Ladies and Gentlemen,
Lee's suppression of free society goes on. You know that on May 12, 2008, Lee Kuan Yew's enforcer, Belinda Ang, High Court Judge, who sits as his judge, will find Dr. Chee guilty of defaming Lee her master, one more time, and one more time award an impossible award of $500,000 against him. No doubt about it. Like clockwork it will happen. In Singapore if Lee Kuan Yew sues anyone, it is guaranteed he will win.
Please see the April 16, 2008 blog post Chee to cross-examine the Lees at hearing on 12 May on Singapore Democrat Website. On May 12, 2008, Dr. Chee who had already been found liable of defaming the Lees, will know how much damages he has to pay. Also since the plaintiffs have also sued the SDP, any award against the SDP would mean they will be unable to pay and therefore the SDP will be shut down.
The Lees think that by abusing the law to punish Dr. Chee and the SDP, they will repent and apologize to him. Nothing can be further from the truth. If Lee thinks that by shutting down the SDP it will finish them off, he will be surprised to see just the opposite.
The shutting down of the SDP should not weaken their supporters. In fact it will strengthen them. The members of the SDP should just ignore the court order to shut it down and continue using the name Singapore Democratic Party and carry on with the same activities that they do now, without any change. They should carry on with the Singapore Democrat website, continuing to expose this unjust ruthless heartless regime. Continue with the protests. Continue with the agitation. Continue with the meetings and discussions and continue with everything that they do now without change. And especially continue using the name Singapore Democratic Party without change. In other words, they should just defy the court order.
The only thing that the SDP cannot do is to stand for elections using the name Singapore Democratic Party. But who needs elections anyway; I mean elections Singapore style, where Lee rigs the elections, fixes the opposition and bribes his supporters as Lee Kuan Yew's son made that very clear in the 2006 elections. In fact, you can watch the video of him saying those same vile statements on the Singapore Democrat Website Home Page. (Please look for it on the top right hand corner)
This impeding winding up of the party is turning out to be a blessing in disguise. I believe this is what the SDP actually needs. In any case, the requirement of law that requires societies to be licenced is itself a violation of the Constitutional provision of freedom of assembly.
So SDP members, take heart. True Singaporeans are with you. The world is with you. Keep your wits about you. You can only win.
And one thing I am sure. If in fact the government goes ahead and closes the SDP you will have a groundswell of sympathy and support. Your supporters will grow in even greater numbers.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Singapore. The father and son team of Lee Kuan Yew and son's major problem. The lack of qualified people.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Just as in other totalitarian dictatorships, Singapore’s father and son team of Lee Kuan Yew and son; use their state controlled newspapers to roll out the daily dose of good news. In Soviet Union, Izvestia published it on a daily basis. Grain production was up 50%, steel production up 45%, the GDP increased 200%. In fact the good news never stopped until the very last day of their final collapse. They could not afford to tell the truth, since had they done so, there would have been another revolution. Things in Soviet Union were as bad as that. The reason why these countries control the press, like the father and son team of Lee and son, is because the truth hurts. And the truth will unseat them.
One cannot help finding the same good news in the Straits Times, Singapore’s state controlled newspaper. Never has there been even one day when the news was bad. On a daily basis we read, Goh Chock Tong has gone to Libya to promote trade with Singapore, Australian ABC Company has set up a plant in Singapore, German DEF company has set up pharmaceutical company in Jurong, GHI company from UK has set up blah blah factory in Singapore. The good news never stops.
Yet we know there are suicides everyday. Long lines are forming for free food in temples. Thousands are unable to afford 3 meals each day.
Companies setting up in Singapore need scientists, professionals, engineers, lawyers and all kinds of skilled people. But there are no professionals left in Singapore. As soon as they graduate, they are leaving Singapore for good to settle overseas, never to return.
The one main factor that causes this brain drain from Singapore is the English language. This is something that the father and son team had not figured out, which is hurting them badly. And regretfully for them, there is no remedy to this problem.
Communist China is making great headway in science, technology and economic development. But the Chinese do not have an English western education. Also, China never had the foundations of western democratic values. Individual human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly were never part of their psyche. Therefore, the ordinary Chinese citizen does not find the need to question his government because it is assumed that the ordinary man's role in life is to accept authority. In return the government's duty is to provide the goodies.
Not being aware of Western concepts of individual rights and especially because they have no English, leaving China for the West firstly is unnecessary and secondly it is difficult as the Chinese government will not freely issue exit visas. In other words the Chinese are imprisoned in the country, and they don’t mind it at all. With this sort of thinking, the Chinese educated remain in China contented with their lot, developing their country, unlike in Singapore where the educated are, unhappy and clamoring to leave, thus hurting its development.
The Lee and son team of Singapore want to suppress the freedoms of the Singaporeans just as they do in mainland China, so that they can remain in power. Problem is, it cannot work in Singapore like it can in China, because of one major difference. In Singapore we have the benefit of English. Even though it is spoken very badly, it is nevertheless a form of English which can be improved once the person lives for even a short time in the West.
For the last 49 years, first the father Lee, and now the father and son team have been ruling Singapore through fear, by punishing dissenters and rewarding sycophants. But with the Singaporean public becoming more and more educated, there is no longer a need to live in such fear of the father and son team. Moreover, even though Lee continues to try very hard to keep human rights knowledge away form the public, the higher educated Singaporeans will certainly educate themselves as to their rights. And once they know their rights, it is impossible to prevent them from demanding it.
Living life as free men and women is such a desirable thing that no matter what, once people know their rights, they become emboldened and addicted to freedom. And once emboldened, they will demand it.
In Singapore everyone knows that if you criticize the government, the father and son team will use their goons to harass, persecute and make life as miserable for you as possible. Not wanting to go through that hardship, the vast majority of highly educated Singaporeans just leave for foreign countries for settlement. This causes industry in Singapore to suffer from lack of professionals.
And as the father and son team continue day after day to arrest opposition politicians, sue them for defamation of character and bankrupt them, this cream of talented people become more and more disinclined to live in Singapore, not wanting to live in a country that denies them their rights. A country that misuses the law to silence dissidents. Having more pride in themselves, they decide on the next best thing. Other than staying behind and fighting the father and son dictatorship; they leave Singapore.
I understand from reliable sources that the civil service at the higher levels is chronically short of staff. The same goes with every other government department and all private industry. There is sufficient numbers of unskilled 6th grade workers. There are no lawyers, insufficient engineers and all other professionals. This lack of sufficient numbers of skilled and highly talented managers and professional is hurting Singapore’s development.
While Lee's son, who was placed in the Prime Minister's position by his father, struts around threatening all others in his way, the educated are packing and leaving. But just as the Soviet era state controlled newspapers, nothing is mentioned about this. According to the state controlled press, everything is more than fine; they have more than enough skilled workers, in fact so many talented people so much so that they do not know what to do with them!
