and women, educated them and gave them absolute authority to rule over their subjects. In Singapore young men and women scholars are given scholarships to study locally and abroad, and then fielded at elections where it is certain they alone will win, through threats and intimidation, made Ministers and thereafter and decide what is best for the ordinary Singaporean. As for the ordinary Singaporean his job is simply to do his job, do as he is told and quietly live his life.

So far it has appeared to work as any trip to Singapore would show. There is excellent infra structure, good roads, clean running water and everything seems to work. And except for corruption at the highest levels where Ministers are paid five times the salary of President Obama, there is no corruption among the general public, which is not the case with any other Asian or third world country.

But despite the outward appearances of efficiency and modernity, there is something inherently wrong with a system where the population is simply required to obey and not complain. Young Singaporeans increasing educated and Internet savvy and well travelled are unhappy with their lot where they have to simply obey for survival. They travel to Australia and beyond and see how young men and women live and they want that too. In the West citizens are allowed to question authority without fearing arrest and imprisonment or a defamation lawsuit. And they ask themselves, why should they not have the same rights?

As a result, despite the increasing repression and the government having to punish acts of civil disobedience with increasing severity, civil disobedience continues on the rise.

Only a few days ago, five young men were arrested for writing anti PAP slogans on a government housing block in Toa Payoh, including the words "Bastard PAP". Please see the Straits Times article "Five alleged vandals face new charges, offered bail of $12K each" http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/five-alleged-vandals-face-new-charges-offered-12k-bail-each-201405

The PAP government is trying hard to discredit these 17 year old, young men by calling them "vandals" and "criminals" but anyone can see they are none of those. What they did is not a crime of moral turpitude. They derived no personal gain by their actions, which was motivated purely to tell Singaporeans that the government was unjust and should be held to account.

Hardly criminals, they were civic minded young men who unlike the others who have no courage to stand up to their principles, decided to go ahead and do what is right knowing fully that they would be arrested and punished. They are not criminals, they are heroes; martyrs for a cause. Which is why the government's desperate attempts to label them criminals and vandals simply makes the government look very silly.

In fact anti government civil disobedience is on the rise in the island. I remember not too long ago, another young man was arrested for writing the words "DEMOCRACY" across the cenotaph memorial for the war dead along the waterfront in the city center. His arrest too was given wide publicity. He was also labeled a criminal, a thug and various other epithets. I am not sure what happened to him.

Also about the same time, another young man was arrested for spraying slogans on a concrete structure in front of Parliament. He too was arrested and suffered the same insults.

In all these cases the government loudly informs the public that the accused is liable to be caned, a brutal form of punishment by beating him on has backside with full force with a rattan cane. Furthermore the offense carries a disproportionate sentence which can be many years in prison.

The government realizes that anti government graffiti is a sure recipe for their overthrow. You can imagine what will happen to the PAP and their government if people can vent their increasing frustration by writing slogans on walls condemning the one party dictatorial government which denies them their fundamental human rights.

The PAP realizes that their style of government is simply untenable, it is based on a fraud; and any leeway given to express it would mean their instant demise.

As a result even though logically what these young men have done is really a minor infraction, they have to come down with full force and extreme measures to deter others from doing it. If you thought about it a minute, all they did was deface the wall of a government housing block, nothing more. On the principle of the punishment fitting the crime, these young men should be given no more than a small fine; not many years in prison and beatings.

With each day passing, with Singaporeans becoming more aware of their rights, with greater education and more worldly exposure, the PAP style government becomes more and more unacceptable. People are beginning to ask what is wrong in my speaking in public? Why should I need a permit to speak, something which is logically completely normal?

Why should I be brutally beaten and thrown in jail for years merely for writing the words "Bastard PAP". Why should all the newspapers be controlled by the government? Why should not journalists be able to write what they want and I, not be able to read what I want? Why should I not be allowed to say that Lee Kuan Yew's son is a bastard if I want?

As I have said, the basic premise upon which the PAP government rests is unsound. It is illogical. It is designed to ensure that no one is allowed to criticize them so that they would not lose face.

In order to continue in power the way they are, the PAP will have to adopt harsher and harsher methods to stem the growing discontent. This is because the very basis upon which they govern, which is, you listen to me or else, simply can no longer work. They have to allow greater public participation in government by the people. If they do, they will collapse because their basic premise upon which they govern is simply untenable.

On the other hand, if they adopt harsh methods to subdue the population into obedience, this will result in greater dissatisfaction and even more anti government activists writing slogans on walls.

This is why I say this government simply will not last. It is only a matter of time. It does not rest on any sound or rational foundation. It is a house of cards which can only hope to last a little longer only through the increasingly harsh punishments to force them to submit. History has shown this sort of government cannot last. Mussolini managed to bring great advancement to Italy. And see where he ended. Hitler too made pre-war Germany the most successful in Europe. And see what happened there?

Singapore PAP may go one for a bit more. But it cannot last. It is based on a fraud, and does not have a solid foundation of laws. Singapore government is a Lee Kuan Yew creation of a one man, one party rule. Such a system is unacceptable in the 21 century Singapore.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com