Singapore which rules through fear threats and intimidation simply cannot last

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Lets face it, once a country has to resort to fear, increasing threats and intimidation to remain in power, it simply cannot last. Once it's vital institutions such as the Judiciary and it's legal system has lost credibility and respect, as it has in Singapore, it is only a matter of time when the government collapses.

The latest example of the high handedness and thuggery of the government is the case of Singapore blogger Alex Au. Please see the Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits times article of Dec 05, 2013 "Blogger Alex Au will have every opportunity to rebut charge of contempt of court: AGC" http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/blogger-alex-au-will-have-every-opportunity-rebut-charge-contempt-cour

Frankly it is not even necessary to go into details of this case. We all know that Alex Au did not do any of the terrible things that Lee Kuan Yew and Son accuse him of. After all we already know that it takes very little for father and son to get all upset and their knickers in a twist and have you skinned before their kangaroo courts. It is simply that they are consumed with fear that any attempt to give you your freedom will mean their end. So the need to always keep you under their heel.

Singapore legal system's credibility died a long time ago in the 1980s when they repeatedly sued JB Jeyaretnam for libel, bankrupted and jailed him on trumped up charges. And after that we have witnessed a series of disgraceful actions by these courts to silence criticism and dissent from labeling innocent Singaporeans as Marxists and torturing them, from suspending me from practicing law in Singapore for 2 years because I questioned their Attorney General, for bankrupting a multi millionaire critic Tang Liang Hong and sending him into exile and the litany of shame goes on till today with this case of Alex Au.

If Lee Kuan Yew and his son have eyes, they should see that the only reason they remain in power is not because their people support them but because they are afraid and intimidated and have nowhere to turn. So they bite their lip and bide their time waiting for the opportunity to throw out these multi millionaire thugs Father and Son whose time is ticking and fast running out.

Lee Kuan Yew we already know is almost dying. We also know that there is no love lost between the vast majority of people in the island, except for the elite millionaires, and their oppressors who govern with an iron fist. Nowhere in the modern world of today has any country managed to continue governing like this. The people are not fools. They viscerally hate the son whom the father placed as Prime Minister.

We already see growing dissent among the masses. Many computer hackers have been arrested for defacing Lee Kuan Yew's sons government websites, something which was unthinkable before. They all have been arrested and are facing charges. They are heroes in the true sense. They have not done this for any personal gain but for their country's future.

These are not crimes of moral turpitude. I salute them. We have had a growing and unstoppable number of bloggers, hackers and graffiti artists defacing government property and heroically risking arrest torture and imprisonment. As we go on, the writing is on the wall. There will be more and more citizens, young men and women, of courage defacing government web sites, blogging and defacing government property. Once 90 year old sickly bedridden Lee Kuan Yew dies, this heroism will increase multi fold.

From what appears, Lee Kuan Yew's son will tighten his grip even further with even harsher punishments to keep control. And as he continues in that stupidity, even more men and women of courage will emerge.

I don't think Lee Kuan Yew and his son understand that the way to face this dire situation is not through even more repression but with democracy. But there lies the problem. The Singaporeans hate the father and son couple so much, the moment they ease the pressure, they would be out. That much is certain. I don't think even Solomon can solve this one.

As for me, I am just waiting to see the fun from my office in California. After all I can take great credit for the predicament that they both face today. Just as it was a bad idea to victimize JB Jeyaretnam in the 1980s, it was a bad idea too to suspend Gopalan Nair (myself) in the 1980s for 2 years from practicing law in that island, merely for asking the Attorney General to explain himself. Once you begin to behave this way, you lose respect, and when you lose that, you loose everything.

I don't have any advice for Lee Kuan Yew's son. I don't think anyone has. It was a bad idea for Lee Kuan Yew to appoint him Prime Minister. That alone smacks of nepotism. It was even worse for the son to strut around the island like a bully around the block.

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