Is Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew telling us that he vets permanent residents good enough.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Nov 9, 2009 carries the story, "PRs vetted carefully. Contributions are key, he says, in response to fears over immigration".

The all powerful Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew took the trouble to send this message to his “digits”, at a Tanjong Pagar GRC event on Sunday night. He was trying to assuage the concern of many Singaporeans of the indiscriminate flood of foreigners being given permanent residence, some even within a week of arrival and immediately thereafter citizenship. The numbers have increased to such alarming levels in the tiny island of only 3.5 million native Singaporeans(with foreigners 5 millions) that today one in three people in the tiny island is a foreigner and if this dangerous trend continues, half or the majority of citizens of Singapore will be recent arrivals.

But Lee Kuan Yew's simple dismissive answer to this growing fear is that there is nothing to worry about. He says he has the situation well under control, whatever that means. Permanent residents he says are well vetted by them (meaning Lee Kuan Yew's employees) and only those who have contributed to Singapore will be allowed citizenship. In other words, what he is saying is simply this. Leave it to me, and I will take care of it.

But my dear tyrant, Lee Kuan Yew, are you not being too presumptive? Too self assuring? Too arrogant? Is it simply enough for you to say this, for the people to simply accept? Is Singapore a country of laws, and if so, is it not your responsibility to make it known what these contributions are meant to be? Are you not required to tell all foreigners the criteria to become permanent residents and thereafter the criteria for citizenship? Should there not be laws and regulations listing exactly what they are? And should you not make it known? Or is what you say, simply enough?

I would tell Lee Kuan Yew that it is not enough merely for him to say this. He should lay it out what exactly they are, so that every aspiring foreigner can know before hand the criteria for selection for permanent residence and citizenship. You have none of these things. No one knows, except for your assurance that you will vet them. Vet them on what basis, you do not say. What exactly are the criteria, you do not say.

We all know this is a whole load of bull. Looking at the standard of the foreigners who have received permanent residence, it is impossible to say why some get it and some don't. Why some get it, in a week since arrival and why some never get it even after years. Why ignorant Chinese nationals not knowing a word of English get it in double time, while non Chinese Indonesians never get it. Why no Malay from Malaysia gets it, when Chinese Malaysians get it in a week. Why there are no one from Pakistan, none from Afghanistan, why none from Iran. Why is the immigration selective? Why are there Burmese but very few Sri Lankans? Or have you prejudged all Afghanis to be trouble makers? Similarly for Iranians? Pakistanis? Perhaps they will not be as docile as you would want?

You do not have any Europeans, Australians or new Zealanders or British. Maybe a handful who have married Singapore Chinese women because they are more submissive than their European counterparts. And the reason simply is this. Singapore is not a place to live for a people who have a choice. Educated smart people can live in their own countries or go to the United States, which is a democracy and where they don’t have to live in fear of an octogenarian strutting around with a whip, keeping everyone in line.

The sort of immigrants you get is second rate, just like the government you have; the uneducated Chinese peasants, the same sort from India and Burma and the Malaysian Chinese who feel discriminated by the Malays in their country, who now have a chance to discriminate the Malays in Singapore. Every single immigrant who chooses to live in Singapore are all from poverty stricken neighboring countries who yearn for a chance to live anywhere else other than their own. They lack real skills and they really will not be accepted anywhere else other than Singapore.

No one knows what really goes on in the selection of PRs and citizens; except for Lee Kuan Yew’s word, that they are all well vetted!

Malays from Indonesia and Malaysia, no matter what their qualifications are not accepted because Lee wants to keep their numbers down. In keeping with his plan of having Singapore population predominantly Chinese, (which by the way is clearly unconstitutional) even totally illiterate Chinese peasants are given fast track path to PR status and citizenship.

This is racial discrimination against non Chinese. This is not fair. This is not transparent. This is not the rule of law. This is arbitrary rule according to Lee Kuan Yew's fancy. First world, it is not.

But in the end, Lee Kuan Yew is merely scraping the barrel with this sort. Unless he introduces real democracy, the really capable would never want to come and live there. Singapore will always be known as a country that brutally beats convicted criminals, hangs petty drug mules, criminalizes chewing gum, uses the law to silence dissent and denies basic human rights to their citizens. Simply not a country that a capable citizen of the world would want to come to.

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.