Singapore's Political Judges

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The Singapore state owned and controlled newspapers report that Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic Party, an opposition political party and Mr. Yap Keng Ho, an opposition political activist are being tried in Court No. 7, Subordinate Courts Singapore.

This is the second of a series of 8 related charges against them, on having violated an inappropriately worded legislation, Public Entertainments Act, which requires a permit for anyone who wishes to speak in public in Singapore. The charges relate to Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap asking passers by in Woodlands MRT to buy a copy of the newspaper “The Singapore Democrat” which is the official newspaper of Dr. Chee's political party.

The Judge is Jusvender Kaur.

But even though the Singapore state owned and controlled newspapers say this, what is happening in Court No. 7 is not a trial at all. It is a complete farce, a mockery of justice, a theatrical performance. Court No. 7 is actually a classroom. A classroom in which the teacher, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew is teaching Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap a lesson.

That lesson is that Singaporeans should not ever criticize him or his government. And since these 2 individuals had the temerity and gall to do it, they must be punished. And they will be punished. And the punishment will be meted out by his agent, Judge Jusvender Kaur who is presiding in Court No. 7, who has been commissioned to carry out the dirty work.

And Mr. Lee Kuan Yew wants this lesson to be learnt not only by these 2 individuals who were, in his opinion, stupid enough to challenge him; but by all of Singapore. The moral of the drama which will conclude soon with both Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap going to jail, is for all Singaporeans to fully understand that if any of you are so silly as to go about criticizing Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, he will release his attack dog, Judge Jusvender Kaur upon you. So beware.

I am going to tell you this. Judge Jusvender Kaur has already made up her mind to convict these 2 men even before she had ever stepped into the courtroom the first day. It does not matter what the evidence is, these 2 men will be convicted anyway. They are the 2 sacrificial lambs going to the slaughter because they have offended Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

Judge Jusvender Kaur in this perversion is not a judge at all. She has now adopted the role of a PAP politician. And as an enforcer for Lee Kuan Yew, it is her duty to polish off these 2 men because that is what Mr. Lee Kuan Yew wants. She will do anything that he wants, since the whole exercise here is not to seek justice. It is political work. The purpose is to demolish Lee's political opponents.

This is what is happening in the courts of Lee Kuan Yew's self proclaimed first world country.

I had earlier written a post on the movie Judgment at Nuremburg about Nazi judges being tried at the Nuremburg war crimes trials in 1948 after the war. Please refer to the post: Judgement at Nuremburg and the trials in Singapore Courts. The reader will see the similarities. As in the Feldenstein case in Judgment at Nuremburg, it really did not matter whether the old Jew had defiled the 16 year old German girl. No, that did not matter at all. What mattered was that Feldenstien must be punished not for anything he did but simply because he was a Jew.

Just as in Dr. Chee's case, it does not matter if in fact the evidence was in his favor. No, that does not form part of the equation at all. What matters is that Dr. Chee was bold enough to publicly criticize none other that Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. That alone, in Singapore of today, demands punishment. And Jusvender Kaur has been commissioned to carry that out.

I am of course speaking as if the trial is over and the Judge had delivered her verdict, even though the trial is still going on. But you see, in the entire history of Singapore, there has not even been one case where the government has proceeded against a political opponent and lost. Therefore I am prepared to bet a million to one that both Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap will be convicted of the crime; as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow. Similarly for Feldenstein before the Nazi judges, the Messiah would himself have to come from Heaven to save Feldentstein from the gallows.

But if Jusvender Kaur had been a real judge, you can see there are several reasons why the charge should be thrown out.

First look at the title of the Statute! Public Entertainments Act! Anyone can see that it was never the intention of Dr. Chee and his colleague to provide entertainment to anyone. This was serious business. They were selling their newspaper which contained important news that Singaporeans would want to know. A real judge can say that as it was not "entertainment", and since the statute was about entertainers and since neither was one, the defendants should be released.

Second, the Judge should say that since Lee Kuan Yew claims that Singapore is a first world country and even a wrote a book about it; first world countries all allow their people freedom of speech, and therefore, since prosecuting these 2 men goes against the very definition of the country being “first world”, they should be acquitted.

Third, since the Constitution is the supreme law of the land, and since it permits freedom of speech, these prosecutions are without basis.

Four, since the Public Entertainments Act requiring permits for public speaking is a direct violation of the Constitutional provision of the right to free speech; the Act itself is illegal and should be struck.

Five, what the men did, did not amount to making speeches at all. They were selling their newspaper. Look at the dictionary for the meaning of “speech”.

Six, since throughout the entire history of Singapore, the police have never even once given the opposition any permits to do anything in public, the defendants are absolved from requiring permits. This law is a political law to demolish opponents.

Seven, the equal protection clause in the constitution is violated. If the fishmonger can ask passers by to buy his fish, Dr. Chee should be able to ask passers by to purchase his newspaper, keeping in mind that the fishmonger had not written to Central Police Station for a permit, before he committed his act.

But of course, this line of reasoning would only be in the mind of a real judge. Jusvender Kaur as you know is not now in that role. Her job is to finish off both these men and send the correct signals to all Singaporeans in the island. Behave yourself, or else.

But is Dr. Chee, after all, learning any lesson from all this? Has Mr. Yap learned anything? It appears entirely the contrary. It appears that Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap are determined not to learn anything from their teacher Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Instead they have both told me personally that they will criticize this Lee Kuan Yew as many times and as and when they like, if criticism is warranted. This is where the problem for Lee Kuan Yew lies.

Lee Kuan Yew has himself admitted in his Machiavellian way that unless his subjects fear him, he is nothing. This is the problem. These 2 men are not prepared to be afraid of him. So in the end, Lee Kuan Yew's actions become counterproductive. I write this blog in criticism of him. Others the world over read it. Others become emboldened. There begins to sprout more and more Dr. Chee Soon Juans and Mr. Yaps. Others begin to see the injustice in this case. They see the injustices of Lee Kuan Yew. As a result in disgust Singaporeans emigrate. European countries begin to shun Singapore as a dictatorship which they can easily avoid. Foreign businesses begin to leave.

On the whole, Lee Kuan Yew should understand that it is not in his interest to prosecute these 2 men, since in the end, justice always triumphs and justice is on the side of Dr. Chee and Mr. Yap.

And so is common sense.

Gopalan Nair 39737
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Email: gopalnair@us-immigrationlaw.com