Ladies and Gentlemen,
Of course I wish Kenneth Jeyaretnam every success for his Reform Party, the successor to JB Jeyaretnam's Workers Party of which I was part of for nearly a decade in Singapore, in 1980s. Every single person wishing for freedom in Singapore would wish Kenneth Jeyaretnam well.
It bode well for the future of democracy of Singapore to see him come out as another voice for freedom some months ago.
But my question is this. What is his plan? And does he have one?
So far we have heard speeches by him which have all been reported with the invariable description of "Cambridge educated economist and son of former opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam". Of course it is an advantage for one to be "Cambridge educated" and the "son of former opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam" but is that alone enough?
I fear simply making speeches and writing excellent learned treatise on Singapore's economics simply will not do for political leadership in Singapore. No, sadly, that alone is not enough.
I had worked with his late father for nearly a decade where he did just that, making speeches and contesting parliamentary elections. Of course the late JB Jeyaretnam meant well. Of course I went around selling the Hammer, the WP newspaper with him in public every Sunday and did everything else that one would have normally done in any other normal country. But in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, which by the way is not a normal democracy, all that simply did not work, and if that is as much what Kenneth Jeyaretnam plans to do for the reminder of his political career, then he too is, sadly, is not going any places either.
Unless he is willing to level the playing field by public protests, peaceful assembly, publicly proclaiming and demanding justice and provoking this Fascist regime to see the light, speeches and writings however intelligent, even coming from a "Cambridge educated economist" still will not do.
The only way to make Lee Kuan Yew see the light is to literally exercise your rights under the Constitution by demanding free speech and expression and assembly and taking the bull by the horns; in the streets of Singapore; real physical action, not just speeches and not pretending as if the Constitution did not exist.
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.
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13 comments:
Why don't you take some real 'physical' action and fly to Singapore.
Do the test - will they let you into the country or stop you boarding the plane at SFO. Will they jail you when you land?
Are you not curious to find out? We are.
To Anonymous of Feb 15, 0320,
Thank you for your suggestion but unfortunately it is not possible. When I left Singapore after spending 2 months in jail there in Nov 2008, I was issued with an order that I was unlawfully present in Singapore. This means I am not lawfully allowed to enter the island without express permission from Singapore Immigration.
For your information they are refusing to allow me even to enter Singapore even to defend myself in the law disciplinary proceedings agaisnt me in Singapore in May this year.
As for Singapore they would not only stop me from entering Singapore, I would very probably be arrested in Changi airport and jailed up to 2 years.
Singapore of course has no control over my boarding the aircraft at San Francisco.
As for curiousity, I am of course not willing to risk 2 years of jail in Lee's Singapore to satisfy it.
Therefore doing the "test", as you suggest is not possible.
Moreover I am much more effective in influencing Singapore politics from here than from within Singapore. I am sure you realize that even if I wrote even half of what I write now from within the island, I would be spending more time within jail than without. And since I have no means of income, no place to stay there, your suggestion is not only too risky, it is impossible.
This blog is doing tremendous damage to the Lee regime in Singapore. That is my intention. I intend to carry out further anti Lee/ PAP activities from here. As a result of the Internet providers being outside Signapore, in this case, Google, Lee is not only unwilling but also incapable of shutting down this blog, like what Communist China does.
The damage being done to them is of course greatest when Singporeans read it, such as yourself now.
This is a great weapon I have against this tyranny and I intend to use it to the fullest. i can only do it from here, not from within Singapore.
Thanks
To Anonymous of Feb 15, 0320,
Oh I forget. I am sure you know that I am no longer a Singapore citizen. I am an American citizen.
Thanks
To Anonymous of Feb 15, 0320,
Oh, one more thing. You are aware of course that since returning to the US after my imprisonment there for criticizing Lee's judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, I have criticized various others of his judges, even his Chief Justice for bias, all justifiably and with cause, and reneged on my promise not to criticize them anymore in return for not being imprisoned there even further by the despot. I has also withdrawn my apology given to Lee's judge Leslie Chew which was made in open court there. That is a contempt of his court, not to mention the various "crimes" that I had committed by my criticism from the US.
I will surely be sent to prison for a long time by Lee in his island for this. Surely, you can simply cannot go back there.
Just curious about what Anon wrote.
If Anon is one of those curious sIngaporeans, I wonder if he has the guts to stand up to THE SUPREME MASTERS controlling Singapore and its people, and not ask an American or an Aussie to do the job for him.
I am quite interested to see how Singaporeans will vote the next election. I read POSB savings rate is .25% and inflation is more than 5%. Does The Supreme Masters ever explain what is going on financially in Singapore?
Kenneth Jeyaratnam seems to have prioritized not getting into legal entanglements over what some may regard as "confrontational politics". In that regard, he is now perceived to be more like the ineffectual Workers Party and Chiam See Tong.
Perhaps KJ saw how his father was destroyed by the LKY. Now, he is bidding his time for the Old Fart to go.
As long as the Old Fart is still breathing, Singapore politics will remain the same.
Anyway, Singapore is only 2 elections away from a voter swing away from a tired ineffective fat PAP.
Remember LKY used to take advantage of WWII situation to blackmarket glue and work as translator for Kempetai.
