Singapore. The danger of a by election in Pongoll East.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore is a tiny island nation with no more than about 2.5 million native born and another 2.5 million foreigners.

Pongoll East constituency, an electoral district in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore has become vacant with the removal of their Speaker of Parliament who was caught with his pants down, having extra marital affairs with an ethnic Chinese woman who also worked for Lee Kuan Yew's government party, the PAP.

As Singapore is supposed to follow British Parliamentary practice under the law- which by the way is nonsense, as Singapore is a Lee Kuan Yew dictatorship while the UK is a great democracy- because UK has an unwritten constitution, and although customs and long practice would expect the Prime Minister to hold elections in a vacant seat, there is really nothing expressly stated which requires it.  

Conveniently our Singaporean prince, Lee Kuan Yew's son, has naturally repeated this fact, that they are not bound under law to hold any elections.

But in the present political atmosphere where several of their so called Singapore opposition politicians- I say so called because they usually remain dormant for the 5 years between elections doing or saying nothing mainly out of fear of the dictator and suddenly surface at election time- have openly stated their desire to contest in the event of a by election, it would be hard even on Lee's totalitarian government to deny holding one.

If they do hold elections in this ward, here lies the danger.

The Workers Party might win.

You may be surprised at this statement since I am after all against the incumbent government which as been there for the last 50 years or so, another Cuba with free trade you may say, why then should I fear the Workers Party since after all, are they not opposition too?

But that is the problem.

No they are not opposition at all.

They are PAP disguised as opposition and have been in Parliament, not to fight for the people's democracy but to masquerade as one by asking questions and doing nothing else.

This is what I think has happened.

Lee Kuan Yew, whom you can say is too smart for his own good, or to put it better, too smart by half; had decided that since the trend on the ground with the invention of the Internet and mass communication is to want more opposition, why not give them one after all.

So he got the Workers Party to give the impression that they are opposition at elections by making as much noise as possible at election time only to do nothing after they got their seats.

This way, Lee thought he has got it both ways; the people are happy thinking they got opposition, while he is happy because they are not any threat to him.

I fear if Lee's son were to call elections, the Workers Party would once again win because the people have, unfortunately, been sufficiently hoodwinked into thinking that they are the genuine product.

Frankly it is not that it would make any difference anyway.

Singapore is literally a one party state and will continue to be one for a long time until the people are prepared to get up from their backsides and do something about it.

Lee has as many as 81 seats in Parliament and the miserable opposition (which by the way is in fact PAP) is a mere 6.

It wouldn’t make any difference either this election, or the next one or the next 50 years if something drastic is not done.

Yes, you understood what I said.

I mean a revolution.

That is what it takes to bring about real change.

Pongoll East is of no consequence at all on the political climate of Singapore, a one party totalitarian police state which deports, imprisons, bankrupts and ruins political critics through a corrupt compliant judiciary.

But other than a revolution, what will also bring about change, or shall I say chaos to the island is the fast approaching demise of the 91 year old dictator.

Like all other dictators around the world, he made sure that Singapore does not have a political culture at all, with the average Singaporean showing no interest at all in politics.

To put it correctly, politics in Singapore is more like a profession.

If you like it, you apply to Lee Kuan Yew, and if selected, he will give you various jobs such as helping out in his branch political organizations.

If you show sufficient loyalty and hard work, he may promote you to higher positions.

And you from then on, you will spend an entire career, like a dog, running around and doing his bidding.

Other than this path, there is no other way for anyone aspiring into politics.

The population’s job is simply to obey what these people say.

The ones who rule the island are hand picked minions who have passed school examinations and then deployed throughout the government to do the job.

As every one of them needs a leader to follow, the eventuality of their sole leader dying has never been given any thought whatsoever.

The dictator's son, whom you may call the prince and the entire cabinet and high ranking officers are not leaders of men by any stretch of the word.

They govern under the authority and license of their supreme dictator and without one; they are hard pressed for legitimacy of office.

They don't derive legitimacy by reason of the Constitution of the island because that document which is supposed to lay the basis of all government has been reduced to a worthless piece of paper with every single individual right roundly ignored.

Without the Constitution to provide the basis for government, what you have left is a mere gang of men chosen by Lee Kuan Yew to rule over the island in any way they chose.

They are allowed to racially discriminate, they are allowed to deny the rule of law, to deny workers rights, to arrest anyone they pleased on trumped up charges and anything else they wanted.

To put it bluntly, Lee Kuan Yew and his men are simply above the law.

This is not something that can last.

The people through the Internet and mass media are already aware of their plight.

This is manifested in the country's almost non existent birth rate (the lowest in the world), the mounting rates of emigration to the West of the skilled and educated and the fast dying large old age population.

I reckon once the 91 year old dictator dies, you would have mayhem, literally so.

There is no one who would have sufficient authority or credibility to claim leadership.

Chee Soon Juan has been labeled a criminal and so have many others who may have the ability to lead.

Moreover since everything is in the hands of Lee and Company, even the government owned apartment that you live in, regardless of what Chee or any other opposition politician my say, they really are not in a position to solve anything, as the reins remain with the Lee family government.  

As for Lee's minions, they are all of the type of Michael Palmer, the half ethnic Chinese minister who was recently fired.

He has in an instant disappeared from the political scene and no one gives him a second look now, the same fate that every other former Lee Kuan Yew minion has faced.  

I am not sure if the foreign community is aware of the precarious situation that the island is in with the dictator now having reached 91, and whether the Singaporeans themselves are themselves packing with their families and bank balances to a safe destination off shore.

If they are not now doing it, perhaps they should start.

It is better to be cautions.

The island with only about 2.5 million local born depending on another 2.5 million foreigners to run the place, is far too tiny to withstand the shock of the all powerful Lee Kuan Yew's death.


Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore an island driven by hypocrisy and ignorance

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore has a constitution replete with every single human right you can think of, freedom of assembly, freedom of speech, freedom of the press and the rule of law. Yet the island has none of these. It is an island run by Lee Kuan Yew and his family since 1959. It is the height of hypocrisy for them to continue claiming it to be one. In fact the Constitution of the Republic of Singapore is a worthless piece of paper.

The courts and judges claim to exercise the rule of law as required by the Constitution. Yet the judges are hypocrites, pretending to exercise the law but truly are nothing but agents of the Lee family to keep them in power and I might add, help themselves to a lavish lifestyle.

And then you have the masses who have no idea what all this means. Since they have never been taught what rights they have, they continue in ignorance as the Lee family continues their one party totalitarian oligarchy.

Singapore is none other than a tiny island where the Lee family, who are enabled to do anything they want over the tiny island which they control and there is no one to question it. You can only be safe as long as you remain quiet, be a toady and as long as the Lee family tolerates you, as simple as that. If you have any pride in yourself, you will quickly get out as thousands do.

It would have been honest for the regime to openly admit that they are not interested in any fancy ideas of Constitutional government and would prefer to simply do whatever they want. But as this sort of an admission may not go down well in international circles, they are compelled to continue the pretence of a Constitutional democracy when it is simply not.

This sort of a situation is dangerously imbalanced, not a situation which local intelligent people would be prepared to accept as shown by the increasing numbers leaving for settlement abroad from an already tiny population of just 2.5 million native born citizens, the birth rate continues to drop and the large older generation are very quickly dying out.

