Saturday, November 23, 2013

The alarming scenarios of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's passing

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I have written several blogs on the dire consequences of the impending passing of the 90 year old dictator of Singapore in failing health. Given the terrible dangers to the island of such an event which is sure to happen, and happen very soon, it is not an overkill to set them herein seriatim for he reader.

Firstly keep in mind that the island despite it's outward proclamations is just a one party totalitarian police state. Simple as that. Everything and everybody in the island is just controlled by Lee Kuan Yew and by extension his son whom he has made Prime Minister. In it's short history of a mere half decade, it does not have traditions of civil society or government. The elections every 5 years are simply rigged and his handpicked candidates, comprised of his near and distant relatives and other trusted children of his family are given scholarships and placed in positions of authority. In this political climate, there is no established procedure for a smooth transition of power in the event the dictator dies. It is the same with all dictatorships.

In Arab dictatorships, the son of the dead leader assumes authority and with local supporters in high places who benefit from the family's patronage they enforce order and submission on the masses through brute force. Although this has been the practice for millennium, we have seen the Arab Spring where for the first time the masses rose against their rule.

In Singapore there is no history of civil society and democratic institutions. The Constitution is dead and was replaced by dictatorial rule a long time ago. As a result of the lack of any dissent and the ease with which the government ruled, we have seen earth shattering development with the island transforming itself, at least outwardly into a first world city state. But I fear all that development will come to naught and the island will suffer a period of uncertainly and calamity from which given it's small size and tiny population, made up almost entirely of foreigners, it is unlikely to recover.

One scenario is Lee Kuan Yew's son trying to control power and remaining in government. I think this is unlikely. His father Lee Kuan Yew had made him Prime Minister decades ago in the hope that Singaporeans would get used to him as their leader and therefore lessen the likelihood of a power struggle once he is gone. I think this is wishful thinking and not likely to happen. With increasing dissatisfaction on the ground today with his numerous misguided policies, more and more Singaporeans have begun to loose any respect for him. If they have not rebelled so far, it is because his father is still alive who can easily crush any sort of resistance on the ground.

With Lee Kuan Yew's son unable to concentrate control in himself, there could be other contenders from his own party creating splinter organizations to gain political control. In order to do this, they would need the support of the police, civil service and military to enforce their rule. It will be uncertain whether these contenders would be able to secure their support as many having served Lee Kuan Yew may in their Asian tradition of loyalty see the need to support the son. In any case this would mean the son trying to crush these political contenders or if the contenders are in the lead, the other way around.

The other possibility is that none of these political aspirants would make any progress, because the people see none of them as leaders. Lee's son is obviously not a leader since we all see him no more than his father's son. As for the other handpicked Lee Kuan Yew bigwigs, they too are totally ignored by the people as nothing more than sycophants.

The real consequence of any of this happening is the danger that people lose confidence in the economy, both foreigners and locals. As most of what you see in Singapore is reliant on foreign capital, it's sudden outflow due to a lack of confidence in the economy is devastating. At one stroke, the miracle that you see now can be destroyed.

The last possibility is the most alarming. A military coup-de-tat or even a coup-de-grace. Realizing the island is in serious trouble, any loyal military officer with support of his troops and sufficient fire power can simply roll into and occupy the presidential palace  arresting the son. Remember the citizens are not armed rendering them totally helpless. The military can then occupy the radio and TV stations and broadcast the takeover in the interests of the island, occupy all vital facilities and declare martial law until a new acceptable government is put in place. The only problem with this; by this time there won't be any island left worth fighting for.

Given the lack of any established system of government with nothing but a one party police state dictatorship with Lee Kuan Yew and his son calling the shots, what I say is not so far fetched as one may think.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Wednesday, November 20, 2013

Singapore treading on thin ice

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A casual first time visitor will no doubt be amazed to see the opulence of the city state with skyscrapers and the works. But how has all these things happened and will the immediate future, let alone the distant, continue glittering?

Singapore today is the product of one man's plan. Lee Kuan Yew, the 90 year old strongman who has run the island his way, iron fist style, decided that relying on established theories of government, such as a Constitutional Parliamentary democracy based on Constitutions and rules guaranteeing human rights was not the best way to run Singapore.

Instead he completely ignored the rule of law, human rights only in so far as you obey him, and employing scholars with University degrees and given titles as Ministers to help him run the place. Singapore was built according to what he and his university graduates thought best, not according to anything the people wanted.

And then you have elections every 5 years which are rigged to ensure only his candidates win, anyone else loses.

As there was no opposition to anything he did, since the perpetrator would promptly be arrested or charged with income tax evasion, he was able to built the island in quick time, no questions asked.

