Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the very near future, the Singapore Indians (mainly Tamils) will become so small a number that they will become a curiosity. In fact they already are.
Lee Kuan Yew Singapore strongman has been successfully over the years very sucessfully turning Singapore into a distinctly tiny Chinese island. He continues, in fact has increased the flood (no pun intended with Singapore literally flooding with water) of Chinese immigrants from Communist China in numbers vastly disproportionate to Singapore's multi racial character. He claims that somehow, Singapore has to maintain at least 75% Chinese population in the island and if there is a shortfall, he brings in even more to keep the numbers up.
In effect all this talk of multi racial society and 4 official languages and so on is just baloney. You already see this happening now. On Singapore English TV and newspapers, you come across large sections of Chinese state controlled official news videos and Chinese programs. Far too often, a non Chinese speaking citizen's viewing is interrupted for long periods when the dialogue suddenly breaks into Chinese during which time, I suppose you can boil the kettle for a cup of tea!
Lee Kuan Yew's Chinazation (making a place into a Chinese one, a word which I made up)of Singapore is not only downright rude and inconsiderate towards Indians, it is down right insulting. Indians and Malays have equal rights (at least they are supposed to have) in the island and they either do not want and are not required to learn Mandarin Chinese. In my case, I rather learn French or Arabic, languages far more pleasant to the ears, depending on your preference. So why should I have to put up with this Chinese sing song when I have no desire to and I need not as well.
But you see, Lee Kuan Yew being that prize rooster strutting around his tiny island chicken coop for the last 52 years, does not care one way or the other what any Malay or Indian thinks. He can and will do anything he wants in his Singapore, at least so far.
But the danger is this. So far at least there has been a modicum of an attempt to give the Indians and Malays a presence in Singapore because of the way the history of Singapore has gone, and because the older politicians are aware of this.
I fear the moment Lee Kuan Yew dies, which is going to happen very soon, given his age of 89 and sickly, there will be chaos, and upheaval, and all sort of demonstrations both peaceful and violent in Singapore and everyone jockeying for power.
At that point of time, the Indians would be far too small and insignificant a section that the Chinese who form the vast majority would, knowing how the Communist Chinese in Singapore think, simply push them aside into oblivion. And so is the fate of the Malays.
Lee has ruined the very foundations of a multi racial Singapore. I simply do not think the Indians and Malays in our midst would stand a chance for anything.
I am hoping that Malaysia and Indonesia who stand to lose a great deal with a Communist Chinese satellite city in Singapore would take some action to correct this dangerous trend.
The Americans are really not in a position to do anything one way or another at that time, since even for them, a Sino Singapore in the midst of Malay South East Asia is not in their interest either.
This is the moment for the Indians and Malays of Singapore to take account of their impending fate. They should stand up now and speak. Or it may, alas, be too late. In my thinking, I don't think Malaysia or Indonesia will allow this to happen. But we can only hope.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Saturday, December 31, 2011
Friday, December 30, 2011
Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew's China style legal system
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In Communist China, even though it's laws allows aggrieved persons to file law suits in courts seeking relief, in many instances, not just the litigant but the lawyer too are arrested, tortured and given long sentences for doing just that.
Only yesterday, the BBC reported of a woman lawyer in China having been brutally beaten only for representing villagers whose homes were compulsorily acquired for development. She was also given a long jail term.
In Singapore even though they don't go to this extent, I am sure Lee Kuan Yew would love to if he can. It is an island where you see all the outward trappings of lawyers in black robes dragging along stuffed luggage with books along courtroom corridors looking all solemn and sombre but if you thought even for a moment that these characters actually have the courage to represent anyone in reality, you cannot be more mistaken. They are so afraid of what Lee Kuan Yew would do to them, that their representation of your lawsuit would go only so far as Lee Kuan Yew would tolerate, never mind what any of the law books says.
Let me give you give you a few examples. I remember when I was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1981, I had to appear before a judge and swear that I would uphold the laws and the Constitution of Singapore. Only later did I realise that in fact if you wanted to succeed at the Singapore Bar and stay out of trouble, that is the last thing in the world you should do.
The underlying principle of English Constitutional law which is supposed to form the basis of Singapore law states 1. the Constitution is the supreme law of the land upon which all other statue laws are enacted. Any law which violates the Constitution is null and void 2. If a law violates the Constitution, for it to be legal, there has to shown a compelling reason such as a grave state emergency or calamity which requires the lifting of that constitutional provision.
If this is what Constitutional means, Singapore has no constitutional law at all. The Singapore Constitution is nothing more than a worthless piece of paper. In fact you could go one step further and say, Singapore has no Constitution at all.
One of the underlying Constitutional provisions is the right to free speech and assembly. But this Constitutional provision is totally worthless because another statute law states exactly the opposite, that you need a permit to make a public speech which, even if one applied for it, it would never be granted. And then if you go on to make that public speech or assemble anyway, you end up as another Chee Soon Juan, arrested and sent to jail.
It is like this with every other aspect of the Constitution. Although the Constitution mandates a free press, it is state controlled. Although the Constitution mandates the right to assemble, you have none. Although the Constitution mandates free trade unions, they are all controlled by the state. Although the Constitution mandates the rule of law, the law is abused by Judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean to send innocent citizens like Chee Soon Juan to jail for criticizing Lee Kuan Yew.
Every single lawyer in Singapore makes sure never to raise a Constitutional defense for his client. There is one particular Indian lawyer who claims to defend human rights but he has been successfully marginalized and has lost all his cases. In fact anyone who is in trouble and understands Singapore would never even imagine engaging him. If you did, one look at him by the judge and your case is lost. The judge of course feels that he is pleasing Lee Kuan Yew by finding against this lawyer, because Lee does not like him. 2 years ago, he represented Chee Soon Juan and even had the audacity to cross examine Lee Kuan Yew, something any lawyer in his right mind in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore would never even dream of doing.
In Singapore despite all the claims of due process and rule of law, in fact there is an established and entrenched unwritten policy of giving preferential treatment for celebrities, important persons and rich foreign businessmen. In fact this policy of unjustly preferring some over others is so entrenched and well known that if you belong to this privileged class, you know beforehand that you can basically do anything you want and get away with it.
You can read for yourself the extensive coverage of this distasteful aspect of Singaporean life in the Internet, and also in these pages.
The Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits Times of Dec 30, 2011 has a story "TV host Quan Yifeng gets probation over row with taxi driver".
It is a case of this recent Chinese woman from Taiwan who is a celebrity Chinese TV host in Singapore who went on a rampage over a taxi driver, breaking his taxi meter, rummaging and destroying his belongings and kicking him and his taxi over an extended period of time.
The normal punishment under Singapore law for this sort of behaviour for any ordinary person is imprisonment in the island's Changi Jail for at least 12 months if not longer.
I think, this woman, like every other resident in the island, knew she could do anything she wanted and get away with it, otherwise she would never have done this.
This is how, Lee Kuan Yew's men do the dirty work in such cases. The lawyer first gets some doctor to put up a false report saying that the woman in question was suffering from depression and other bogus imaginary ailments.
Mind you if a doctor made such false claims in any other ordinary case, he would be arrested and severely disciplined. Not so in cases involving celebrities.
After that the lawyer, usually, an opportunistic government connected fellow like Subhas Anandan in this case, makes these imaginary claims of diminished responsibility and depression and what not, all plucked out of thin air, which the selected judge accepts wholesale, with a wink and a nod.
And the judge then goes on to give a lengthy explanation, a whole load of baloney, that the woman if fact was in a great deal of stress, and blah blah and Viola, she walks away Scot free.
In this particular case Quan not only got away Scot free with probation, she also got to hold a video taped press interview with the state controlled press which was televised on national TV at prime time, looking her TV best with her lawyer by her side, who for his part gave his side of the baloney.
I am attaching the link here of the comical Chinese opera of Lee Kuan Yew's Singaporean law of the woman who got away, yet again: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_750129.html
Her lawyer sitting next to her Subhas Anandan is the quintessential Singaporean product, someone with no principles, no self respect or pride and no concern at all whether he cares to see himself in the mirror the next day. A pretty low type of a human being.
You see although he claims to be a criminal lawyer, he is more a sort of a negotiator.
Most of the celebrities and government connected individuals who routinely commit offenses in the island make up his client base.
Having him as a lawyer gives the client an immediate advantage.
He has access and is privy to the inner dealings of the people at the top.
It is like being the personal lawyer of North Korea's great leader.
He can get anything he wants. It is also because, the judge himself is careful not to find against his client since this may indirectly annoy Singapore's great leader Lee Kuan Yew whose man he is.
In general, with the right connections and the proper lawyer, you can spin any story you want, beat up any taxi driver you want, drive drunk anytime you want, create a ruckus anytime you want. And why not, Singapore is yours when you are somebody and on Lee Kuan Yew's side.
I can imagine what punishment I would get if I did what she did! Perhaps being locked up and the key thrown away, not only am I not a Singapore government connected person; what is worse, I am a thorn on their side!
Singapore law is stood on it's head; there is in reality no Constitution; Singapore lawyers are more afraid of their own shadows and Lee Kuan Yew making them unfit to represent anyone in truth.
To live in a country such as Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, you either have to have no principles whatsoever and just go along for the ride, you should be careful not to express any political opinion and if you have to, only an opinion in support of the government.
There are of course those who have no inkling whatsoever about what in the world I am saying, and for these ignorant people, Singapore is OK too.
But if you did have some pride, some understanding of your rights and some shame under your skin, then stay away from Singapore. You would be ashamed to look at yourself in the mirror if you did.
Some years ago, this so called best Singapore criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan was asked if he would represent political dissidents.
He said he would prepared to defend anyone, murderers, drug traffickers and even terrorists; but please no political dissidents. This rather unsavory character represents the soul of the Singapore legal profession.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
In Communist China, even though it's laws allows aggrieved persons to file law suits in courts seeking relief, in many instances, not just the litigant but the lawyer too are arrested, tortured and given long sentences for doing just that.
Only yesterday, the BBC reported of a woman lawyer in China having been brutally beaten only for representing villagers whose homes were compulsorily acquired for development. She was also given a long jail term.
In Singapore even though they don't go to this extent, I am sure Lee Kuan Yew would love to if he can. It is an island where you see all the outward trappings of lawyers in black robes dragging along stuffed luggage with books along courtroom corridors looking all solemn and sombre but if you thought even for a moment that these characters actually have the courage to represent anyone in reality, you cannot be more mistaken. They are so afraid of what Lee Kuan Yew would do to them, that their representation of your lawsuit would go only so far as Lee Kuan Yew would tolerate, never mind what any of the law books says.
Let me give you give you a few examples. I remember when I was admitted to the Singapore Bar in 1981, I had to appear before a judge and swear that I would uphold the laws and the Constitution of Singapore. Only later did I realise that in fact if you wanted to succeed at the Singapore Bar and stay out of trouble, that is the last thing in the world you should do.
The underlying principle of English Constitutional law which is supposed to form the basis of Singapore law states 1. the Constitution is the supreme law of the land upon which all other statue laws are enacted. Any law which violates the Constitution is null and void 2. If a law violates the Constitution, for it to be legal, there has to shown a compelling reason such as a grave state emergency or calamity which requires the lifting of that constitutional provision.
If this is what Constitutional means, Singapore has no constitutional law at all. The Singapore Constitution is nothing more than a worthless piece of paper. In fact you could go one step further and say, Singapore has no Constitution at all.
One of the underlying Constitutional provisions is the right to free speech and assembly. But this Constitutional provision is totally worthless because another statute law states exactly the opposite, that you need a permit to make a public speech which, even if one applied for it, it would never be granted. And then if you go on to make that public speech or assemble anyway, you end up as another Chee Soon Juan, arrested and sent to jail.
It is like this with every other aspect of the Constitution. Although the Constitution mandates a free press, it is state controlled. Although the Constitution mandates the right to assemble, you have none. Although the Constitution mandates free trade unions, they are all controlled by the state. Although the Constitution mandates the rule of law, the law is abused by Judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean to send innocent citizens like Chee Soon Juan to jail for criticizing Lee Kuan Yew.
Every single lawyer in Singapore makes sure never to raise a Constitutional defense for his client. There is one particular Indian lawyer who claims to defend human rights but he has been successfully marginalized and has lost all his cases. In fact anyone who is in trouble and understands Singapore would never even imagine engaging him. If you did, one look at him by the judge and your case is lost. The judge of course feels that he is pleasing Lee Kuan Yew by finding against this lawyer, because Lee does not like him. 2 years ago, he represented Chee Soon Juan and even had the audacity to cross examine Lee Kuan Yew, something any lawyer in his right mind in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore would never even dream of doing.
In Singapore despite all the claims of due process and rule of law, in fact there is an established and entrenched unwritten policy of giving preferential treatment for celebrities, important persons and rich foreign businessmen. In fact this policy of unjustly preferring some over others is so entrenched and well known that if you belong to this privileged class, you know beforehand that you can basically do anything you want and get away with it.
You can read for yourself the extensive coverage of this distasteful aspect of Singaporean life in the Internet, and also in these pages.
The Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits Times of Dec 30, 2011 has a story "TV host Quan Yifeng gets probation over row with taxi driver".
It is a case of this recent Chinese woman from Taiwan who is a celebrity Chinese TV host in Singapore who went on a rampage over a taxi driver, breaking his taxi meter, rummaging and destroying his belongings and kicking him and his taxi over an extended period of time.
The normal punishment under Singapore law for this sort of behaviour for any ordinary person is imprisonment in the island's Changi Jail for at least 12 months if not longer.
I think, this woman, like every other resident in the island, knew she could do anything she wanted and get away with it, otherwise she would never have done this.
This is how, Lee Kuan Yew's men do the dirty work in such cases. The lawyer first gets some doctor to put up a false report saying that the woman in question was suffering from depression and other bogus imaginary ailments.
Mind you if a doctor made such false claims in any other ordinary case, he would be arrested and severely disciplined. Not so in cases involving celebrities.
After that the lawyer, usually, an opportunistic government connected fellow like Subhas Anandan in this case, makes these imaginary claims of diminished responsibility and depression and what not, all plucked out of thin air, which the selected judge accepts wholesale, with a wink and a nod.
And the judge then goes on to give a lengthy explanation, a whole load of baloney, that the woman if fact was in a great deal of stress, and blah blah and Viola, she walks away Scot free.
In this particular case Quan not only got away Scot free with probation, she also got to hold a video taped press interview with the state controlled press which was televised on national TV at prime time, looking her TV best with her lawyer by her side, who for his part gave his side of the baloney.
I am attaching the link here of the comical Chinese opera of Lee Kuan Yew's Singaporean law of the woman who got away, yet again: http://www.straitstimes.com/BreakingNews/Singapore/Story/STIStory_750129.html
Her lawyer sitting next to her Subhas Anandan is the quintessential Singaporean product, someone with no principles, no self respect or pride and no concern at all whether he cares to see himself in the mirror the next day. A pretty low type of a human being.
You see although he claims to be a criminal lawyer, he is more a sort of a negotiator.
Most of the celebrities and government connected individuals who routinely commit offenses in the island make up his client base.
Having him as a lawyer gives the client an immediate advantage.
He has access and is privy to the inner dealings of the people at the top.
It is like being the personal lawyer of North Korea's great leader.
He can get anything he wants. It is also because, the judge himself is careful not to find against his client since this may indirectly annoy Singapore's great leader Lee Kuan Yew whose man he is.
In general, with the right connections and the proper lawyer, you can spin any story you want, beat up any taxi driver you want, drive drunk anytime you want, create a ruckus anytime you want. And why not, Singapore is yours when you are somebody and on Lee Kuan Yew's side.
I can imagine what punishment I would get if I did what she did! Perhaps being locked up and the key thrown away, not only am I not a Singapore government connected person; what is worse, I am a thorn on their side!
Singapore law is stood on it's head; there is in reality no Constitution; Singapore lawyers are more afraid of their own shadows and Lee Kuan Yew making them unfit to represent anyone in truth.