As for the international community, it is becoming increasingly evident to them that Singapore is not what it claims to be and is nothing more than a dictatorship. The island may linger for a bit more but with Lee's fast approaching death, the wrecking ball would have finally hit squarely and with deadly force on the tiny island state which claims to be something it is not.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California USA
A Singaporean in exile
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore Michael Palmer case. Law Firm Harry Elias Partnership law vacancies; adulterers, womanizers, reprobates, skirt chasers and wife swoppers welcome

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A few days ago Lee Kuan Yew's handpicked speaker of Parliament and right hand confident, Michael Palmer was given the boot for being caught with his pants down literally, his adulterous long standing romantic escapade with another of Lee's bootlickers, Laura Ong Hui Hoon a mindless 31 year old woman, having been exposed. This brought down not only the fate of this toady Palmer; it also floored the reputation of Lee's PAP at one stroke. Please see https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK-eXoMpjg8

If lee Kuan Yew's Singapore government's reaction to fire Palmer was to protect it's reputation by distancing themselves from adulterers, reprobates and philanderers; Palmer’s Singapore law firm Harry Elias Partnership shows no such requirement, as Palmer remains prominently one of it's partners.

It is surprising for this law firm not minding a publicly disgraced person such as him to remain in their employ, especially since Palmer is not an ordinary layman on the street. For a Speaker of Singapore Parliament and a high ranking member of Lee's government to show such bad taste as to have a long standing affair with a colleague is not only dumb, it is unacceptable. In fact especially on account of his important position, it shows a serious defect of character.

Harry Elias Partnership in their blog has this to say of themselves:

Established in 1988 by Mr. Harry Elias, Senior Counsel, our Firm is a leading player in the evolution of our legal landscape. For more than 24 years, our Firm has been on the cutting edge of legal changes, particularly on the litigation front. We are privileged to act in cases that broke new ground, and which resulted in landmark and watershed judicial decisions such as the Raffles Town Club, Horizon Towers and Digilandmall.com cases.

Please see their blog http://www.harryelias.com/aboutus.php

If their law firm is indeed of such greatness as they claim, the first person to be shown the door without more would be Palmer. No respectable law firm in San Francisco, London or any other capital of the world would be prepared to touch Palmer even with a ten foot pole after this disgraceful episode.

In other more respectable jurisdictions, he would be lucky to find employment in some nook or corner away from the public eye. It simply means that Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore law firm Harry Elias Partnership is run by a different set of rules. Having a senior partner who is also an adulterer, a reprobate and a skirt chaser-I mean other than his wife’s-is quite acceptable in their case.

Gopalan Nair 
Attorney at Law 
Fremont, California, USA
A Singaporean in exile
Tel: 510 491 4375 

Singapore. The most miserable people in the world, says Gallup poll

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The internationally respected Gallup Poll has just released a report on happiness in the world.

Not surprisingly, if you know the island like I do, Singapore has earned the dubious distinction of having the most unhappy people in the world, even less happy than war torn Iraqi, poverty stricken camel grazing terrorist infested desert Yemeni or vessel hijacking Somali where there is simply nothing.

See report http://sg.news.yahoo.com/singapore-%E2%80%98least-positive%E2%80%99-country-in-the-world--survey-072026104.html

Not only that, in fact just a few weeks ago, the same Gallup poll had given Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore the other dubious distinction of being the most "emotionless" people in the world.

Gallup poll report is read worldwide, highly damaging for the image of Singapore, which its authoritarian government touts as an island of paradise whose image has been brought down by another two notches.

What is Singapore anyway? It is simply a tiny overcrowded place with over 5 million people packed like sardines one above the other in high rise apartments because they have no space left.

With overcrowded trains buses and roads clogged up with traffic and chocking with pollution, you can hardly move, let alone breathe.

It is an island where you live in fear. Fear of the government which will arrest and sue you if you criticize. Fear of government secret security watching you round the clock. Fear of a judicial system which is corrupt and makes judgments favoring the government. Fear of losing one's job anytime and become indigent, as there is no minimum wage, no job security and no social welfare or unemployment insurance. Fear of getting sick because there is no state medical help unless you have money. Fear of racial discrimination because there are no laws against it. Fear of voting or speaking against the government for fear of reprisals. Fear of not being told the truth as all newspapers and media are state controlled like in the former Soviet Union. Fear of speaking loudly for fear that government goons may overhear.

In Singapore you live every minute not knowing whether the next minute you would be destitute.

In such circumstances, how could people be happy? For happiness you need a sense of security, a sense of justice, a sense that tomorrow you will still have your job and not be thrown out unjustly and left to starve.

To be happy you need to have hope, and that is the one fundamental which is lacking.  Unless you are a government crony, and even that is not entirely secure, you simply don't have hope, no hope of advancing, no hope of a bright future, none at all. You are lucky to keep your present position without regressing two steps back.  

These difficulties faced by Singaporeans are loudly manifested in, if you know the island like I do, Singapore’s insurmountable problems. It is well known that the people have the lowest birth rate in the world, not even enough to replace those dying. The population size is only being maintained by continuous importation of foreign labor mainly from China in the thousands. A friend of mine with whom I spoke over the phone yesterday said after his recent visit, that he found ever single person working in Singapore Recreation Club a Chinese foreign migrant worker. There were no Singaporeans.

As the hopelessness continues, birth rate will continue to fall, even more foreigners would be imported and the island would simply change forever, leaving only the Lee family and cronies and a foreign migrant workforce.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore Island's obedience trained political opposition

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore Island, a tiny spot at the bottom of the Malay Peninsula has literally speaking the most corrupt government in the world, the most corrupt judiciary in the world, the citizens of whom are totally lacking in any human rights despite a Constitution which guarantees those rights, an island which does not have a minimum wage law, a place where there are no independent trade unions and a place where literally the people are, even though they may not realize it, literally the property of Lee Kuan Yew and his government.

A gross exaggeration, you may say but look at the facts. Lee Kuan Yew and his ministers pay themselves an official salary of $3.7 million a year each; I have lost count or something to that effect. Tell me if this is not corruption.

In a series of cases in Lee's Singapore courts the judges have made numerous rulings running into millions of dollars against opposition politicians for merely criticizing Lee and his government. Tell me if this is not a corrupt judiciary.

Despite the Constitution guaranteeing free speech, you can be sued and bankrupted for political criticism. Tell me if this is not a denial of human rights.

There is no minimum wage law for workers. Tell me if this is not an abuse of worker rights.

And so on and so forth.

But what has Singapore opposition, if indeed there is one done about it? Nothing. The recently formed Reform Party and the numerous others with acronyms such as NSP and SDA and so on and so forth are numerous. But they are as good as dead. The Reform Party's leader can be heard to make periodical statements about something or other such as the illegality of bank loans, he may try to get some attention now and then by suing the government for claims such as the abuse of state funds which he will inevitably lose and after that he will go to sleep again.

The only party that deserves some recognition is Chee Soon Juan's Singapore Democratic Party but they too appear to be somewhat mellow lately. Now, other than writing blog articles in their Website the Singapore Democrat and periodically holding seminars and going on walkabouts in Lee's housing estates, they are not doing anything more. Unless you took the trouble to read Chee's blog, you will know nothing about these activities as the media is state controlled and don't give him coverage.

As for peaceful demonstrations which he held in the past for which he was greatly admired, it appears he has given that up.

Mind you I haven’t mentioned the Workers Party who claims to be opposition and actually have 6 seats in Parliament. But the Workers Party is an illusion. Lee has cleverly decided that if Singaporeans are going to vote for an opposition, it is as well that he turn the opposition into PAP. This is what has happened to the Workers Party. Voting for them is as good as voting for the PAP. They are merely stooges who further the interests of the PAP by making inane speeches for no purpose.

Which is why Low this Khaing their leader who has been in Parliament for decades has really managed to do nothing at all, except, making speeches, which I suppose he will do for another two decades.

And while he makes his speeches, Lee continues to take millions and the island continues as it is.

