Sunday, February 3, 2013

Singaporeans and their leaders fail their country miserably

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singaporeans and the opposition political parties, the Workers Party and the Singapore Democratic Party should be ashamed of themselves. They have let down their people and their country miserably. Until and unless they start doing something to correct the blatant open abuse of power by their rulers, they should resign and do something else worthwhile. They don't deserve being called leaders because leaders are supposed to get up from their backsides and do something, not just write blog articles on the Internet year in an year out.

This is what is happening in Singapore. First you have the worst sort of corruption in the government unimaginable anywhere else. You have government leaders paying themselves $3.7 million a year which is five times that paid to the President of the most powerful country in the world, Obama. And we have a possibly bedridden old man of 91 yeas of age who has self styled himself Minister Mentor who has done nothing for the past decades still drawing that salary. He is Lee Kuan Yew. Not since Mobutu of Congo who stole his countries diamonds, have we seen a more corrupt ruler.

As if this was not bad enough, they probably steal even more money on the side, perhaps even more than $3.7 million a year.

Then you have the absence of the rule of law, with corrupt judges who bend the law for political ends, you have the total absence of a free press due to state censorship, you have a denial of fundamental rights of free speech and expression and assembly, and you have racial discrimination and apartheid with Malays and Indians denied the right to live in areas of their choice.

Singaporeans who are aware of these injustices should act, but no one dares to do anything except to write blogs anonymously in the Internet. In effect you have an island peopled by sheep. The Workers Party headed by Low Thia Khiang who has some minor presence in the Parliament has reminded us repeatedly that his job does not extend beyond playing second fiddle to Lee Kuan Yew's PAP by asking inane questions. As for the Singapore Democratic Party headed by Chee Soon Juan, for several years now, he has said that because his supporters are not appreciative of him engaging in peaceful demonstrations and civil disobedience, he is going to stop doing any of that.

As a result, he now confines himself to writing articles in his Singapore Democrat his party's blog. He and his party members make several trips to the capitals of the world attending human rights conferences and coming back to write about their experiences on his party blog.

Other than merely criticizing the government through his writings, and travelling to human rights meetings around the globe and meeting world leaders, he does little more. Aung San Su Kyi on the other hand not only travels around the world but acted on the ground. Lee Kuan Yew government on their side totally ignores him, and the people ignore him too.

In the last elections in 2011, he didn't manage to gain even a single seat and this time in 2013, he did not contest the by elections so as to avoid a three cornered fight, conceding to the Workers Party. I dare say, even if he had contested, he probably would have lost.

Both the Workers Party and the Singapore Democratic Party should realize that you don't leave matters of this nature to parliamentary elections many years away, you have to act now. The theft of $3.7 million a year by corrupt leaders is not something you leave to be corrected in 2016 elections, you act upon it now. Similarly you don't leave the violation of the people's fundamental human rights to future elections, you act on it now.

Chee Soon Juan is not doing anything for either his people or his party by merely writing blog posts and leaves it to the heavens to come down to save Singapore. His argument that he does not hold public protests because his party members are against it, is like saying that the government is entitled to carry on murdering children because the people do not want you to carry out peaceful protests to stop that practice.

Chee Soon Juan, the way he is carrying on will do no good for anyone. If I were to choose between two equally bad choices, at least the Workers Party has managed to win elections, he has not. Second, his party is merely a duplication of the Workers Party because unlike in the past when he was noted for daring to engage in protests, the Singapore Democratic Party now is not materially different from the Workers Party. And if he will place his actions where his mouth is when he says he is acting for the interests of Singaporeans, he should disband his party and urge his members to join the Workers Party. That way at least in the next elections they would manage to gain more seats, since with his track record, he hasn't managed any and perhaps never will.

And as for the several doctors both medical and otherwise, some with UK accents and some with not, who write learned articles on his blog, I would advice them to spend their time in a more worthwhile manner perhaps by joining the Workers Party and entering Parliament next time around or simply clearing out now because the citizens are tired of reading about the wisdom but not seeing any difference in their lives under a dictator who lies in bed drawing $3.7 million a year.

And as for the Indians and Malays, some doctors some medical and otherwise in his party, I would suggest that they immediately embark on studying both Mandarin and Hokkien Chinese and be proficient enough to sing Chinese folk songs at a packed coffee shop at Singapore’s Bedok North Avenue 1, at lunchtime, the way they would in the far reaches of Communist China. Singapore has irretrievably become a Chinese speaking society thanks to Lee Kuan Yew’s very successful ethnic cleansing and UK accents are as good in that society as would be preaching the wisdom of the English philosopher John Stuart Mill in impeccable English to the Bushmen of the Kalahari!

We have seen what happens when you speak like that in the recent Singapore by elections a few days ago. Kenneth Jeyaretnam, the Cambridge educated candidate got 353 votes in a constituency of 30,000! He lost his deposit. There is a lesson to be learnt from that.

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

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

Gopalan

In your blog u mention;

"As a result, he now confines himself to writing articles in his Singapore Democrat his party's blog. He and his party members make several trips to the capitals of the world attending human rights conferences and coming back to write about their experiences on his party blog.

Other than merely criticizing the government through his writings, and travelling to human rights meetings around the globe and meeting world leaders, he does little more"

and

"Chee Soon Juan is not doing anything for either his people or his party by merely writing blog posts and leaves it to the heavens to come down to save Singapore"

my question is

aren't you are doing exactly the same thing as him? Writing blogs and critizing the government through inaction?