To live in a country such as Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, you either have to have no principles whatsoever and just go along for the ride, you should be careful not to express any political opinion and if you have to, only an opinion in support of the government.
There are of course those who have no inkling whatsoever about what in the world I am saying, and for these ignorant people, Singapore is OK too.
But if you did have some pride, some understanding of your rights and some shame under your skin, then stay away from Singapore. You would be ashamed to look at yourself in the mirror if you did.
Some years ago, this so called best Singapore criminal lawyer Subhas Anandan was asked if he would represent political dissidents.
He said he would prepared to defend anyone, murderers, drug traffickers and even terrorists; but please no political dissidents. This rather unsavory character represents the soul of the Singapore legal profession.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Singapore. Daily flooding dampens property market and business
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am not someone who believes too much in Divine intervention but this time, perhaps it happens. It is happening now in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. In the last few months global warming coinciding with higher sea levels and increased rainfall have caused extensive flooding throughout the island almost on a weekly basis if not more.
Orchard Road, the prime shopping district where luxury retail shops abound have been increasingly hit by flooding. Roads there are no longer passable almost every week due to flooding, water floods into stores damaging property in the millions and the luxury apartments in which their millionaires live in the vicinity find themselves imprisoned because of the floodwater's outside, while their expensive cars suffer serious damaged by water in garages.
I understand from information received that this has already started a selling spree among the luxury owners because they fear, quite naturally, that as the effects of global warning continue to heighten, which it must, their luxury homes would be worthless in no time, since it is impossible to live in a place which floods almost everyday.
I also understand that the store owners in Lait Towers and Lucky Plaza in the vicinity housing luxury foreign merchandise, the 2 buildings which have suffered the most damage from repeated flooding, are hurriedly terminating their leases and leaving causing a steep drop in both in prices and rentals.
The flooding is not confined to only Orchard Road; it is island wide. Bukit Tiamh which also has expensive apartments and houses are all selling too and the property market is already on the decline and set to crash.
Lee Kuan Yew, the 89 year old Singapore strongman, who has been strutting around his tiny island in his arrogance for the last 52 years, as if he knows everything is how caught with his pants down. I understand he is in hospital and I can imagine him cursing at his minions accusing them of betraying him by not thinking of flooding when they built all these buildings in his tiny island.
Even if Singaporeans themselves never had the courage to stand up to Lee Kuan Yew and his arrogance, it appears Mother Nature can and will. And this will be the end of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. The flooding which now occurs weekly will soon become twice a week, and then thrice a week and then in a few years it will become daily.
And this which is not just probable but an established fact the way the earth is warming, simply means that Singapore is far too small to overcome this phenomenon.
More and more shops will close, more and more people will leave and more and more foreigners will pack up. The property market will collapse, the stock market will collapse and Lee Kuan Yew and his country too will collapse.
I have printed out a copy of the tide tables in Singapore and keeping a lookout on the weather pattern in the island. High tides are jotted down and rainy days are looked at. As and when they coincide, you have another wonderful day of rain and floods galore, around Singapore. It may be fun to watch but not much fun if you were a Lucky Plaza store owner.
Perhaps it is time to sell, take your money and leave for higher ground in Australia.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
I am not someone who believes too much in Divine intervention but this time, perhaps it happens. It is happening now in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. In the last few months global warming coinciding with higher sea levels and increased rainfall have caused extensive flooding throughout the island almost on a weekly basis if not more.
Orchard Road, the prime shopping district where luxury retail shops abound have been increasingly hit by flooding. Roads there are no longer passable almost every week due to flooding, water floods into stores damaging property in the millions and the luxury apartments in which their millionaires live in the vicinity find themselves imprisoned because of the floodwater's outside, while their expensive cars suffer serious damaged by water in garages.
I understand from information received that this has already started a selling spree among the luxury owners because they fear, quite naturally, that as the effects of global warning continue to heighten, which it must, their luxury homes would be worthless in no time, since it is impossible to live in a place which floods almost everyday.
I also understand that the store owners in Lait Towers and Lucky Plaza in the vicinity housing luxury foreign merchandise, the 2 buildings which have suffered the most damage from repeated flooding, are hurriedly terminating their leases and leaving causing a steep drop in both in prices and rentals.
The flooding is not confined to only Orchard Road; it is island wide. Bukit Tiamh which also has expensive apartments and houses are all selling too and the property market is already on the decline and set to crash.
Lee Kuan Yew, the 89 year old Singapore strongman, who has been strutting around his tiny island in his arrogance for the last 52 years, as if he knows everything is how caught with his pants down. I understand he is in hospital and I can imagine him cursing at his minions accusing them of betraying him by not thinking of flooding when they built all these buildings in his tiny island.
Even if Singaporeans themselves never had the courage to stand up to Lee Kuan Yew and his arrogance, it appears Mother Nature can and will. And this will be the end of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. The flooding which now occurs weekly will soon become twice a week, and then thrice a week and then in a few years it will become daily.
And this which is not just probable but an established fact the way the earth is warming, simply means that Singapore is far too small to overcome this phenomenon.
More and more shops will close, more and more people will leave and more and more foreigners will pack up. The property market will collapse, the stock market will collapse and Lee Kuan Yew and his country too will collapse.
I have printed out a copy of the tide tables in Singapore and keeping a lookout on the weather pattern in the island. High tides are jotted down and rainy days are looked at. As and when they coincide, you have another wonderful day of rain and floods galore, around Singapore. It may be fun to watch but not much fun if you were a Lucky Plaza store owner.
Perhaps it is time to sell, take your money and leave for higher ground in Australia.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Singapore. One law for elites, another for ordinary men
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For any country, it's success has to depend on it's rule of law; the moment you lose that respect, you lose everything.
Today, Singapore legal system and it's judiciary stand thoroughly disgraced. Routinely you find the courts treating some preferentially and others harshly.
Foreigners from Western countries and locals in positions of importance or connected to the ruling party are free to commit almost any crime they want and get away with it either without any punishment at all or a mere slap on the wrist.
Ordinary Singaporeans on the other hand face the brunt of the law, many years of imprisonment and brutally beaten (caned) if not also killed by hanging.
Although they won't admit it of course, the reasoning behind this double standards by this cowardly government of Singapore is this; important Westerners and locals in high authority are especially needed in Singapore whereas an ordinary Malay bus driver is of no consequence one way or the other. So you treat these foreigners and elites one way while the local humble Singapore is punished so hard that he will never again dare to misbehave.
The Singapore state controlled newspaper, The New Paper of Dec 21, 2011 has the story "NZ man jumps bail, warrant of arrest issued". It talks about 3 foreign men, a New Zealander, an Australian and an Englishman who got drunk at Suntec City in Singapore, beat up a taxi driver, broke his head and nose and hijacked his taxi and totalled it. This is an offence which carries a jail term of 10 years as well as the beating (caning). Yet, in the case of the New Zealander Robert Stephen Dalberg, 34, the police not only let him go, but even gave him back his passport with a wink and a nod whereupon he promptly headed to Singapore's Changi Airport and took the first flight home!
He has never returned and when his father was contacted about him, he quite rightly said his son won't return and went even further by saying "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time". Quite right indeed.
You can see the special treatment for this man, a New Zealand working as a stockbroker in Singapore. What he did carried a jail term of 10 years and a thorough beating as well but they not only gave him bail, they even returned him his passport and even though Singapore airport is normally alerted in cases such as this, I suppose they even ordered them to let him leave.
On the other hand, Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Singapore Opposition politician, who has a family and his home in Singapore is refused permission to travel because not only that he is not a Western stockbroker, he is also a pain in the neck for the Lee Kuan Yew ruling family in Singapore for his opposition politics.
In my case, you recall, in 2008 I was arrested just for writing a blog post critical of Lee Kuan Yew's judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for prostituting her judicial office by unjustly punishing Chee, bankrupting him and sending him to jail. While on bail, I had applied twice to court for permission to leave for California to attend to my law practice and return for the trial. True to form, my applications were denied, my passport confiscated and I was forced to remain in the island for a full 6 months without an income while my law practice in California almost folded up due to neglect. What else could I have expected of this morally corrupt regime? Afterall I was a former Singaporean and a known critic of the Lee administration, making me a perfect victim of their law abuse.
Lee Kuan Yew is shooting himself in the foot continuing his policy of treating some one way and some another. Today Singapore law stands disgraced around the world, and this makes it more difficult to attract good people to Singapore and drives Singaporeans embarrassed and outraged by this for settlement abroad. And more importantly, with such a disgraced reputation for the law around the world, it facilitates foreign criminals in Singapore to avoid extradition from their home countries because they can easily argue that they will never get a fair trial in Singapore's Kangaroo legal system.
I wish I was Robert Stephen Dahlberg, 34, this New Zealander's lawyer. I can assure you it would be very easy to argue against extradition to Singapore. All I would have to argue is to produce the disgraceful litany of cases where the law is routinely abused, the unpredictably of their laws and the use of cruel and unusual punishment such as brutal beatings (caning) and unacceptably frequent killings (hanging) even for the most minor offenses. No New Zealand judge would ever order an extradition request by a government such as this. They would, had it been a respectable country such as England, Canada or Germany.
Silviu Ionescu, the Romanian diplomat last year on a drunken driving spree killed a Singaporean and injured several others. In his case too, because he was a foreigner in a top position, he was allowed to leave the country and when Singapore tried to extradite him, he managed to successfully argue against it by raising the defense that Singapore's legal system is disgraced and nothing but a Kangaroo court. And he was right.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
For any country, it's success has to depend on it's rule of law; the moment you lose that respect, you lose everything.
Today, Singapore legal system and it's judiciary stand thoroughly disgraced. Routinely you find the courts treating some preferentially and others harshly.
Foreigners from Western countries and locals in positions of importance or connected to the ruling party are free to commit almost any crime they want and get away with it either without any punishment at all or a mere slap on the wrist.
Ordinary Singaporeans on the other hand face the brunt of the law, many years of imprisonment and brutally beaten (caned) if not also killed by hanging.
Although they won't admit it of course, the reasoning behind this double standards by this cowardly government of Singapore is this; important Westerners and locals in high authority are especially needed in Singapore whereas an ordinary Malay bus driver is of no consequence one way or the other. So you treat these foreigners and elites one way while the local humble Singapore is punished so hard that he will never again dare to misbehave.
The Singapore state controlled newspaper, The New Paper of Dec 21, 2011 has the story "NZ man jumps bail, warrant of arrest issued". It talks about 3 foreign men, a New Zealander, an Australian and an Englishman who got drunk at Suntec City in Singapore, beat up a taxi driver, broke his head and nose and hijacked his taxi and totalled it. This is an offence which carries a jail term of 10 years as well as the beating (caning). Yet, in the case of the New Zealander Robert Stephen Dalberg, 34, the police not only let him go, but even gave him back his passport with a wink and a nod whereupon he promptly headed to Singapore's Changi Airport and took the first flight home!
He has never returned and when his father was contacted about him, he quite rightly said his son won't return and went even further by saying "He was at the wrong place at the wrong time". Quite right indeed.
You can see the special treatment for this man, a New Zealand working as a stockbroker in Singapore. What he did carried a jail term of 10 years and a thorough beating as well but they not only gave him bail, they even returned him his passport and even though Singapore airport is normally alerted in cases such as this, I suppose they even ordered them to let him leave.
On the other hand, Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Singapore Opposition politician, who has a family and his home in Singapore is refused permission to travel because not only that he is not a Western stockbroker, he is also a pain in the neck for the Lee Kuan Yew ruling family in Singapore for his opposition politics.
In my case, you recall, in 2008 I was arrested just for writing a blog post critical of Lee Kuan Yew's judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for prostituting her judicial office by unjustly punishing Chee, bankrupting him and sending him to jail. While on bail, I had applied twice to court for permission to leave for California to attend to my law practice and return for the trial. True to form, my applications were denied, my passport confiscated and I was forced to remain in the island for a full 6 months without an income while my law practice in California almost folded up due to neglect. What else could I have expected of this morally corrupt regime? Afterall I was a former Singaporean and a known critic of the Lee administration, making me a perfect victim of their law abuse.
Lee Kuan Yew is shooting himself in the foot continuing his policy of treating some one way and some another. Today Singapore law stands disgraced around the world, and this makes it more difficult to attract good people to Singapore and drives Singaporeans embarrassed and outraged by this for settlement abroad. And more importantly, with such a disgraced reputation for the law around the world, it facilitates foreign criminals in Singapore to avoid extradition from their home countries because they can easily argue that they will never get a fair trial in Singapore's Kangaroo legal system.
I wish I was Robert Stephen Dahlberg, 34, this New Zealander's lawyer. I can assure you it would be very easy to argue against extradition to Singapore. All I would have to argue is to produce the disgraceful litany of cases where the law is routinely abused, the unpredictably of their laws and the use of cruel and unusual punishment such as brutal beatings (caning) and unacceptably frequent killings (hanging) even for the most minor offenses. No New Zealand judge would ever order an extradition request by a government such as this. They would, had it been a respectable country such as England, Canada or Germany.
Silviu Ionescu, the Romanian diplomat last year on a drunken driving spree killed a Singaporean and injured several others. In his case too, because he was a foreigner in a top position, he was allowed to leave the country and when Singapore tried to extradite him, he managed to successfully argue against it by raising the defense that Singapore's legal system is disgraced and nothing but a Kangaroo court. And he was right.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Singapore Dissident's only concern is Lee Kuan Yew
Ladies and Gentlemen,
There is a saying, the Nile is Egypt and Egypt is the Nile. Without the Nile, Egypt is dead, because it is nothing but a desert; except for the water from the Nile. Similarly in Singapore one could also say, Singapore is Lee Kuan Yew, and Lee Kuan Yew is Singapore.
In his eagerness and greed to remain in control for the last 52 years, Lee made sure that no one else could even remotely establish a power base. Which is why this blog Singapore Dissident only writes, intentionally and deliberately, about Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew alone, because no one else matters.
I don't think I am wrong in my prediction that with the demise of the 89 year old Singapore leader, Singapore too will collapse, at least for a moment, and out of the chaos, we will hopefully see a new better freer Singapore.
There is of course others such as Tony Tan, Lee's recently handpicked President, Goh Chock Tong, similarly handpicked Senior Minister as are every single one of his sidekicks, who were plucked out of thin air, given important positions overnight to rule over Singaporeans.
None of these characters such as the Singapore President has any power base, or any support from anyone. If they were ever elected into power, it was because Lee wanted them in power. The moment Lee is dead, no one would even take a second glance at minions and opportunists such as these. Tony Tan is a Lee Kuan Yew creation, nothing more and nothing less, and so are every single one of these million dollar opportunists going around holding Lee's tail and crawling at his feet. Simply disgusting.
And once he is dead, it will be chaos. Lee as well as they will just be history.
As for myself, I am living in exciting times. I know any moment now, the old man with all the power will die, and at that instant the fun will begin. When that happens, I would like to see the face of K Shanmugam, his Tamil Minister of Law who obediently says 2 and 2 is 10 anytime his master orders it. What he will do after that, is any one's guess.
I hope I would be amply rewarded when this change happens, which I believe will happen; my reward will be the realization that in some small way, I have contributed to the change and betterment of Singapore. All the provoking and challenging this dictatorship from 1984 up till now which I did, including going to Lee Kuan Yew's prison for calling his judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean a rat which she was, would have been all worthwhile.
At that moment, Gopalan Nair and his adventures in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore will hopefully be remembered once again. All these blog posts in Singapore Dissident will be read and re-read. And hopefully my travails and adventures in Lee Kuan Yew's prison for criticizing his Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, would be remembered too.
And perhaps one day, that illegal conviction and sentence of 3 months jail against me for writing a blog in Singapore would be reversed, my unjust disbarment would be reversed and I will once again visit Singapore, the land of my birth.