But the problem is what happens tomorrow. Today you have properties valued in the millions which have appreciated at lightning speed because everyone thinks the island is an economic miracle. True, it may be now but what next?

The entire island is run by one man alone, Lee Kuan Yew and his son, because he is the son of his father. Unfortunately now, the elder Lee Kuan Yew is 90 years old and in bad health. When he dies the entire island will likely end up in instability confusion and chaos simply because it has no established method of transition from one government to another.

Singaporeans are accustomed only to be governed by someone or other, one person. The average Singaporean wanting a career in politics does not form his own party or group of like minded people but only joins Lee's Peoples Action Party, since joining any other opposition party is not likely to get him anywhere, it will also no doubt result in his victimization and persecution by Lee Kuan Yew and his son. In Singapore a good citizen is a Peoples Action Party supporter (Lee's party).

Since joining the Peoples Action Party, means job security, promotion in career and peace of mind, while associating with the opposition means victimization, discrimination and persecution, only a fool would choose the opposition.

The Singaporean political system today is no different from the Cuban system or even the Russian system of today. Supporting Russia's Putin is a far more attractive proposition than joining the opposition and spending time in a Moscow jail.

With a population incapable of standing and thinking on their own, who are capable only of supporting whoever happens to be the strongman at any one time, the prospect of 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew's passing is alarming. No one knows if the support that Singaporeans give to the 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew would be given to the son. Many report that the son does not even instill confidence among his own party members.

Since there is no established and accepted method of political transition, and if the son is unable to garner Singaporeans support, what happens then? Will other of these scholar Ministers handpicked by Lee Kuan Yew jockey for power? Or even worse, will the entire island sink into total chaos,  instability and mayhem?

Remember that the vast majority of the island's economy is in the hands of foreigners. Will a few foreigner investors unsure of the future stability of the island decide to pull their assets? And if a few do so, will it encourage others? Will there be a massive outflow of capital? Will there be a run on the banks? And will the very same Lee Kuan Yew Ministers who have been so comfortable so far decide it is too risky to stay and pull out like the others? Will the cubicle of a house which has appreciated to $4 million at 6 Jalan Kathi Singapore be worth no more than $4,000.00 once Lee is gone and the instability and riots have set in?

I think the island is treading on thin ice. The clearly misguided policy of building a city without any thought of the future will be the damning legacy of the 90 year old dictator Lee Kuan Yew. If you run a country, you must also lay the foundation and rules for the future. You cannot simply build up an island without any thought of how the people will organize their future governments.

I am very sure that this outward sense of stability security and prosperity is not going to last with the demise of Lee Kuan Yew, simply because there are no other leaders whom the people can choose. Lee's son is simply not a leader to anyone. We all know that he is there simply by reason of his father. As for the other ministers, no one has any respect for any of them either. We all know that the primary reason why anyone bothers is because of the millions they are paid. We wonder if they are paid any less, would any of these scholar ministers be around.

As each day passes for me, the excitement increases. I am waiting for Lee Kuan Yew to die and see what is going to happen to his miracle island. I am particularly keen on knowing if the $4million cubicle of a house in 6 Jalan Kathi Singapore, owned by Anthony Patrick Nathan (a Tamil), a Singapore government lawyer, who has recently divorced his Chinese wife be even worth $4,000.00? According to the court judgment, it appears he has bought a house in Malaysia which he intends to use as his retirement home. Interesting. Does he also see the writing on the wall and has decided to abandon the badly listing SS Singapore. For those interested in this gentleman , you can read the judgement here http://www.lexology.com/library/detail.aspx?g=66d42028-8cfe-4a8f-887d-de454a85761e

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com




Tuesday, November 19, 2013

Singapore's disbarment of Gopalan Nair turns out a slap in the face for their legal system

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In July 2011, I was disbarred from practicing law in Singapore for my open criticism of their lack of independence in their legal system and their judiciary. I was sent to jail for 3 months and deported from the island as well.

If their intention was to prove that I was a evil criminal that needed to be punished and unbefitting to be a lawyer, I think they have failed miserably.

I am an active member of the State Bar of California and have been in practice for nearly 20 years from my office in Fremont California near San Francisco. The State Bar of California, just as other law licensing bodies all over the world require their members to have good moral character not only in their jurisdiction but anywhere else in the world.

A California lawyer disbarred in Australia for instance or any other country would be liable to explain why he should not be disciplined in California. Similarly any criminal conviction either in California or anywhere else in the world makes him liable to discipline at the California Bar.

Furthermore the Rules of the State Bar of California require all members to immediately report any discipline or conviction imposed upon them not only in California but throughout the world and the failure to report itself renders him liable to discipline.