It is time to slip some opposition into PAP or to have some dormant opposition cells around to get ready for the post-PAP era.
We know the weaknesses of PAP. It is important to strike them at the weakest and break this party into various factions and have infighting among themselves.
As long as PAP do not allow a freak election results through the polls, we need to break them from within.
Remember, as long as mainstream Singaporeans do not equate Singapore and PAP as the same thing, the opposition will have a chance to run.
The old man must be feeling impotent - his days are numbered, and he knows that once he is gone, no one will fear or respect his son.
The young people of Singapore, especially the men who have to do NS, must hate the PAP with a passion.
The old folks, who dutifully support the PAP, will soon join LKY.
The PAP looks vulnerable.
People of Singapore - YES YOU CAN!
kick the the thieving bums out.
Singapore is number 1!!!
The TOP 30 highest paid politicians in the world
The TOP 30 highest paid politicians in the world are all from Singapore:
1. Elected President SR Nathan - S$3.9 million.
2. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong - S$3.8 million.
3. Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew - S$3.5 million.
4. Senior Minister Goh Chok Thong - S$3.5 million.
5. Senior Minister Prof Jayakumar - S$3.2 million.
6. DPM & Home Affairs Minister Wong Kan Seng - S$2.9 million.
7. DPM & Defence Minister Teo Chee Hean - $2.9 million
8. Foreign Affairs Minister George Yeo - S$2.8 million.
9. National Development Minister Mah Bow Tan - S$2.7 million.
10. PMO Miniser Lim Boon Heng - S$2.7 million.
11. Trade and Industry Minister Lim Hng Kiang - S$2.7 million.
12. PMO Minister Lim Swee Say - S$2.6 million.
13. Environment Minister & Muslim Affairs Minister Dr Yaccob Ibrahim - S$2.6 million.
14. Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan - S$2.6 million.
15. Finance Minister S Tharman - S$2.6 million.
16. Education Minister & 2nd Minister for Defence Dr Ng Eng Hen - S$2.6 million.
17. Community Development Youth and Sports Minister - Dr Vivian Balakrishnan - S$2.5 million.
18. Transport Minister & 2nd Minister for Foreign Affairs Raymond Lim Siang Kiat - S$2.5 million.
19. Law Minister & 2nd Minister for Home Affairs K Shanmugam - S$2.4 million.
20. Manpower Minister Gan Kim Yong - S$2.2 million.
21. PMO Minister Lim Hwee Hwa - S$2.2 million
22. Acting ICA Minister - Lui Tuck Yew - S$2.0 million.
23 to 30 = Senior Ministers of State and Ministers of State - each getting between S$1.8 million to S$1.5 million.
Note: 1. The above pay does not include MP allowances, pensions and other sources of income such as Directorship, Chairmnship, Advisory, Consultancy, etc to Gov-linked and gov-related organisations or foreign MNCs such as Citigroup, etc.
2. Though it is based on an estimate, the data cannot be far off the official salary scales.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=153492722129&topic=11427
Quiz: Which country has most highly paid fortune teller.
The beloved Dear Leader, who earns his keep (some would say loots the treasury), the princely sum of $3.7 million, for his prognostications.
So, how are the predictions coming along?
Track record looks a little dodgy - 'stop at two' policy;
- speak Mandarin policy;
- more FT policy;
- make my son PM policy; ...
Bravo! If only more people in Singapore could think and write like these fellows. (But, have to say that the 'boomz' and 'rad' girl has some appealing attributes :))
Wakka wroteon January 26, 2010 at 8:12pm
"Repression, Sir is a habit that grows. I am told it is like making love - it is always easier the second time! The first time there may be pangs of conscience, a sense of guilt. But once embarked on this course with constant repetition you get more and more brazen in the attack. All you have to do is to dissolve organizations and societies and banish and detain the key political workers in these societies. Then miraculously everything is tranquil on the surface. Then an intimidated press and the government-controlled radio together can regularly sing your praises, and slowly and steadily the people are made to forget the evil things that have already been done, or if these things are referred to again they're conveniently distorted and distorted with impunity, because there will be no opposition to contradict." - Lee Kuan Yew as an opposition PAP member speaking to David Marshall, Singapore Legislative Assembly, Debates, 4 October 1956
"I pointed to an article with bold headlines reporting that the police had refused to allow the PAP to hold a rally at Empress Place, and then to the last paragraph where in small type it added the meeting would take place where we were now. I compared this with a prominent report about an SPA rally. This was flagrant bias." - Lee Kuan Yew complaining about the Straits Times in 1959.
Doesn't these sound familiar?
Harry wroteon January 27, 2010 at 1:08am
Very accurate description of the current situation in Singapore. Events will come back to haunt LKY. After his death, he will be relegated to the waste
dump of human history. His family will pay a price. He has exploited and abuse Singaporeans for far too long.
http://www.facebook.com/topic.php?uid=153492722129&topic=11384
I finally understand Singlish - it is an English-based CREOLE used in Singapore.
This link provides a fascinating analysis:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Singlish
I wonder why Singapore's English-educated Chinese (especially from the Christian schools) or most Indians and Eurasians do not slip into Singlish ...
... as easily as their Chinese-educated Chinese neighbours or those Chinese from public English schools.
Can anyone shed some light?
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