But the truth is, in order to replace those native Singapore born citizens who leave, they bring in Chinese form China, immigrants from India and from elsewhere. By the very fact that they come to Singapore is itself evidence that they are second rate. All of them were in fact wanting to go to Australia but since they are not good enough, they come to second choice Singapore. Second rate immigrants with second rate skills.
If there are those Singapore born citizens who remain, they are of the sort like the Tamil boy, K Shanmugam who was recently made minister because Lee Kuan Yew likes him, as he would do well as his errand boy. But the best educated and best capable will not be prepared to run around for Lee Kuan Yew and his son like this Tamil. Refusing to kowtow, and finding that their prospects n Singapore are limited unless they complied with the Lee administration’s rule, they would have no choice but to leave.
This fact of insufficient highly talented people in Singapore continues to hurt the government of the country, the civil service and private industry. The one thing that these sectors need is highly talented people, who unfortunately simply refuse to stay in Singapore. If some come, it is only for a limited time and they too leave. For highly skilled qualified professionals, Singapore is not a place to live long. It is no more than a sojourn of a few years and then to leave to be replaced by another set who come in and leave again. And what is worst of all, the ones who come are not the best. Singapore can only get the mediocre because if it’s bad reputation of being an intolerant dictatorship of father and son.
The English language has turned out, ironically as the greatest obstacle to the continued rule of the father and son. Funny they did not think of that.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Just as in other totalitarian dictatorships, Singapore’s father and son team of Lee Kuan Yew and son; use their state controlled newspapers to roll out the daily dose of good news. In Soviet Union, Izvestia published it on a daily basis. Grain production was up 50%, steel production up 45%, the GDP increased 200%. In fact the good news never stopped until the very last day of their final collapse. They could not afford to tell the truth, since had they done so, there would have been another revolution. Things in Soviet Union were as bad as that. The reason why these countries control the press, like the father and son team of Lee and son, is because the truth hurts. And the truth will unseat them.
One cannot help finding the same good news in the Straits Times, Singapore’s state controlled newspaper. Never has there been even one day when the news was bad. On a daily basis we read, Goh Chock Tong has gone to Libya to promote trade with Singapore, Australian ABC Company has set up a plant in Singapore, German DEF company has set up pharmaceutical company in Jurong, GHI company from UK has set up blah blah factory in Singapore. The good news never stops.
Yet we know there are suicides everyday. Long lines are forming for free food in temples. Thousands are unable to afford 3 meals each day.
Companies setting up in Singapore need scientists, professionals, engineers, lawyers and all kinds of skilled people. But there are no professionals left in Singapore. As soon as they graduate, they are leaving Singapore for good to settle overseas, never to return.
The one main factor that causes this brain drain from Singapore is the English language. This is something that the father and son team had not figured out, which is hurting them badly. And regretfully for them, there is no remedy to this problem.
Communist China is making great headway in science, technology and economic development. But the Chinese do not have an English western education. Also, China never had the foundations of western democratic values. Individual human rights such as freedom of speech and assembly were never part of their psyche. Therefore, the ordinary Chinese citizen does not find the need to question his government because it is assumed that the ordinary man's role in life is to accept authority. In return the government's duty is to provide the goodies.
Not being aware of Western concepts of individual rights and especially because they have no English, leaving China for the West firstly is unnecessary and secondly it is difficult as the Chinese government will not freely issue exit visas. In other words the Chinese are imprisoned in the country, and they don’t mind it at all. With this sort of thinking, the Chinese educated remain in China contented with their lot, developing their country, unlike in Singapore where the educated are, unhappy and clamoring to leave, thus hurting its development.
The Lee and son team of Singapore want to suppress the freedoms of the Singaporeans just as they do in mainland China, so that they can remain in power. Problem is, it cannot work in Singapore like it can in China, because of one major difference. In Singapore we have the benefit of English. Even though it is spoken very badly, it is nevertheless a form of English which can be improved once the person lives for even a short time in the West.
For the last 49 years, first the father Lee, and now the father and son team have been ruling Singapore through fear, by punishing dissenters and rewarding sycophants. But with the Singaporean public becoming more and more educated, there is no longer a need to live in such fear of the father and son team. Moreover, even though Lee continues to try very hard to keep human rights knowledge away form the public, the higher educated Singaporeans will certainly educate themselves as to their rights. And once they know their rights, it is impossible to prevent them from demanding it.
Living life as free men and women is such a desirable thing that no matter what, once people know their rights, they become emboldened and addicted to freedom. And once emboldened, they will demand it.
In Singapore everyone knows that if you criticize the government, the father and son team will use their goons to harass, persecute and make life as miserable for you as possible. Not wanting to go through that hardship, the vast majority of highly educated Singaporeans just leave for foreign countries for settlement. This causes industry in Singapore to suffer from lack of professionals.
And as the father and son team continue day after day to arrest opposition politicians, sue them for defamation of character and bankrupt them, this cream of talented people become more and more disinclined to live in Singapore, not wanting to live in a country that denies them their rights. A country that misuses the law to silence dissidents. Having more pride in themselves, they decide on the next best thing. Other than staying behind and fighting the father and son dictatorship; they leave Singapore.
I understand from reliable sources that the civil service at the higher levels is chronically short of staff. The same goes with every other government department and all private industry. There is sufficient numbers of unskilled 6th grade workers. There are no lawyers, insufficient engineers and all other professionals. This lack of sufficient numbers of skilled and highly talented managers and professional is hurting Singapore’s development.
While Lee's son, who was placed in the Prime Minister's position by his father, struts around threatening all others in his way, the educated are packing and leaving. But just as the Soviet era state controlled newspapers, nothing is mentioned about this. According to the state controlled press, everything is more than fine; they have more than enough skilled workers, in fact so many talented people so much so that they do not know what to do with them!
But the truth is, in order to replace those native Singapore born citizens who leave, they bring in Chinese form China, immigrants from India and from elsewhere. By the very fact that they come to Singapore is itself evidence that they are second rate. All of them were in fact wanting to go to Australia but since they are not good enough, they come to second choice Singapore. Second rate immigrants with second rate skills.
If there are those Singapore born citizens who remain, they are of the sort like the Tamil boy, K Shanmugam who was recently made minister because Lee Kuan Yew likes him, as he would do well as his errand boy. But the best educated and best capable will not be prepared to run around for Lee Kuan Yew and his son like this Tamil. Refusing to kowtow, and finding that their prospects n Singapore are limited unless they complied with the Lee administration’s rule, they would have no choice but to leave.
