Ladies and Gentlemen,
For the last 50 years history of the one party state of Singapore first under Lee Kuan Yew and now his son the Prime Minister, the unquestionable rule has been that the rulers are sacrosanct. No one is allowed to question them under pain of defamation lawsuits, arrest, intimidation under an all pervasive fear. It was fear alone that has managed to keep them in power so long. And they hope today that fear will again do the trick.
And in order to enforce this fear among their citizens, their Internal Security Department, not dissimilar to the Soviet KGB uses large numbers of clandestine undercover agents, both official and unofficial to permeate every layer and level of society, in the schools, the civil service, in the professions, to identify and report daily to the Prime Minister on who is and who is not towing the government line. And what actions are recommended against so and so for disrespecting him.
With the passage of time, greater education and awareness among the newly empowered Singaporean society far too many people are simply not willing to act dead and roll over to please the powers above. Manifesting this, we have seen increasingly frequent protests by citizens wearing T shirts with anti government slogans and showing open defiance. I am sure for the Prime Minister who never expected his citizens to turn against him so boldly, these daily reports of the ISD of more and more people showing open disrespect disheartening.
The truth is that almost daily, you have anti government graffiti, protests and agitation in the island. With a state controlled press and media, the Prime Minister realizing that any publicity given to these disturbances would only encourage even more anti government agitation, he orders the media not to report these instances of civil disobedience, which only buys a temporary respite from the certain collapse of his regime run on fear and repression.
The Prime Minister has buried his head in the sand. Instead of trying to deal with the angry Singaporeans, he has no other idea than that of his father, which is simply to continue persecuting those who criticize him in the hope that somehow, they will still be cowed into submission. He should realize that the days of threatening his citizens into submission are simply over. Singaporeans have become a demanding population. They want answers to their questions and they won't be silenced simply by threatening then with defamation lawsuits.
Unless he does something to arrest the path Singapore is taking with their emboldened citizens, and stop burying his head in the sand and hoping the problems will just go away, the growing unrest will grow like a cancer and bury the Prime Minister sooner than he thinks.
The days of terrorizing Singaporeans with Internal Security Department thugs are over. No one is afraid of the bully boys anymore.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
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6 comments:
Of all the idiosyncrasies of Chinese culture, the concept of “Face” is perhaps most difficult to fully grasp. And because “saving face” is such a strong motivating force with Chinese people, it’s also one of the most important concepts in understanding the Chinese Mind.
This cultural thin-skin is largely a product of culture that has valued social harmony as the prime rule (and generally avoided criticism).
An American/Western subordinate attending a meeting where his boss is presenting would generally think nothing of raising a question, making an alternate suggestion, or even disagreeing in front of others. To a Chinese, this would be a serious face-losing situation for the subordinate, boss, and even the company.
Happy to report that Lee Kuan Yew is losing 'face' everyday in Singapore.
I think that such a modern and advanced place like Singapore urgently Need a Change in politics and in law System. Physical punishment in the 21 st century is outdated and violates human rights. Free speech for everyone in Singapore.
I think that such a modern and advanced place like Singapore urgently Need a Change in politics and in law System. Physical punishment in the 21 st century is outdated and violates human rights. Free speech for everyone in Singapore.
More loss of 'face' for LKY.
Petition demanding PM Lee (his son) resign
https://secure.avaaz.org/en/petition/Singapore_Prime_Minister_Lee_Resign_from_Office/?nKYXHfb
Ouch!
roy ngerng was asking embarrassing questions about the cpf. so pm lee hl wants to send a message to sporeans that discussion about the cpf is off limits. typical pap bully tactic.
Little Lee Jr has been testing his power recently, making public appearances with his bodyguards mixed in the crowd. He still command fear.
It iz hard to deprogramme 50 years of Lee cult.
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