If anyone was wondering why I continue harping on this man Lee Kuan Yew, you know the reason why.
Yes, this is an exiting time. Perhaps I will set foot in Singapore again after all, and it may not even be too long away (the reader would know that Singapore has prohibited me from entering the country). If and when that happens, the wise adage that the pen is mightier than the sword would be proven once again.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
There is a saying, the Nile is Egypt and Egypt is the Nile. Without the Nile, Egypt is dead, because it is nothing but a desert; except for the water from the Nile. Similarly in Singapore one could also say, Singapore is Lee Kuan Yew, and Lee Kuan Yew is Singapore.
In his eagerness and greed to remain in control for the last 52 years, Lee made sure that no one else could even remotely establish a power base. Which is why this blog Singapore Dissident only writes, intentionally and deliberately, about Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew alone, because no one else matters.
I don't think I am wrong in my prediction that with the demise of the 89 year old Singapore leader, Singapore too will collapse, at least for a moment, and out of the chaos, we will hopefully see a new better freer Singapore.
There is of course others such as Tony Tan, Lee's recently handpicked President, Goh Chock Tong, similarly handpicked Senior Minister as are every single one of his sidekicks, who were plucked out of thin air, given important positions overnight to rule over Singaporeans.
None of these characters such as the Singapore President has any power base, or any support from anyone. If they were ever elected into power, it was because Lee wanted them in power. The moment Lee is dead, no one would even take a second glance at minions and opportunists such as these. Tony Tan is a Lee Kuan Yew creation, nothing more and nothing less, and so are every single one of these million dollar opportunists going around holding Lee's tail and crawling at his feet. Simply disgusting.
And once he is dead, it will be chaos. Lee as well as they will just be history.
As for myself, I am living in exciting times. I know any moment now, the old man with all the power will die, and at that instant the fun will begin. When that happens, I would like to see the face of K Shanmugam, his Tamil Minister of Law who obediently says 2 and 2 is 10 anytime his master orders it. What he will do after that, is any one's guess.
I hope I would be amply rewarded when this change happens, which I believe will happen; my reward will be the realization that in some small way, I have contributed to the change and betterment of Singapore. All the provoking and challenging this dictatorship from 1984 up till now which I did, including going to Lee Kuan Yew's prison for calling his judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean a rat which she was, would have been all worthwhile.
At that moment, Gopalan Nair and his adventures in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore will hopefully be remembered once again. All these blog posts in Singapore Dissident will be read and re-read. And hopefully my travails and adventures in Lee Kuan Yew's prison for criticizing his Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, would be remembered too.
And perhaps one day, that illegal conviction and sentence of 3 months jail against me for writing a blog in Singapore would be reversed, my unjust disbarment would be reversed and I will once again visit Singapore, the land of my birth.
If anyone was wondering why I continue harping on this man Lee Kuan Yew, you know the reason why.
Yes, this is an exiting time. Perhaps I will set foot in Singapore again after all, and it may not even be too long away (the reader would know that Singapore has prohibited me from entering the country). If and when that happens, the wise adage that the pen is mightier than the sword would be proven once again.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Monday, December 26, 2011
Singapore. What Lee Kuan Yew needs to remain in control is Big Brother
Ladies and Gentlemen,
George Orwell in his celebrated book 1984 created Big Brother, an ingenious means by which a ruling party can in effect remain in power eternally. I am surprised Lee Kuan Yew in his eagerness to continue his grip over his people, alive or dead, never thought of creating such a system.
Orwell's Big Bother is not a man, it is a concept, an imaginary power like a God who remains in control permanently, regardless of whether the living human dictator lives or dies. Big Brother will always rule, and he does this through his proxies (his ministers) who take their power from this imaginary Big Brother. People are told that Big Bother is in fact alive and watching you every minute, but noone has really seen him or knows for sure that this true.
Every good thing that ever happens to the country is attributed to Big Brother. For instance Big Brother is given credit for creating the aeroplane, even though many in fact know that planes existed even before the creation of the state. It really does not matter what is true or false, all that matters is what the state tells you. And what is most important, the government is always selected from members of Big Brother's party since no other party is allowed to exist anyway.
Big Bother like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, constantly rewrites history to make himself look good. This by the way continues to happen in Singapore. For instance, today's Singapore history books refer to Lee Kuan Yew as the father of Singapore which we know is by no means true. While at the same time, others who have made a real impact on Singapore's history such as JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan and Lim Chin Siong are carefully obliterated from all the books. If anything is said about them, it is only bad.
Since Lee Kuan Yew has placed his son as Prime Minister and I believe is having daily nightmares, given he is 89 and sickly, as to what the ungrateful Singaporeans will do to his son after he is dead, and will that also include tearing him apart literally limb by limb, would it not be a good idea for him to devise a scheme by which his family will continue in power in eternity, even after he is dead?
But I guess such a scheme is beyond even Lee Kuan Yew and his shenanigans.
It is a little too late now. If he wanted to create the Singaporean version of Big Brother, he should have done it decades ago. Today, with the Internet, Singaporeans are not only mocking him they are packing up and leaving in planeloads. Even if he tried, Singaporeans are not going to bother about the Singaporean Big Bother aka Lee Kuan Yew.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
George Orwell in his celebrated book 1984 created Big Brother, an ingenious means by which a ruling party can in effect remain in power eternally. I am surprised Lee Kuan Yew in his eagerness to continue his grip over his people, alive or dead, never thought of creating such a system.
Orwell's Big Bother is not a man, it is a concept, an imaginary power like a God who remains in control permanently, regardless of whether the living human dictator lives or dies. Big Brother will always rule, and he does this through his proxies (his ministers) who take their power from this imaginary Big Brother. People are told that Big Bother is in fact alive and watching you every minute, but noone has really seen him or knows for sure that this true.
Every good thing that ever happens to the country is attributed to Big Brother. For instance Big Brother is given credit for creating the aeroplane, even though many in fact know that planes existed even before the creation of the state. It really does not matter what is true or false, all that matters is what the state tells you. And what is most important, the government is always selected from members of Big Brother's party since no other party is allowed to exist anyway.
Big Bother like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, constantly rewrites history to make himself look good. This by the way continues to happen in Singapore. For instance, today's Singapore history books refer to Lee Kuan Yew as the father of Singapore which we know is by no means true. While at the same time, others who have made a real impact on Singapore's history such as JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan and Lim Chin Siong are carefully obliterated from all the books. If anything is said about them, it is only bad.
Since Lee Kuan Yew has placed his son as Prime Minister and I believe is having daily nightmares, given he is 89 and sickly, as to what the ungrateful Singaporeans will do to his son after he is dead, and will that also include tearing him apart literally limb by limb, would it not be a good idea for him to devise a scheme by which his family will continue in power in eternity, even after he is dead?
But I guess such a scheme is beyond even Lee Kuan Yew and his shenanigans.
It is a little too late now. If he wanted to create the Singaporean version of Big Brother, he should have done it decades ago. Today, with the Internet, Singaporeans are not only mocking him they are packing up and leaving in planeloads. Even if he tried, Singaporeans are not going to bother about the Singaporean Big Bother aka Lee Kuan Yew.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Singapore, North Korea and China, birds of a feather
Ladies and Gentlemen,
North Korea, Peoples Republic of China and Singapore all have state controlled newspapers, except in Singapore's case, there is also the Internet. All three are also one party states with a supreme ruler each, the Kim family in former, Communist Party chief in China and the Lee family in Singapore.
If given the chance many will escape Korea and China, as well as Singapore. But in Singapore, in the case of emigration, it's people stand at a distinct advantage.
Not many who are aware of their rights would want to live in such an island, a place where Lee pays himself $3.7 million in corruption leaving you helpless to question him; a place where the entire media is nothing but a propaganda sheet and where the law is, with his judges like Belinda Ang Saw Ean, anything he decides it should be to destroy political opposition. The control on society is the same in these 3 countries the difference lying only in it's extent of severity.
But the people of Singapore have 2 real advantages over these others, if they really want to leave. Firstly, because Lee Kuan Yew does not want it to be seen as controlling the freedom of movement of his people, he is unable to place any restrictions on his citizens leaving the country if they wish.
And for the same reason he allows the Internet to exist, except that you are liable to be arrested if you criticize, as in my case in Singapore.
Second, Singaporeans know English, the international language of today, thereby enabling them to leave for countries that welcome immigration such as Canada and Australia.
For North Koreans and the Chinese, their lack of English becomes a serious obstacle. And third, Singaporeans can easily obtain visas for almost any country, whereas for the Chinese and the few North Koreans who are lucky enough to travel, they can only get visas for equally repressive countries like them, such as Singapore.
It is this ease with which Singaporean citizens can leave their country which continues to hurt Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's plan to perpetuate his rule. If he could, I am sure he would prevent his best and brightest among his population, tiny as it already is, from leaving, but because of how he portrays his island as a free and international city, there is nothing he can do to stop massive migration and brain drain from his shores; why, because native Singaporeans know what the island really is.
I have not read any latest news about the state of native Singaporeans in Singapore but like global warming which continues to go up and will continue to do so, by the minute, and by the day, the numbers of educated and skilled Singaporeans still remaining in Singapore continues to decline steadily and progressively until there won't be any discerning self respecting native Singaporean left in the island.
And this decline is further helped by the increasingly aging population dying off by the day, and as a double or triple whammy, you have a fast disappearing birth rate which is already the lowest in the world.
I am not expecting Lee's state controlled newspapers to give us any bad news as is expectedly always the case in the few remaining one party state authoritarian countries of the world, but I would like to know what the present tally is.
At the rate of the planeloads of Chinese immigrants being brought in to Changi airport by the day, have the foreigners exceeded the native born population yet? What is the rate of emigration from it's shores? How many more native born Singaporean old people have died off lately? And how many children are born and whether are they all the children of foreigners?
Ladies and gentlemen, we are living in very exciting times in Singapore's case. Lee Kuan Yew is 89 years old and dying, if not today, tomorrow. You have almost a totally depleted local born population and almost every single one of them who have come in have done so for the ride.
When Lee dies there is going to be turmoil and upheaval, because he made sure that Singapore's politicians are all scholars and reluctant ones at that, just greenhorns with no other ability or experience other than to pass college exams, and who came in just for the money.
When Lee dies, I expect the investments to begin to flow outwards which would also mean the recent new immigrants would also begin a packing. You know, Singapore is so small a place, it would be impossible for Singapore to weather the storm.
I am dying (not literally, I am not 89, like Lee Kuan Yew) to see what would happen when Singapore's Big Brother goes, what calamity, what commotion, what upheaval? There is going to be some fireworks I can assure you that, both the harmless kind and the other nasty kind as well.
And by the way, where is Lee Kuan Yew anyway? I have not seen him for some time. Don't forget, it is the practice of these other one party state countries like North Korea not to announce their dictators have died, sometimes even for weeks and months. I am not suggesting anything, don't get me wrong. But then, where is Lee Kuan Yew anyway? I simply can't wait for the fun to begin. If all the leaders Lee has are men such Teo Chee Hean, Tin Pei Ling and that sort, we are truly in for some fun, that is, if you are only an observer from California, such as myself.
And to top it all, you have Mother Nature too on the side of freedom, making sure that the floods continue coming in on a daily basis, as if determined to make Orchard Road into Orchard Swimming pool without any further delay.
For one, I have just received information that Changi Beach has very little beach left, with the waterline at high water already up to the tree line near the road. Very soon Runway 02 would also be underwater requiring all pilots to receive certification in sea plane operations.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
North Korea, Peoples Republic of China and Singapore all have state controlled newspapers, except in Singapore's case, there is also the Internet. All three are also one party states with a supreme ruler each, the Kim family in former, Communist Party chief in China and the Lee family in Singapore.
If given the chance many will escape Korea and China, as well as Singapore. But in Singapore, in the case of emigration, it's people stand at a distinct advantage.
Not many who are aware of their rights would want to live in such an island, a place where Lee pays himself $3.7 million in corruption leaving you helpless to question him; a place where the entire media is nothing but a propaganda sheet and where the law is, with his judges like Belinda Ang Saw Ean, anything he decides it should be to destroy political opposition. The control on society is the same in these 3 countries the difference lying only in it's extent of severity.
But the people of Singapore have 2 real advantages over these others, if they really want to leave. Firstly, because Lee Kuan Yew does not want it to be seen as controlling the freedom of movement of his people, he is unable to place any restrictions on his citizens leaving the country if they wish.
And for the same reason he allows the Internet to exist, except that you are liable to be arrested if you criticize, as in my case in Singapore.
Second, Singaporeans know English, the international language of today, thereby enabling them to leave for countries that welcome immigration such as Canada and Australia.
For North Koreans and the Chinese, their lack of English becomes a serious obstacle. And third, Singaporeans can easily obtain visas for almost any country, whereas for the Chinese and the few North Koreans who are lucky enough to travel, they can only get visas for equally repressive countries like them, such as Singapore.
It is this ease with which Singaporean citizens can leave their country which continues to hurt Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's plan to perpetuate his rule. If he could, I am sure he would prevent his best and brightest among his population, tiny as it already is, from leaving, but because of how he portrays his island as a free and international city, there is nothing he can do to stop massive migration and brain drain from his shores; why, because native Singaporeans know what the island really is.
I have not read any latest news about the state of native Singaporeans in Singapore but like global warming which continues to go up and will continue to do so, by the minute, and by the day, the numbers of educated and skilled Singaporeans still remaining in Singapore continues to decline steadily and progressively until there won't be any discerning self respecting native Singaporean left in the island.
And this decline is further helped by the increasingly aging population dying off by the day, and as a double or triple whammy, you have a fast disappearing birth rate which is already the lowest in the world.
I am not expecting Lee's state controlled newspapers to give us any bad news as is expectedly always the case in the few remaining one party state authoritarian countries of the world, but I would like to know what the present tally is.
At the rate of the planeloads of Chinese immigrants being brought in to Changi airport by the day, have the foreigners exceeded the native born population yet? What is the rate of emigration from it's shores? How many more native born Singaporean old people have died off lately? And how many children are born and whether are they all the children of foreigners?
Ladies and gentlemen, we are living in very exciting times in Singapore's case. Lee Kuan Yew is 89 years old and dying, if not today, tomorrow. You have almost a totally depleted local born population and almost every single one of them who have come in have done so for the ride.
When Lee dies there is going to be turmoil and upheaval, because he made sure that Singapore's politicians are all scholars and reluctant ones at that, just greenhorns with no other ability or experience other than to pass college exams, and who came in just for the money.
When Lee dies, I expect the investments to begin to flow outwards which would also mean the recent new immigrants would also begin a packing. You know, Singapore is so small a place, it would be impossible for Singapore to weather the storm.
I am dying (not literally, I am not 89, like Lee Kuan Yew) to see what would happen when Singapore's Big Brother goes, what calamity, what commotion, what upheaval? There is going to be some fireworks I can assure you that, both the harmless kind and the other nasty kind as well.
And by the way, where is Lee Kuan Yew anyway? I have not seen him for some time. Don't forget, it is the practice of these other one party state countries like North Korea not to announce their dictators have died, sometimes even for weeks and months. I am not suggesting anything, don't get me wrong. But then, where is Lee Kuan Yew anyway? I simply can't wait for the fun to begin. If all the leaders Lee has are men such Teo Chee Hean, Tin Pei Ling and that sort, we are truly in for some fun, that is, if you are only an observer from California, such as myself.
And to top it all, you have Mother Nature too on the side of freedom, making sure that the floods continue coming in on a daily basis, as if determined to make Orchard Road into Orchard Swimming pool without any further delay.
For one, I have just received information that Changi Beach has very little beach left, with the waterline at high water already up to the tree line near the road. Very soon Runway 02 would also be underwater requiring all pilots to receive certification in sea plane operations.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Singapore. A letter from a former Singaporean presently serving with the US Army in Afghanistan
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The following is an Email I received last month from a serving soldier, US Army Afghanistan. It is both tragic and ironic that a young man such as this, from no fault of his own, a model citizen anywhere in the world, serving his country USA proudly in time of war, is actually a criminal under Singapore law, liable to arrest and imprisonment if he ever steps foot in Singapore for being a national service deserter.