This fact of insufficient highly talented people in Singapore continues to hurt the government of the country, the civil service and private industry. The one thing that these sectors need is highly talented people, who unfortunately simply refuse to stay in Singapore. If some come, it is only for a limited time and they too leave. For highly skilled qualified professionals, Singapore is not a place to live long. It is no more than a sojourn of a few years and then to leave to be replaced by another set who come in and leave again. And what is worst of all, the ones who come are not the best. Singapore can only get the mediocre because if it’s bad reputation of being an intolerant dictatorship of father and son.
The English language has turned out, ironically as the greatest obstacle to the continued rule of the father and son. Funny they did not think of that.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Singapore. Believe it or not, foreigners do not take jobs away from locals: PM
Ladies and Gentlemen,
According to the Singapore state controlled newspaper, the Straits Times of May 01, 2008, in the story "Foreigners do not take jobs away from locals: PM", Lee Kuan Yew's son, the Prime Minister claims that the present island wide rampant anger among Singaporeans against foreign workers for taking their jobs is totally misplaced! On the contrary, he says, believe it or not, foreign workers actually help create more jobs! Wait a minute! Am I missing something here! I have read Alice in Wonderland but this statement beats even that!
As to how this can be true, defies logic. In fact it would have defied the most vivid imagination of a drug addict high on heroin!
In Singapore, there are about a million foreign workers, most of them engaged in the lower end lower skilled jobs. We all know that. We also know, there is no need for an employer to articulate a reason why foreign workers are to be admitted. They can be admitted in unlimited numbers. The only burden upon him is to pay the government a levy for each worker; thereby benefiting the government with increased revenue. Having done that he can pay the foreigner as low a wage as he wants, even $500.00 per month, if the impoverished foreigner will take it. In this manner of suppressing wages, Singaporeans looking for jobs cannot find any; and those already in jobs are fired, only to be replaced by a foreigner willing to accept even lower wages.
It should be quite clear to anyone with a head on his shoulders that foreigners take jobs away from Singaporeans and suppress wages to their detriment. Living standards of Singaporeans are lowered, they have less money, they and their families suffer, while employers benefit through lower wages and greater profits; and of course the government benefits through the collection of foreign worker levies. The sucker in this equation is the native Singaporean.
I have been told, it is in fact a disadvantage to be a Singaporean in Singapore. Imagine that! A disadvantage to be a citizen of his own country. I have been told from reliable sources that the first thing an employer asks a job applicant is whether he is a Singaporean. If he answers in the affirmative, there goes his job opportunity. In fact I have heard of the bizarre pathetic situation where desperate Singaporeans have in fact claimed that they were foreigners at job interviews, so as to increase their chances of landing the job! Such lack of compassion, such an uncaring, insensitive government can only be found in such a country like Singapore; with a Lee Kuan Yew father and son dictatorship.
So one thing is quite obvious in this situation. This indiscriminate import of cheap labor in unlimited numbers benefits foreign workers, not Singaporeans, who are in fact, on a daily basis, kicked out from their jobs, only to be replaced by a cheaper foreigner prepared to work for less.
Lee Kuan Yew's son, the Prime Minister, makes a preposterous assumption that Singaporeans are not prepared to take these jobs, and therefore it is no loss to them if some foreigner takes it. This statement cannot be further from the truth. It is in fact a shameless lie.
I have personally been told by Singaporeans, already working, that they were told to accept lower pay, or else they would lose it to a foreigner! Having no choice, to feed a family of wife and children, they are compelled to reluctantly accept lower wages or else they would lose the job altogether; with no other hope but starvation.
As a result of the government increasing the cost of living essentials; in order to make ends meet, one needs to have more money. This increase in wages, makes Singapore less competitive than neighbouring countries. But the government, in the light of the higher costs of living, should not hang on to the low cost assembly line jobs which were the norm. They should let it go and move on to high end high value added industry which pays higher wages. As Lee Kuan Yew had himself said before, Singapore is the Switzerland of the east. And if so, the workforce should be paid Swiss wages with Swiss productivity levels and Swiss high tech high value added industry.
But that is not what this government is doing. Even though it is very clear that at today's costs, Singaporeans should have at least $3,000.00 per month, what Lee Kuan Yew is trying to do is is to pay workers $300.00 per month instead. Clearly the sums do not add up.
In order to compete with third world cheap wage countries, Lee brings in cheap labor foreigners, paying them third world wages in Singapore. In these circumstances the unskilled Singaporean has no choice but to accept $300.00 a month or not eat at all.
And not satisfied with deliberately hurting the livelihood of the lower income Singaporeans, to rub salt into the wound, he makes fun of the plight of the poor by mocking them by his flippant remarks.
He says foreigners are not here to take jobs from Singaporeans but to enlarge the economic pie. This is a very uncaring hurtful remark especially for Singaporeans who have lost their jobs to cheaper foreign labor. As to how the economic pie is enlarged he does not elaborate. It is quite obvious he cannot.
To add insult to injury, he makes a joke out of the plight of those who have lost their jobs. He agrees with Lim Boon Heng the minister that foreign beer ladies attracted more customers instead of locals, presumably because they are beautiful and Singapore women are ugly! Is he now insulting Singapore women as being ugly and unable to attract male customers? He than enjoys a laugh at the expense of Singaporeans who have lost their jobs saying it is a good thing to have pretty (foreign) beer ladies who will encourage Singaporeans to drink more!
He says foreigners can work long hours seven days a week while Singaporeans cannot. Therefore foreigners are better workers who will reduce costs and increase productivity and profits. A slap in the face for every Singaporean; no doubt about it. Not satisfied that he denies Singaporeans jobs; he is determined to insult them as well!
He then says with the help of foreigners the airport seaport factories etc will remain open longer hours, implying that had it been Singaporeans working at these places, these facilities would have all shut down and gone out of business!
He then says that smaller unproductive businesses can remain in business by employing cheap foreign worker at the expense of Singaporeans. What sort of economic sense this makes does boggle one's mind!
And then in his usual gibberish, he claims that foreigners are in fact an asset to Singaporeans and that we should not complain at all when our jobs are taken from us!
Reading this deliberate insult to Singaporeans, it makes my blood boil. If it does yours, then it is about time you told him so very clearly and deliberately. Arrange with the Singapore Democratic Party to hold a peaceful assembly outside his office with banners and placards, in numbers exceeding 5, with a clear message to him to stop insulting the intelligence of Singaporeans. Contrary to what he may think, Singaporeans have a brain too.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
According to the Singapore state controlled newspaper, the Straits Times of May 01, 2008, in the story "Foreigners do not take jobs away from locals: PM", Lee Kuan Yew's son, the Prime Minister claims that the present island wide rampant anger among Singaporeans against foreign workers for taking their jobs is totally misplaced! On the contrary, he says, believe it or not, foreign workers actually help create more jobs! Wait a minute! Am I missing something here! I have read Alice in Wonderland but this statement beats even that!
