Ladies and Gentlemen,
The recent 2015 national elections has had the effect of effectively stubbing out any hope of democracy in the small island of Singapore with its equally tiny population. Before the elections, there were many who hoped that things might change and democracy may have a chance. A great deal of fervor and hope was seen for democracy. On election day, Sept 11, 2015 all that hope was destroyed at a stroke when 70% of Singaporeans, a far greater number than even before had chosen Lee Kuan Yew's son's Fascism instead of democracy. And suddenly like the drop of a hat all dissent in the Internet came to a stop. The few remaining minority of Singaporeans, the educated and thinking people realized sadly that there is no more hope anymore.
And the tiny island today is indeed a classic Fascist state with the ruler, Lee Kuan Yew's son the Prime Minister and his selected colleagues, who pay themselves millions are above the law and free to do whatever they want. And what they want and have is an official salary of $2.5 million and an equal number of undeclared millions which they pay themselves. This is corruption on a grand scale but no one can question them because if you do, their Kangaroo judges would have you imprisoned or bankrupted or both. As a result naturally no one has any courage to question them.
They have abrogated the Constitution and all citizen's rights such as free speech expression or assembly have all been denied. Today it is a criminal offense in the island to speak publicly without a permit, to assemble publicly without a permit or to protest publicly without a permit, all of which carries prison sentences. As a result out of fear, none speaks publicly, protests publicly or demonstrates publicly. Fear has silenced the entire island.
The newspapers are all state controlled and it is a criminal offense to disseminate any news material without a license, an offense which carries a prison sentence. So is the TV radio and the entire media just as it is in North Korea.
All judges are carefully selected to dish out government approved verdicts and a handful of judges who had dared exercise any independence, a suicidal act in the Singapore context were all removed and fired from their jobs.
So who are these 70% who voted for the Fascist government? They are by and large men an women with minimal education who are not aware that as humans they have any rights. They are quite happy to be told what to do by any dictator as long as they have 3 meals a day and can watch Television when they go home to their state owned tiny multi storey apartments. The rest are opportunists who although educated and aware that they live no better than slaves, are quite happy nevertheless. People who lack courage and self respect on the whole.
And what about the others who have some education as well as some pride? They have all left the island for settlement in Western European and North American countries. Naturally they are not prepared to live in a country where they have no rights, like North Korea and don't want their children to be subjected to this, destroying their minds and turning them literally into zombies. These people who are the best and brightest, the very cream of society, the very ones that the island needs the most are simply being lost to Singapore.
And there are a few highly educated capable individuals who for some reason, perhaps loyalty to Singapore decide to stay. But because they have independent minds and are not prepared to go along playing the fiddle to Lee Kuan Yew's son, they are effectively shunned and shut out of any participation in the government, thereby their abilities being lost to Singapore.
Take for instance Chee Soon Juan. He is a highly educated individual and there is no doubt his abilities would contribute greatly for the betterment of the island. But because he is an open critic of this Fascist regime, he is totally neglected and sidelined, not allowed to participate in government and his views are blacked out from all media in the island.
Another such man is Kenneth Jeyarentam, an English educated economist. If you read his blog The Ricebowl Singapore TRS, he has some very interesting articles on the governance of the island which the rulers could put to good use. But the problem is that he too is an open critic of this totalitarian regime and therefor he cannot be allowed any participation or any publicity in their state owned media. His valuable talents too are lost to Singapore entirely because the rulers are so insecure that they fear any publicity or help received from him would be the end of their fascist government.
If Chee Soon Juan or Jeyaretnam were tomorrow to announce their unconditional loyalty to the Fascist regime and prostrate at their feet, I am sure they would both be made Ministers instantly, but this is obviously not possible since they refuse to collaborate.
Just like Chee and Jeyaretnam, I am sure there are many others who simply are unknown and their talents wasted to the island because of their refusal to play second fiddle.
Ultimately no honest human being true to himself and his conscience could with a straight face say that they support this regime. How could they when the rulers are millionaires and corrupt and there is no modicum of freedom whatsoever, an island with a state controlled press like in Notrth Korea and Kangaroo judges running around dishing Lee's son's justice.
As you can see the country is principally peopled by a second rate population, either uneducated workers or unconscionable hypocrites and opportunists prepared to live under Fascism. The best have either left or have been sidelined and ignored. Therefore the island has a very poor quality population, inferior stock both educationally and in character, which simply cannot expect to excel without the cream of society; because they have all left or have been silenced like Chee Soon Juan and Kenneth Jeyaretnam.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean by birth in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
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4 comments:
So Gopalan, what do you hope to achieve with the post? Singapore stinks AND sinks, you have been saying this for a long time. The former is true, Singapore does STINK! I agree 100%. The latter is yet to happen; Singapore DID NOT SINK. You insist it is inevitable for the last several years. LKY is dead too and you were sure investors will flee and Singapore will descend into turmoil, but it did not enter chaos like you predicted. Now what?
To Stephen Moraiza,
My prediction will eventually come true, although it may take some time. It is just like Russia today. Putin, a downright corrupt dictator, in many ways like Lee Kuan Yew's son of Singapore, has popularity ratings that hit the roof. Yet Russia today is crumbling from under its feet.
It is quite clear, international investors can care 2 hoots whether a regime is democratic or not. All it wants is the bottom line, of dollars. The world knows how corrupt the man is but it has stability, so they continue investing in the island. Any student of history knows that the most powerful economies of the world were once all dictatorships, Nazi Germany, Mussolini's Italy, Franco's Spain and Salazar's Portugal.
But this sort of thing will not last in this day and age. Just look at the island. Brain drain has hit the roof, childbirth is non existent and the island has more than 50% foreigners to work in Lee"s son's Singapore Inc aka the island. The other 50% absent Singaporeans have either emigrated or dead.
How long do you thing this sort of thing would last. It would soon be another Dubai with a few Lee Kuan Yew son's and cronies employing an entire island of foreigners. But Dubai has the oil money that the other Emirates pour into it. What does this island have. Nothing. Soon there will be so much to and fro revolving door of Chinese nationals coming in and going out and it will be the end of the island. Gopalan Nair types would have all left them island and would be contributing to its downfall from San Francisco or the other western capitals of the world.
Collapse is sure my friend. Just as collapse is sure for Russia. The question is only when. It will be either be a gradual collapse or a sudden one in the event of some economic catastrophe. It is too small to withstand such things.
And don't forget, the place has a tiny population, just a medium sized city in an even tinier island which is by the way being attacked by climate change global warming sea level rise and driving the tiny bit patch of real estate under the sea in daily flooding awash across the island in knee deep water, on a daily basis! Only thing is the knee deep daily flooding is going to become waist deep by which time you need small water boats to get around.
Shall we say, the new Venice of the East or better still the lost undersea city of Atlantis.
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