A stupid law. A stupid country.
I have stated his name and his Email address as he wrote to me. He did not express any objections to that.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Dear Sir,
NS DEFAULTER/DESERTER
rsmayhall@yahoo.com
November 30, 2011 9:40 AM
I hated typing the above subject line.. It made my stomach curl. The reason being, that I type this email from Balkh, Afghanistan, where I am serving my fourth combat tour as a Non-Commissioned Officer of the United States Army. I am no coward and my eight years of service have far exceeded anything demanded of a typical NS term.
I am an American Citizen born on Singaporean soil; to an American father and a Singaporean mother. I moved to the US as a toddler, but returned to S'pore at the age of eight when my parents underwent a very messy separation. I am a child of two nations. Both great in there own ways, but now I find myself only accepted by one. My crime? I answered a call to war. 9/11 struck me deeply on an intensely personal level.
At age twenty, I left Singapore to enlist as an American Soldier. I have trained, travelled and fought alongside some of the toughest warriors imaginable, against an enemy that is tenacious, devious and virtually undetectable.
....yet part of me still misses the home I left behind. Woodsville Primary, St Gabriel's Secondary and Lasalle SIA are all a part of me. I can still taste the food and picture the sights. I miss the family and many friends I had to leave behind. My fate is doubly ironic as I was once a (very) minor TV celebrity, hosting a few "Kid's Central" series as a teenager. Apparently, they still air from time to time though I'd never again be permitted to return.
My voluntary military contract ends in Mar 2012 and I will be pursuing a BS in International Relations, an interest that was sparked during my service as a liaison to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I have every intention of continuing to serve my chosen country. My only regret is that I was forced to chose at all.
In short, Sir, I understand your anguish...because it is my own.
Respectfully,
Staff Sergeant Mayhall, Randall Scott
US Army, Balkh, Afghanistan
The following is an Email I received last month from a serving soldier, US Army Afghanistan. It is both tragic and ironic that a young man such as this, from no fault of his own, a model citizen anywhere in the world, serving his country USA proudly in time of war, is actually a criminal under Singapore law, liable to arrest and imprisonment if he ever steps foot in Singapore for being a national service deserter.
A stupid law. A stupid country.
I have stated his name and his Email address as he wrote to me. He did not express any objections to that.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Dear Sir,
NS DEFAULTER/DESERTER
rsmayhall@yahoo.com
November 30, 2011 9:40 AM
I hated typing the above subject line.. It made my stomach curl. The reason being, that I type this email from Balkh, Afghanistan, where I am serving my fourth combat tour as a Non-Commissioned Officer of the United States Army. I am no coward and my eight years of service have far exceeded anything demanded of a typical NS term.
I am an American Citizen born on Singaporean soil; to an American father and a Singaporean mother. I moved to the US as a toddler, but returned to S'pore at the age of eight when my parents underwent a very messy separation. I am a child of two nations. Both great in there own ways, but now I find myself only accepted by one. My crime? I answered a call to war. 9/11 struck me deeply on an intensely personal level.
At age twenty, I left Singapore to enlist as an American Soldier. I have trained, travelled and fought alongside some of the toughest warriors imaginable, against an enemy that is tenacious, devious and virtually undetectable.
....yet part of me still misses the home I left behind. Woodsville Primary, St Gabriel's Secondary and Lasalle SIA are all a part of me. I can still taste the food and picture the sights. I miss the family and many friends I had to leave behind. My fate is doubly ironic as I was once a (very) minor TV celebrity, hosting a few "Kid's Central" series as a teenager. Apparently, they still air from time to time though I'd never again be permitted to return.
My voluntary military contract ends in Mar 2012 and I will be pursuing a BS in International Relations, an interest that was sparked during my service as a liaison to the US Embassy in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. I have every intention of continuing to serve my chosen country. My only regret is that I was forced to chose at all.
In short, Sir, I understand your anguish...because it is my own.
Respectfully,
Staff Sergeant Mayhall, Randall Scott
US Army, Balkh, Afghanistan
Singapore. An Email received from a reader
Dear Mr Nair,
I had just stumbled upon your blog yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed your posts.
The very last post I read, the one on An Unsingaporean Gopalan Nair, struck a very strong cord with me.
I am just a very insignificant Singaporean, with no great accomplishments to date. But yet, my little insights into the workings of education and housing ministries through the course of my work has left me with great bewilderment at the lack of compassion and lack of real depth of experience amongst our political leaders and policy makers. Sometimes, the solutions are apparent and they pretend they don't know because politically, it is not preferred. Other times, They don't even bother to brainstorm for solutions because they will just follow the precedent set earlier.
Being an earnest and fair-minded person, this has caused me much internal distress. From many moons past, as early as 1998 when I first returned to Singapore after my UK education, I have never gotten used to life in Singapore and the way the groupthink and adult Singaporeans ignore everything else except making money.
Seeking to engage anyone in talking about policies or politics would lead to icy stares and silence.
My own observations of what is happening around us and the need to be concerned has led to my family members chastising me on thinking about abandoning my motherland. All is not rosy abroad, they would remind me.
How I wish I could be the obedient girl that they so wish me to be. But try as I might, my mind refuses to be dumb and I am suffering because if it.
Married to one whom migration is an impossibilty and facing daily struggles to bring up my children, coupled with being a civil servant in name but not at heart, I am very much stuck where I am.
Nevertheless, the purpose of this letter is to tell you that you are not Unsingaporean. You are a true blue son of Singapore, just like those of the Fajar generation in the 50s.
We have sacrificed everything on the altar of economic success. But what you have been advocating is so true. Freedom of speech, an independent judiciary etc. To cite an example, the newspapers recently reported that a man who was unable to pay his rental arrears was locked in his flat as the officers believed the flat was empty. I can tell you that I know why it could have happened, being once their staff. But if I do talk, you can be sure that I will end up in a most pathetic state.
Yet the likes of Ms Tin Pei Ling, who may not be better than me intellectually, academically or in terms of capability are drawing a salary 3 times mine, just by being in the right camp and with the right connections.
I struggle on the periphery, not knowing how to shut up and listen, which I was told is my greatest weakness, but which I believe without which, I would lose myself.
Truly, we were meant to be the lighthouse of the east, but by not developing and helping indigenous Singaporeans take their place in society, we have robbed the sons and daughters of Singapore of their birthright.
Our pioneers would have sacrificed in vain to build a future for their posterity. If, knowing that the state of Singapore would be run like a dictatorship in 200 years, they would have set sail for another destination, not to Sir Stamford Raffles' British Colony which was supposed to be a land of opportunities.
When I think of my future in a Johor nursing home, my heart sinks. When I see trains, malls, parks swamped with Chinese immigrants, I feel displaced. I tear when I think of how much my parents sacrificed to bring me up, hoping and believing that I would have a chance to do well with a degree. But alas, I can't even provide for them as I have a small family to feed and I don't earn enough. If they get sick, our miserly medisave will be insufficient.
When we sell our flats, much of the profit gets put back in the CPF ad lost interest and CPF used. They take the cash component and convert it to CPF interest which would have accrued if we had not bought a flat.
Please keep writing, for perhaps enough true blue Singaporeans can live to tell the tale to those who love their country, those who have a shared history of once being a citizen of this former British Colony and had hoped to make it a brilliant country. Don't languish in jail, like some, who never get to tell the tale.
Be truthful, not vindictive, and I am sure the purpose with which you started your blog will be even more crystal clear as time passes.
best regards,
Miss L (35 years old)
(p.s. Appreciate it if you do not publish my letter with my real name as I can't afford to lose my job :( )
I had just stumbled upon your blog yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed your posts.
The very last post I read, the one on An Unsingaporean Gopalan Nair, struck a very strong cord with me.
I am just a very insignificant Singaporean, with no great accomplishments to date. But yet, my little insights into the workings of education and housing ministries through the course of my work has left me with great bewilderment at the lack of compassion and lack of real depth of experience amongst our political leaders and policy makers. Sometimes, the solutions are apparent and they pretend they don't know because politically, it is not preferred. Other times, They don't even bother to brainstorm for solutions because they will just follow the precedent set earlier.
Being an earnest and fair-minded person, this has caused me much internal distress. From many moons past, as early as 1998 when I first returned to Singapore after my UK education, I have never gotten used to life in Singapore and the way the groupthink and adult Singaporeans ignore everything else except making money.
Seeking to engage anyone in talking about policies or politics would lead to icy stares and silence.
My own observations of what is happening around us and the need to be concerned has led to my family members chastising me on thinking about abandoning my motherland. All is not rosy abroad, they would remind me.
How I wish I could be the obedient girl that they so wish me to be. But try as I might, my mind refuses to be dumb and I am suffering because if it.
Married to one whom migration is an impossibilty and facing daily struggles to bring up my children, coupled with being a civil servant in name but not at heart, I am very much stuck where I am.
Nevertheless, the purpose of this letter is to tell you that you are not Unsingaporean. You are a true blue son of Singapore, just like those of the Fajar generation in the 50s.
We have sacrificed everything on the altar of economic success. But what you have been advocating is so true. Freedom of speech, an independent judiciary etc. To cite an example, the newspapers recently reported that a man who was unable to pay his rental arrears was locked in his flat as the officers believed the flat was empty. I can tell you that I know why it could have happened, being once their staff. But if I do talk, you can be sure that I will end up in a most pathetic state.
Yet the likes of Ms Tin Pei Ling, who may not be better than me intellectually, academically or in terms of capability are drawing a salary 3 times mine, just by being in the right camp and with the right connections.
I struggle on the periphery, not knowing how to shut up and listen, which I was told is my greatest weakness, but which I believe without which, I would lose myself.
Truly, we were meant to be the lighthouse of the east, but by not developing and helping indigenous Singaporeans take their place in society, we have robbed the sons and daughters of Singapore of their birthright.
Our pioneers would have sacrificed in vain to build a future for their posterity. If, knowing that the state of Singapore would be run like a dictatorship in 200 years, they would have set sail for another destination, not to Sir Stamford Raffles' British Colony which was supposed to be a land of opportunities.
When I think of my future in a Johor nursing home, my heart sinks. When I see trains, malls, parks swamped with Chinese immigrants, I feel displaced. I tear when I think of how much my parents sacrificed to bring me up, hoping and believing that I would have a chance to do well with a degree. But alas, I can't even provide for them as I have a small family to feed and I don't earn enough. If they get sick, our miserly medisave will be insufficient.
When we sell our flats, much of the profit gets put back in the CPF ad lost interest and CPF used. They take the cash component and convert it to CPF interest which would have accrued if we had not bought a flat.
Please keep writing, for perhaps enough true blue Singaporeans can live to tell the tale to those who love their country, those who have a shared history of once being a citizen of this former British Colony and had hoped to make it a brilliant country. Don't languish in jail, like some, who never get to tell the tale.
Be truthful, not vindictive, and I am sure the purpose with which you started your blog will be even more crystal clear as time passes.
best regards,
Miss L (35 years old)
(p.s. Appreciate it if you do not publish my letter with my real name as I can't afford to lose my job :( )
Singapore. A climate change disaster
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I read today of Singapore's flooding once again. Several parts of Singapore were up to 1 feet underwater after rain including the prime shopping area of Orchard Road. It has already become an occurrence that happens almost every other day, if not daily. A few days ago, Singapore's state controlled newspapers reported of a new policy, which is just simply idiotic nonsense, not surprisingly, requiring new construction of buildings and beaches filled as land fills to be built a few inches higher.
This is Singapore's idiocy at it's highest. To put it in plain language, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew knows that this time, even if Singaporeans have not done so, Mother Nature has got him by the neck.
You don't have to be a climate scientist to hear what I am about to say. And I am not one anyway.
With higher atmospheric temperature sea water level rises. And in a small island like Singapore which is not more than a few inches above sea level, this is a problem. A 10 year old by will tell you that.
Then there are tidal currents in the sea. When the Moon is aligned above Singapore, which it circles twice a day, gravitational pull of the Moon causes high tide, twice daily. Sometimes there are days when both the Sun and Moon are in line, then gravitational pull becomes even stronger, which means very high tides.
And since there are 2 high tides everyday, there is even the possibility of flooding twice a day, if it so happens that rain coincides with the tide.
Coming back to atmospheric temperature rises, higher temperature means the atmosphere has greater capacity to hold water vapour. So when it rains, it rains even harder, cats and dogs metaphorically speaking. In Singapore it is so hot and so humid that whenever it rains, it as if several Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls are by private agreement, all at once dumping the water over Singapore. Nowhere in the world does it rain so hard like it does in Singapore.
Each time there is high tide, and with rising sea level, the water from the sea rushes up the canals surrounding Singapore inland. With simultaneous massive waterfalls of rain, the rain water cannot be discharged. This is what causes floods. And as each day passes, sea level continues to rise not decline, the atmosphere continues to heat up higher and higher and the intensity of the rainfall continues to increase, more and more. It is a problem which is intensifying day by day and there is nothing, simply nothing that Lee Kuan Yew or anyone in the world can do.
Water in the volumes that pour down on Singapore simply cannot be displaced. You cannot keep it in an underground reservoir. You cannot hold it in an overheat tank. You cannot export it. You cannot send it out to sea. The volume is simply too large. Simply put, there is nothing you can do. When it comes, it will stay, and there is no 2 ways about it.
Coming to the stupidity that this man puts out to us, let us examine it. He says he is going to build on higher ground. But that only means that the water would rush to lower ground which would be flooded even worse. He says beach landfills would now be higher. But is that going to solve the problem of extensive low lying areas of Singapore which continue to be hit, and with his plan hit even worse?
Downtown Singapore and the Orchard Road Area are simply far too low in height and psychics simply tells us that water will find the lowest ground. Unless you demolish all the buildings in the Orchard Road Area and all the business high rise buildings in Raffles Place, relocate the entire population of Singapore and through landfill raise the entire island of Singapore about 5 feet and then rebuild once again, you are simply not going to solve the problem.
Mother Nature has got Lee Kuan Yew this time. All we have to do is to wait. As for me, I have no answers. There is no one in the world with answers. Vanuatu in the Pacific is sinking. The Maldives in the Indian Ocean is sinking. And now Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore is also sinking.
Finally this problem is not something which would have happened if we had democracy, because in democracies alternative views would have told you decades ago that the tyrant has got it wrong again, as all tyrants do always.
I am afraid the Titanic is sinking. If there are life boats left, board them. That is your only hope. Rearranging the proverbial deckchairs now is not going to do you any good.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
I read today of Singapore's flooding once again. Several parts of Singapore were up to 1 feet underwater after rain including the prime shopping area of Orchard Road. It has already become an occurrence that happens almost every other day, if not daily. A few days ago, Singapore's state controlled newspapers reported of a new policy, which is just simply idiotic nonsense, not surprisingly, requiring new construction of buildings and beaches filled as land fills to be built a few inches higher.
This is Singapore's idiocy at it's highest. To put it in plain language, Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew knows that this time, even if Singaporeans have not done so, Mother Nature has got him by the neck.
You don't have to be a climate scientist to hear what I am about to say. And I am not one anyway.
With higher atmospheric temperature sea water level rises. And in a small island like Singapore which is not more than a few inches above sea level, this is a problem. A 10 year old by will tell you that.
Then there are tidal currents in the sea. When the Moon is aligned above Singapore, which it circles twice a day, gravitational pull of the Moon causes high tide, twice daily. Sometimes there are days when both the Sun and Moon are in line, then gravitational pull becomes even stronger, which means very high tides.
And since there are 2 high tides everyday, there is even the possibility of flooding twice a day, if it so happens that rain coincides with the tide.