With Palmer, the PAP MP being caught with his pants down in his adulterous affair and resigning, it would appear that his ward will have a by election. But I don't think Chee or the Reform Party man or anyone from these dead political parties is ever going to win. The residents would be thoroughly intimidated and thoroughly confused into thinking that the Workers Party is best, as Lee has cleverly managed to do in the past and they will win once again. And the people will think once again that they have managed to vote another opposition man with the Workers Party, into Parliament while Lee would be licking his chops, knowing he has fooled them once again.

What Singapore needs is not speeches in Parliament, blog posts in the Singapore Democrats or law suits filed by the Reform Party. What they respect is courage. For a man to go out there on the streets and demand that he will not budge unless justice is done; unless Lee stops stealing state funds, unless the people are given their fundamental rights, unless the judiciary will promise independence.

Alas, they have no courage. Lee has successfully house trained and domesticated them into pedigree show poodles. All they are capable of is to write blog posts and file law suits periodically, as Lee wants them, while Lee continues to steal and while his courts continue to abuse the law.

Unless they get off their backsides and do something real, there is no hope for the island. It is doomed as Lee's serfdom until he dies when it will descend by default into chaos.

Gopalan Nair
Fremont, CA USA
Attorney at Law
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's servile "leaders", Michael Palmer

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The title of this blog post might appear an oxymoron.

What, servile and yet leader!

No need to surprised, this is Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore that we are talking about or in other words Alice in Wonderland.

In that tiny island, there is only one leader. Yes, you guessed it, 91 year old Lee Kuan Yew himself who according to the law of nature, should not have very long more to live.

As for all the other so called leaders, which is his cabinet, his members of parliament and even it's speaker are all nothing more than hand picked minions, with no mind or spine of their own, their only ability being to follow the leader, such as is the case of this pathetic subject of this blog post.

During the past few days, Lee Kuan Yew's state controlled newspapers have all been carrying the island's sensational sex news.

Michael Palmer, mixed blood offspring of an Eurasian father and a local Singapore Chinese mother had joined Lee Kuan Yew's political party, contested elections in an stage managed political atmosphere (as all elections in the tiny island state are), where Lee's party will win at any cost, was thereafter naturally elected to Parliament and subsequently also made Speaker of Lee's Parliament.

A few days ago, it was discovered that he had an ongoing sexual relationship with a woman Laura Ong, who is another of these mindless opportunists like him, who was working for Lee's political and/or spying agency, Peoples Association Pasir Ris, whose duties include spying on its residents to alert the authorities to individuals not entirely sympathetic to the regime. 

Anyhow he was caught with his pants down, both literally and figuratively speaking in a sense, paraded before the state's TV and made to confess like a schoolboy who was caught being naughty and shamed publically by being forced to resign. 

Please see YouTube video "Michael Palmer resigns as speaker and MP" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bK-eXoMpjg8

The objective of this post is to show the total incompetence of Singapore Island's so called "leaders", such as this Palmer is made out to be.

Calling him a leader is an abuse of that word.

He just like all the other so called Lee Kuan Yew's politicians are nothing more than mere opportunists completely devoid of any mind of their own.

Their hope is to make a lucrative career of being loyal to Singapore’s leadership regardless of what it stands for. This way, with Lee's patronage, Palmer just like all his other friends at Lee's Parliament would have a pretty lucrative and lifelong career at the feet of their master. Of course this romance unfortunately threw all that out the window.

The problem with Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore is that it has no leaders at all, except one, Lee himself. He understands that it is dangerous to allow anyone else to acquire leadership as this may threaten his own position. As a result he ensures that persons selected are never allowed to be leaders, since this enables their being kicked and removed anytime it is deemed necessary.

Today, after his sacking by his masters, Palmer is simply a nobody, while yesterday; he was not only Member of Parliament but also speaker of the House, a very important person indeed. Indeed, if Palmer were to walk down Toa Payoh Lorong 1 today, a street in one of Lee's housing estates, no one would give him a second look. Once Lee has finished with him, depending on his pleasure, the victim is simply history.

This pathetic forlorn Palmer in this video, looks no different than a schoolboy caught in the act and just about to be punished.

Next to him sit's lee Kuan Yew's number two, another bootlicker Teo Chee Hean, deputy prime minister, but here more like an assistant school master.

He makes a short speech as if doing it to the school assembly of schoolboys, proclaiming publicly the infractions the miscreant Palmer had committed. Palmer in turn does as he is told like the obedient schoolboy, and humbly confesses, presumably hoping this may result in a lesser punishment.

It is no exaggeration to say that in Lee Kuan Yew’s Singapore, Palmer just as all his other colleagues has no mind of his own. He is there merely to do the bidding and if caught, his duties are merely to comply and take the punishment.

It would not be incorrect to say, he, like all his other PAP colleagues under Lee Kuan Yew, has no ideas of his own about such things as political philosophy except those of Lee himself at any one time; he has no individual ideas of national policies except those of Lee Kuan Yew, and in the absence of Lee Kuan Yew, he simply wouldn’t know what to say, at any one time. All he knows is that it was very lucky for him to have been recognized and selected by Lee for high office but now, unfortunately because of his misbehavior, all that is gone. Simple as that.

From now onward, in Singaporean style, he might hope that the Lee ruling family would not be so hard on him and perhaps give him some job in some state controlled organization or even better instruct his bosses in his law firm Harry Elias not to turn him out to the street.

In any case, he has no intention of giving up licking the boots of Lee Kuan Yew and his political party for a living for the remaining years of his life, that much is certain. This is because, Michael Palmer of Singapore is simply nothing, just something to be disposed off as and when Lee Kuan Yew pleases. On his own, Michael Palmer is not a political animal.

But had Palmer been a politician in a real democracy in some other country, would matter be different? Perhaps. For one, Palmer could have said that he really loves this woman and wants to marry her and could go to the people for support.

Second, the people who look to him as their leader, as he would be elsewhere, would have held massive demonstrations against his dismissal.

Thirdly, he could have started his own party and contested the same ward.

But all this is not possible, because Palmer of Singapore is not a leader and neither is he a real politician. All he is, is nothing more than a mindless opportunist who now finds that his opportunity is lost because he had made a mistake; that he is no longer in the good books of his erstwhile generous patron, and that he has been turned out.

This incident once again raises the dire, precarious and dangerous position tiny Singapore will be in when the 91 year old Lee Kuan Yew kicks the bucket very soon. If all you have are people such as Michael Palmer, Singapore stands no chance at all.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Ethical foreign investors and businesses should avoid Singapore

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Today foreign American European and Japanese investors and businesses have a choice where they want to invest. It is not necessary to invest in brutal regimes or countries that deny basic human rights even though wages may be low as the consumers of today do care where their products are manufactured. A product made in say Taiwan, a country which respects worker's rights has better marketability than say a product made in North Korea which suppresses its people.

Last month the world has seen what sort of country Singapore really is. It is a country that has no minimum wage laws which means workers can be paid anything the employer wants; a country that has no independent trade unions and a country that jails workers if they went on strike for better conditions.

Last month about 200 Chinese nationals who worked as bus drivers in the island had gone on a peaceful strike for better pay and working conditions. Citing a lame excuse that bus driving is an occupation that impacts national interest which is clearly nonsense, and therefore requires a 14 day notice which they did not give, five of them were arrested and thrown in jail.

In a seperate incident, almost at the same time, two workers had perched on top of a crane and refused to come down unless they were paid. They too were immediately arrested and treated like criminals.

In Singapore workers have no rights whatsoever. Employers often fail to pay wages, and if anyone complained, their work contracts are cancelled and they are promptly shipped home. In fact the moment they arrive in Singapore, their passports are held by their employers to make sure they work without complaints.