In accordance with the rules, immediately upon notice of my disbarment in Singapore, I wrote to the State Bar of California explaining in detail the circumstances surrounding my imprisonment and disbarment for writing the blog. Naturally I was expecting to receive some sort of notice to appear before their disciplinary committee to explain why I should not be disciplined here as well.

Not surprisingly, not only did they not require any explanation beyond what I had intimated, they did not even acknowledge my correspondence! And this speaks reams and reams as to how much the rest of the world thinks of Lee Kuan Yew's Kangaroo courts and his pliant legal system. You could say the ultimate slap in the face for Lee Kuan Yew and his Singaporean legal system.

What is also noticeably telling is the failure of Singapore authorities to press their case before the California Bar to have me disciplined. Surely they must feel peeved by the fact that a lawyer who has been given the severest of punishments in Singapore, disbarment, is happily practicing law in California with no worries whatsoever. Have they no respect for their own legal system?

And not to forget, the English Bar of England and Wales of which I am a member in good standing have also totally ignored the Singapore judgment as well.

Surely it is a slap in the face for Lee Kuan Yew's legal system and their courts for a lawyer who is so incorrigible, according to them, who deserves the ultimate punishment of disbarment to be going around, not only actively practicing law in a respected jurisdiction such as California but worse, boasting about it as well!

Let me remind the Singapore authorities that it is still not too late for them to file a formal complaint against me to the State Bar of California, as well as the English Bar, asking that I be disciplined by reason of my disbarment in Singapore.

But I have a funny feeling that they would do no such thing because they know they will end up looking worse than they already are, their judges a bunch of Kangaroos in judicial robes waiting for the next order from Lee to destroy another hapless victim.

On the whole, my disbarment in Singapore has turned out to be a great advantage. Here is a situation where a blogger, I mean myself, who repeatedly and openly criticizes the dictatorial one party regime in Singapore who is punished with jail and disbarment in the island, a punishment which no one anywhere else takes any notice, while Gopalan Nair continues to trumpet his Singapore disbarment as if it was a medal, nothing short of a Victoria Cross.

And while Gopalan Nair wallows in the pleasure of repeating his Singapore disbarment and Singapore island's helplessness to do anything about it, the reputation, or rather the lack of it, of Singapore legal system continues to take a beating for all to see.

Perhaps they now feel it was a bad idea to disbar Gopalan Nair in Singapore and send him to jail. Instead of silencing him, he has become even more louder than before. But them, who knows what they think?

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Monday, November 18, 2013

Singapore island 50% foreigners and climbing

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore island, a tiny speck with 5 million people has already 50% of it's resident's foreigners the result of a misguided policy of allowing unlimited numbers of foreign people and businesses to boost the economy. It is the same with all dictatorships. Their policies always look silly after a time mainly because they not accountable to anyone.

As a result you see open undisguised discrimination against locals by foreign businesses. Filipino restaurants with Filipino managers only employ their fellow Filipinos. German companies openly advertise only for foreigners with the notice "local Singaporeans need not apply". This sort of discrimination against locals in any other country in the world would be unheard of, but in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore where the people have no say on how their island is run it is not uncommon at all.

With the continual falling birth rates and the growing brain drain to the West of their educated young, the result is a worsening of the population ratio with even more foreigners and even fewer locals in their own island. Recent half hearted attempts by the government to stop the relative increase of foreigners presumably because of locals complaining is simply ineffective since the numbers of businesses needing workers are so many and so large that any attempt to dampen it would cause a recession.

Like a cart pulling the horse down a slide, the island has no choice but to continue the importation of even more foreign labor to an extent where the locals would make no more than a small fraction in their own island.

This transformation of the Singapore population from a native one to a majority foreign one may have some very dire consequences in racial tensions.

Remember the immigrants who continue to come in such large numbers principally from the peoples Republic of China are not those who have had experience of living among other races unlike the Singapore locals who have over decades managed to understand the need for cordiality and cooperation in a multi racial society.

Can you imagine a scenario when a recent immigrant from China insulting a local Malay Muslim calling him a pig or a black Indian which is not unthinkable. With the growing undercurrent of discomfort and uneasiness caused by so many foreigners in their midst taking away their jobs, it is any one's guess how the Singaporeans local is going to react.

Human nature being what it is, it is not unthinkable that he would turn violent and give  the foreigner a proper beating. And then what? Will not the foreigners retaliate? And then you have a full scale island wide racial riot and conflagration in your hands, thank you very much.