Coming back to atmospheric temperature rises, higher temperature means the atmosphere has greater capacity to hold water vapour. So when it rains, it rains even harder, cats and dogs metaphorically speaking. In Singapore it is so hot and so humid that whenever it rains, it as if several Niagara Falls or Victoria Falls are by private agreement, all at once dumping the water over Singapore. Nowhere in the world does it rain so hard like it does in Singapore.
Each time there is high tide, and with rising sea level, the water from the sea rushes up the canals surrounding Singapore inland. With simultaneous massive waterfalls of rain, the rain water cannot be discharged. This is what causes floods. And as each day passes, sea level continues to rise not decline, the atmosphere continues to heat up higher and higher and the intensity of the rainfall continues to increase, more and more. It is a problem which is intensifying day by day and there is nothing, simply nothing that Lee Kuan Yew or anyone in the world can do.
Water in the volumes that pour down on Singapore simply cannot be displaced. You cannot keep it in an underground reservoir. You cannot hold it in an overheat tank. You cannot export it. You cannot send it out to sea. The volume is simply too large. Simply put, there is nothing you can do. When it comes, it will stay, and there is no 2 ways about it.
Coming to the stupidity that this man puts out to us, let us examine it. He says he is going to build on higher ground. But that only means that the water would rush to lower ground which would be flooded even worse. He says beach landfills would now be higher. But is that going to solve the problem of extensive low lying areas of Singapore which continue to be hit, and with his plan hit even worse?
Downtown Singapore and the Orchard Road Area are simply far too low in height and psychics simply tells us that water will find the lowest ground. Unless you demolish all the buildings in the Orchard Road Area and all the business high rise buildings in Raffles Place, relocate the entire population of Singapore and through landfill raise the entire island of Singapore about 5 feet and then rebuild once again, you are simply not going to solve the problem.
Mother Nature has got Lee Kuan Yew this time. All we have to do is to wait. As for me, I have no answers. There is no one in the world with answers. Vanuatu in the Pacific is sinking. The Maldives in the Indian Ocean is sinking. And now Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore is also sinking.
Finally this problem is not something which would have happened if we had democracy, because in democracies alternative views would have told you decades ago that the tyrant has got it wrong again, as all tyrants do always.
I am afraid the Titanic is sinking. If there are life boats left, board them. That is your only hope. Rearranging the proverbial deckchairs now is not going to do you any good.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Singapore. What is 89 year old Lee Kuan Yew doing for his $3.7 million "salary"
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In any other country that has laws, government ministers like anyone else may get a pension if anything upon retirement, and it is not supposed to be $3.7 million a year at any rate. In Singapore, it is not just a case of the government's open corruption in siphoning off state funds, which in any other country would have rendered them liable to arrest and a long term of imprisonment in light of the huge sums involved; they not only steal it while in office but continue stealing it while retired; which is what 89 year old Lee Kuan Yew is doing!
About a decade ago, he stepped down from his office of Prime Minister and handed it to his son, which meant that in any other country he is supposed to retire. Instead of that, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's strongman, plucks out a position out of thin air, calling it Minister Mentor and appointing himself in that, and continues stealing $3.7 million a year for this post which he created himself!
Nowhere in the world is there such an idiotically sounding position as Minister Mentor, let alone a case where it justifies $3.7 million a year, in an island where 1/3 of the people are living at or below the starvation line and daily 2 people commit suicide without fail, by jumping out of their empty high rise apartments, because they have nothing to eat!
Although paying himself and every one of his ministers $3.7 million while he was in office is already a crime, it is an even greater crime taking that money after he is retired, which he is now.
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew today is not only of no use to anyone, being 89 years of age, and spending most of his time in an out of hospital, he is an fact a huge embarrassment. An embarrassment because he is considered by everyone else except by his minions and cronies in Singapore not only as a thief but also as politician who had lacked that wisdom and foresight to understand that leaving Singapore, which he will do by kicking the bucket sooner than later given his age and health, in it's completely helpless situation without a clear system for change of leadership, is a clear heading for disaster. The way it is now, with all power concentrated in one man, himself, and noone else even daring a squeak, Iraq and Afghanistan today would be seen as peaceful and calm as Lake Placid not far from here, compared to Singapore.
An astute leader with even a rudimentary understanding of human nature would have known that merely building skyscrapers and bringing in hordes of foreigners and millionaire bank thieves from Indonesia would not ensure a smooth transition of leadership in a change of government. A legal system has to be in place where alternative leaders smoothly and seamlessly step into the shoes of the government which continues without upheaval and calamity.
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew who continues to steal several millions of taxpayers money year after year and calling it a salary is not only a thief, he is also completely lacking in the knowledge of what it takes for peaceful political transition in government.
Unless the people of Singapore can manage to stop this ongoing theft before our very eyes, and do something to bring about a smooth transition of government this very minute, I fear not only that the people's coffers will suffer a serious financial loss, if not already, and with this old sick tyrant's death any minute now, you are going to have island wide upheaval and unrest, which would mean that Singapore as it is today is no more. My only hope is that the interregnum of chaos and upheaval which is inevitable would not also see bloodshed. I am as you know against violence but I fear the worst. Only time will tell.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
In any other country that has laws, government ministers like anyone else may get a pension if anything upon retirement, and it is not supposed to be $3.7 million a year at any rate. In Singapore, it is not just a case of the government's open corruption in siphoning off state funds, which in any other country would have rendered them liable to arrest and a long term of imprisonment in light of the huge sums involved; they not only steal it while in office but continue stealing it while retired; which is what 89 year old Lee Kuan Yew is doing!
About a decade ago, he stepped down from his office of Prime Minister and handed it to his son, which meant that in any other country he is supposed to retire. Instead of that, Lee Kuan Yew, Singapore's strongman, plucks out a position out of thin air, calling it Minister Mentor and appointing himself in that, and continues stealing $3.7 million a year for this post which he created himself!
Nowhere in the world is there such an idiotically sounding position as Minister Mentor, let alone a case where it justifies $3.7 million a year, in an island where 1/3 of the people are living at or below the starvation line and daily 2 people commit suicide without fail, by jumping out of their empty high rise apartments, because they have nothing to eat!
Although paying himself and every one of his ministers $3.7 million while he was in office is already a crime, it is an even greater crime taking that money after he is retired, which he is now.
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew today is not only of no use to anyone, being 89 years of age, and spending most of his time in an out of hospital, he is an fact a huge embarrassment. An embarrassment because he is considered by everyone else except by his minions and cronies in Singapore not only as a thief but also as politician who had lacked that wisdom and foresight to understand that leaving Singapore, which he will do by kicking the bucket sooner than later given his age and health, in it's completely helpless situation without a clear system for change of leadership, is a clear heading for disaster. The way it is now, with all power concentrated in one man, himself, and noone else even daring a squeak, Iraq and Afghanistan today would be seen as peaceful and calm as Lake Placid not far from here, compared to Singapore.
An astute leader with even a rudimentary understanding of human nature would have known that merely building skyscrapers and bringing in hordes of foreigners and millionaire bank thieves from Indonesia would not ensure a smooth transition of leadership in a change of government. A legal system has to be in place where alternative leaders smoothly and seamlessly step into the shoes of the government which continues without upheaval and calamity.
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew who continues to steal several millions of taxpayers money year after year and calling it a salary is not only a thief, he is also completely lacking in the knowledge of what it takes for peaceful political transition in government.
Unless the people of Singapore can manage to stop this ongoing theft before our very eyes, and do something to bring about a smooth transition of government this very minute, I fear not only that the people's coffers will suffer a serious financial loss, if not already, and with this old sick tyrant's death any minute now, you are going to have island wide upheaval and unrest, which would mean that Singapore as it is today is no more. My only hope is that the interregnum of chaos and upheaval which is inevitable would not also see bloodshed. I am as you know against violence but I fear the worst. Only time will tell.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Singapore. Desperate Singaporeans turn to violence. The caged animal syndrome
Ladies and Gentlemen,
One thing that appears to become alarmingly common in Singapore; unprovoked and unpredictable violence on the increase. Sometime ago, Singaporeans read of one disgruntled citizen, I remember his name as Mr. Yeo, who suddenly went up to his Member of Parliament at a Meet the People Session holding a can of paint thinner or gasoline I am not sure which, deliberately doused him with it, and set him alight, all in plain sight of hundreds of others who were there!
That MP suffered third degree burns and is permanently crippled as a result. He was lucky even to be alive.
A few days ago, I had read of another Singaporean who deliberately rammed his car into a number of police cars, was promptly arrested and jailed.
Several other citizens have sent threatening letters to their Members of Parliament threatening to kill them, all of them having been since arrested and jailed.
Today, the Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition has a story of a taxi driver who deliberately rammed his taxi into a number of other Comfort Delgado taxis and was duly arrested. He too will spend time in jail.
Also today, MP Seng Han Tong made an apology of sorts for publicly stating on a video that the nationwide train breakdown that just happened and the total breakdown of communication to get things right was because Malays and Indians who drove the trains did not speak good English. Seng on the other hand is an ethnic Chinese. But he fails to realize that his English was no better and from my observation, was worse than anyone's I ever met! Hardly intelligible even as English!(MP Seng Han Thong apologizes for SMRT staff comment, Straits Times, Dec 22, 2011). I am sure this has angered so many Indians and Malays that one should not be surprised if someone among them went straight to the nearest Lee Kuan Yew Member of Parliament tomorrow and gave him a real bashing.
Surely any reader can appreciate that this sort of unprovoked spontaneous violence among Singaporeans is similar to the behaviour of caged animals, who you would sometimes see trying to tear down the walls or bars of their cage, or crying out or roaring incessantly. It is obvious they do this because they are so desperate and hopeless in their cages that they react in this sort of unprovoked spontaneous violence in their hopelessness and desperation to get out.
This is what Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew fails to understand. If you deny human beings any resort to redress their grievance, they too, like the caged animals at some point, become desperate and hopeless and in their desperation, they lash out any way they can.
Singaporeans as the reader should be very well aware, live no better than caged animals in this sense. They live totally at the mercy of the Lee government and have no means of seeking redress for grievances.
For instance, the Singapore government, in their almighty powers can raise the HDB apartment rents anytime they want regardless of what the people think.
They can increase taxi rental charges and anytime they want regardless of how many lose their livelihoods and families and children suffer.
The courts can send anyone to prison for any amount of time which you cannot question.
The government can racially discriminate against any Malay or Indian which they do daily which again is unassailable.
In other words, you live entirely at the mercy of Lee Kuan Yew and his friends at the top who wield almighty powers over you, leaving you powerless, voiceless, disenfranchised, a piece of garbage, no better than a caged animal.
I am no psychologist but I believe that when man is pushed to the wall this way, they reach a point when they retaliate in unpredictable and sometimes violent ways. Which is what is happening to the average Singaporean, which it appears million dollar man Lee Kuan Yew and his friends do not appear to know.
In Western countries people are given rights and the means to challenge authority when they feel their rights are trammelled upon. This gives them a sense of security and peace of mind, because they know that the moment they are trodden upon by anyone, they have a grievance procedure in place to put the offender in his place. Singapore does not have this. It is a place where each and every one lives under license of Lee Kuan Yew and his friends. This is not the human way. It is the caged animal way, for want of a better description.
As time progresses, since Lee Kuan Yew is determined to think he is God himself, you are going to see more Mr. Yeos pouring gasoline over arrogant Members of Parliament, and bashing police cars for no rime or reason. They have begun to behave like caged animals, hopeless and desperate.
By the way Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party is a psychologist. The reader could write to him on my prognosis, that of a layman which I am.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
One thing that appears to become alarmingly common in Singapore; unprovoked and unpredictable violence on the increase. Sometime ago, Singaporeans read of one disgruntled citizen, I remember his name as Mr. Yeo, who suddenly went up to his Member of Parliament at a Meet the People Session holding a can of paint thinner or gasoline I am not sure which, deliberately doused him with it, and set him alight, all in plain sight of hundreds of others who were there!
That MP suffered third degree burns and is permanently crippled as a result. He was lucky even to be alive.
A few days ago, I had read of another Singaporean who deliberately rammed his car into a number of police cars, was promptly arrested and jailed.
Several other citizens have sent threatening letters to their Members of Parliament threatening to kill them, all of them having been since arrested and jailed.
Today, the Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition has a story of a taxi driver who deliberately rammed his taxi into a number of other Comfort Delgado taxis and was duly arrested. He too will spend time in jail.
Also today, MP Seng Han Tong made an apology of sorts for publicly stating on a video that the nationwide train breakdown that just happened and the total breakdown of communication to get things right was because Malays and Indians who drove the trains did not speak good English. Seng on the other hand is an ethnic Chinese. But he fails to realize that his English was no better and from my observation, was worse than anyone's I ever met! Hardly intelligible even as English!(MP Seng Han Thong apologizes for SMRT staff comment, Straits Times, Dec 22, 2011). I am sure this has angered so many Indians and Malays that one should not be surprised if someone among them went straight to the nearest Lee Kuan Yew Member of Parliament tomorrow and gave him a real bashing.
Surely any reader can appreciate that this sort of unprovoked spontaneous violence among Singaporeans is similar to the behaviour of caged animals, who you would sometimes see trying to tear down the walls or bars of their cage, or crying out or roaring incessantly. It is obvious they do this because they are so desperate and hopeless in their cages that they react in this sort of unprovoked spontaneous violence in their hopelessness and desperation to get out.
This is what Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew fails to understand. If you deny human beings any resort to redress their grievance, they too, like the caged animals at some point, become desperate and hopeless and in their desperation, they lash out any way they can.
Singaporeans as the reader should be very well aware, live no better than caged animals in this sense. They live totally at the mercy of the Lee government and have no means of seeking redress for grievances.
For instance, the Singapore government, in their almighty powers can raise the HDB apartment rents anytime they want regardless of what the people think.
They can increase taxi rental charges and anytime they want regardless of how many lose their livelihoods and families and children suffer.
The courts can send anyone to prison for any amount of time which you cannot question.
The government can racially discriminate against any Malay or Indian which they do daily which again is unassailable.
In other words, you live entirely at the mercy of Lee Kuan Yew and his friends at the top who wield almighty powers over you, leaving you powerless, voiceless, disenfranchised, a piece of garbage, no better than a caged animal.
I am no psychologist but I believe that when man is pushed to the wall this way, they reach a point when they retaliate in unpredictable and sometimes violent ways. Which is what is happening to the average Singaporean, which it appears million dollar man Lee Kuan Yew and his friends do not appear to know.
In Western countries people are given rights and the means to challenge authority when they feel their rights are trammelled upon. This gives them a sense of security and peace of mind, because they know that the moment they are trodden upon by anyone, they have a grievance procedure in place to put the offender in his place. Singapore does not have this. It is a place where each and every one lives under license of Lee Kuan Yew and his friends. This is not the human way. It is the caged animal way, for want of a better description.
As time progresses, since Lee Kuan Yew is determined to think he is God himself, you are going to see more Mr. Yeos pouring gasoline over arrogant Members of Parliament, and bashing police cars for no rime or reason. They have begun to behave like caged animals, hopeless and desperate.
By the way Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore Democratic Party is a psychologist. The reader could write to him on my prognosis, that of a layman which I am.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore, imprisoned and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary in this blog (see blogpost May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court)
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
The Singapore model
Ladies and Gentlemen,
World over governments wanting to stay in power through repression now have a new model to follow, "The Singapore model" which roughly goes as follows:
"Claim you have a free press but control the newspapers completely; claim you have the rule of law while making sure judges comply with government orders; claim you have human rights but deny your citizens any; claim you have freedom of speech but sue, bankrupt and imprison anyone who dares to criticize; claim you have freedom of protest and assembly but arrest and jail anyone who publicly assembles or protests; claim you have equality before the law but give special privileges to some but not others; claim all races are equal but Chinese are more equal than others" Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore Model
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
World over governments wanting to stay in power through repression now have a new model to follow, "The Singapore model" which roughly goes as follows:
"Claim you have a free press but control the newspapers completely; claim you have the rule of law while making sure judges comply with government orders; claim you have human rights but deny your citizens any; claim you have freedom of speech but sue, bankrupt and imprison anyone who dares to criticize; claim you have freedom of protest and assembly but arrest and jail anyone who publicly assembles or protests; claim you have equality before the law but give special privileges to some but not others; claim all races are equal but Chinese are more equal than others" Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore Model
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Singapore. Double lives.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The amazing dexterity of Singaporeans to live double lives is unparalleled. Many Singaporeans are upset about the repressive laws in the island; the lack of a free press, the lack of human rights or the inability to organize protests upset many.