As to how this can be true, defies logic. In fact it would have defied the most vivid imagination of a drug addict high on heroin!
In Singapore, there are about a million foreign workers, most of them engaged in the lower end lower skilled jobs. We all know that. We also know, there is no need for an employer to articulate a reason why foreign workers are to be admitted. They can be admitted in unlimited numbers. The only burden upon him is to pay the government a levy for each worker; thereby benefiting the government with increased revenue. Having done that he can pay the foreigner as low a wage as he wants, even $500.00 per month, if the impoverished foreigner will take it. In this manner of suppressing wages, Singaporeans looking for jobs cannot find any; and those already in jobs are fired, only to be replaced by a foreigner willing to accept even lower wages.
It should be quite clear to anyone with a head on his shoulders that foreigners take jobs away from Singaporeans and suppress wages to their detriment. Living standards of Singaporeans are lowered, they have less money, they and their families suffer, while employers benefit through lower wages and greater profits; and of course the government benefits through the collection of foreign worker levies. The sucker in this equation is the native Singaporean.
I have been told, it is in fact a disadvantage to be a Singaporean in Singapore. Imagine that! A disadvantage to be a citizen of his own country. I have been told from reliable sources that the first thing an employer asks a job applicant is whether he is a Singaporean. If he answers in the affirmative, there goes his job opportunity. In fact I have heard of the bizarre pathetic situation where desperate Singaporeans have in fact claimed that they were foreigners at job interviews, so as to increase their chances of landing the job! Such lack of compassion, such an uncaring, insensitive government can only be found in such a country like Singapore; with a Lee Kuan Yew father and son dictatorship.
So one thing is quite obvious in this situation. This indiscriminate import of cheap labor in unlimited numbers benefits foreign workers, not Singaporeans, who are in fact, on a daily basis, kicked out from their jobs, only to be replaced by a cheaper foreigner prepared to work for less.
Lee Kuan Yew's son, the Prime Minister, makes a preposterous assumption that Singaporeans are not prepared to take these jobs, and therefore it is no loss to them if some foreigner takes it. This statement cannot be further from the truth. It is in fact a shameless lie.
I have personally been told by Singaporeans, already working, that they were told to accept lower pay, or else they would lose it to a foreigner! Having no choice, to feed a family of wife and children, they are compelled to reluctantly accept lower wages or else they would lose the job altogether; with no other hope but starvation.
As a result of the government increasing the cost of living essentials; in order to make ends meet, one needs to have more money. This increase in wages, makes Singapore less competitive than neighbouring countries. But the government, in the light of the higher costs of living, should not hang on to the low cost assembly line jobs which were the norm. They should let it go and move on to high end high value added industry which pays higher wages. As Lee Kuan Yew had himself said before, Singapore is the Switzerland of the east. And if so, the workforce should be paid Swiss wages with Swiss productivity levels and Swiss high tech high value added industry.
But that is not what this government is doing. Even though it is very clear that at today's costs, Singaporeans should have at least $3,000.00 per month, what Lee Kuan Yew is trying to do is is to pay workers $300.00 per month instead. Clearly the sums do not add up.
In order to compete with third world cheap wage countries, Lee brings in cheap labor foreigners, paying them third world wages in Singapore. In these circumstances the unskilled Singaporean has no choice but to accept $300.00 a month or not eat at all.
And not satisfied with deliberately hurting the livelihood of the lower income Singaporeans, to rub salt into the wound, he makes fun of the plight of the poor by mocking them by his flippant remarks.
He says foreigners are not here to take jobs from Singaporeans but to enlarge the economic pie. This is a very uncaring hurtful remark especially for Singaporeans who have lost their jobs to cheaper foreign labor. As to how the economic pie is enlarged he does not elaborate. It is quite obvious he cannot.
To add insult to injury, he makes a joke out of the plight of those who have lost their jobs. He agrees with Lim Boon Heng the minister that foreign beer ladies attracted more customers instead of locals, presumably because they are beautiful and Singapore women are ugly! Is he now insulting Singapore women as being ugly and unable to attract male customers? He than enjoys a laugh at the expense of Singaporeans who have lost their jobs saying it is a good thing to have pretty (foreign) beer ladies who will encourage Singaporeans to drink more!
He says foreigners can work long hours seven days a week while Singaporeans cannot. Therefore foreigners are better workers who will reduce costs and increase productivity and profits. A slap in the face for every Singaporean; no doubt about it. Not satisfied that he denies Singaporeans jobs; he is determined to insult them as well!
He then says with the help of foreigners the airport seaport factories etc will remain open longer hours, implying that had it been Singaporeans working at these places, these facilities would have all shut down and gone out of business!
He then says that smaller unproductive businesses can remain in business by employing cheap foreign worker at the expense of Singaporeans. What sort of economic sense this makes does boggle one's mind!
And then in his usual gibberish, he claims that foreigners are in fact an asset to Singaporeans and that we should not complain at all when our jobs are taken from us!
Reading this deliberate insult to Singaporeans, it makes my blood boil. If it does yours, then it is about time you told him so very clearly and deliberately. Arrange with the Singapore Democratic Party to hold a peaceful assembly outside his office with banners and placards, in numbers exceeding 5, with a clear message to him to stop insulting the intelligence of Singaporeans. Contrary to what he may think, Singaporeans have a brain too.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
A letter from Singaporean Brendan Woon, May 04, 2008
Dear Gopalan,
I have been reading your "Singapore Dissident" blog for the past month and I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed your articles.
The Singapore Government withholds alot of information from Singaporeans through its censorship of the mainstream media. As such, it is very important that a vibrant and credible "alternative media" is established, in the form of blogs and websites, to provide Singaporeans with information, analyses and opinions presenting the other side of the story. As a former Opposition politician, you have an element of added credibility when making the transition to becoming an internet activist and citizen journalist. I hope you will continue posting your articles, and I sincerely hope that your readership will increase steadily over the next few months.
I would be very interested to hear you share more about your personal political experience campaigning alongside JB Jeyaretnam and Francis Seow in the late 80s and early 90s. Many young Singaporeans have no recollection of the Francis Seow case, and only know JB Jeyaretnam as a bankrupt old man peddling his books along Orchard Road. Perhaps you could enlighten them by sharing with us some anecdotes involving these two very well-known and respected Oppositionists from back in their heyday.
Lastly, I would just like to share a joke with you today. It is one that I think you will enjoy.
Best wishes to you and your family. I look forward to reading more of your articles in the coming weeks.