Thousands of maids from Philippines, Indonesia and other countries work for Singapore families. In their case they don't get even a single day off work at all and like other workers, their passports are taken away from them by their employers.

Almost daily you read of cases of maid abuse in the island's state controlled newspapers. The maids are beaten with sticks, hot water is poured over them and they are stabbed with kitchen knives. The employers although charged in court, usually get away with a small fine because of an excuse such as being under stress or depression.

There is no need to invest in a country such as this. I would urge all foreign investors to avoid investing in Singapore Island. Not only will you feel better in your heart, your customers for your products in America, Europe and elsewhere would appreciate it too.

I certainly would avoid buying anything made in Singapore knowing how badly their workers are treated.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore will descend into chaos when it's ruler, 91 year old Lee Kuan Yew dies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Some say he's 89 and others say he is 91 but whatever the number; it is pretty near the time to die for human beings. That is how old Singapore's all powerful leader Lee Kuan Yew is, the person who is credited with all sorts of achievements, all of it imaginary I might add, including creating modern Singapore is.

But here lies the problem. Regardless of what people may say, Singapore just as Nazi Germany under the Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, Spain under Franco and Italy under Mussolini are all dictatorships, fascist dictatorships to be exact. It is a country where everything and everybody accept rules and laws laid down by the dictator, some because they have no choice but to obey and others because they are opportunists and see gain in such obedience.

These laws and rules laid down in these dictatorships do not necessarily follow any particular political philosophy, not entirely capitalist, not entirely socialist and even not entirely logical, acceptable or even lawful. They are just edicts or orders from above which inevitably become law.

Singapore is a tiny island city state, not even a quarter the size of New York. Only about a decade ago, it had no more than about 3 million people, all local born citizens. Suddenly today, it has more than 5 million, half of whom were recently bought in by the decision made by the dictatorship to expand the economy. The local population which had been about 3 million in the past has declined to 2.5 million and steadily continues to decline today. The birth rate is almost zero and the existing Singapore born population is dying from old age.

The reason for the massive immigration imbalance between local and migrant workers was the unwise decision by the dictatorship to expand its economy at any cost, which meant unrestricted immigration.

But just as in all dictatorships, the people are forced to accept laws and rules which are clearly illegal but are incapable of questioning. Take the salaries of Lee Kuan Yew and each of his party politicians. They each pay themselves $5 million a year or some other ridiculous figure. As if that was not bad enough, they corruptly pay themselves even more undisclosed amounts in government company dividends and other sources. Surely this is corruption of the worst kind, even to beat that of the former Congo leader Mobuto who stole the countries diamonds. But just as in Mobutu's Congo, Singaporeans are not allowed to complain. If they did, they would be sued for libel in his corrupt courts, jailed and bankrupted.

Although Singapore has a Constitution which gives the people their rights, in fact they have none. The Constitution is a fraud. There is no freedom of speech, expression, assembly, free press, rule of law, simply nothing. The island is a one party police state run by Lee Kuan Yew and his family, as simple as that.

Why then you may ask hasn't Singapore just collapsed? Why then you may ask has there not been a revolution like there was in 1917 in the Red Square, Russia. Well for the time being just as in all dictatorships, despite the illegal laws and policies, people can somehow make a living. There are thousands and thousands who serve the dictatorship in his political party, as civil servants and as grass roots organizations such as the Peoples Association and Residents Committees. They have secure jobs, and get paid totally for pushing the policies of the dictatorship, regardless of right or wrong.

Then you have the thousands of taxi drivers, the food sellers, the sales girls and office boys who all have families and survive working in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. Any attempt by them to question his authority would mean possible demotion or even losing one's livelihood. For them too regardless of how unacceptable the rules are, questioning authority is not a sensible option.

But then what happens when the 91 year old leader Lee Kuan Yew dies, the person from whom all wisdom was derived (I mean wisdom sarcastically of course)? Will the people be willing to follow another leader such as his son, who is now the presently the Prime Minister when the people already know that he is nothing but a mere follower of his father.

History has shown that dictatorships only last as long as the dictator, unless it happens to be a closed society like North Korea, which Singapore is not. I don't think Singapore will last beyond the 91 year old man. The basis upon which the island rests is one big fraud. No one will accept paying its political leaders $5 million a year each and a further unknown amount secretly. No one will accept the government denying every single human right in the Constitution. No one will accept a situation where a foreigner has more rights in the tiny island than the locals. The Malays will not accept being second fiddle to the Chinese. The Indians will not accept being treated as if they did not exist.

The clock is ticking fast for the 91 year old Lee Kuan Yew. His triple A battery is about to go dead. The last time I made a hoax about his having suffered a heart attack resulted in the Singapore stock market falling and islandwide pandemonium even resulting in my being condemned in the island's Parliament, even though I revealed it as a hoax the very next day.

If this was the colossal reaction to my blog post about a year ago in this blog, imagine the turmoil and upheaval when he really does die, which is surely not too long away.

My advice to everyone and anyone, both local and foreign, having anything to do with tiny Singapore Island is to keep this fast approaching occurrence on your horizon. The tiny island is simply too small to ride such a catastrophic occurrence. A prudent investor will keep this in mind and always have plan two in place. Lee Kuan Yew's son will be unable to hold tiny Singapore island together, a place which relies almost entirely of foreign investment. At the first sign of unrest, there goes the capital.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore Island. The self inflicted labor crisis

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The problem with Lee Kuan Yew's tiny Singapore Island is not like that of most other countries, not a shortage of jobs but a shortage of people to do them.

In this Bloomberg article of Nov 02, 2012, headed
"Singapore managers turn deliverymen in labor crunch: Economy" it talks of Managers of a food business themselves having to deliver their products because they cannot find enough workers. Several other cases are reported in this article describing the severe labor shortage in Singapore of today.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-11-02/singapore-managers-turn-delivery-men-in-labor-crunch-economy.html

It is, just as many of Singapore’s far too many problems with no answers, simply self inflicted.

Here is the problem with Lee Kuan Yew's tiny island. It always had a tiny population of no more than about 2.5 million people mainly reliant on tourism, some small industry and banking and insurance. Nothing much more than that. After all what could a small tiny population in a tiny island be capable of.

One would have thought any capable competent government would have realized the slogan "Cut your shirt according to your cloth" fundamentally important in Singapore’s case.

Not so in Lee Kuan Yew’s megalomania.

Lee Kuan Yew and his minions at the top thought, as always, that they alone know best about everything. You see there is no democracy in the island and contrarian view is shouted down, and the perpetrator arrested, sued for libel and bankrupted. There is only the voice of Lee Kuan Yew. And we all know that unless he is God, he can’t know everything.

That’s how it was in Stalinist Russia and so it is now under Lee Kuan Yew's one party state. What you have in Singapore is state central planning just as you had in the Soviet Union. And you know what happened there.

Well, Lee Kuan Yew and his friends who decided the way to principally enrich themselves, and a few crumbs for the people, was to expand the economy any way they can, and if possible into as large and that of the UK economy if possible!

But since Singapore had not enough people, the land area nor the skills needed for it, they opened the island to the entire world. Singapore was fair game for all. Anyone in the world could simply come to Singapore and set up shop and do any kind of business they wanted. Not only that, they can bring along as many of their countrymen as they wanted to work in the island.

So you have the setting up of the casinos, about which no Singaporean had any idea, the setting up of offshore banks hiding laundered money for foreign thieves, and small scale industry reliant on cheap labor. To work these businesses, they brought in millionaire bankers from Switzerland, Las Vegas croupiers and $2 dollars an hour cheap labor to work at the assembly lines.