They are bitter about being completely helpless, at the total mercy of the Lee Kuan Yew family that run the island. Yet up till now, there is hardly anyone who has publicly stood up to complain, to protest or to scream to high Heaven demanding justice, except of course Chee Soon Juan who has paid dearly for his actions.
The other Singaporeans (other than Chee Soon Juan) all live their double lives, publicly pretending that all is well, out of fear or opportunity serving Lee Kuan Yew, but inside bursting for justice and change.
You have a judicial system without jury trials and with judges appointed by the government, hand-picked for their willingness to be compliant.
As a victim of a judicial decision which is clearly unjust, in any other country, if all else fails, you can at least show your displeasure by standing outside the court with a placard reading "Unfair". It may not be much but at least you are allowed that.
But in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore even that is disallowed because even a single peaceful protester is liable to arrest and imprisonment under his law, even though you have not even harmed a fly.
Although a Singapore judge clearly and publicly abuses the law, any criticism also renders you liable to arrest and imprisonment. In Lee's island you respect the judge no matter what, even if they openly punish you for nothing.
On a daily basis every single government agency abuses their rules to prefer the Chinese over others, government cronies over others, Chinese students over others with total impunity. You face the same injustice in jobs, careers and opportunities, all denied you but given to the select few. Yet the poor victim is left with no recourse whatsoever. Any legal action against the government is bound to fail without more not to mention being prohibitively expensive because Lee and his friends always win in Lee's Singapore.
In any other country he could have turned to the newspapers to tell his story but not in Singapore because all newspapers are state controlled. They are under specific orders not to write anything averse to the government or which shows them in bad light.
In the end poor victim is completely powerless. Government agencies discriminate against him, the courts deny him justice, the newspapers deny him publicity and he is even prevented from telling the world of the injustice by arresting him under the Public Order Act if he just stood at a street corner completely peacefully holding a small harmless placard!
Living in Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew is to wake up everyday and realize there is nothing you can do about anything. You have no choice but to simply accept anything dished out at you, right or wrong, because Lee Kuan Yew is in every sense boss and you are his slave. In his perverted way of thinking, you should consider yourself lucky as you are not in Zimbabwe.
Frankly I am surprised that up till now Singaporeans have accepted this disgraceful life of a slave. But I don't think this calm is going to last much longer.
Singaporeans have an advantage over others. They can travel wherever they want, and Lee is unable to lock them up in their island as are North Koreans.
Passports are readily available, young Singaporeans unlike unlike in other repressive countries, are able to travel abroad as and when they please and observe alternative lifestyles and thinking; the Singapore passport being welcome almost anywhere.
They can see the Occupy Wall street protesters and protesters elsewhere. They can see there is nothing morally wrong with it, although Lee Kuan Yew, for his own personal benefit may declare this illegal. One becomes wiser through observation. No matter what laws Lee continues to enact which he does at will, when common sense tells you that some thing is not a crime, even a million legal enactments will not make it so.
Many young Singaporeans are constrained from publicly protesting because their parents are beholden to Lee Kuan Yew and therefore they fear, protests by their children would harm their careers.
Even though this may be true in many cases, you cannot deny that there are 5 million Singaporeans out of which about a half of them are native born. Even if the foreigners and recent immigrants could care less about these things as long as they make a buck, the native born or at least some of them would see the need to rebel and would sooner or later publicly demand change.
Although there is the Speakers Corner in a area where there are hardly any passers by, which is legal for peaceful protest, no one in their right mind would even consider using it for protests because firstly it is at a location which no one takes any notice, and secondly, if you had an issue with Lee Kuan Yew who lives at Oxley Road, it makes no sense to stand 10 miles away at Speakers Corner to complain.
Protests are going to happen sooner if not later, I am sure, and when that happens Lee Kuan Yew is in a very dangerous position. Singapore is one of the most crowded places in the world and a protest anywhere is likely to create more protests throughout the island, since every single action you take is observed by a thousand other people that instant. And the island being so tiny, news of it would spread across its length and breath in half an hour.
Lee Kuan Yew knows the grave danger his government faces in the face of protests which is why, only a year ago, he passed an amendment to the Public Order Act which makes even a single peaceful protester liable to arrest. That fact alone tells me that Lee Kuan Yew has a mortal visceral fear of it, which he knows would be his end, because he has laws in the island which do not stand up to muster, either moral or common sense.
For the moment Singaporeans live their double chameleon lives, but looking at them and the way they are, educated and well travelled, I don't think they would continue this way for much longer. So Lee better brace up. His time of running the island his merry way may be up sooner than later.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
The amazing dexterity of Singaporeans to live double lives is unparalleled. Many Singaporeans are upset about the repressive laws in the island; the lack of a free press, the lack of human rights or the inability to organize protests upset many.
They are bitter about being completely helpless, at the total mercy of the Lee Kuan Yew family that run the island. Yet up till now, there is hardly anyone who has publicly stood up to complain, to protest or to scream to high Heaven demanding justice, except of course Chee Soon Juan who has paid dearly for his actions.
The other Singaporeans (other than Chee Soon Juan) all live their double lives, publicly pretending that all is well, out of fear or opportunity serving Lee Kuan Yew, but inside bursting for justice and change.
You have a judicial system without jury trials and with judges appointed by the government, hand-picked for their willingness to be compliant.
As a victim of a judicial decision which is clearly unjust, in any other country, if all else fails, you can at least show your displeasure by standing outside the court with a placard reading "Unfair". It may not be much but at least you are allowed that.
But in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore even that is disallowed because even a single peaceful protester is liable to arrest and imprisonment under his law, even though you have not even harmed a fly.
Although a Singapore judge clearly and publicly abuses the law, any criticism also renders you liable to arrest and imprisonment. In Lee's island you respect the judge no matter what, even if they openly punish you for nothing.
On a daily basis every single government agency abuses their rules to prefer the Chinese over others, government cronies over others, Chinese students over others with total impunity. You face the same injustice in jobs, careers and opportunities, all denied you but given to the select few. Yet the poor victim is left with no recourse whatsoever. Any legal action against the government is bound to fail without more not to mention being prohibitively expensive because Lee and his friends always win in Lee's Singapore.
In any other country he could have turned to the newspapers to tell his story but not in Singapore because all newspapers are state controlled. They are under specific orders not to write anything averse to the government or which shows them in bad light.
In the end poor victim is completely powerless. Government agencies discriminate against him, the courts deny him justice, the newspapers deny him publicity and he is even prevented from telling the world of the injustice by arresting him under the Public Order Act if he just stood at a street corner completely peacefully holding a small harmless placard!
Living in Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew is to wake up everyday and realize there is nothing you can do about anything. You have no choice but to simply accept anything dished out at you, right or wrong, because Lee Kuan Yew is in every sense boss and you are his slave. In his perverted way of thinking, you should consider yourself lucky as you are not in Zimbabwe.
Frankly I am surprised that up till now Singaporeans have accepted this disgraceful life of a slave. But I don't think this calm is going to last much longer.
Singaporeans have an advantage over others. They can travel wherever they want, and Lee is unable to lock them up in their island as are North Koreans.
Passports are readily available, young Singaporeans unlike unlike in other repressive countries, are able to travel abroad as and when they please and observe alternative lifestyles and thinking; the Singapore passport being welcome almost anywhere.
They can see the Occupy Wall street protesters and protesters elsewhere. They can see there is nothing morally wrong with it, although Lee Kuan Yew, for his own personal benefit may declare this illegal. One becomes wiser through observation. No matter what laws Lee continues to enact which he does at will, when common sense tells you that some thing is not a crime, even a million legal enactments will not make it so.
Many young Singaporeans are constrained from publicly protesting because their parents are beholden to Lee Kuan Yew and therefore they fear, protests by their children would harm their careers.
Even though this may be true in many cases, you cannot deny that there are 5 million Singaporeans out of which about a half of them are native born. Even if the foreigners and recent immigrants could care less about these things as long as they make a buck, the native born or at least some of them would see the need to rebel and would sooner or later publicly demand change.
Although there is the Speakers Corner in a area where there are hardly any passers by, which is legal for peaceful protest, no one in their right mind would even consider using it for protests because firstly it is at a location which no one takes any notice, and secondly, if you had an issue with Lee Kuan Yew who lives at Oxley Road, it makes no sense to stand 10 miles away at Speakers Corner to complain.
Protests are going to happen sooner if not later, I am sure, and when that happens Lee Kuan Yew is in a very dangerous position. Singapore is one of the most crowded places in the world and a protest anywhere is likely to create more protests throughout the island, since every single action you take is observed by a thousand other people that instant. And the island being so tiny, news of it would spread across its length and breath in half an hour.
Lee Kuan Yew knows the grave danger his government faces in the face of protests which is why, only a year ago, he passed an amendment to the Public Order Act which makes even a single peaceful protester liable to arrest. That fact alone tells me that Lee Kuan Yew has a mortal visceral fear of it, which he knows would be his end, because he has laws in the island which do not stand up to muster, either moral or common sense.
For the moment Singaporeans live their double chameleon lives, but looking at them and the way they are, educated and well travelled, I don't think they would continue this way for much longer. So Lee better brace up. His time of running the island his merry way may be up sooner than later.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
Singapore's "great" lawyer Davinder Singh debunked
Edited Dec 18, 2011, 1840 hrs Pacific Standard time
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Dec 6, 2011 has the story "Singapore senior counsel Davinder Singh scores a first". But the "first" which he appears to have scored would instead be a badge of shame for a lawyer anywhere else other than Singapore.
Davinder Singh has risen to prominence in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore for having never lost a case in all the cases, defamation of character to be exact, that he has argued before his client's (Lee Kuan Yew) judges in Singapore.
For those who are not yet privy to the goings on in the legal scene in that island, let me explain. The phrase "Kangaroo courts" could not be better described by any other courts in the world other than Singapore.
Instead of rule of law which the Constitution requires, it is rule of Lee Kuan Yew in his courts and every single judge sits there at his pleasure and removable and punished if ever they dare to decide against him in any case he brings. And the cases he brings are the defamation of character type.
In other words every time someone who either had the courage or the stupidity, depending on which way you look at it, to criticize him in his island, as I had to learn it the painful way by spending 3 months in prison there for criticizing his judges, he would sue that person, and his lawyer of choice is this turbaned Indian Davinder Singh.
Since the judge is already prepared to do anything that he wants to please Lee Kuan Yew even before he steps into the courtroom, Singh's efforts are more perfunctory than any real legal work. If he argued that the the Moon was made of cheese, that too would probably be accepted as law.
Since Lee is supposed to win no matter what, one begins to wonder why spend all that time and effort going through the motions of examination and cross examination and instead, like the Queen Rabbit suggested in the trial of the stolen tart in Alice in Wonderland, why not proceed to with the judgement first, then hear the evidence!
I think you get the gist of what I am trying to describe are Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore courts and what this man Davinder Singh and his "accomplishments" are.
Coming back to this newspaper article, it describes how this man has recently represented the Sultan of Brunei in a case which involved the question of the Sultan having the power to summarily dismiss any army officer in the Brunei Armed Forces he did not like instead of having to follow due process of law as in any other democracy's courts martial.
The Sultan of Brunei is a despot no better than Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore who runs roughshod over his people who so far have accepted any nonsense from him just because he throws money at them.
So representing this Brunei tyrant to run roughshod over his army officers without due process was not in any sense a cause worth representing in the first place, and there is no honor at all in such as case, in fact it is an absolute disgrace.
In the past, the Sultan of Brunei with all his money used to fly in top English barristers to argue for him but I suspect in this case, the barristers themselves had seen the total lack of merit in the Sultan's attempt to deny his officers any possibility of defending themselves as a cause which is so unworthy that it would mar their legal reputation to do it; so they refused the brief even though highly paid.
So as the Sultan is left without his usual lawyers, who else to turn to than to the likes of this turbaned Indian Sikh who would be prepared to do anything for money, having achieved his "reputation" as the Singpaore dictator's lawyer.
And the Straits Times , Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's mouthpiece trumpets this representation of the Brunei Sultan in a totally unmeritorius case as "a first"!
Davinder Singh by this has not created any "first" at all. If it is a first, it is the first time that we see in Singapore's history, a thoroughly unscrupulous character who has achieved fame by repeatedly harming his fellow Singaporeans who have stood up for freedom, such as JB Jeyaretanm and today Dr. Chee Soon Juan, both of whom, thanks to him have been repeatedly jailed, impoverished and bankrupted not because the law says so but because his client Lee Kuan Yew wants them to be destroyed.
And now he continues on this long career of dirty work by arguing that in this day and age, 2011, it is quite acceptable for the Sultan of Brunei to strut around like a prize rooster in his tiny Brunei and dismiss any army officer without any due process of law.
In fact Davinder Singh, if he tried to be admitted to any other legal profession in any other democracy would be disciplined and disbarred because a lawyer should not represent a client when he knows that client's case has no merit whatsoever.
Davinder Singh has blood on his hands. I suppose as long as Lee Kuan Yew his benefactor and client who runs the show in Singapore is still alive, he will continue to prosper at the bar doing his "brilliant" legal work.
After his 89 year old sickly dictator kicks the bucket which is going to happen any time soon, as to what happens to him after that, your guess is as good as mine. You see, sooner or later each one of us is held accountable to our actions.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times online edition of Dec 6, 2011 has the story "Singapore senior counsel Davinder Singh scores a first". But the "first" which he appears to have scored would instead be a badge of shame for a lawyer anywhere else other than Singapore.
Davinder Singh has risen to prominence in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore for having never lost a case in all the cases, defamation of character to be exact, that he has argued before his client's (Lee Kuan Yew) judges in Singapore.
For those who are not yet privy to the goings on in the legal scene in that island, let me explain. The phrase "Kangaroo courts" could not be better described by any other courts in the world other than Singapore.
Instead of rule of law which the Constitution requires, it is rule of Lee Kuan Yew in his courts and every single judge sits there at his pleasure and removable and punished if ever they dare to decide against him in any case he brings. And the cases he brings are the defamation of character type.
In other words every time someone who either had the courage or the stupidity, depending on which way you look at it, to criticize him in his island, as I had to learn it the painful way by spending 3 months in prison there for criticizing his judges, he would sue that person, and his lawyer of choice is this turbaned Indian Davinder Singh.
Since the judge is already prepared to do anything that he wants to please Lee Kuan Yew even before he steps into the courtroom, Singh's efforts are more perfunctory than any real legal work. If he argued that the the Moon was made of cheese, that too would probably be accepted as law.
Since Lee is supposed to win no matter what, one begins to wonder why spend all that time and effort going through the motions of examination and cross examination and instead, like the Queen Rabbit suggested in the trial of the stolen tart in Alice in Wonderland, why not proceed to with the judgement first, then hear the evidence!
I think you get the gist of what I am trying to describe are Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore courts and what this man Davinder Singh and his "accomplishments" are.
Coming back to this newspaper article, it describes how this man has recently represented the Sultan of Brunei in a case which involved the question of the Sultan having the power to summarily dismiss any army officer in the Brunei Armed Forces he did not like instead of having to follow due process of law as in any other democracy's courts martial.
The Sultan of Brunei is a despot no better than Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore who runs roughshod over his people who so far have accepted any nonsense from him just because he throws money at them.