Just as Lee Kuan Yew's misguided policy of town and city planning of concentrating posh shopping district in Orchard Road, a location which is only at or below sea level resulting in uncontrollable almost daily flooding, the policy of bringing in businesses and foreigners from abroad without thinking it through, will now cause racial riots which we would never have without these foreigners in these huge numbers.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Wednesday, November 13, 2013

Singapore dictatorship's greatest worry. How to handle the troublesome lawyer M Ravi

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For the last 52 years or so, first father Lee Kuan Yew and now with his son, the Prime Minister have run the island, a totalitarian police state, entirely their merry way, I mean doing just about whatever they want and getting away with it as well.

The island that you see now, Singapore, is principally the result of that. They built as many skyscrapers they want, they built as many roads they want, and up till now, they put away anyone they want they didn't like with no questions asked. Singapore was theirs to do whatever they want.

Up till now political opponents like JB Jeyaretnam were bankrupted and jailed with trumped up charges through willing Kangaroo judges, Chee Soon Juan was bankrupted and destroyed merely for asking questions and I was sent to jail for 3 months for writing a blog they did not like.

They have simply turned the Constitution of Singapore into a mere scrap paper and discarded at will with all fundamental freedoms such as free speech expression and assembly denied. Up till now no one except the handful like JB Jeyaretnam had dared to question their actions and the fear factor that consumes the entire nation has turned the island into a society of mice, afraid of the bully fat cats Lee Kuan Yew and Son.

But in the recent past everything appears to be changing because here comes M Ravi the lawyer who wants to shake the very foundations of the Lee Kuan Yew edifice built up the way Adolf Hitler built the most successful nation in pre-war Europe Nazi Germany. Adolf Hitler just like Lee Kuan Yew and Son brooked no criticism of his plans. He built whatever he wanted and did whatever he wanted. And the result was the most economically, technologically and advanced nation in Europe.

If there was a M Ravi around in Hitler's Germany, he would have simply been shot. But M Ravi now in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore appears undaunted in questioning the way things are run. A while ago, he filed a lawsuit against the Lees demanding by-elections in constituency left without a Member of Parliament. He then challenged the constitutionality of an anti gay law arguing it is unconstitutional. And most recently in the process of representing the hacker who hacked into government websites, James Raj Arokiasamy, he has filed a motion in court demanding access to his client to whom he claims he is being shut off. Please see article in the blog The Real Singapore dated Nov 13, 2013 titled "Court Application filed to challenge denial of access to lawyers" http://www.therealsingapore.com/content/court-application-filed-challenge-denial-access-lawyers

In the past, up to even a few years ago, if any lawyer had done any of this, he would have been promptly removed by some trumped up charges. But strangely M Ravi is being left alone. Remember in my case in the 1980s I, while in Singapore as a lawyer,  was suspended from practicing law for 2 years merely for writing a letter to the Singapore Attorney General about a political matter of public interest.

It is interesting to note that M Ravi has filed a criminal motion to demand his right to see his client even naming the police officer who denied his request!

M Ravi's legal activism has thrown the Singapore government completely off balance which has so far relied on the people's submission and obedience as a crucial tool of government without which they would not have been able to do all that they did in such quick time.  This is because without the fear factor they are simply useless, they would simply unravel and collapse.

Lee Kuan Yew's government is not based, as you can see, on any legitimacy; it is based entirely on the infliction of fear and the assumption that no matter what they do, they are always right, because there is simply no legitimacy when you deny free speech when the law allows it, when you deny assembly when the law allows it, and when you control the press when the law demands free newspapers.

But M Ravi now by his criminal motion is calling a denial of the right to access to a lawyer for his client unconstitutional. He is challenging the very basis upon which this government has gone on their merry way all these years.

There are several consequences to the government if they allowed these legal challenges unchecked. If M Ravi has now begun to question the government procedures on criminal detention and access to counsel, what will he do next? Will he file a motion in the future for his client demanding the right to free speech and expression as guaranteed by the Constitution? Will he next challenge Lee Kuan Yew's salary of $3 million a year as a violation of the equal protection clause? Will he represent peaceful protesters and demand that his clients have a right to free assembly under the Constitution? And will all this be discussed openly in the numerous blogs and chat rooms in the Internet to the acute embarrassment of the government? And what will happen to the fear factor which the government relies so much on to govern Singapore?

And as both Lee Kuan Yew and son had repeatedly said in the past, they sue for defamation of character because if people could say what they want, they lose their moral authority to rule like a Chinese Emperor. So will not their moral authority to rule be eroded by M Ravi's actions?

And there is another even worse consequence to think of. So far it has been only one lawyer with the balls to do what he is doing, M Ravi. If the government takes no action to silence M Ravi now, will other lawyers so far silenced through fear, be emboldened to do what he is doing? And if indeed even more M Ravis come out challenging the government how will the Father and Son government manage to rule the island much longer?

