Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore says, we know what is best for you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, the government knows what is best for you. Never mind what you think.

The singularly unique style of Singapore government is based on the underlying assumption by Lee Kuan Yew that the people are incapable of deciding what is good for them and their country.

It is he and by extension his son, who he appointed Prime Minister, who are so capable, intelligent they alone know what is best and have all the answers. Singaporeans simply, according to Lee's reasoning, do not have the intelligence or the capacity to think for themselves.

Therefore, the thinking goes, if the people are allowed to decide their government, the country will simply collapse. If the island is to survive, it can only be through Lee Kuan Yew and his handpicked lieutenants.

To further this idea, all the established concepts of parliamentary democracy have to be dismantled and a system adopted to further his unique system based on this philosophy.

Rule of Law which requires the judiciary to administer justice equally and fairly must be dismantled. In its place judges are required to decide cases to further Lee Kuan Yew's idea of justice.

Anyone who advocates opposition to the government has to be eliminated and destroyed through defamation actions and removed from politics altogether. Examples are the late JB Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan, the leader of opposition Singapore Democratic Party who were destroyed for the sake of Lee's Singapore.

I too had to be destroyed. In 2008 while in Singapore I was sent to jail for 3 months for criticizing
judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean who abused used her position to jail and bankrupt Chee Soon Juan; to please Lee Kuan Yew and his son.

Through the state controlled media, my photo was publicly displayed as a criminal almost daily as one who had insulted a government judge. The purpose of the punishment is two fold. It is not only to destroy me, but also to warn anyone else to the dangers of daring to criticize their judges; to send a chill down everyone's spine to stay clear of any criticism of their principle agents commissioned to further Lee's vision of the law.

The Constitution of Singapore guarantees freedom of the press. However a free press does not correspond with Lee Kuan Yew's plans for the country. Therefore only journalists who are willing to report according to Lee's wishes are permitted to work. Free newspapers are unacceptable and news has to be what they want you to hear. Therefore he nationalizes the entire media. Today there is no free press in the island. The only news reported are government approved news.

The idea of the people choosing the leaders of their choice at elections is also unacceptable. Lee believes that a better system is for him to decide who are good leaders who will, after selection, be thrust upon the population to rule over you. Too dangerous to leave this to the people's choice.

This is done by abolishing free and fair elections. After a series of defamation actions and other forms of reprisals against independent election candidates, no real credible person is allowed or dares to emerge and stand against his party at elections.

If they are any allowed to stand against him, it is those who are third rate without any real possibility of being elected. A former bicycle thief or errand boy would be welcome to stand. After all he is  unlikely to be elected anyway.

Lee's PAP will field individuals who have passed his test. They invariably win and next instant are made Ministers and high ranking officials who will not only rule over you but give you advice on how to live your life as well.

The state controlled newspapers will extol them as great leaders and their orders will be dutifully reported. They are paid millions in salary, which is the main attraction to many Singaporeans to seek a career in politics under Lee's PAP, in the hope that they too, if lucky, will be selected for high office and rewarded with an opulent and luxurious lifestyle forever.

Lee Kuan Yew does not believe in workers right to demand a fair living wage as it will result in higher wages which will drive foreign businesses away who are there for the cheap labor. At all costs the foreign employers must be satisfied, or else, according to Lee's thinking, we the economy will collapse.

But we will miss the point if we fail to remember that it is he that made the island totally dependent on foreign capital in the first place.

As a result employers are allowed to pay their workers any pittance they want, regardless of how much they make in profits. The workers are told they can either accept it or leave. Although there is an organization called National Trade Union Congress, it is nothing more than a rubber stamp for employers under whom the workers are left at their mercy.

Strikes are illegal and strikers are arrested, jailed and publicly shamed in the state controlled press.

