Singapore. Straits Times article on the Sikhs

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore was this year declared 140th down the list for lack of journalistic freedom by a respected French organization monitoring countries around the world. It was one point better than the North Korean press. This discredited media in their Straits Times of Dec 30, 2006 wants us to believe that there is indeed a Sikh community and they have done very well. Both these statements are patently false. But after all what can you expect from the Straits Times!

Indians mainly from South India emigrated to Singapore. Among them there was a sizable number of Sikhs from the Punjab. I said "there was". The truth is, this sizable community has shrunk to negligible figures. As we speak, the few remaining Sikhs are filling up applications to emigrate to Australia, New Zealand and Canada. Of those who remain for reasons which I will come to, their children live overseas in the United States and Canada. They don't plan to return to Singapore. Very soon there will be handful left, perhaps the likes of a Sikh lawyer who Lee Kuan Yew uses for defamation cases against his opponents, a despicable way to make a living. One thing is certain. There will not be left in Singapore any self-respecting Sikh. The remaining ones will be crawlers, sycophants and trumpeters, used by Lee to trumpet his glories.

The propaganda piece aforementioned that there are 13,000 Sikhs in Singapore is probably a lie, which shameful practice the Straits Times engages in daily. And if true, this is a small number of the much greater numbers that were in Singapore. One thing is certain, even this small remaining number is dwindling on a daily basis.

The Sikhs are aware of the dictatorship they live under Lee Kuan Yew and his son. They are aware of the people having to live in subjugation, not able to speak for fear of libel actions. No free press. No right to speak publicly without a permit (reference Dr. Chee), no right to assemble without a permit, no right to do almost anything in Singapore without Lee Kuan Yew's permission. These Sikhs come from the Punjab where men speak their mind. There is no need there to get the written permission of the Chief Minister of the Punjab before they can assemble and speak in Chandigarh square. They are accustomed to live as free men. They do not like having to kowtow to Lee. Their community is far too small to make any big difference. They realize this. So they emigrate. There are about 3 million emigrants in England. The vast number being Sikh. Toronto and Vancouver have large Sikh populations. And now in Australia and New Zealand. Almost all the Sikhs in Singapore have family and friends in the West. They are aware of the freedoms of the West, and the shameful life they have to lead in Singapore as Lee's "digits ". So they leave if they can. And in little while there will only be the "yes-men" like Lee Kuan Yew's personal Sikh lawyer who does his dirty work. Self respecting Sikhs will be elsewhere.

This shameful Singapore propaganda says that the "Sikhs have made it in Singapore". Well it depends on what you mean by "making it". There are still some doctors, lawyers and army officers. But all these have hardly "made it". These are all middle echelon officers, who daily have to switch off their minds to the injustices around them, to earn what wages they get. Sikh judges are required to distort the law at Lee's pleasure. A Sikh civil servant at the Official Assignee's office oversees the bankruptcy of Dr. Chee at Lee's behest. Despicable work. The Sikh head Indian Interpreter at the Subordinate Court told me that he does not have time to find out what had happened in Dr. Chee's recent case, since he was very busy with his work. When I told him that he should as a citizen, be interested in the law being abused to harass political activists, he terminated the telephone conversation. Like this Sikh interpreter, Sikhs have to live a life deliberately forgetting their civic responsibility and self respect. In other words all these so called Sikhs who have achieved "success" live as slaves, unquestioning robots who just do as they are told. I would hardly have called such lives as having "made it".

Sikhs if they truly care for Singapore would have protested against the unjust laws and the helplessness of the people. True Sikhs would have done it. What is left in Singapore are mere opportunists, who are there for the ride. Anyone with a conscience would have either stood up to the truth, or packed and left.

Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
EMail: gopalnair@us-immigrationlaw.com