Regards,Brendan Woon
(A disenfranchised former civil servant, now working in financial services)
During a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the Secretary-General asks the delegates a question."What is your opinion on the current food shortage in the Third World?"
The delegate from Haiti replies, "Sir, what is food?"
The delegate from Sweden replies, "Sir, what is a shortage?"
The delegate from the United States replies, "Sir, what is the Third World?"
And the delegate from Singapore earnestly replies, "Sir, what is an opinion?"
My reply to Brendan Woon
Hello Brendan,
Thanks very much for the nice things you said. It is much appreciated. Today the Internet is a media that has suddenly become a very helpful tool in propogating the oppositon cause, especially in Singapore where the state controlled press is determined to keep the oppositon away from the people. Were it not for the Internet, the people would not have known all the work the opposition is doing plus the fact that growing numbers are breaking away from their shrouds of fear and demanding what they want. It is a pleasureable sight to see.
By the way, when I mean opposition, I mean the Singaproe Democratic Party and Dr. Chee and Company.
Thanks to you help and the growing numbers of readers of blogs such as the Singapore Democrat and this blog, coupled with the increasing level of education of readers such as yourself and others, this government is finding it increasing difficult to justify their authoritarian rule.
Today, every government department, every government linked organization, all the Ministers and their secretaries, almost everyone that matters, is reading this blog. It shows it is being taken very seriously.
Thanks again for all the help. It is not so much me that is benefitting from the readership. You and countless others are furthering the cause of a more liberal and democratic way of life for Singaporeans.
Thanks Again,
Gopalan Nair
May 04, 2008
I have been reading your "Singapore Dissident" blog for the past month and I must say that I have thoroughly enjoyed your articles.
The Singapore Government withholds alot of information from Singaporeans through its censorship of the mainstream media. As such, it is very important that a vibrant and credible "alternative media" is established, in the form of blogs and websites, to provide Singaporeans with information, analyses and opinions presenting the other side of the story. As a former Opposition politician, you have an element of added credibility when making the transition to becoming an internet activist and citizen journalist. I hope you will continue posting your articles, and I sincerely hope that your readership will increase steadily over the next few months.
I would be very interested to hear you share more about your personal political experience campaigning alongside JB Jeyaretnam and Francis Seow in the late 80s and early 90s. Many young Singaporeans have no recollection of the Francis Seow case, and only know JB Jeyaretnam as a bankrupt old man peddling his books along Orchard Road. Perhaps you could enlighten them by sharing with us some anecdotes involving these two very well-known and respected Oppositionists from back in their heyday.
Lastly, I would just like to share a joke with you today. It is one that I think you will enjoy.
Best wishes to you and your family. I look forward to reading more of your articles in the coming weeks.
Regards,Brendan Woon
(A disenfranchised former civil servant, now working in financial services)
During a meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, the Secretary-General asks the delegates a question."What is your opinion on the current food shortage in the Third World?"
The delegate from Haiti replies, "Sir, what is food?"
The delegate from Sweden replies, "Sir, what is a shortage?"
The delegate from the United States replies, "Sir, what is the Third World?"
And the delegate from Singapore earnestly replies, "Sir, what is an opinion?"
My reply to Brendan Woon
Hello Brendan,
Thanks very much for the nice things you said. It is much appreciated. Today the Internet is a media that has suddenly become a very helpful tool in propogating the oppositon cause, especially in Singapore where the state controlled press is determined to keep the oppositon away from the people. Were it not for the Internet, the people would not have known all the work the opposition is doing plus the fact that growing numbers are breaking away from their shrouds of fear and demanding what they want. It is a pleasureable sight to see.
By the way, when I mean opposition, I mean the Singaproe Democratic Party and Dr. Chee and Company.
Thanks to you help and the growing numbers of readers of blogs such as the Singapore Democrat and this blog, coupled with the increasing level of education of readers such as yourself and others, this government is finding it increasing difficult to justify their authoritarian rule.
Today, every government department, every government linked organization, all the Ministers and their secretaries, almost everyone that matters, is reading this blog. It shows it is being taken very seriously.
Thanks again for all the help. It is not so much me that is benefitting from the readership. You and countless others are furthering the cause of a more liberal and democratic way of life for Singaporeans.
Thanks Again,
Gopalan Nair
May 04, 2008
Saturday, May 3, 2008
Singapore. The law that requires a government permit for 5 or more to assemble in public is now a dead letter.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore law states, despite the clear wording of the Constitution, that an assembly of 5 or more people is illegal unless they have the written permission from the government. Dr. Chee and his SDP have over the years deliberately defied this unjust law, by protesting in the prohibited numbers without permits; for which he has been repeatedly imprisoned.
Now finally it seems, the tables have turned. Dr. Chee has won. The government is no longer enforcing this law. For all intents and purposes, it is a dead letter. The PAP government who have all along painted the image of a tough government which brooks no defiance to their laws, is now finally seen, to use Miss Slocum's words of Are You Being Served British comedy fame; "as weak as water".
You can see this for yourself. Only some months ago, at St Martins Drive outside the Singapore Burmese Embassy, Dr. Chee and several supporters protested, resulting in the police requiring the protesters to attend at police stations for interview. To date, no one has been charged with anything.
Same thing with the protests earlier to the Burmese one, at the Istana; sometime last year. Once again, a great deal of buss with the police doing their broken record routine of repeatedly telling Dr. Chee and party that they have broken the law, and blah blah; asked to attend at police stations for the usual routine of questions, but at the end nothing. In fact I have been told by one among the Dr. Chee company that he has lost track at the number of times the police have threatened to charge him, but apparently they are reluctant to do anything.
And now finally this. On May day, May 1st 2008, next to Toa Payoh Library, no less than 10 people assembled resplendent in their red insignia T shirts brazenly inscribed with the protest words Tak Boleh Tahan, assembled in defiance of this protest law requiring a permit, challenging any policeman there to arrest them on sight. Please see the article in the Singapore Democrat, Follow the Tak Boleh Tahan! event "live" right here . This time, the police were nowhere to be seen. This unjust law has been clearly broken by Dr. Chee and company with impunity.
Same thing once again. On May 3rd, 2008, the World Press Freedom Day, 7 protesters protested outside Singapore Press Holdings at Toa Payoh for an end to press censorship in Singapore, to erase the bad name Singapore has on press freedom, being equated to countries such as North Korea, with even Cuba having a better ranking, by the respected freedom of the press monitor, Reporters Without Borders based in Paris.
Please see the article Activists protest against media control outside SPH of May 3rd 2008 in Singapore Democrat. This time once again, being helpless to do much, the Lee Kuan Yew government have decided to ignore it. Yet again, no arrests this time. Yet you can see, the law has clearly been violated. But Lee can do nothing. He is helpless. Another victory for our freedom fighters.