While all this was happening, Lee silenced and destroyed any political critics, because he thought an intimidated work force is the most easily governed work force. He thought perhaps that if all opposition is silenced, foreign companies would come to invest in ever increasing numbers to take advantage of helpless cheap workers without a voice.

Unfortunately the old crafty Lee miscalculated on all scores. Instead of being intimidated, young English educated Singaporeans were repulsed and outraged by the lack of freedoms, free speech and the lack of rule of law. The already tiny numbers of educated from the already tiny population decided to leave in increasing numbers for settlement abroad, mainly to Australia. This put even greater pressure on the work force resulting in best and brightest, the very ones the island desperately needs, merely packing and heading out.

Over the years, and because of the speed and efficiency of mass communication and Internet, the world has become increasingly reminded of the repressive labor practices and denial of human rights in the island. There is no minimum wage which means workers both local and foreign can be paid anything that the employers wanted. There are no free and independent trade unions as they all protect employers, not the other way around. Last week Chinese bus drivers who had staged a peaceful strike for better wage and working conditions were arrested and jailed. So was another 2 just 2 days ago who perched themselves atop a crane and refused to come down until they were paid. They too were arrested and will shortly be sent to prison.

These arrests have sent alarm bells all over the world and Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore which he claims to have harmonious labor relations has been exposed as repressive regime which sucks the blood of helpless workers and jails them if they complain. This has resulted in even fewer foreign workers willing to come to the island to work, perhaps either staying home or going to other countries such as Malaysia which may treat them better.

Suddenly, as can be seen from the article, and as a result of other existing pressures from other sectors, the island simply does not have enough people to work. Presently at least one half of the people in the island are foreigners while the local population of just 2.5 million continue to shrink from massive rates of emigration, an almost non existent birth rate and an ageing population.

And now Lee Kuan Yew and his boys who thought they knew everything are in a bind. Either way they turn they are finished. If they increase the foreign labor force any further, there won't be any local born Singaporeans there anymore, except for Lee's toadies, minions, sycophants, bootlickers, and those without skills and incapable of leaving. It is not a population worth anything or capable of anything.

On the other hand, if he stopped further importation of people from abroad, businesses would simply close, thousands would be left jobless and the economy would crumple.

Singapore has simply got a bad name both at home and aboard and unless you are an opportunist without any principles, you wouldn’t want to call Singapore home. There is simply nothing to be proud about an island where a tin pot tyrant struts around his tiny chicken coop punishing anyone who so much whispers.

John Stuart Mill the libertarian had said, “A state which dwarfs its men, in order that they may be more docile instruments in its hands even for beneficial purposes--will find that with small men no great thing can really be accomplished.”

Lee has made dwarfs of Singaporeans. I am afraid nothing much can be accomplished by men who have lost their voice and grovel in fear. You simply cannot make them men anymore.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, CA, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

(Video of Singapore woman) Singapore. Chinese workers protests and Singaporean people's blind mindless submission to authority

Update Dec 10, 2012. Checking on the video link below, the Singapore woman who had ealier posted it has taken it off air. She might have been told how silly she looked. Well, there you have it. But I will leave this post up nevertheless

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In total contrast to the Chinese migrant worker's willingness to go on strike for equal pay and living conditions in Lee Kuan Yew's one party totalitarian police state, where there has not been a single labor strike in the last 26 years, last week about 200 bus drivers went on strike and yesterday 2 more perched atop cranes for unpaid wages, Singaporeans reaction to all this is unconfirmed one way or another.

We understand that a poll taken by the government which expectedly is suspect, as very likely the government had asked a dozen or so of their diehard staunch supporters, predictably shows complete disapproval to the strike action. As to what the average person thinks in that tightly controlled island thinks is anyone's guess.

But one woman has made a video to show her total distaste to the strikes. Although she speaks English, or a form of it, it appears she is totally incapable of thinking independently except to simply regurgitate what she has been told by her rulers in her one party police state. Her entire argument against the bus drivers is simply that they have not followed the law of Singapore because according to them, this strike was illegal and her response is simply to say that because the state calls it illegal, therefore it is indeed illegal and no one should be challenging it.

She fails or is incapable of  considering:

1. Singapore is a one party state where elections are unreliable. The state manages to secure their chosen candidates in Parliament and true opponents are finished off through defamation actions. Therefore the laws themselves must be scrutinized before accepting it as illegal.
2. For a strike to require notice, it has to be such as to affect the island's security or safety in a significant way. Bus strikes do not come within this definition worldwide and therefore do not require the giving of notice. Jailing peaceful bus strikers is illegal, not the other way around.
3. She fails to consider or is incapable of realizing, that the harsh response from the government maybe because this government needs to deny worker's their rights so as to further profit behind their backs and secure themselves in power.
4. She fails to understand that merely because a law has been made; it does not make it right. If so, Hitler would have been right in killing Jews or sending them to concentration camps because that was the law of the land.
5. It appears she has not benefited at all from an education and if this is the sort of people you have in Singapore, living there would be like living in an island of robots.

I am attaching the link to the YouTube video below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8SRZUuTDGkk

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean by birth in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore's bus strike. Unlike Singaporeans, Hong Kong people have balls

Ladies and Gentlemen,

"Hong Kong Activists Stage Protests, Call for Release of SMRT Bus Drivers" reports Singapore’s state controlled newspaper Straits Times of Dec 05, 2012.

About 50 Hong Kong citizens, outraged by Singapore Island one party totalitarian police states action to arrest and prosecute innocent Chinese bus drivers in Singapore for having gone on strike have protested in front of the Singapore Consulate in Hong Kong demanding that they be immediately released and the law requiring the giving of notice before striking be forthwith rescinded.

But in Singapore itself, up till now, there has not been a single public protest from anyone.

See http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/hk-activists-stage-protest-call-release-smrt-bus-drivers-20121205

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=goIRtQdOgWQ

Which begs the question, what sort of people are Singaporeans anyway? Have they no guts at all to stand up to stand up to the injustice done to their striking bus drivers, and instead require having the people of Hong Kong to stand up for them? Have they no balls at all? Shame indeed!

About a week ago, about 200 bus drivers from China temporarily employed on contract in Singapore had staged a strike because they were being paid less than similarly placed Singapore or Malaysian nationals. The next day after threats of arrest and imprisonment and surrounded by an overwhelming armed police presence in riot gear, about a hundred of them gave in the next day leaving about 50 on the third day.

Of these, the next day, 26 were unceremoniously deported without any due process, 5 were arrested and charged with serious criminal offenses of which one was sentenced to 6 weeks jail while the other five are still in jail being tortured and continuously interrogated while denied legal representation.

The cause of these men was just. They were being unfairly treated while Singaporeans and Malaysians were given preferential treatment. Singapore’s argument for arresting them, which is totally without merit, is that they failed to give a 14 day notice because, according to them, transportation is an essential service.

Although there appears a great deal of hoo and ha in the Singaporean Internet, all anonymously I must add, from Singaporeans who claim to support these drivers, there appears no one, absolutely no one who dares to openly protest against this injustice.

All Singaporeans are capable of doing, it appears, is to proclaim their dissatisfaction on the Internet, and mind you even that anonymously.

It took the brave people of Hong Kong, in spite of being under the yoke of the Communist Chinese government, to do the right thing, by protesting in front of the Singapore consulate in solidarity with their fellow Singapore workers.  

The unfortunate consequence of such inaction by the people of Singapore sends an unfortunate message not only to their repressive government but also the world that Singaporeans actually condone such injustice being perpetrated against their workers. It also sends an unfortunate message to global employers that Singapore Island is the one place to come to exploit cheap compliant and submissive labor force.