It's funny cause the last i checked, he went bankrupt twice for his beliefs and protest but somebody made a u turn, apologize to the government and went back to his adopted county with "it's" ( oh sorry, i meant his) tail between his legs.


PS: i don't think you have the courage to post this but anyway i guess someone have to stand up for the truth and injustice.

Chee ann

Anonymous said...

A new report just came out :

We are now ranked 3rd most expensive city in Asia, behind Tokyo & Osaka.

The PAP hails this as an proud achievement.

But.... the average citizen has shitty earning power. I know of people who earn $4/hr.

Singapore will die out before the next election to rectify matters. Truly a sad thing indeed. Home is no longer home.

Gopalan Nair said...

To Chee ann who said

"aren't you are doing exactly the same thing as him? Writing blogs and critizing the government through inaction?"

You are absolutely right. I am doing exactly what Chee Soon Juan is doing in Singapore, writing blogs and exposing Lee's Singapore. But there are significant differences between what I do and what Chee does in Singapore. One, I am not claiming to be a Singapore opposition politician and Secretary General of the Singapore Democratic Party trying to get into Parliament. I am not even Singaporean now and writing from California. I am merely a writer trying to expose the rot which is Singapore, and I must say very successfully. Had I been in Singapore now running a political party claiming to lead Singapore to democracy, I would not confine myself to merely writing blogs as Chee does, regardless of whether anyone else agrees with me. I would be on the streets rousing a rabble outside the ruler's palace. That is one big difference. I think you are trying to persude journalists or bloggers overseas to return to Singapore and organize protests. That is not my purpose and neither is it the purpose of anyone outside who writes to discredit any tryanny.

As for your writing:

"It's funny cause the last i checked, he went bankrupt twice for his beliefs and protest but somebody made a u turn, apologize to the government and went back to his adopted county with "it's" ( oh sorry, i meant his) tail between his legs".

Of course Chee Soon Juan went bankrput twice for his beliefs. I have never disputed that. I have also repected him for that. And still do. It is a fact no one can deny. What I am complaining about now is that since 2008, he has completely abandoned peaceful protest as an instrument of change in the island, and has become another version of the Workers Party. Unfortunately for Singapore, the Lee Kuan Yew dictatorship is not going to listen to anything anyone writes, and until and unless the people force a change, it will never come. Chee knows that too.

As for alleging that I had apologized to the government in order to return to the US, you have got your facts completely wrong and now you have mud on your face.

For your information, I fought the trumped up charges against me while I was on a short visit to the island which resulted in my being held back there with my passport confiscated for a full 4 months, resulting in my US law practice almost folding. I suffered a great deal as a result of standing up for my beliefs. Why don't you check Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch and all the other international human rights organizations which have all reported on my case. At my trial, which lasted 8 full days in the Singapore High Court which was widely reported in all the newspapers, and around the world, where I vigourously denied all charges, resulting in great political damage to your Singapore government worldwide, I was naturally convicted by a government stooge of a judge and sent to jail for 3 months, just for writing a blog post critical of your corrupt legal system.

All in all, for merely criticizing a corrupt judge in this blog, I had to spend a full 6 months confined to the island.

I would suggest that before you make such accusations, you should first check your facts. Otherwise you look very silly as you do now.

If you thought you are standing up to the truth by writing this drivel, you seem to have hurt yourself, not anyone else. I thank you for making a fool of yourself.

If you are working for the Singapore establishment and trying to discredit me, I am afraid these sort of comments is not doing your govenment much good.

You see, at the end of the day, people do have common sense, which is something you and your government don't seem to know as evidenced by your comment.

Yes, as you did not expect, I have put up your comment for all to see and to see to what depths your govenment will go to make themselves look good.













Anonymous said...

You signed a blank cheque, PAP wrote 6.9 million on it

http://www.tremeritus.com/2013/02/06/you-signed-a-blank-cheque-pap-wrote-6-9-million-on-it/

I didn't trust my fellow Confucians to speak up, so I left. The obedient Confucians complained all the time, but at election time, voted for LKY and the PAP.

Leaving LKY's city was the best move, ever!.

Anonymous said...

Straw that broke the camel's back?

Singaporeans Plan Population Protest

The stupid father's 'stop @ 2' policy is being made worse by the stupid son's 6.9 million plan.

March on February 16, don't wait for 2016.


http://www.businessweek.com/news/2013-02-06/singaporeans-plan-protest-as-parliament-debates-population-boost#r=bloomberg

Gopalan Nair said...

You should not just protest at the Speakers Corner. There is nothing in the Constitution that requires protests only to be at a designated place. The law allows protests anywhere in the island as long as others are not harmed. By holding protests only at that tiny corner hidden from everywhere else, you are saying 1) you are afraid and 2) you concede to such a law. Come on. Stand up. Be counted. Protests with full banners, bunting and posters in the middle of Raffes Place at lunchtime packed with crowds. That is when you will send the right signals to these tin pot tyrants. If I was now in Singapore, that is what I will do. Remember, in 2008 when I wrote the blog critical of Singapore judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, I knew that I may be arrested, but I did it anyway, because I knew I was right. My arrest and jailing caused Singapore far more damage and the rise in support of the opposition can be attributed to my actions as to those others who have stood up to this tyranny.

Anonymous said...

Seriously, Singapore is probably a 'kleptocracy' in all the technical senses of the word, alongside the fact that it is legalized. Temasek Holdings and GLC lost so much of the CPF reserves in foreign investments, and one even wonders whether any remain to begin with with all that millions and billions of losses. I am just happy that I left that land where people can only complain and accept their "fate" without doing anything at all.