What I had predicted has come true; no doubt about it. I had repeatedly asked Dr. Chee and company to break these laws to test this governments resolve. Both we and this government knows that these laws have no legal or moral basis whatsoever. The Constitution specifically provides for freedom of speech and assembly. Any law that conflicts with the Constitution without a compelling interest of national dimensions, is illegal and ultra vires. It must be struck off. The government all along have been playing on the ignorance of the people in order to get away with something which is clearly unconstitutional and illegal. The only question was, how long will this government try to hold on to an illegal law in the face of the peoples defiance.
Well you have seen it now. This government has capitulated on this issue. They realise they have no leg to stand on, either in law or morality. So they decide not to enforce it.
Singaporeans should take pride on their success and appreciate Dr. Chee and company for finally achieving this success. We always knew that with persistence, truth will always overcome tyranny.
Those Singaporeans who have been sitting on the fence out of fear of this government, should now take courage. You now have the proof you need. This government can do nothing to harm you. They know that their days of intimidation are gone. So take courage. Join the protests. I believe many more are forthcoming in increasing strength of numbers. This is the way to regain your rights. In the present circumstances in Singapore, waiting for the next elections is not going to do much good. You have to physically take your rights back. And that is exactly what I mean.
I ask the reader especially for this post to distribute it as widely as possible. Ask your friends to contact Dr. Chee or any other SDP Party member as to the coming protests and do what you can to spread the message of democracy. Thanks a lot.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Singapore law states, despite the clear wording of the Constitution, that an assembly of 5 or more people is illegal unless they have the written permission from the government. Dr. Chee and his SDP have over the years deliberately defied this unjust law, by protesting in the prohibited numbers without permits; for which he has been repeatedly imprisoned.
Now finally it seems, the tables have turned. Dr. Chee has won. The government is no longer enforcing this law. For all intents and purposes, it is a dead letter. The PAP government who have all along painted the image of a tough government which brooks no defiance to their laws, is now finally seen, to use Miss Slocum's words of Are You Being Served British comedy fame; "as weak as water".
You can see this for yourself. Only some months ago, at St Martins Drive outside the Singapore Burmese Embassy, Dr. Chee and several supporters protested, resulting in the police requiring the protesters to attend at police stations for interview. To date, no one has been charged with anything.
Same thing with the protests earlier to the Burmese one, at the Istana; sometime last year. Once again, a great deal of buss with the police doing their broken record routine of repeatedly telling Dr. Chee and party that they have broken the law, and blah blah; asked to attend at police stations for the usual routine of questions, but at the end nothing. In fact I have been told by one among the Dr. Chee company that he has lost track at the number of times the police have threatened to charge him, but apparently they are reluctant to do anything.
And now finally this. On May day, May 1st 2008, next to Toa Payoh Library, no less than 10 people assembled resplendent in their red insignia T shirts brazenly inscribed with the protest words Tak Boleh Tahan, assembled in defiance of this protest law requiring a permit, challenging any policeman there to arrest them on sight. Please see the article in the Singapore Democrat, Follow the Tak Boleh Tahan! event "live" right here . This time, the police were nowhere to be seen. This unjust law has been clearly broken by Dr. Chee and company with impunity.
Same thing once again. On May 3rd, 2008, the World Press Freedom Day, 7 protesters protested outside Singapore Press Holdings at Toa Payoh for an end to press censorship in Singapore, to erase the bad name Singapore has on press freedom, being equated to countries such as North Korea, with even Cuba having a better ranking, by the respected freedom of the press monitor, Reporters Without Borders based in Paris.
Please see the article Activists protest against media control outside SPH of May 3rd 2008 in Singapore Democrat. This time once again, being helpless to do much, the Lee Kuan Yew government have decided to ignore it. Yet again, no arrests this time. Yet you can see, the law has clearly been violated. But Lee can do nothing. He is helpless. Another victory for our freedom fighters.
What I had predicted has come true; no doubt about it. I had repeatedly asked Dr. Chee and company to break these laws to test this governments resolve. Both we and this government knows that these laws have no legal or moral basis whatsoever. The Constitution specifically provides for freedom of speech and assembly. Any law that conflicts with the Constitution without a compelling interest of national dimensions, is illegal and ultra vires. It must be struck off. The government all along have been playing on the ignorance of the people in order to get away with something which is clearly unconstitutional and illegal. The only question was, how long will this government try to hold on to an illegal law in the face of the peoples defiance.
Well you have seen it now. This government has capitulated on this issue. They realise they have no leg to stand on, either in law or morality. So they decide not to enforce it.
Singaporeans should take pride on their success and appreciate Dr. Chee and company for finally achieving this success. We always knew that with persistence, truth will always overcome tyranny.
Those Singaporeans who have been sitting on the fence out of fear of this government, should now take courage. You now have the proof you need. This government can do nothing to harm you. They know that their days of intimidation are gone. So take courage. Join the protests. I believe many more are forthcoming in increasing strength of numbers. This is the way to regain your rights. In the present circumstances in Singapore, waiting for the next elections is not going to do much good. You have to physically take your rights back. And that is exactly what I mean.
I ask the reader especially for this post to distribute it as widely as possible. Ask your friends to contact Dr. Chee or any other SDP Party member as to the coming protests and do what you can to spread the message of democracy. Thanks a lot.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Friday, May 2, 2008
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew: "If you don't fear me, I am nothing"
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Among the other out of this world, bizarre, mind boggling remarks that this man Lee Kuan Yew, has made, the one that beats them all is "If you don't fear me, I am nothing", which appears in his book Third World to First. I suppose it is a quotation from Machiavelli, a book that he appears to have read. One begins to wonder whether it is the only book that he is familiar with since he refers to none other.
Firstly he has got the definition wrong. Singapore, a country which hangs 20 year old petty drug mules, and whips criminals at their behind until it turns into a mesh of blood and flesh, a place which imprisons citizens for peaceful public assembly, while permitting the Burmese to assemble publicly in Singapore in any numbers and where kangaroo courts are used to abuse the law to stifle political dissent is not a first world country by any standards. If he has any doubt about what I said, he should consult the international human rights monitor Freedom House which places Singapore at the same ranking as Zimbabwe!
By now, if anyone has been following what nonsense this man has been saying for the past 2 decades, including this nonsense about people having to fear him, which is only one of a series of silly remarks which he appears determined to utter; one thing must be quite clear. This man, with his son is ruining the country so fast that very soon, there will be no one left in Singapore except for Lee and his immediate family and uneducated office boys. Everyone with any ability to think, some pride and self respect, would have left the country to settle elsewhere for no other reason than their just refusing to take any more insults from him.