So representing this Brunei tyrant to run roughshod over his army officers without due process was not in any sense a cause worth representing in the first place, and there is no honor at all in such as case, in fact it is an absolute disgrace.
In the past, the Sultan of Brunei with all his money used to fly in top English barristers to argue for him but I suspect in this case, the barristers themselves had seen the total lack of merit in the Sultan's attempt to deny his officers any possibility of defending themselves as a cause which is so unworthy that it would mar their legal reputation to do it; so they refused the brief even though highly paid.
So as the Sultan is left without his usual lawyers, who else to turn to than to the likes of this turbaned Indian Sikh who would be prepared to do anything for money, having achieved his "reputation" as the Singpaore dictator's lawyer.
And the Straits Times , Singapore strongman Lee Kuan Yew's mouthpiece trumpets this representation of the Brunei Sultan in a totally unmeritorius case as "a first"!
Davinder Singh by this has not created any "first" at all. If it is a first, it is the first time that we see in Singapore's history, a thoroughly unscrupulous character who has achieved fame by repeatedly harming his fellow Singaporeans who have stood up for freedom, such as JB Jeyaretanm and today Dr. Chee Soon Juan, both of whom, thanks to him have been repeatedly jailed, impoverished and bankrupted not because the law says so but because his client Lee Kuan Yew wants them to be destroyed.
And now he continues on this long career of dirty work by arguing that in this day and age, 2011, it is quite acceptable for the Sultan of Brunei to strut around like a prize rooster in his tiny Brunei and dismiss any army officer without any due process of law.
In fact Davinder Singh, if he tried to be admitted to any other legal profession in any other democracy would be disciplined and disbarred because a lawyer should not represent a client when he knows that client's case has no merit whatsoever.
Davinder Singh has blood on his hands. I suppose as long as Lee Kuan Yew his benefactor and client who runs the show in Singapore is still alive, he will continue to prosper at the bar doing his "brilliant" legal work.
After his 89 year old sickly dictator kicks the bucket which is going to happen any time soon, as to what happens to him after that, your guess is as good as mine. You see, sooner or later each one of us is held accountable to our actions.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
Singapore's unintelligible biligualism.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I was reading Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times article of Dec 18, 2011 headed "Public inquiry to look into MRT (subway train system) breakdowns: PM Lee". The article which also had a video in which Lee Kuan Yew's son whom he appointed Prime Minister was explaining to a bunch of reporters that he was sorry that all these trains have been continously breaking down without fail all over the island and that he was going to hold a public inquiry about it.
During the interview, Lee Kuan Yew's son had initially started out answering questions in English, which by the way I obviously understand, but to a question that was put to him in Mandarin Chinese he suddenly switched to it, and for several questions thereafter continued in Chinese, which language I do not understand, quite obviously since I am an Indian Singaporean by birth and neither my parents, nor myself, did not see the need or the urgency to study it. I had studied Tamil in school as was expected of most immigrants from Southern India like my parents and Mandarin Chinese never came into the equation, for someone like me with a darker compexion rather than yellow, a straight nose, more facial and bodily hair and bigger eyes, features which distinguish Indians from the Chinese.
Watching this video of Lee Kuan Yew's son speaking and turning from one language to another, English to Chinese and back again, creates many difficulties which must be obvious to anyone. First of all, the newspaper that published this video was an English Language newspaper, not a Mandarin newspaper, so why in Heaven's is it using Chinese when it's readership is supposed to be English.
Second, does Lee Kuan Yew's son realize that Singapore consists of not only Mandarin speaking Chinese but also Indians and Malays the vast majority of whom had no idea one way or another what he was saying for half the time in that video in Mandarin Chinese.
Is this not inconveniencing the other sections of Singapore citizens who are not required to understand Mandarin Chinese and even if they could have no desire to embark on that language anyway, who therefore are kept in the dark as to all that he said in Chinese to his Chinese audience in the English newspaper.
To go one step further does this not disenfranchise the entire Malay and Indian community in Singapore, equal citizens under the Constitution, to second class status, because the Chinese including Lee Kuan Yew's son can say anything behind their back?
Third we see this happening only among the Chinese like Lee Kuan Yew's son. However I have never seen this sort of thing happening among the Malays or Indians in Singapore. For instance there has never been a single occasion, to the best of the time I have following these Singaporean curiosities, for K Shanmugam, Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked Tamil Minister for law, suddenly breaking into Tamil for my benefit, since I understand it very well, while speaking to Singapore reporters for a video on the need for law to arrest anyone who dares to accuse Lee's judges of corruption even though we all know they are.
Surely if we are going to be fair to all, the Chinese population of Singapore should equally be inconvenienced occasionally by having to listen to a Tamil speech in the midst of an English one in a Straits times video by or our Tamil Minister for Law K Shanmugam or a Malay Minister to suddenly break into polished Malay, so that the poor Chinese are left wondering what in the world was all that about!
And then again if Lee Kuan Yew's son is going about in Mandarin Chinese, giving instructions and orders about which the Tamil or Malay listener would have no clue about, is he not trying to imply that all you need to know in Singapore is Mandarin Chinese and no other. If so, what about official business? Will the Singapore law courts and their Kangaroo judges now accept legal arguments and court filings in Chinese and what about the numerous Indian lawyers who ply their trade in Lee's courts? Are they now required to take a speed course in Mandarin Chinese language and mannerisms in the event their Chinese opponent suddently breaks into Mandarin? And considering the other races, can an Indian lawyer stand up and address the court in perfect Tamil and would Belinda Ang Saw Ean, Lee Kuan Yew's judge who punished Chee Soon Juan for being a troublemaker in the Singaporean sense, a Chinese woman be comfortable with that?
Frankly the whole thing about language in Singapore, just as you see the arrogance and at the same time stupidity of this one party state dictatorship, simply is skewed, and nonsensical. If English or a perverted form of it that is spoken in Singapore is supposed to be the language of business, then you should say so. And saying it, English newspapers should only have English in it, including their videos, and the Chinese newspapers, which I cannot read and don't intend to, should only be in Chinese.
And Lee Kuan Yew's son should be told that he should stick to English in an English newspaper because we are not interested in his fluency in Mandarin Chinese. After all he is Chinese anyway and knowing it gives him no great credit. If showing off is what he trying to do, then speak to me in Tamil and I will be impressed. Otherwise stick to your English in an English newspaper and don't leave men like us, who are neither Chinese nor have any desire to learn it, nonplussed, flummoxed and waiting for the Chinese portion of the speech to be over. And then wondering what in Heaven's have I missed.
And if you are determined to continue in this unintelligible bilingualism policy, then let us hear Lee Kuan Yew's hand picked Tamil Minister for Law, K Shanmugam break into Tamil once in a while. Surely sauce for the good should also be for the gander.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
I was reading Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times article of Dec 18, 2011 headed "Public inquiry to look into MRT (subway train system) breakdowns: PM Lee". The article which also had a video in which Lee Kuan Yew's son whom he appointed Prime Minister was explaining to a bunch of reporters that he was sorry that all these trains have been continously breaking down without fail all over the island and that he was going to hold a public inquiry about it.
During the interview, Lee Kuan Yew's son had initially started out answering questions in English, which by the way I obviously understand, but to a question that was put to him in Mandarin Chinese he suddenly switched to it, and for several questions thereafter continued in Chinese, which language I do not understand, quite obviously since I am an Indian Singaporean by birth and neither my parents, nor myself, did not see the need or the urgency to study it. I had studied Tamil in school as was expected of most immigrants from Southern India like my parents and Mandarin Chinese never came into the equation, for someone like me with a darker compexion rather than yellow, a straight nose, more facial and bodily hair and bigger eyes, features which distinguish Indians from the Chinese.
Watching this video of Lee Kuan Yew's son speaking and turning from one language to another, English to Chinese and back again, creates many difficulties which must be obvious to anyone. First of all, the newspaper that published this video was an English Language newspaper, not a Mandarin newspaper, so why in Heaven's is it using Chinese when it's readership is supposed to be English.
Second, does Lee Kuan Yew's son realize that Singapore consists of not only Mandarin speaking Chinese but also Indians and Malays the vast majority of whom had no idea one way or another what he was saying for half the time in that video in Mandarin Chinese.
Is this not inconveniencing the other sections of Singapore citizens who are not required to understand Mandarin Chinese and even if they could have no desire to embark on that language anyway, who therefore are kept in the dark as to all that he said in Chinese to his Chinese audience in the English newspaper.
To go one step further does this not disenfranchise the entire Malay and Indian community in Singapore, equal citizens under the Constitution, to second class status, because the Chinese including Lee Kuan Yew's son can say anything behind their back?
Third we see this happening only among the Chinese like Lee Kuan Yew's son. However I have never seen this sort of thing happening among the Malays or Indians in Singapore. For instance there has never been a single occasion, to the best of the time I have following these Singaporean curiosities, for K Shanmugam, Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked Tamil Minister for law, suddenly breaking into Tamil for my benefit, since I understand it very well, while speaking to Singapore reporters for a video on the need for law to arrest anyone who dares to accuse Lee's judges of corruption even though we all know they are.
Surely if we are going to be fair to all, the Chinese population of Singapore should equally be inconvenienced occasionally by having to listen to a Tamil speech in the midst of an English one in a Straits times video by or our Tamil Minister for Law K Shanmugam or a Malay Minister to suddenly break into polished Malay, so that the poor Chinese are left wondering what in the world was all that about!
And then again if Lee Kuan Yew's son is going about in Mandarin Chinese, giving instructions and orders about which the Tamil or Malay listener would have no clue about, is he not trying to imply that all you need to know in Singapore is Mandarin Chinese and no other. If so, what about official business? Will the Singapore law courts and their Kangaroo judges now accept legal arguments and court filings in Chinese and what about the numerous Indian lawyers who ply their trade in Lee's courts? Are they now required to take a speed course in Mandarin Chinese language and mannerisms in the event their Chinese opponent suddently breaks into Mandarin? And considering the other races, can an Indian lawyer stand up and address the court in perfect Tamil and would Belinda Ang Saw Ean, Lee Kuan Yew's judge who punished Chee Soon Juan for being a troublemaker in the Singaporean sense, a Chinese woman be comfortable with that?
Frankly the whole thing about language in Singapore, just as you see the arrogance and at the same time stupidity of this one party state dictatorship, simply is skewed, and nonsensical. If English or a perverted form of it that is spoken in Singapore is supposed to be the language of business, then you should say so. And saying it, English newspapers should only have English in it, including their videos, and the Chinese newspapers, which I cannot read and don't intend to, should only be in Chinese.
And Lee Kuan Yew's son should be told that he should stick to English in an English newspaper because we are not interested in his fluency in Mandarin Chinese. After all he is Chinese anyway and knowing it gives him no great credit. If showing off is what he trying to do, then speak to me in Tamil and I will be impressed. Otherwise stick to your English in an English newspaper and don't leave men like us, who are neither Chinese nor have any desire to learn it, nonplussed, flummoxed and waiting for the Chinese portion of the speech to be over. And then wondering what in Heaven's have I missed.
And if you are determined to continue in this unintelligible bilingualism policy, then let us hear Lee Kuan Yew's hand picked Tamil Minister for Law, K Shanmugam break into Tamil once in a while. Surely sauce for the good should also be for the gander.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Singapore. Lee Kuan Yew, America's perfect son
Ladies and Gentlemen,
American foreign policy alas, is something I am not very proud about but understandable nevertheless. Ultimately we see that for all the talk of human rights and liberty that America claims to cherish, it is always quite another tune when it comes to foreign policy, which is, whatever needs to be done in America's interest goes. Human rights and such highfalutin things are really always secondary.
I remember when Hilary Clinton had not too long ago planning to go to China for talks when a journalist asked her if she would press human rights and the case of the Dalai Lama. Her answer was not unexpected. She said that human rights was on the list of matters to discuss, but not necessarily at the top. We also have to consider she said, the growing trade between the US and China.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, the life expediency there is less than 40 years old, it has the highest rates of illiteracy and one in every 4 children or so never reach the age of 5. And what is particularly important is the fact there is no oil in Afghanistan! So why in Heaven's is America spending billions every month if not every day to keep the war going on there? The only reason I can think of is the fact that they made a mistake having sent troops there in the first place and once they began taking casualties, it was a question of pride which prevents them from just pulling out.
And recently Obama has declared that he is going to withdraw the troops by 2014. Is this not a striking reminder of what they did in Vietnam? The fact is, just as in Vietnam, they are now certain they have lost the war. So what better way to find a way out of this mess and calling it something else than a defeat. Which is exactly what they did in Vietnam. There they knew the war was lost. So in 1973 they claim to train the Vietnamese army to fight the Vietcong, reach some sort of an armistice in Paris and graciously pull out. When their Vietnamese army were soon roundly defeated by the Vietcong in 1975, they could cleverly say that it was not they who lost but the Vietnamese army, who they trained the best they can. So it was not a defeat of the US Army at all but a defeat of the Vietnamese Army.
They seems to be planning the same thing for Afghanistan. They know they have no chance to win. They simply cannot take on the Taliban. So what does Obama do? He does the same as what they did in Vietnam. He says he is training the Afghan army and the US is pulling out all troops by 2014. So when the Afghan army is routed by the Taliban a few years after 2014, which we know will happen, the Americans will sing the same tune they sang in Vietnam. "We did all we could. We trained the Afghan army as best we can. It is not our fault they were defeated. You have to blame the Afghan army."
Coming to Lee Kuan Yew, I read he was awarded the Lincoln medal recently by the Americans. I tell you, the Americans would be prepared to shower every medal possible that is available out there on Lee Kuan Yew; why, because Lee Kuan Yew is good for American business, and that is frankly the bottom line of it all. Human rights does not matter, nothing else matters.
Some other dictators come to mind. Mobutu Sese Seku, or formerly Joseph Mobutu was the Belgian Congolese leader who in 1965, was resisting Patrice Lumumba who had leanings to the Soviet Union. The Americans and the French not only propped up Mobutu even though he was the biggest thief imaginable, they also helped to murder Lumumba, all because Mobutu was in the American interest. And not just that throughout Mobutu's corrupt rule, he was protected by the French and Belgian armies each time there was threat to his government.
Then you have medals upon medals bestowed upon the late Shah of Iran and the overthrow of Iran's true democratic leader Mossadeq in 1954. And then you have every other tyrant and dictator in Latin America who are all propped up because they are pleasing to American business and the elimination of perfectly honest leaders such as Salvatore Allende of Chile who thought it right that workers should be given their fair share.
It is not that the State Department or rather the CIA is not aware that Lee Kuan Yew is a ruthless dictator, of course they know this. But it so happens that Lee Kuan Yew is a good friend of America which means it is good for American business. So of course Lee Kuan yew gets the medals, and it should be no surprise to anyone.
In the past there was a saying about British Prime Minister Margaret Thather that she was so obedient to the American President Ronald Reagan that if Reagan were to ask Thather to jump, her question would be "How high"! I think the same can be said of 89 year old Lee Kuan Yew. If Obama were to ask Lee to jump, he would similarly ask "How high", that is if he still can with this wobbly legs.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
American foreign policy alas, is something I am not very proud about but understandable nevertheless. Ultimately we see that for all the talk of human rights and liberty that America claims to cherish, it is always quite another tune when it comes to foreign policy, which is, whatever needs to be done in America's interest goes. Human rights and such highfalutin things are really always secondary.
I remember when Hilary Clinton had not too long ago planning to go to China for talks when a journalist asked her if she would press human rights and the case of the Dalai Lama. Her answer was not unexpected. She said that human rights was on the list of matters to discuss, but not necessarily at the top. We also have to consider she said, the growing trade between the US and China.
Afghanistan is one of the poorest countries in the world, the life expediency there is less than 40 years old, it has the highest rates of illiteracy and one in every 4 children or so never reach the age of 5. And what is particularly important is the fact there is no oil in Afghanistan! So why in Heaven's is America spending billions every month if not every day to keep the war going on there? The only reason I can think of is the fact that they made a mistake having sent troops there in the first place and once they began taking casualties, it was a question of pride which prevents them from just pulling out.
