Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is simply useless for anyone to fight for democracy for Singaporeans. Why, because Singaporeans simply do not want it. This wasn't clear to me over the decades until recently when I finally realized it is simply hopeless. You can take a horse to water, you simply can't make him drink.
If there are Singaporeans who seek democracy, their willingness to fight for it only extends to writing anonymous complaints on Facebook or the Internet. Or for a handful of protesters to go to the government designated secluded spot of Hong Lim Park, a patch of grass no bigger than 100 feet by 100 feet to silently hold signs while covering their faces. The totalitarian dictatorship of Lee Kuan Yew's son simply ignore all this and they (the government) continue on their merry ways, as if nothing happened.
And then there are those who erroneously believe that they have to wait for the next elections, held every 5 years, to throw this government out and bring in their paradise, not knowing of course that firstly Lee Kuan Yew's son has made sure he will always win or if not he will have his proxies to do his bidding. And even assuming the unthinkable happens and they get thrown out, no government coming in would willingly create a democracy obviously because it is much easier to rule through Fascism as now.
If you did not already know, let me tell you what it is. Singaporeans, or the vast predominantly ethnic Chinese society, are literally slaves. You can criticize as much as you want within limits, the limits being the government is not really threatened. Otherwise you face defamation action in Kangaroo courts where there is no rule of law, you stand to be fired from your job, your career prospects are eternally destroyed and you are as good as history. You not only know this dire fact, the government goes out of their way to remind you that they don't practice the rule of law and Roy Ngerng who criticized has lost his job and he will soon be bankrupted with a million dollar defamation award, not intended to make him pay of course, since after all they know he doesn't have a million dollars. It is instead intended to destroy him for life.
Let me also remind you of the other stark basic realities under which you live. You have no constitutional rights, no free speech, no freedom of the press, no right to protest, no right to assembly, no right to protest except at a secluded government designated 100 feet square grass patch called Hong Lim Square provided they give you permission.
Obviously Singaporeans are happy to live this way. The ordinary Singaporean, 80% of whom are ethnic Chinese have had no complaint living this way for the last 50 years or so under this Fascist regime. Frankly, if you do not care about your individual liberties and do not believe that the government is accountable to you and not the other way round, life can be quite pleasant. If you are not a threat to them, for the most part they leave you alone, to find a job and mind your own business. And then there are those who are a growing number seek opportunity and success by being sycophants and bootlickers of the fascist regime. They stand a chance of being selected for high office and unimaginable wealth. It is the same in China where you work for the Communist Party and achieve high office and bribes through their Peoples Liberation Army connections.
If you did not know, the Singapore government is the most corrupt in Asia if not in the world. Lee Kuan Yew and now his son pay themselves no less than $3.7 million a year officially. Besides this they siphon off even more millions secretly. This corruption and nepotism does not extend to just the Lee family but throughout their government including all ministers. In any other society, the people would be up in arms against this, but Singaporeans simply do not have the courage to stand up to this corruption.
Singapore is no different from Communist China. There are beautiful skyscrapers built everyday and Chengdu and Shanghai have excellent infra structure and beautiful spaces. In Singapore too the infra structure and the city is beautiful. The commonality between China and Singapore is this, you get to live in a beautiful city but you have no part in deciding how it is run. In China if you complain too much the Peoples Liberation Army would probably shoot you. In Singapore you would be arrested, you lose your job and branded and victimized for life. You may be even locked up for life under detention without trial laws and probably even shot.
The ethnic Chinese society of Singaporeans appear to be quite happy to live in a society where their lives are decided for them and they simply mind their own business. This is not how the original makers of the Constitution intended which was based on a Western style democracy based on the Greek philosophy where the state is accountable to the people, not the other way round. Singapore today has transformed into a Chinese or Stalinist style system where you mind your own business and let the government decide what is best for you.
We have had proof of the islander's preference for the last 3 decades. JB Jeyaretnam the opposition politician came around and championed for rights. But when he was unjustly and illegally imprisoned and bankrupted and destroyed, Singaporeans had nothing to say, except perhaps writing on Facebook. There followed a series of transgressions of rights, from the Marxist conspiracy where innocent libertarians were jailed and tortured, Chee Soon Juan being simply ill treated and lately Roy Ngerng the blogger and 16 year old Amos Yee being persecuted. But Singaporeans can do nothing more beyond writing anonymous Facebook articles.
The Singapore government cannot be forced to restore democratic rights under the Constitution unless and until they are compelled to do it. Writing Facebook articles is not going to do the trick. The only way you can force this Fascist government to do the right thing is to have mass demonstrations to force their hand. This obviously the people of Singapore are either not prepared to do or too afraid to be more exact.
Therefore unfortunately the prognosis for this cowardly society is they have to continue to live the way they do, under this Fascist dictatorship, as they have done for the last 50 years. And no one including me can persuade them otherwise, because they simply don't want to or they are too afraid. One undeniable truth of history is this; nowhere in the world have people achieved freedom without the courage to fight for it. So far since 2006 I have been writing blogs in the hope that the people of Singapore can be persuaded to stand up for their rights. I now realize that this was all along a forlorn hope. You cannot force a horse to drink if he doesn't want to.
I have tried but it is useless. Perhaps sometime in the distant future, there may be some event that forces this predominantly ethnic Chinese society that has been so far subservient and cowardly to stand up for their rights. I say cowardly intentionally. Because they are not the way they are because they are ignorant. They are the way they are despite full knowledge they live as slaves. But I am not holding my breath on any possible change. But even if they do stand up eventually, surely it is not on my account.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Formerly Singaporean, now American Citizen
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
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4 comments:
I am sure the son inherited not only the political power but also all the wealth and the money from his father. Poor Singapore. No changes are to expect in the near future.
Please don't waste your time writing to this blog if you are afraid even to identify yourself. You demean yourself.
Men such as yourself who want to criticize the government but yet are afraid to say who they are like cowards who only have the courage to strike someone from behind his back so they cannot be found. You fear to face your oppressor in the face because you are afraid to stand up to your conviction. You the worst form of the human race, someone who has no honor. As long as Singapore is populated with sheep like you, this dictatorship has no fear in continuing their repression which they will continue. Shame on you.
Mr Nair, you have taken a lot of personal energy and self sacrifice to get to this point, that you finally understand that the entire Singapore population are in a zombified state of consciousness.
By design through decades of oppression, the gov there have succeeded wildly beyond their greatest dreams of controlling the entire citizenry. Vast wealth for every single boot licker aka "minister" is of course one of the prime motivating factors in this decades long action plan.
Sometimes I feel sorry for the Singaporeans, other times I am reminded of outwardly wealthy show off, crass, empty beings who really do prefer to live in pigeon holes in the sky. Why indeed has there never been a righteous movement to better their lives and that of their families? May your God bless you.
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