If Singapore is trying to become international, like London New York and San Francisco, then it needs people of the level of education and intelligence as expected in such great cities. In other words capable people who would be offended if told that they are required to fear Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, if they wish to live in Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew, it appears, is still laboring under the impression that everyone in Singapore fears him. Unfortunately for him, this is not true. Many in Singapore may sympathise with him, as an old man suffering from dementia or some other incurable mental illness. Megalomania may be a correct diagnosis. True, there may be those at the lower rungs of society who may really fear him through ignorance, but the educated and discerning who still remain in Singapore, I doubt have any fear.
In any case, most of them have left the country by now and are living in countries such as Australia; from which vantage, I suppose they enjoy a good laugh once in a while, at this silly old man with his stupid remarks, and his country made up of its inhabitants which he calls "digits".
The state controlled media in Singapore reports almost daily that Singapore is trying to be an education hub, a bio tech hub, a transport hub, and not to mention various other hubs of excellence. Unfortunately to date none of these hubs have ever materialized.
The reason should be quite obvious. A banking hub requires highly educated people. And such people are not going to take it kindly if Lee insults their intelligence. Now if you order a highly skilled world traveled international banker to fear you, he is probably going to react in a way that you probably would not like. He may tell you to fly a kite, regardless of whether your name is Lee Kuan Yew or Adolf Hitler. You see, this sort of arrogance is not going to go down well with educated people who do not see the need to prostrate at his feet.
What is even more annoying is this. Lee controls the press, turns the judiciary into a tool for destroying political dissent, imprisons its citizens when they exercise their rights under the constitution, appoints a Tamil boy as the Minister for Law just because he is a willing stooge; and yet after doing all this, he publicly claims that there is no corruption in Singapore and the Singapore legal system is the best in the world and so is the Singapore press even though it is ranked below North Korea!
When a man deliberately, brazenly and unashamedly tells blatant lies which is publicised through a state controlled newspaper, he loses all respect and his country loses it too.
Just as the Soviet newspapers which sang praises for the Communist government until its very last day before it finally fell, the Singapore government continues with these lies unashamedly.
Since Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has completely lost sight of reality, I suppose there is no point in anyone telling him that he is ruining the country. As a result of this stupidity that goes on in that island, educated people who are needed to turn it into Lee's international city are naturally leaving the place. They don't see it becoming any sort of hub that Lee wants. Highly capable individuals would not be prepared to live and work in a dictatorship. The people who stay behind are the ones who are totally incapable of advancing the country. They can only take orders from above, the type which is not the building block of an international city.
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has to be told to shut up. He is making a fool of himself, let alone ruining the country.
Second, no one with any self respect will fear this man either within or without Singapore. Since this much has been established, someone should tell him that by his own definition, he is in fact, regrettably "nothing".
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Among the other out of this world, bizarre, mind boggling remarks that this man Lee Kuan Yew, has made, the one that beats them all is "If you don't fear me, I am nothing", which appears in his book Third World to First. I suppose it is a quotation from Machiavelli, a book that he appears to have read. One begins to wonder whether it is the only book that he is familiar with since he refers to none other.
Firstly he has got the definition wrong. Singapore, a country which hangs 20 year old petty drug mules, and whips criminals at their behind until it turns into a mesh of blood and flesh, a place which imprisons citizens for peaceful public assembly, while permitting the Burmese to assemble publicly in Singapore in any numbers and where kangaroo courts are used to abuse the law to stifle political dissent is not a first world country by any standards. If he has any doubt about what I said, he should consult the international human rights monitor Freedom House which places Singapore at the same ranking as Zimbabwe!
By now, if anyone has been following what nonsense this man has been saying for the past 2 decades, including this nonsense about people having to fear him, which is only one of a series of silly remarks which he appears determined to utter; one thing must be quite clear. This man, with his son is ruining the country so fast that very soon, there will be no one left in Singapore except for Lee and his immediate family and uneducated office boys. Everyone with any ability to think, some pride and self respect, would have left the country to settle elsewhere for no other reason than their just refusing to take any more insults from him.
If Singapore is trying to become international, like London New York and San Francisco, then it needs people of the level of education and intelligence as expected in such great cities. In other words capable people who would be offended if told that they are required to fear Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, if they wish to live in Singapore.
Lee Kuan Yew, it appears, is still laboring under the impression that everyone in Singapore fears him. Unfortunately for him, this is not true. Many in Singapore may sympathise with him, as an old man suffering from dementia or some other incurable mental illness. Megalomania may be a correct diagnosis. True, there may be those at the lower rungs of society who may really fear him through ignorance, but the educated and discerning who still remain in Singapore, I doubt have any fear.
In any case, most of them have left the country by now and are living in countries such as Australia; from which vantage, I suppose they enjoy a good laugh once in a while, at this silly old man with his stupid remarks, and his country made up of its inhabitants which he calls "digits".
The state controlled media in Singapore reports almost daily that Singapore is trying to be an education hub, a bio tech hub, a transport hub, and not to mention various other hubs of excellence. Unfortunately to date none of these hubs have ever materialized.
The reason should be quite obvious. A banking hub requires highly educated people. And such people are not going to take it kindly if Lee insults their intelligence. Now if you order a highly skilled world traveled international banker to fear you, he is probably going to react in a way that you probably would not like. He may tell you to fly a kite, regardless of whether your name is Lee Kuan Yew or Adolf Hitler. You see, this sort of arrogance is not going to go down well with educated people who do not see the need to prostrate at his feet.
What is even more annoying is this. Lee controls the press, turns the judiciary into a tool for destroying political dissent, imprisons its citizens when they exercise their rights under the constitution, appoints a Tamil boy as the Minister for Law just because he is a willing stooge; and yet after doing all this, he publicly claims that there is no corruption in Singapore and the Singapore legal system is the best in the world and so is the Singapore press even though it is ranked below North Korea!
When a man deliberately, brazenly and unashamedly tells blatant lies which is publicised through a state controlled newspaper, he loses all respect and his country loses it too.
Just as the Soviet newspapers which sang praises for the Communist government until its very last day before it finally fell, the Singapore government continues with these lies unashamedly.
Since Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has completely lost sight of reality, I suppose there is no point in anyone telling him that he is ruining the country. As a result of this stupidity that goes on in that island, educated people who are needed to turn it into Lee's international city are naturally leaving the place. They don't see it becoming any sort of hub that Lee wants. Highly capable individuals would not be prepared to live and work in a dictatorship. The people who stay behind are the ones who are totally incapable of advancing the country. They can only take orders from above, the type which is not the building block of an international city.
Mr. Lee Kuan Yew has to be told to shut up. He is making a fool of himself, let alone ruining the country.