The Singapore Democratic Party, one of Singapore’s opposition parties have numerous articles in their website, The Singapore Democrat, about a pattern of exploitation of the low income workers and the plight of the poor in the island. All very good, thanks very much, but surely merely writing about this stuff repeatedly is not enough. Surely they have to do something more than that, at least like what these people in Hong Kong have done, by getting off their backsides and publicly and openly proclaiming that this is wrong and will not be tolerated.

Alas, it appears, that the courage of Singaporeans and that of the so called opposition Singapore Democratic Party only extends to writing articles condemning the injustice but it appears they don't have what it takes to do anymore.

Alas, this is not good enough either for Singapore, for me or for anyone else who has any interest in the future of the island city state governed by the Lee Ruling Family as a totalitarian police state for the last 55 years.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore Islands' most valuable commodity, an ignorant, cheap and submissive labor force

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Lee Kuan Yew's tiny island tin pot dictatorship there has not been a single worker strike for the last 30 years, except for one surprisingly by Chinese migrant low wage bus drivers which expectedly didn't get anywhere. Five of them were charged criminally, one was sentenced to 6 weeks jail, the other four are waiting in jail for their sentence and 26 were deported to Communist China.

In Singapore Island, there are no minimum wage laws which means you can pay a worker $2 a day if you like, labor unions are managed by the government which protect employer's interests rather than the other way round, workers have no way to further their interests under the law, and the ethos in the labor market is simply, take it or leave it.

Throughout the island's state controlled newspapers the past few days (there is no independent press) the government has repeatedly referred to the strikers as having destroyed Singapore’s world famous "industrial harmony" by going on strike.

So in effect Singapore is selling to the world a cheap, conformist, ignorant workforce, by telling them Singapore is a marvelous place for investment, since they cannot complain even if you paid them pittance. Singapore is also telling the world that it it's citizens and workers are simply dumb and a bunch of spiritless, gutless people who, like robots, will obey their masters without complaint.

Therefore, it is telling global companies that with this totally submissive workforce, they could make tons out of their backs.  

Selling such a slavish workforce does not speak well of the employers who take advantage of them and neither does it speak well of the workers for being shamefully spineless and willing.

In Singapore Island, you end up with an unscrupulous bunch of employers who take advantage of helpless union-less workers and a disgraceful bunch of workers who allow themselves to be willingly abused this way. Not an honorable way to sell a country or to make a living, either by employers or workers.

Gopalan Nair
A Singaporean by birth in Exile
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singaporeans should show solidarity for arrested Chinese bus drivers

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All Singapore's state controlled newspapers including the Straits Times have been giving full coverage to the recent arrest of 5 Chinese national migrant worker bus drivers for staging a strike against their Singapore Island state controlled bus company SMRT for equal pay and living conditions.

They were among a group of 200 of their countrymen, working in the low pay job of bus drivers in the island city state when they were threatened and intimidated by the state police of impending arrest, torture and long terms of imprisonment, after which about 100 of them gave in out of fear and the possibility of deportation.

As a result about 2 days later another 50 or so gave up under the constant threat of being arrested, beaten and even shot at by armed riot police with guns and truncheons leaving only about 50 left.

Yesterday 26 of them were promptly deported to their homes in China while 5 of them have been charged with criminal offences which will render them liable to jail up to a year and substantial fines.

Every single day for the last 5 days, the island’s state controlled newspapers, TV and other media have been showing pictures of them in handcuffs being led off by armed police, at other times within police vehicles and at other times being led into police vehicles with large numbers of uniformed and armed policemen in helmets, rifles and riot gear on hand.

The government is clearly trying to portray these men as common criminals when all they had done was to stage a protest, something which happens all over the civilized world. This sort of behavior by this one party state’s police thugs is cowardly, unfair and counter productive.

If they thought that the few minuscule remaining native born Singaporeans, no more than 2.5 million in the island, are going to be intimidated by this, they have something else coming. I can assure you this is only going to further antagonize right thinking Singaporeans who are going to feel a sense of revulsion and outrage to this sort of bullying.

This is will further increase the large numbers already emigrating for settlement abroad and it will work towards further lowering the already minuscule birth rate in the island. The Lee Ruling Family has amply contributed towards the near total extinction of native born Singaporeans in their own island.  Just like I, Gopalan Nair, who has left for the US, thousands and thousands will leave for the US, Australia, New Zealand and elsewhere, wanting to have nothing more to do with Lee Kuan Yew’s tiny island city. There will soon come a time when he has no one else left to bully, except foreign migrant workers.

Please see the following reports from the island's state controlled newspaper: http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/fifth-smrt-bus-driver-pleads-guilty-instigating-strike-20121203

http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/smrt-bus-driver-dispute/story/all-29-ex-smrt-bus-drivers-china-repatriated-today-20121

The cause of these heroic workers who have dared to stand up against this totalitarian one party police state run by the Lee Kuan Yew family, made up of the father and his son is just and honorable. Singapore citizen bus drivers and Malaysian nationals who do the same work for the same number of hours are paid more than Chinese nationals. Their strike was only to ask for equal treatment at par with the Singaporeans and Malaysians.

The argument for arresting them by this bullying dictatorship was that the bus drivers had failed to first give notice of their intended strike before they carried it out. The government says because bus driving involves an important national interest, such a requirement of notice is necessary.

But this government argument flatly fails. It would have been all right in a democracy with the rule of law. But Lee Kuan Yew's tiny Singapore Island is not a democracy. It is a one party totalitarian police state. Its judges are not independent, and giving notice in such circumstances would only mean their repatriation on the next plane home the next minute, as we have already seen with the 29 drivers.

Since the process laid down in law provides no real remedy for the workers, such a requirement is unjust, void and without effect. The workers are absolved from complying with the rule in these circumstances.

We have heard a great deal of support for the drivers from concerned Singaporeans in the Internet. We should thank them for it. But may I remind them that simply voicing your outrage incognito on the Internet is not enough. This is a time that other Singaporeans should openly come out in support of these men. Singaporeans should show their solidarity, stand shoulder to shoulder, with these heroic Chinese national bus drivers in the island. I ask ever single Singaporean who feels a sense of revulsion, injustice and a burning desire to tell this repressive government that it can no longer rely on intimidation and bullying to get its way; to come out openly and state it.  

Singaporeans should organize peaceful protests and demonstrations outside the Central Police Station with placards demanding their immediate release. They should do the same outside the Subordinate Courts where they are being charged with these Kangaroo court charges.

I particularly call upon the Singapore Democratic Party and Dr. Chee Soon Juan to organize similar protests in support of them.

Men such as these and any other person who is abused in this way by these tiny tin pot dictators should know that Singaporeans have a heart and will stand by them in solidarity in their time of need. Such a feeling would go a great way in giving a sense of hope and will drive home the knowledge that their efforts have not been in vain, that they are not alone, and that caring concerned Singaporeans among their midst will stand with them in their times of sacrifice and suffering.

In 2008 when I was arrested in Singapore during a short visit there, by this government for writing a blog critical of the judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, members and supporters of the Dr. Chee's Singapore Democratic Party stood vigil outside the Central Police Station jail where I was being held. This act of kindness went a long way in telling me that I was not alone and that others did care. I hope Dr. Chee will do the same this time for these men.

Please do not abandon them in their time of need. They should not be allowed to think that their actions were useless.

Gopalan Nair
A Singaporean by birth in exile
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore's labor relations; the calm of the cemetary

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the aftermath of the recent unprecedented bus driver strike in the island authoritarian police state run by the Lee Ruling Family who each pay themselves $3.7 million a year and even more secretly, they have come out saying in their state controlled newspapers that the strike has upset the industrial harmony in the island.

Let me tell them this. Harmony extracted through fear, intimidation, threats of arrest and deportation is not harmony. It is slavery. And if Singapore Island has calm in the workforce, it is the silence of the cemetery.