In Stalin's Soviet Union, lawyers who defended the government political opponents where themselves charged and removed. In fact even Russia's Putin does this to this day.

The government is in fact in a quandary as to what to do with M Ravi. On the one hand, if they disbar him by trumped up charges, there will be an outcry among the people over the injustice. On the other hand if they did nothing, they would find themselves even more embarrassed by their actions than they are now.

England's Henry II is reported to have said the words "Will no one rid me of this meddlesome priest" referring to his desire to have Thomas Beckett, Archbishop of Canterbury  murdered for not supporting his crown. I suppose Lee Kuan Yew and his son are now saying the same about this meddlesome lawyer M Ravi.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 4375
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Tuesday, November 12, 2013

Internet hackers and protestors attack the Singapore dictatorship. Worrying times for Lee and Son dictatorship.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There is an undeniable trend towards more and more activism against the Lee Kuan Yew father and Son dictatorship in Singapore, something unheard of in the past.

Yesterday, James Raj Ariokaisamy, 35, a local Indian Singaporean has been charged in court with hacking the web sites of various government agencies including Ang Mo Kio Town council. He is also believed to have involvement in the Lee Kuan Yew's political party PAP website and other government agencies, something which Singaporeans would never have dared to do before.

This and other related reports refer to as many as 20 or so others who were responsible for government web site hackings and anti government graffiti in various locations. Most of them are young men in their 20s and one as young as 17. This is indeed an encouraging trend for those yearning for a free Singapore. Please see the report of the state controlled newspaper Straits Times of Nov 12, 2013 http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/hacker-who-calls-himself-the-messiah-ordered-be-remanded-psych-evaluat

Ariokiasamy has been ordered to be detained in a mental hospital for 2 weeks and has been denied a lawyer or any visit from anyone. This practice of throwing people arrested for anti government activities into mental hospitals is reminiscent of the dreaded Gulags of former Soviet Union's Stalin regime. There is no doubt that Singapore is simply another police state that threatens it's citizens into submission in this way.

One has to salute these young men. What they have done cannot be considered by any means as crimes of moral turpitude. They had nothing to gain by their actions and the only purpose was to challenge the invincibility of the Lee Kuan Yew and son, father and son dictatorship by showing their defiance of the police state.

There is no doubt that the trend towards more activism for free speech and human rights is picking up and we are sure we can expect more and more activists like these courageous young men in the future.

Lee Kuan Yew and son should have known that sooner or later the people are going to rise. It is only to be expected. Remember in Singapore today, there is no free speech, no freedom of expression, no free press and anyone criticizing the government is liable to arrest and imprisonment and libel actions. With the growing use of Internet and instant mass communication, this repressive government should have known it was only a matter of time for this to happen.

There is no shame in going to jail for what one believes. These young men are heroes, not criminals and posterity will salute them for their part in fighting for a democratic Singapore and the destruction of today's father and son (Lee and son) dictatorship. 

Well, now it has finally happened. The floodgates have been opened. Question is whether the Lees  are going to come down hard and crush any dissent as they are used to do, or are they going to see the writing on the wall and realize it is simply too late to act the bully.

Either way the father and son dictatorship is finished. You can send these men to jail and cane them as well, but it is not going to stop others from doing the same. You simply cannot throw everyone in jail and brutalize them, it will not work.

These are troubling times for father and son, Lee Kuan Yew and his son. I don't think they have an answer to this. If they crack down hard, it will only antagonize even more people to do the same, not to mention the increasing numbers emigrating to the West as a result. On the other hand, if they allow dissent, that will be the end of them. A Hobson's choice.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel; 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Friday, November 8, 2013

Avoiding National Service in Singapore

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Not a day goes by without Singaporean young men Emailing or calling me from Singapore and overseas on how to avoid national service.

On a moral question, there are many reasons why not to serve national service in that island.

Firstly, Singapore island as a whole is simply a fraud. In government you have a dictatorship of 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew for the last 52 years.

Second, you have a shameful nepotism. Lee places his son as Prime Minister. There is no rule of law, which is an instrument to destroy political opponents through libel actions and contempt of court charges.

The island does not allow the basic freedoms you take for granted anywhere else, no free speech, no right to freedom of expression, no freedom of the press. And all these things are done in violation of the Constitution which demands a democracy, not a dictatorship.

In this disgusting dictatorship, you may rightfully ask why do national service for a country which is simply a big fraud; a 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew million dollar fraud.

In effect if you serve national service, you are serving the dictatorship and enriching them even more, the main if not the only reason to avoid service.

Now the consequences of avoiding national service.

I understand that if sons are a certain age before 18, the parents are required to guarantee a monetary bond of many thousands of dollars as security for their sons to return.

