Singapore. "Dictators are rulers who always look good until the last 10 minutes" Jan Masaryk

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was checking on the famous quotation by former Czechoslovakia Foreign Minister Jan Masaryk " Dictators are rulers who always look good until the last 10 minutes". And how right he is. He must have had a prescience of Singapore when he made the quote in 1940s Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Singapore, just like the countries under the former Iron Curtain have one essential tool to keep looking good. Yes, the state controlled newspapers.

And today the Singapore press just as the state controlled newspapers of former Roumania, Russia, and East Germany churns out the daily dose of good news without fail. We are good. We are fine. Business is up. Profits are up. People are happier. They have more shoes and ad nauseam.

But is it really? Or is it the end?

I was there in Singapore under my forced confinement in the city state of Singapore for 6 months for criticizing a now internationally notorious Singapore judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean. And this is what I see.

The people have been effectively silenced. They are unhappy being literally slaves in the island with no political rights at all.

As a result they are ashamed of themselves. They lament their inability to live as the free men and women of the west. They admire the Americans, the Australians, the West. They admire the spontaneity of an Australian. They admire the courage they have to speak freely. They cannot speak freely fearing arrest. They cannot complain fearing arrest. They cannot protest fearing arrest. They cannot challenge government decisions fearing arrest. They are consumed daily in fear. Fear of what might befall them if they were out of line.

As a result many educated Singaporeans leave the island permanently. Those remaining in Singapore are guilt ridden in government jobs for having to do Lee Kuan Yew's dirty work such as arresting and imprisoning government critics.

Singapore's judges are guilt ridden for having to send innocent Singaporeans to jail like myself and Dr. Chee Soon Juan to please their strongman Lee Kuan Yew.

Many follow their conscience and resign from government jobs. The government finds it hard to recruit young graduates to serve in government as it is seen as a dirty job to punish their innocent fellow Singaporeans for incorrect political thoughts.

Let me give you an example. The rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police is senior, equivalent to that of a Captain or Major in the Army or Squadron Leader in the Air Force. Yet it appeared comical that Abdul Razak bin Zakaria, a Malay Singaporean holding this rank, who had arrested me, did not appear to know the expression "going through it with a fine tooth comb" when he was being cross examined by me in the High Court! He asked the judge what a comb had to do with the charge against me of insulting Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean! A very simple commonly used English expression!

Second. During my trial in Singapore for allegedly yelling at Singapore police officers, a senior inspector of police did not appear to understand what I meant when I said "it is a figment of your imagination". He asked the judge what a "figment" was!

A senior police photographer giving evidence at this trial did not know what a "junction" was! He knew almost no English!

What this means is this. The Singapore Police Force is simply finding it difficult to attract qualified recruits. Singaporeans know the extent of dirty work they have to do by arresting innocent people to please Lee Kuan Yew. So they refuse to join the police force which is now thoroughly discredited and lost all respect.

To retain the numbers, the government had tried to get Malaysian Chinese to join it, but this supply too is running out, since they too now realize how dishonest the Singapore Police Force has become.

Since English language is unfortunately required for a Singapore policeman, it is not possible to teach a few words of English to a Chinese immigrant from mainland China and make him a Superintendent of Police the next day.

So, with no other option left, they are merely giving jobs to thoroughly unqualified men such as this Malay officer Abdul Razak bin Zakaria. He did not appear to understand basic English, the fundamentals of policing or the laws or the Constitution of Singapore. All he knew was to go out and arrest anyone he was ordered to, take their confessions and send them to jail. It is to him, no more than a mechanical exercise.

The fact today, which the state controlled newspapers will not tell you is this. There are no qualified new entrants for the government service. Those in it are leaving as fast as they can. The only way this government continues is through injecting more and more unskilled foreigners who hardly know any English and local Singaporeans who are thoroughly unqualified.

There are of course the likes of Singapore's Law Minister K Shanmugam who stays, but he does it only for money. He will say anything that pleases his master Lee Kuan Yew as long as that means he continues to collect his millions. Just as Belinda Ang Saw Ean, the judge, who will tailor the law skillfully to the desires of her same master Lee Kuan Yew.

At present, just as Jan Masarky said, it looks good. And it will look good till the last 10 minutes. And then it will be the end.

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/

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