Peaceful demonstrations, protests or assembly are all unacceptable to Lee Kuan Yew. He believes  this will cause disruption of peaceful society, cause chaos and instability and would drive away foreign businessmen. Singapore should have the silence of the cemetery. Therefore all such civil disobedience activity has to be stopped altogether. There has to be total peace and stability at all times.

In Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore people are not allowed to make a speech, protest or assemble in public, unless you have a police permit. But in reality this licensing system is totally useless. No permit has ever been issued to anyone in the island's entire history for any activity critical of the government. Any such activity therefore is prohibited under law.

In Lee Kuan Yew's thinking, it is best for Singapore if everyone supported him with absolute obedience. This was the same in Nazi Germany. The slogan in Nazi Germany was, Ein Reich, Ein Volk, Ein Fuehrer which means "One country, One people, One Leader".

Hitler destroyed anyone who dared to purvey ideas different from his just as it is in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore today. People are encouraged to join the numerous government grassroots organizations such as the People's Association to show their support and to be identified for reward.

People's Association members are rewarded by better jobs, better housing and better career opportunity. Anyone who hopes to aspire to greatness in the island would be wise to join and support these grass roots associations.

School teachers are discouraged from encouraging independent thinking in their students. A smart student is one who is healthy, works hard and supports and respects Lee Kuan Yew and his handpicked leaders.

Students are openly encouraged to show support for Lee and his government. Words extolling and praising their leaders in government if noticed may result in selection for high office with a lucrative and secure career under the PAP government.

As a result, Singapore parents wanting to secure their children's future force them to praise Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP government in public, join youth PAP associations and wear white clothes which are the uniform of his ruling political party.

Just like in Nazi Germany, Lee Kuan Yew's Internal Security Department, the successor to the former Special Branch has agents throughout the island who report directly to the Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew's son, just as they did to his father in the past. Just as other totalitarian dictatorships elsewhere, it is essential to know exactly what everyone thinks and to identify those who are against the government for punishment and reprisals.

These agents report almost daily to the Prime Minister and the intelligence received is used to punish and reward accordingly. Singapore it can be said is one of the most surveilled societies in the world. It is not an exaggeration to say that in Singapore Big Brother is watching you round the clock.

I am throughout here referring to Lee Kuan Yew although he is retired, no longer in government and in poor health. This is true. Why I do this is because, although he is no longer in government, the country is still firmly and completely run under according to his philosophy. It is his ideas that form the basis of government, not the Constitution which is supposed to be the controlling instrument. His son is simply running the country according to his father's wishes.

The question is, will such a system work in the 21 century? I think not. Lee Kuan Yew got it wrong in 2 fundamental areas. One, when he formulated such as philosophy, he was not able to foresee the coming of the Internet. Today the people, despite the rewards of being obedient dogs running around to please the PAP, are realizing that they can achieve success even without Lee Kuan Yew's government support.

For one, they could just leave for settlement in the West to free, fair and open democracies. For others it is simply distasteful and disgusting to have to live a life in bondage to survive and are willing to disobey regardless.

The other area in which Lee appears to have got it wrong is his failure to realize that education works directly against totalitarian regimes. The more education people have, the more they think, the more trouble to dictators. They begin to demand their rights. I think Lee failed to realize the words of a great Chinese sage who said "best way to rule is to keep the peoples stomach full and their heads empty" .

To take an example of myself, I am a thorn on the side of Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP. Although it is impossible to know how much damage I have caused the regime, that there is no doubt that I have. And the reason is because I have an education. Had I been an illiterate peasant, I would perhaps be probably content to live happily in Lee's government housing and work on a 9 to 5 job each day in Lee's Singapore, without complaint. It is the education that has made me what I am just as what the education is doing to increasing numbers of Singaporeans who stand up against him and his one man one party police state.

I am sure it the people had no education at all, they would be happy and content to live among their skyscrapers, excellent roads bridges and working telephones and excellent drinkable water, while singing praises to their Great Leader Lee Kuan Yew and their Beloved Leader his son.

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