Singapore Island does not have a minimum wage law, union leaders are appointed by the state to represent not workers but employers, any attempt to strike is illegal and subject to arrest and imprisonment, there are no laws against discrimination of race religion or gender; it is simply a paradise for both local and multinational employers to extract every inch of blood from the low wage powerless workers.

Singaporeans have over the years simply accepted this because they had no choice. What else can they do when they face arrest? With no social security of any sort, no unemployment assistance the poor workers are faced with the dire choice of either accepting their terms or they and their families starve.

This is the very reason why Singaporeans, the vast majority of them have said in a recent survey that given a chance, they would emigrate to the West for the betterment of their families. In fact that is what the able and skilled are doing in increasing numbers, forcing the government to resort to increasing numbers of foreigners, which creates this sort of unexpected reaction through strikes.

Unwittingly, these Chinese bus drivers have done a bundle of good for Singapore and Singaporeans. They have brought home the message that not everyone will be pushed around by these state bullies. And the reaction by the state in arresting them has also a done a great deal of good since we once again see that the Lee Ruling Family like a horse in blinkers know only one thing and one way, which is intimidation and instilling fear. They don't seem to realize that such ruthlessness really doesn't work in this day and age and is truly counter productive.

By their behaving like thugs once again, the consequences working against this tiny island of no more than 2.5 local born citizens is magnified even more. The world has now seen at what cost labor harmony is extracted in the island. Even more Singaporeans are angered by such state bullying. Even more Singaporeans will leave the island. Even fewer babies will be born and even faster will Lee's miracle island population dwindle even further. And what should be worrying the most for these Lee Ruling Family thugs is the strong likelihood that other workers emboldened by the courage of the Chinese bus drivers may do exactly that. Then what will they do, imprison everyone?

Gopalan Nair
A Singaporean by birth in exile
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore. Unprecedented strike by Chinese migrant bus drivers open a can of worms for Lee Kuan Yew's authoritarian government

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For Lee Kuan Yew's authoritarian police city state of Singapore, the unspeakable but long expected event has finally happened. Chinese migrant low wage bus drivers have finally gone on strike, demanding equal wages paid to others doing the same job and equal living conditions.

About 4 days ago, about 200 Chinese bus workers went on strike. This news went viral throughout the world, since such activity was unheard of in that tightly controlled island.  When they were threatened with police in riot gear with guns and truncheons, some 100 of those caved in but not the remaining 100 who continued against all odds. Now the island's state controlled newspaper reports that 4 have been arrested and charged in the criminal court and face fines and imprisonment extending up to a year. See http://www.straitstimes.com/the-big-story/smrt-bus-driver-dispute/story/four-smrt-bus-drivers-charged-over-strike-20121129

The Singapore government is repeatedly using words such as "criminal" and "illegal" to represent the actions of these drivers. Calling someone criminal does not make him one. His action should be criminal and in this case, they are simply not criminals. They were simply asking for fairer treatment and equal wage for equal work. Nothing criminal about that.

The government's argument is, like all their other nonsensical arguments, is that because bus driving is an essential activity; the law requires them to first give notice before they took strike action. But any one with any common sense also knows that if the law itself is unlawful there is no need for anyone to comply. This law requiring notice is unlawful under the Singaporean context because we all know that it would have been useless for the workers to have given notice since all that the government would have done is simply to cancel their visas and quietly send them packing to China. When a law is useless on its face, the need to comply no longer exists. The Chinese bus drivers were within their rights not to comply with the notice requirement.

Going on strike should not be an earth shattering event in any other country; workers all over the world do it. It is a fundamental human right. But not in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore where there has not been one for the last 30 years. In the past, up till now, local born Singaporeans have all been successfully cowed and intimidated never to go against authority, which has managed to keep this totalitarian one party police state in power for so long.

But the problem with the Lee Kuan Yew government when they insist on making people obey them is that they have lost their legitimacy to rule. Lee Kuan Yew and each member of his family pay themselves each $3.7 million a year which they call a salary and a further undisclosed amount through corruption. Any worker such as these men who earn a measly sum of less than about $800.00 per month would naturally be aggrieved when their rulers corruptly get away with millions at their expense. This is exactly why the French Revolution and the Russian Revolution happened. The revolutionaries were not criminals, they were heroes. They were standing for justice.

Secondly with a corrupt government and a corrupt legal system in the island which merely pass down dictates to prop up the Lee Ruling Family, no one would be expected to follow the laws in industrial action, since you simply cannot get justice.

Lee's government is already having it very hard for a very long time. The local population is simply not procreating with the lowest birth rate in the world. To make matters worse, the island itself only has about 2.5 million local born Singaporeans, a number which is falling by the day from the low birth rate, high emigration rate and an aging population. In addition, the government has built up an overly large economy which requires a large labor force relative to its size which it does not have. It therefore has no choice but to continue relying on foreign labor.

But foreigners are not Singaporeans. The Chinese from China have a long tradition of protests which is part of their Communist ethos. That is how they brought down the capitalists in 1949, by a revolution. And mini revolutions happen every day throughout China for better living conditions.

The arrest and criminal charges against the 4 have, like a can of worms, will result in huge painful consequences for the Lee government. For one, everyone can see that the Chinese drivers were in the right. Their action is justified. This creates even more hatred against the government for this bullying cowardly tactics against innocent workers who were asking only for their just rights. Which means even more people would emigrate, even fewer babies would be born and worst of all for the government, encourage others to join suit. In this case, the Lee government would simply be helpless. They simply cannot send everybody to jail or send everyone back home; because if they did, who will do the work for them.

On the other hand, the Lees simply cannot loosen up either. If they did what they should rightly do, by stopping these arrests of workers, decriminalizing strikes and work stoppages, stopping the theft of millions by the Lee Family in corruption, and making sure that you have rule of law, the people would be happy and content in the island. But doing this would also mean the end of this totalitarian corrupt dictatorship.

The Lee Ruling Family have been caught in a vice of their own making.

No, it is simply too late for the Lee regime. These proud courageous Chinese bus heroes have done it. They have done the unthinkable in Lee's tiny island. This would mean the start of other strikes of Bangladeshis, Filipinos, Indians and even Singaporeans who would now be emboldened to finally say enough is enough. Yes, the striking Chinese bus drivers have indeed opened a can of worms for the Lee Kuan Yew administration. It will be interesting to see whether they can carry on bullying their people and if so for how long.

A reminder. I am able to write this from the safety of California, USA. The Singapore government has not had the courage to demand from the foreign Internet provider of this blog, to try to stop its entry into Singapore which explains why I can continue to write. Had I wrote this from within Singapore, I would have been arrested the next instant as I was in 2008 in Singapore.

Gopalan Nair
A Singaporean by birth in exile
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375

Singapore's champions for human rights come from the most unexpected quarter, Chinese migrant bus drivers

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For the last 3 days, Singapore's state controlled newspapers have been reporting of something almost unheard in the island city state run as a dictatorship by the Lee Ruling Family, worker strikes, which finally ended when the bus driver workers returned to work after being threatened with criminal charges and arrest. See http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/smrt-bus-drivers-china-return-work-20121128

But seeing their actions, local Singaporeans who would never have the courage to even imagine going on strike, an action which is normal behavior in any other civilized country, should not only be inspired by it, they should also be ashamed.

The Chinese nationals who are my heroes, had legitimate right to complain. Malaysian and Singapore bus drivers in the island were given higher wages while Chinese nationals were paid less even though they were doing exactly the same work. About 170 workers initially refused to work. After the government brought dozens of armed police in riot gear ready to attack them, they eventually gave up and agreed to continue working. The exact terms of the settlement were not reported but we expect the strikers to have won in their wage demands and living conditions. 