If the parents are still in Singapore, they would be liable in the Singapore courts if they fail to pay for their son's refusal to serve. If the parents are abroad, Singapore will have to commence action in the foreign country to force you to pay and this is difficult because courts in democracies look down on lawsuits such as this. For example in the US you can ask to do community work instead of armed combat.

However if the guarantee is secured through your assets in Singapore, you would lose it, because the Singapore court will simply redeem the guarantee amount.

As for the son who is abroad, he need not go back if he does not want to. Refusal to serve national service is not an extraditable offence. Singapore cannot make you go back. You are safe as long as you remain abroad. However, unless the laws change in Singapore, you can never go back. If you do, you will go to jail.

Many ask me if their liability still exists if they adopt foreign citizenship. The answer is yes. Liability to serve does not change just because you are no longer a Singapore citizen. It arises because you were born in Singapore.

The government is losing huge numbers of young men who are going abroad and not returning. This news is encouraging. I would advise you not to do national service for Singapore. It is a disgraceful dictatorship which abuses laws to remain in power.

By your refusing to serve, you are adding to the brain drain which is hurting the Lee Kuan Yew regime very badly. And anything you do to hurt them goes that much way to deposing them.

So I would advice you to avoid national service by going abroad and remaining abroad. I am sure this regime is not going to last much longer after the 90 year old lee Kuan Yew in failing health dies. At that time, both you and I and everyone else who is abroad in exile will return to a freer and democratic Singapore.

One last point of clarification. Please do not think I am against national service or military service per se. I am not. I would gladly serve in the military in Switzerland if I had been born there, or in Sweden or Norway or in any other respectable country. I think military service is a good thing. It instills discipline and a sense of outdoors and adventure. It also teaches you how to shoot. I like that. I like adventure and excitement as is evident by my life story, coming to Europe and America. Although I did it myself before, I am against doing national service for Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. The island is simply a fraud. And spending your time in national service there is tantamount to furthering the interests of that dictatorship.

To anyone who asks why I did it, I can only say that I was not the Gopalan Nair that I am now when I did it.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Thursday, November 7, 2013

Singapore a tiny island of contrasts. The super rich amidst the forgotten poor

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's economy can be explained as an island which attracts the business in the hope that while they make more money, the ordinary man will be thrown the crumbs. Trickle down economy, Singapore style. Unfortunately the plan so far has succeeded only on one side; the rich have done very well indeed but the ordinary man has never seen any crumbs trickle to them at all.

It is an island where Ferraris and Lamborginis whizz by containing their Chinese millionaires who had only recently moved to Singapore after having embezzled state owned enterprises in China while the vast majority of Singaporeans cannot afford cars not to mention even three meals a day let alone Ferraris.

It is becoming a sort of the Arab Emirate of Dubai where wealthy Singapore millionaires live in their posh skyscrapers while the average Singaporean lives in dormitory towns called HDB apartment blocks, pigeon hole shoe-box, government built and owned accommodation ubiquitous throughout the island.

In a state owned and controlled media without any investigative journalism, you never hear the bad news.

The good times have simply blown past the ordinary man. The island is intended for the rich only.

Lee's Father and Son Singapore makes it as attractive as possible for businesses to move to Singapore. To do this, you do away with any minimum wage laws; you criminalize workers strikes; no employment security where you hire and fire; you deny free speech expression or assembly; you permit as many foreigners from third world countries to work in Singapore to suppress wages to become even more competitive; you deny free trade unions; you nationalize and control all newspapers and media so that there will be no criticism of businesses; you deny any form of welfare handouts to discourage idleness; you neglect the handicapped and the weak and force their children to fend for them; all in the expectation that the island will have the world's cheapest compliant and obedient labor anywhere in the world.

And all this in a tiny speck of an island which is no more than 26 miles across and 16 miles on the north south radial, containing no more than perhaps 2 million Singapore natives and 3 million foreigners and rising.

They expect this repressive labor climate of obedience , submission and cheap labor to attract the largest number of businesses so that they would provide the largest number of jobs.

Unfortunately most of these jobs are simply worthless. What is the use of having a job which does not pay a living wage?

The average man with a family requires at least about $3,000.00 a month in one of the most expensive cities in the world, while many workers only earn about half this amount or even less because of the flood of foreigners.

As a result many go without food, or eat only one meal a day or rely on soup kitchens. In a highly built up concrete jungle such as this, it is not always possible to see the poverty and misery in many in their one room apartments in the eye but rest assured it does exist.

In a resource challenged island such as this, one would have thought their people to be the island's greatest resource to be protected but unfortunately the government does not look at it that way. The consequence of such a misguided policy continues to hurt the very existence of the island. It results in the poor families children losing out on education and falling further behind the economic ladder, increased violence and a general disinterest in their own lives or that of their nation.