Second, no one with any self respect will fear this man either within or without Singapore. Since this much has been established, someone should tell him that by his own definition, he is in fact, regrettably "nothing".
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Letter from Singapore National Serviceman Lee Yu Ming, May 1st, 2008
Reference my blog post of April 29, 2008, Singapore. Children growing in blinkers
Dear Mr Nair,
My name is Lee Yu Ming and I am from Singapore. I am currently serving my National Service but I cannot help but be apprehensive of every single moment of it. As it is most of our society has been packing up and leaving this country. In response, our government has been attracting more "foreign talents" to soujourn at our home. I cannot help but feel that I am but protecting these foreigners, and at a very underpaid rate. In other words I feel like a Gurhka. While it is perfectly possible for me to leave this place for western democracies and a system where my future children will not be oppressed and coerced as I have been for the past 18 years of my life, I find that it is our moral obligation to stay and try to change things. If we continue to allow this kind of treatment to go on, it will only slowly creep up and disintegrate us, even if it does not seem to affect us very much now.
For example, I am from a well to do family. While CPF regulations, increases in GST and inflation does not affect us in the way that it causes an uproar, I believe that it has caused catastrophic effects on the less fortunate people. These people usually are caught up with earning money that they do not really see the big picture, and are usually silenced by the little packages that the government serves out. This disease of political apathy is rampant in our society, and we really need people like you to return to change this place. It is important for people like you, who know their rights, to come back and not leave. For if there are no one to speak up for the people, and lead our people, we will simply degenerate as a society, which will then become stifling for all classes of society.
But herein lies the dilemma; do we impose our views on a liberal society upon our people? As it is they do seem pretty satisfied with their subservient lives. By pushing for change, reform and revolution, are we not creating a chaos that may in fact be detrimental to our people? I am in a sense confused. I believe this is what many people face, and they choose to leave this society as they believe it is not their business to fight an obviously losing battle against this government. How can we keep these talents? How can we spark the passion for liberty in those who still remain? I believe these are the questions that we all need to address in order to change this place to be a truly free place.
Thank you.
Dear Yu Ming Lee,
Your observations are correct. Talented Singaporeans are leaving in droves only to be replaced by foreigners not even half as talented. I respect you for your desire to stay behind and change things. Your observations on the less well off being disadvantaged due to inflation are also true.
If it is possible for Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong, Tan Wah Piow, Edgar De Souza, Peter Lim, and many others to return, yes it would be marvellous. But I do not believe that Lee Kuan Yew has such a plan at present.
You do not have to spark any passion in anyone at all. Neither do you have to create anarchy and revolution. It is much more simple than that. All you have to do is to act according to what is just. So if you think free press is good, then say it publicly. If you think racial discrimination is wrong, then say it publicly. If you think freedom of assembly is a good thing, then say it. If people agree with you, they will join you. If not, they wont.
But what is wrong is for you to do nothing when you know of injustice.
So you see, it is simpler than you think. There is not going to be the Russian revolution afterall.
Since your views conform to that of the Singapore Democratic Party, you can put your actions where your mouth is, pick up the telephone and speak to Dr. Chee or Gandhi Ambalam or any other party member, tell them you are interested in fighting for justice, and join the team.
It is not as difficult as you think. You are, in Singpaore terms undoubtedly a brave man. Any other Singaporean national servicemen will shiver in his pants to write to me on your views. I salute your courage. Of course in the west, doing what you did would be no big thing. But in Singapore where people are careful even to breathe, you are indeed a brave man.
Gopalan Nair
Fremont, California
May 1st, 2008
Dear Mr Nair,
My name is Lee Yu Ming and I am from Singapore. I am currently serving my National Service but I cannot help but be apprehensive of every single moment of it. As it is most of our society has been packing up and leaving this country. In response, our government has been attracting more "foreign talents" to soujourn at our home. I cannot help but feel that I am but protecting these foreigners, and at a very underpaid rate. In other words I feel like a Gurhka. While it is perfectly possible for me to leave this place for western democracies and a system where my future children will not be oppressed and coerced as I have been for the past 18 years of my life, I find that it is our moral obligation to stay and try to change things. If we continue to allow this kind of treatment to go on, it will only slowly creep up and disintegrate us, even if it does not seem to affect us very much now.
For example, I am from a well to do family. While CPF regulations, increases in GST and inflation does not affect us in the way that it causes an uproar, I believe that it has caused catastrophic effects on the less fortunate people. These people usually are caught up with earning money that they do not really see the big picture, and are usually silenced by the little packages that the government serves out. This disease of political apathy is rampant in our society, and we really need people like you to return to change this place. It is important for people like you, who know their rights, to come back and not leave. For if there are no one to speak up for the people, and lead our people, we will simply degenerate as a society, which will then become stifling for all classes of society.
But herein lies the dilemma; do we impose our views on a liberal society upon our people? As it is they do seem pretty satisfied with their subservient lives. By pushing for change, reform and revolution, are we not creating a chaos that may in fact be detrimental to our people? I am in a sense confused. I believe this is what many people face, and they choose to leave this society as they believe it is not their business to fight an obviously losing battle against this government. How can we keep these talents? How can we spark the passion for liberty in those who still remain? I believe these are the questions that we all need to address in order to change this place to be a truly free place.
Thank you.
Dear Yu Ming Lee,
Your observations are correct. Talented Singaporeans are leaving in droves only to be replaced by foreigners not even half as talented. I respect you for your desire to stay behind and change things. Your observations on the less well off being disadvantaged due to inflation are also true.
If it is possible for Francis Seow, Tang Liang Hong, Tan Wah Piow, Edgar De Souza, Peter Lim, and many others to return, yes it would be marvellous. But I do not believe that Lee Kuan Yew has such a plan at present.
You do not have to spark any passion in anyone at all. Neither do you have to create anarchy and revolution. It is much more simple than that. All you have to do is to act according to what is just. So if you think free press is good, then say it publicly. If you think racial discrimination is wrong, then say it publicly. If you think freedom of assembly is a good thing, then say it. If people agree with you, they will join you. If not, they wont.
But what is wrong is for you to do nothing when you know of injustice.
So you see, it is simpler than you think. There is not going to be the Russian revolution afterall.
Since your views conform to that of the Singapore Democratic Party, you can put your actions where your mouth is, pick up the telephone and speak to Dr. Chee or Gandhi Ambalam or any other party member, tell them you are interested in fighting for justice, and join the team.
It is not as difficult as you think. You are, in Singpaore terms undoubtedly a brave man. Any other Singaporean national servicemen will shiver in his pants to write to me on your views. I salute your courage. Of course in the west, doing what you did would be no big thing. But in Singapore where people are careful even to breathe, you are indeed a brave man.
Gopalan Nair
Fremont, California
May 1st, 2008
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