And recently Obama has declared that he is going to withdraw the troops by 2014. Is this not a striking reminder of what they did in Vietnam? The fact is, just as in Vietnam, they are now certain they have lost the war. So what better way to find a way out of this mess and calling it something else than a defeat. Which is exactly what they did in Vietnam. There they knew the war was lost. So in 1973 they claim to train the Vietnamese army to fight the Vietcong, reach some sort of an armistice in Paris and graciously pull out. When their Vietnamese army were soon roundly defeated by the Vietcong in 1975, they could cleverly say that it was not they who lost but the Vietnamese army, who they trained the best they can. So it was not a defeat of the US Army at all but a defeat of the Vietnamese Army.
They seems to be planning the same thing for Afghanistan. They know they have no chance to win. They simply cannot take on the Taliban. So what does Obama do? He does the same as what they did in Vietnam. He says he is training the Afghan army and the US is pulling out all troops by 2014. So when the Afghan army is routed by the Taliban a few years after 2014, which we know will happen, the Americans will sing the same tune they sang in Vietnam. "We did all we could. We trained the Afghan army as best we can. It is not our fault they were defeated. You have to blame the Afghan army."
Coming to Lee Kuan Yew, I read he was awarded the Lincoln medal recently by the Americans. I tell you, the Americans would be prepared to shower every medal possible that is available out there on Lee Kuan Yew; why, because Lee Kuan Yew is good for American business, and that is frankly the bottom line of it all. Human rights does not matter, nothing else matters.
Some other dictators come to mind. Mobutu Sese Seku, or formerly Joseph Mobutu was the Belgian Congolese leader who in 1965, was resisting Patrice Lumumba who had leanings to the Soviet Union. The Americans and the French not only propped up Mobutu even though he was the biggest thief imaginable, they also helped to murder Lumumba, all because Mobutu was in the American interest. And not just that throughout Mobutu's corrupt rule, he was protected by the French and Belgian armies each time there was threat to his government.
Then you have medals upon medals bestowed upon the late Shah of Iran and the overthrow of Iran's true democratic leader Mossadeq in 1954. And then you have every other tyrant and dictator in Latin America who are all propped up because they are pleasing to American business and the elimination of perfectly honest leaders such as Salvatore Allende of Chile who thought it right that workers should be given their fair share.
It is not that the State Department or rather the CIA is not aware that Lee Kuan Yew is a ruthless dictator, of course they know this. But it so happens that Lee Kuan Yew is a good friend of America which means it is good for American business. So of course Lee Kuan yew gets the medals, and it should be no surprise to anyone.
In the past there was a saying about British Prime Minister Margaret Thather that she was so obedient to the American President Ronald Reagan that if Reagan were to ask Thather to jump, her question would be "How high"! I think the same can be said of 89 year old Lee Kuan Yew. If Obama were to ask Lee to jump, he would similarly ask "How high", that is if he still can with this wobbly legs.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Singapore. The problem with dictatorships
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Any student of politics and history will not fail to see one recurring undeniable result, which is, when the dictator dies, the regime crumbles, followed by an interval of uncertainly and chaos until such time as another dictator comes along and the same stop start process trudges along, but on one certain trajectory, which is on the decline, not upwards. Eventually in the long run the country descends into another basket case, another banana republic.
Singapore is one classic example of a fascist dictatorship with the dictator, who is already either 89 or 88 depending on whom you ask, just about to kick the bucket. And if history is anything to go by, we are quite certain to see that expected chaos and collapse as we have seen so often elsewhere.
And these dire consequences are magnified multi fold in the case of Singapore being just a small overcrowded island with a tiny population, insufficient to provide any buffer, as opposed to a large country such as Russia, against the impending chaos on the demise of the dictator.
The fragility of all dictatorships are these. Firstly all dictatorships never had any real leaders other than the dictator himself. In the case of Nazi Germany, you had that supreme leader Adolf Hitler and everyone else who forms the government with him are merely bootlickers and sycophants who please him and in return are given positions of authority.
If Hitler had others with him who were leaders with ideas of their own, he would never have sent troops into demilitarized Rhineland against the Treaty of Versailles, and even if he did, he would have stopped there. German troops would never have marched into Austria, Czechoslovakia would never haven been occupied, they would never have bombed Poland and the war would have been averted and millions of lives saved. Hitler just like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew thought he knew everything and no one else know's anything, and this is what becomes of arrogance such as this.
You see the same in Singapore, with every single government minister hand picked by Lee Kuan Yew for their abilities as academics, not their ability as leaders which they have none, and the irony is they never did aspire for leadership either. All of them are merely opportunists who considered themselves very lucky for having been chosen by Lee Kuan Yew for political positions of authority and the consequent good life that comes with it, not to mention a salary of $3.7 million a year!
Secondly if Singapore had any political philosophy of it's own, it has to be that of Lee Kuan Yew. And Lee Kuan Yew's philosophy if I can guess is this. You try to bribe (or in Lee's euphemism, "pay") citizens to work for you by paying them each $3.7 million each as salary a year. In this way, because of the huge windfall of money which you receive through your entire career, the chosen opportunists will sing any tune, and say anything which Lee Kuan Yew demands. In the end the only thinking in the entire country is how Lee Kuan Yew thinks and this is enabled by the state controlled media which will only publish the government line.
And sadly the government line of thought in not something anyone should be proud of. It requires everyone to be self reliant or otherwise starve (no social security for the needy), it requires known government critics such as Chee Soon Juan to be relentlessly persecuted and punished just because he has contrary views, it requires former Singaporeans like myself who write blogposts unflattering of Lee to be imprisoned if he is caught and prohibited from ever entering Singapore, and every other disgraceful practice you can think of.
The result of this shutting out every other way of thinking other than what Lee thinks, results in a dearth of alternative thought. We all know that no one can be right all the time, or even most of the time, which is why democracies encourage alternative ideas because society progresses by this. Denying any form of alternative thinking denies the entire country of a valuable necessary asset resulting in it's going from one calamity to the next.
The next point is this. No government can openly abuse it's powers and expect never to be held accountable. Lee Kuan Yew's policies are openly and blatantly illegal in fundamental aspects and he stays in power momentarily only because Singaporeans presently are afraid to resist.
For instance paying each of themselves $3.7 million a year and calling this a salary is clearly unacceptable anywhere in the world as well as in Singapore although strangely the people are not now up in arms against this. But it does not mean that such corruption is excused. You only have to wait for that oppurtune moment, as when the dictator is no more, when the people will demand an explanation.
Second the muzzling of the entire media and turning it into a propaganda sheet is also unacceptable anywhere in the world although strangely for the moment Singaporeans are not protesting. But again it does not mean that such abuse of authority is excused. You only have to wait for that opportune moment, as when the dictator is no more, when the people will demand an explanation.
Using the courts though corrupt judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean to punish innocent Singaporeans who resist is also blatantly wrong and something that is unacceptable anywhere in the world but strangely in Singapore they remain silent. These are only a few of the numerous illegal practices used by Lee which is wrong and unacceptable now or in the future.
The result of this sort of misuse of power is that when the dictator goes, these abuses of power, which is never forgotten by the people suddenly come to the surface to haunt these former Lee Kuan Yew minions. All of a sudden the minions who so far had it so good, and seek control have either to continue these illegal practices against the peoples' wishes or flee for their lives.If they stay, in the event of resistance they would have no choice but to use violent methods against their own people which usually does not work.
With the death of the dictator, there is a void in the leadership since every single one in Lee's government are all merely opportunists and bootlickers who never had any real power base of their own.
If for the moment, people listen to them, it is because they have to, since their power comes not from within themselves but through the dictator who has placed them there. Once the dictator dies, these minions with no longer any power of their own would have to disperse and disappear as fast as they can or seek power with the serious consequences that may follow.
If there is foreign investment in Singapore, it is because Lee has been and is there. As investment dollars do not necessarily chose democracies to invest but places that have the most stability regardless of how corrupt and dishonest the governments are, Lee has been that stabilizing factor which enables investment. With his death, there will no longer be stability, which means investments are unsafe, which means a run on the banks and a flood of investment money out of Singapore.
Almost half if not the majority of Singaporeans are recent immigrants mainly from Communist China who have come to make a living, not necessarily to make a home. Unstable countries are unsuitable places to make a living which means, you would have a flood of these Communist Chinese on their way out to Guanzou and Chendu, Communist China. The same with every other recently arrived immigrant, all heading home to their various impoverished Asian countries.
And with that you have every other calamity imaginable, offshore banking disappearing, money launderers leaving, Burmese drug lords packing up, and Casinos closing. You know the rest.
Of course Lee Kuan Yew's son, whom his father appointed as Prime Minister might decide to get tough and crack the whip by calling out the army to try to maintain order. If he does that, it will only exasperate the already worsening situation because even more Singaporeans and foreigners will leave and Singapore would be empty not only of people but money as well.
This gloomy scenario would never happen if we had a vibrant democracy with everyone given a chance to further their views and vie for power. But with Lee Kuan Yew's shortsightedness, avarice and stupidity, we can only expect the worst sort of gloom over the horizon.
But for people like me who live abroad and see Singapore from the outside, all I can say is "I told you so". All there is to do now is to wait for the fun to begin when Lee Kuan Yew kicks that bucket, which we all know is expected very soon.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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.
Any student of politics and history will not fail to see one recurring undeniable result, which is, when the dictator dies, the regime crumbles, followed by an interval of uncertainly and chaos until such time as another dictator comes along and the same stop start process trudges along, but on one certain trajectory, which is on the decline, not upwards. Eventually in the long run the country descends into another basket case, another banana republic.
Singapore is one classic example of a fascist dictatorship with the dictator, who is already either 89 or 88 depending on whom you ask, just about to kick the bucket. And if history is anything to go by, we are quite certain to see that expected chaos and collapse as we have seen so often elsewhere.
And these dire consequences are magnified multi fold in the case of Singapore being just a small overcrowded island with a tiny population, insufficient to provide any buffer, as opposed to a large country such as Russia, against the impending chaos on the demise of the dictator.
The fragility of all dictatorships are these. Firstly all dictatorships never had any real leaders other than the dictator himself. In the case of Nazi Germany, you had that supreme leader Adolf Hitler and everyone else who forms the government with him are merely bootlickers and sycophants who please him and in return are given positions of authority.
If Hitler had others with him who were leaders with ideas of their own, he would never have sent troops into demilitarized Rhineland against the Treaty of Versailles, and even if he did, he would have stopped there. German troops would never have marched into Austria, Czechoslovakia would never haven been occupied, they would never have bombed Poland and the war would have been averted and millions of lives saved. Hitler just like Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew thought he knew everything and no one else know's anything, and this is what becomes of arrogance such as this.
You see the same in Singapore, with every single government minister hand picked by Lee Kuan Yew for their abilities as academics, not their ability as leaders which they have none, and the irony is they never did aspire for leadership either. All of them are merely opportunists who considered themselves very lucky for having been chosen by Lee Kuan Yew for political positions of authority and the consequent good life that comes with it, not to mention a salary of $3.7 million a year!
Secondly if Singapore had any political philosophy of it's own, it has to be that of Lee Kuan Yew. And Lee Kuan Yew's philosophy if I can guess is this. You try to bribe (or in Lee's euphemism, "pay") citizens to work for you by paying them each $3.7 million each as salary a year. In this way, because of the huge windfall of money which you receive through your entire career, the chosen opportunists will sing any tune, and say anything which Lee Kuan Yew demands. In the end the only thinking in the entire country is how Lee Kuan Yew thinks and this is enabled by the state controlled media which will only publish the government line.
And sadly the government line of thought in not something anyone should be proud of. It requires everyone to be self reliant or otherwise starve (no social security for the needy), it requires known government critics such as Chee Soon Juan to be relentlessly persecuted and punished just because he has contrary views, it requires former Singaporeans like myself who write blogposts unflattering of Lee to be imprisoned if he is caught and prohibited from ever entering Singapore, and every other disgraceful practice you can think of.
The result of this shutting out every other way of thinking other than what Lee thinks, results in a dearth of alternative thought. We all know that no one can be right all the time, or even most of the time, which is why democracies encourage alternative ideas because society progresses by this. Denying any form of alternative thinking denies the entire country of a valuable necessary asset resulting in it's going from one calamity to the next.
The next point is this. No government can openly abuse it's powers and expect never to be held accountable. Lee Kuan Yew's policies are openly and blatantly illegal in fundamental aspects and he stays in power momentarily only because Singaporeans presently are afraid to resist.
For instance paying each of themselves $3.7 million a year and calling this a salary is clearly unacceptable anywhere in the world as well as in Singapore although strangely the people are not now up in arms against this. But it does not mean that such corruption is excused. You only have to wait for that oppurtune moment, as when the dictator is no more, when the people will demand an explanation.
Second the muzzling of the entire media and turning it into a propaganda sheet is also unacceptable anywhere in the world although strangely for the moment Singaporeans are not protesting. But again it does not mean that such abuse of authority is excused. You only have to wait for that opportune moment, as when the dictator is no more, when the people will demand an explanation.
Using the courts though corrupt judges such as Belinda Ang Saw Ean to punish innocent Singaporeans who resist is also blatantly wrong and something that is unacceptable anywhere in the world but strangely in Singapore they remain silent. These are only a few of the numerous illegal practices used by Lee which is wrong and unacceptable now or in the future.
The result of this sort of misuse of power is that when the dictator goes, these abuses of power, which is never forgotten by the people suddenly come to the surface to haunt these former Lee Kuan Yew minions. All of a sudden the minions who so far had it so good, and seek control have either to continue these illegal practices against the peoples' wishes or flee for their lives.If they stay, in the event of resistance they would have no choice but to use violent methods against their own people which usually does not work.
With the death of the dictator, there is a void in the leadership since every single one in Lee's government are all merely opportunists and bootlickers who never had any real power base of their own.
If for the moment, people listen to them, it is because they have to, since their power comes not from within themselves but through the dictator who has placed them there. Once the dictator dies, these minions with no longer any power of their own would have to disperse and disappear as fast as they can or seek power with the serious consequences that may follow.
If there is foreign investment in Singapore, it is because Lee has been and is there. As investment dollars do not necessarily chose democracies to invest but places that have the most stability regardless of how corrupt and dishonest the governments are, Lee has been that stabilizing factor which enables investment. With his death, there will no longer be stability, which means investments are unsafe, which means a run on the banks and a flood of investment money out of Singapore.
Almost half if not the majority of Singaporeans are recent immigrants mainly from Communist China who have come to make a living, not necessarily to make a home. Unstable countries are unsuitable places to make a living which means, you would have a flood of these Communist Chinese on their way out to Guanzou and Chendu, Communist China. The same with every other recently arrived immigrant, all heading home to their various impoverished Asian countries.
And with that you have every other calamity imaginable, offshore banking disappearing, money launderers leaving, Burmese drug lords packing up, and Casinos closing. You know the rest.
Of course Lee Kuan Yew's son, whom his father appointed as Prime Minister might decide to get tough and crack the whip by calling out the army to try to maintain order. If he does that, it will only exasperate the already worsening situation because even more Singaporeans and foreigners will leave and Singapore would be empty not only of people but money as well.
This gloomy scenario would never happen if we had a vibrant democracy with everyone given a chance to further their views and vie for power. But with Lee Kuan Yew's shortsightedness, avarice and stupidity, we can only expect the worst sort of gloom over the horizon.
But for people like me who live abroad and see Singapore from the outside, all I can say is "I told you so". All there is to do now is to wait for the fun to begin when Lee Kuan Yew kicks that bucket, which we all know is expected very soon.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Disbarred from practicing law in Lee's Singapore and refused entry to the island for criticizing Singapore's judiciary.
Actively practicing law in California and in good standing at the California Bar.
Member in good standing as a lawyer in England and Wales (Barrister).
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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