It results in a disconnect between the people and the government because they don't see the need to cooperate when their government has no concern for them.

It also results in increased emigration, continuing drop in fertility rates and a lack of marriages and more single people. In addition to the all this the population has a large aging segment of elderly who are simply dying, the product of the 1950s baby boom.

Something has to give and we expect to see that when 90 year old and gravely ill Lee senior dies this week or the next when the Son will become irrelevant.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Tel: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's Judge Lai Siu Chiu abandons a sinking ship

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Oct 29, 2013 reports, "Singapore's first female Supreme Court judge to retire" Please see http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/singapores-first-female-supreme-court-judge-retire-20131029

It is reported Judge Lai Siu Chiu who claims that the experience "enjoyable enriching and immensely satisfying" who is 65 will retire immediately and continue to engage in law. The state controlled paper doesn't say much more than that.

There are several things fishy about this case.

Is she really retiring or is she abandoning a sinking ship, the SS Singapore with helmsman 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew? Let me explain. To put it plainly, this woman has blood on her hands. In 2006 she had the honor of sending an innocent man to prison for contempt of court, which in Singapore parlance means any statement critical of Lee Kuan Yew, his family or his courts. It is not really necessary to waste one's time reading the nonsense in these cases but to say this.

Chee Soon Juan a staunch government critic had been bankrupted after failing to pay libel damages on trumped up charges to Lee Kuan Yew and his sidekick Goh Choc Tong of half a million dollars! At his bankruptcy hearing later, he correctly read out a statement calling these judges a bunch of Kangaroos (my words, not his) and what is going on is no better than Alice in Wonderland (my words, not his).

As a result the poor man had not only been bankrupted for not having $500,000.00, he was also to face contempt charges for pointing out that these judges were nothing but stooges (my words, not his). The contempt charges came before this woman whose main duty it appears is to put away critics of her paymaster Lee Kuan Yew.

Naturally she said that Chee's criticism of Singaporean judges was the "the worst case that had come before her court for scandalizing the judiciary" and as expected, at the bat of an eye, she ordered him to jail for seven days if he did not pay a further $6,000.00! Please see http://www.singapore-window.org/sw06/060317dj.htm

You see, it is not expected for Singapore judges to retire as although there is this retirement age, Lee Kuan Yew and his government can extend their tenure for as long as they want. Almost every judge in the past has remained till their eighties and even nineties. And especially since she confesses to love her dirty work, wanting to carry one with it even after retirement, why the need to retire? Moreover it is common knowledge that the Singapore bar is struggling with shrinking numbers, for having a reputation for attracting ass lickers ( I mean Lee Kuan Yew's) crooks and opportunists to make millions doing their master's bidding.

No, it is not a case of her retiring. I think she can read the writing on the wall. Lee Kuan Yew is 90 and going to die after which there may be a day of reckoning of all these Kangaroo judges who spent a career in doing dirty work for lee Kuan Yew by bankrupting and jailing the late JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan and dozens of other government opponents who were doing no more than exercising fair criticism expected in any democracy.

I think she is afraid of what will happen to her and rightly so. Will she have to explain what she did to Chee Soon Juan? Will she have to explain a great many other instances of abuse of her office to please her master? Perhaps it is wiser to clear out now before it is too late? Perhaps even better to emigrate to some other country and hope the long arm of the law will not come looking.

I think this woman is the first among Lee Kuan Yew's stooges who will now try to leave. I expect to see many more resignations from the top in the government as 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew's passing becomes more and more imminent. Her face appears below.

Singapore's first female Supreme Court judge, Justice Lai Siu Chiu (above), will retire with effect from Oct 30 after more than 22 years on the Bench, the Supreme Court said in a statement on Tuesday. -- FILE PHOTO: SUPREME COURT 
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Monday, November 4, 2013

Has Singapore run out of ideas on floods, the brain drain and the vanishing citizen

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A reading of the state controlled local Singapore's reports one recurring problem for which the island's millionaire ministers simply has no solution, Mother Nature.

Almost daily after a heavy rainfall, there is a report that several parts of the island have flooded and are in some places several feet underwater, causing untold water damage to countless motor car engines, property damage in houses and shops running into millions. Question is, how much more can they take?

It is not my intention to lecture to you on global warming but even a schoolboy should know that Singapore island, which is no more than 80 miles north of the Equator and just a few inches above sea level has no chance whatsoever.

Due to the island's location at the Equator, global warming causes atmospheric  temperatures to rise, far faster than in temperate countries, which allows the same amount of air to hold much larger amounts of water vapor and with condensation resulting in that much more rain in a deluge and torrent.