The manner in which Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore makes use of these foreign workers to do low wage jobs in the island so as to keep wages low, is beginning to backfire. The government which is trying to take advantage of these foreign workers should understandably be very worried by what has happened. They should also realize that worker unrest is now going to increase and make it increasingly difficult for them to abuse their workers. The writing is on the wall. This is only the beginning of Lee Kuan Yew's problems. It may well be the beginning of a revolution.

The mistakes of the Lee regime in using cheap foreign labor are many. He mistakenly thinks that foreign workers would be as docile, timid and submissive as his Singaporeans. Not true. China's history is based on a revolution for better wages and living conditions. Protest is part of the culture of the Chinese in China. And by brining them to Singapore to do cheap labor, Lee did not realize that they would behave the same as they would in their country and would protest if you treat them badly. In fact there are thousands of protests each day throughout their country, a daily occurrence. If Lee wanted cheap workers who are both docile and cheap as well, he should have looked elsewhere although I don’t think there is even a single country where people are both submissive and cheap. 

Second, he houses them in dormitories together with cheap labor workers from many other countries. By doing this, it enables disgruntled workers at any one time, to let others know of their grievance and persuade others to join. This housing arrangement is a perfect recipe for mass demonstrations. As to this particular protest, by now it must be certain that the Chinese bus drivers have already spread the news of their strike to several other hundreds of workers, who are now aware of their plight, and who may now themselves consider going on strike. 

Third, foreign workers are not as desperate as the local timid Singaporeans. They don't really have to take any nonsense. They came to Singapore to work, and if their working conditions turn bad, they could always go home or even go to another country such as the Middle East. Wages are no better in Singapore than anywhere else.

Fourth, this sort of courage to stand up to an unfair unscrupulous employer becomes an example to local Singaporeans who would see them as their champions. They would begin to feel that if the Chinese nationals could do it, so could we. 

Finally it draws home the ruthlessness and cruelty of these Singapore employers by threatening to arrest and jail harmless workers who are only asking their fair share just as anyone else would. This sort of disgraceful behavior adds fuel to the anger that many Singaporeans already have against the Lee Ruling Family who can only manage to rule through fear. This means even more skilled and educated people who are outraged by their government's behavior will add to the already high rate of emigration to the West. It's already small shrinking tiny population of 2.5 local born, through mass emigration, falling birth rate and ageing population will shrink even further and the government will have to resort to bringing in even more cheap foreign labor, thereby only worsening the problem.

Thank you Chinese bus drivers. You have contributed greatly towards advancing human rights in Singapore Island. 

I am glad I am in California which enables me to write this without fear of being arrested and the realization that even more people both in Singapore and the rest of the world can read it. I would not have been able to do this had I been within Singapore.

Gopalan Nair
A Singaporean by birth in exile
Attorney at Law 
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375 

Singapore Island. Living in Denial

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Let not the gleaming skyscrapers and the clean roads lull you into thinking all is well in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore Island. Underneath the glitter and the glamour, it is really not looking too good at all.

First let us not forget what the island is. It has no more than 2.5 million local born Singaporeans. The island is crammed beyond imagination, perhaps one third the size of London, with another 2.5 million foreigners, mainly Chinese from China to the chagrin of the other races of Malays and Indians, mostly Tamils.

You would have thought this alone, a tiny miniscule society, is bad enough, and any great pressure from any direction would end up in this tiny island's economy and existence completely destroyed.

And yes, the island is suffering from pressures from all directions, bad enough for a country with millions of people like Russia but for a tiny island with no more than 2.5 million locals, I see no hope whatsoever.

Now let me list the bad news. First you have a continuing falling birth rate. It is one of the lowest in the world with its population unable even to replace themselves. The reasons for this are numerous, both social and economic. The locals are unhappy because they live under a dictatorship with no fundamental human rights to speak of, such as freedom of speech or expression. They have lost faith in their legal system because it is corrupt by being a mere mouthpiece of the government. The elections are rigged so that only government politicians get elected. There is what appears to be a minuscule opposition in parliament but they are no more than agents of the government party, no more than mere imposters.

Then we have the problem of poverty. The income gap between the rich and the poor is one of the highest in the world. There are several reports that show the island to be the fourth most expensive city in the world, even more expensive than New York. Yet there are many who earn less than $1500 a month for a family of 4. They end up either not eating or eating one meal a day.

The suffering of the poor is heightened by the fact that there is no social security money available. And to make the plight even more intolerable, the island does not have a minimum wage law. The reason the government puts out for this is competition. They claim that unless they have cheaper labor than Bangladesh or the Philippines, they will lose out in the world. This according to them justifies their paying workers Bangladesh wages. Now anyone can see that if you pay Bangladesh wages in a city which is more expensive than New York, it is simply not possible to exist. But the government cares not. It is a government that does not allow citizen participation in how they run the island. If anyone protests too much they would be arrested, jailed and bankrupted through Lee's corrupt courts.

The island is run more like a large company, and its newspapers, all state controlled function more as a newsletter. Everyday the islanders read of the latest government polices and changes that have been enacted. The citizen’s duty is to just follow and obey whatever is decided. It can be equated to Communist Chinese wall poster which the Communists stick up daily on public street corners for its people to read what has been decided for them.

Singapore Island's parliamentary debates are shown on local TV. One look at the faces of the people's representatives, a misnomer because the people had no real say on who represents them, gives one the impression that they are all suffering from a bad bout of constipation. They all look very grim and serious, a look which is almost telling you that they will take no nonsense from you. As far as the people are concerned, on the whole, they care 2 hoots for these people or whatever they are speaking about since in the end, it makes no difference one way or another. They will still have to obey.

A recent survey held in the island last year showed that more than half the people surveyed would emigrate to the West if they can. An earlier survey of students also said, alarmingly for any island with only 2.5 local born people, that they have no loyalty to the island and that they would rather study in the West than in Singapore island.

In fact the rate of emigration to the West, particularly to Australia is staggering. Thousands of Singaporeans with their families leave Singapore for settlement abroad each year. And those who have settled abroad bring their relatives and friends over as well. And those leaving are those very ones the island most needs, skilled professionals, such as doctors lawyers and engineers, an intolerable situation indeed for an island that has no more than 2.5 local born citizens.

Having lived in Singapore, I have the distinct impression that the average man cares two hoots for his government or his island because none of what they think really matters. Lee Kuan Yew and his family who run the place think that they are the professional politicians and rulers, something like a King, they will do the thinking, planning and deciding while the average Singaporean is nothing but an idiot who is required simply to obey and comply; or somewhat like a military garrison where the commander will give the orders and the men will obey.

To make it worse, Lee Kuan Yew, the man who is supposedly putting all this together is in his nineties. If he drops dead, which is very soon, there will be a vacuum, chaos, unrest and even violence. But it seems, the government does not have any plans to avert this impending catastrophe. Frankly, I don't envy them. There is simply nothing they can do. They have driven themselves into the bog and there appears no escape.

You may well ask if you did not know how is it that I can write this criticism and still get away with it. Well, it is because I am writing it from Fremont, California, near San Francisco, United States. This Lee Kuan Yew government are a bunch of cowards who would have arrested me the next minute and tortured me as they did in 2008 in Singapore when I wrote while physically within the island. But now, they are unable to do anything officially because to get me, they would have to face an American judge, whom they know is unlikely to decide in their favor. They can of course get a hit man and finish me off, but I suppose they see danger for them in that too. So they do nothing, but get you only if you’re within their reach.

Gopalan Nair
A Singaporean by birth in exile
Attorney at Law
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 4375