Secondly the earth's rotation on its axis causes two high tides each day (or one depending on which way you look at it). And with water temperature rising, sea water expands causing water to increasingly encroach into the island.

In combination with high tides, heavy rain and a deluge of rain ground water, it simply cannot flow out to sea causing the almost daily flooding.  We read almost daily of the nonsense put out by the island's million dollar ministers claiming to improve drainage to eliminate flooding but we know the problem is not one of drainage at all.

The island simply lies too low above sea level and it is simply at the wrong place, almost spot on the Equator. No matter what you do, you simply cannot halt global warming nor can you raise the island higher. This is a lost cause and the sooner they admit this the better for them, rather than to put out this nonsense of improving drainage.

And what is worse, with each day passing, the problem is becoming more and more acute; 2012 was worse than 2011 just as 2013 is going to be worse than 2012 and worsen with each passing day and each passing year as the world continues to get warmer. I reckon flooding this North East Monsoon season starting now up till March next year is going to be far worse than anything you have ever seen.

And the island being no more than a tiny speck, no more than 26 miles latitudinal and 16 miles longitudinally, and mostly flat, you have simply nowhere to run from the floodwaters.

Second insurmountable problem is their unhappy people. No matter how many roads and high rise apartment blocks you build, Singaporeans are simply very unhappy and they manifest this in the only way they know, which is to emigrate, not have any children and refuse to get married.

Although the state controlled newspapers no longer reports on the brain drain, it continues to mount. Increasing numbers of Singaporeans are heading abroad for an education or settlement and no amount of persuasion or cajoling, no less with high salaries, perks and benefits has resulted in the brain drain to lessen.

As for the fertility rate for childbirth, the island not only has the lowest fertility rate in the world, it is dropping even further. As a result the Singaporean has become an endangered species in his own island and it is widely believed, although not admitted by the government that foreigners have exceeded Singaporeans in their own island.

Another cause for the record breaking emigration rate and the rock bottom fertility rate is 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew himself. The state controlled newspapers in the island have not reported anything about him for the last few months, an ominous silence when in the past not a day went by without some news about him.

It is widely believed that he is gravely ill and it is anyone's guess as to how long he will remain. For an astute Singapore watcher, this fact has to be really alarming. In an island where even the Sun would not have risen without the all powerful Lee Kuan Yew's permission, it is anyone's guess what or who will take his place when that eventful day happens.

So rather than waiting for the Singapore dollar to be worth no more than Chinese Hell notes which they burn to appease ancestral ghosts during their Chinese Ghost month, it is far better clearing out now at least while the Singapore dollar has any value.

As for the island culture and identity, it is lost forever.

Today there are far more Chinese nationals from the People's Republic of China walking around the island's streets than Singaporeans so much so that you may as well be walking about the Mao Tze Tong street in the Wubi district in the eastern sector of Chengdu in China than Singapore replete with their boorish behavior and spitting in public.

For the native Singaporean, with at least a little more class, influenced at least a little  under the British colonial administration,  there is nothing more to fight for as Lee Kuan Yew has successfully, in almost a short span of no more than twenty years changed the character of the island unrecognizably. This is another reason for so many Singaporeans to want to get out. And this situation again is not getting any better, only worse.

In an island where you can be arrested for criticism, where teachers are ordered to indoctrinate their children to obey their government instead of  independent thinking, where you don't have any room to run around in a concrete overcrowded sardine packed skyscraper island, where being English speaking you can live in Australia with at least some modicum of an independent free spirit, why should anyone with any capacity to reason want to remain under the grip of Lee Kuan Yew and his son?

As for the huge inflow of immigrants which the government brings in from China, they have no choice but to continue the practice, since they have decided to allow an indiscriminate numbers of foreign businesses into the island who obviously require workers and therefore any attempt to curb immigration would undoubtedly result in businesses closing and a devastating recession.

This outflow of locals and the inflow of immigrants is turning the island into China's Chengdu, People's Republic of China, if it has not already become one. At the same time, local Malay and Singaporean Indians finding they have no connection to the Chinese Singapore island whatsoever are either disappearing in population or are going abroad in even larger numbers.

With Mother Nature against them causing unrelenting almost daily island wide flooding, the huge brain drain and the vanishing Singaporean, I am afraid the million dollar government of the Lee Kuan Yew family have run out of ideas.

As for me, I have purchased the tide tables for the seas abound Singapore island to monitor high tides and spotting the Singapore's flooded areas, a hobby which can be quite interesting if one takes the trouble to study it.

Perhaps you can call me a tide spotter, something like an train spotter, predicting Singapore floods and how high they would be.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com