Tuesday, September 30, 2014

A Tale of Two Cities. Hong Kong Chinese, proud, courageous, jealously guard their freedom. Singapore Chinese, cowards, suppliant, submissive, servile and supine

Ladies and Gentlemen,

  • People pass out food and drink at a pro-democracy protest on Nathan Road, a major route through the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, on Sept29, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
  • A woman holds a protest sign at a pro-democracy protest on Nathan Road, a major route through the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, on Sept 29, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
  • People sit next to an abandoned bus at a pro-democracy protest on Nathan Road, a major route through the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, on Sept 29, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
  • Nathan Road, a major route through the heart of the Kowloon district of Hong Kong, is seen empty of traffic as pro-democracy protesters gather on Sept 29, 2014. -- PHOTO: AFP
  • Volunteers wetting towels in preparation for tear gas or pepper spray. -- ST PHOTO: LI XUEYING
  • The growing crowd in Admiralty at 3pm. -- ST PHOTO: LI XUEYING
  • Police taking a break. -- ST PHOTO: LI XUEYING
  • A bus marooned. -- ST PHOTO: LI XUEYING
  • Wednesday, September 24, 2014

    Englishmen, Frenchmen, Welshmen, Scotsmen, Irishmen, Dutchmen, Flying Dutchmen, Turkmen, Indiamen, Bombay Duck and Chinamen

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    It is no offense to call someone an Englishman, a Frenchman, a Welshman, a Scotsman, an Irishman a Dutchman, a Turkmen. But you cannot today call a Chinese man a Chinaman. They take offense and consider it pejorative and insulting.  I wonder why.

    In fact it was never so always. The word was not considered offensive in the past and many prominent Chinese people were proud to call themselves Chinamen. The word took derogatory connotations after the discrimination against Chinese people in the United States and Europe when today, it is generally accepted as an insult to a Chinese person to be called Chinaman when the Englishman Dutchman or Irishman has no problem with the name.

    An interesting story is the word used in the game cricket. There is a style of bowling called "Chinaman" which happens to be a perfectly acceptable use of the term. It is a style used by left arm unorthodox spin bowlers by using a wrist hand action to spin the ball which turns from off to leg side of the pitch. The term is believed to have been first coined when Ellis Edgar "Puss" Achong, a Chinese cricketer born in Trinidad and Tobago when he played for West Indies at Old Trafford in England in 1933. After he knocked out the stumps of English batsman Walter Robbins by his unique bowling technique, it seems Robbins said to the umpire "fancy being done by a bloody Chinaman"! Probably from that time this unique bowling style became known as a Chinaman. Today bowlers who use this style include the legendary Gary Sobers of the West Indies.

    The Flying Dutchman was not, by the way, a Dutchman at all. It was meant to refer to a ship in folklore which was doomed to sail forever, never calling at port. It portends ill omen.

    The East Indiaman was similarly not a man at all. It referred to ships that traded with the Far East during the days of the English East India Company.

    And the Bombay Duck was not a duck at all. The name refers to a fish found principally in the seas of Mumbai India. The name it appears came from the days of the British Raj when this small fish was caught and dried and transported on the Indian Railways from Bombay to Calcutta. The British it appears called this rail transport the Bombay Daak. It seems the fish smelled so badly when dried and had to be kept enclosed during transport, which is why when someone used to smell, they used to say "He smells like Bombay Daak". Over time the word was corrupted to Bombay Duck which is consumed today all over the world, both fresh and salted.

    Funny how over the years the connotation to some words change and why Chinese today should have no objection to be called Chinamen when it was perfectly proper in bygone days.

    Chinamen should be proud of being Chinamen.

    Written by me, an Indiaman, Gopalan Nair.

    Gopalan Nair
    Attorney at Law
    Fremont, California, USA
    Tel: 510 491 8525
    Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
    Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident

    Tuesday, September 23, 2014

    Singapore. A total disconnect between the authoritarian government and its people. A regime that simply cannot last.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    With each day passing, Singaporeans are increasingly alienated from their government. In fact, a large section of its people viscerally hate their government and are only waiting its downfall.

    This fact can be clearly seen throughout the Internet. Since the entire media, newspapers, television and radio are all state controlled, it is impossible for Singaporeans to show their angst against the regime in them. The only avenue available is the Internet which unlike the other totalitarian regimes in the world are still uncontrolled. It is here that you see the real anger of the people to this government.

    Examples of this in the Internet are many. Take the well read TR Emeritus http://www.tremeritus.com/. Every single comment there is a visceral attack against the ruling PAP regime. It seems so widespread today that although the government could if they want discover their identities and bring upon the usual defamation lawsuits, it seems they have decided it is just too extensive and too common  to control. And these insults and attacks against the government goes on everyday, ever increasing in their intensity, while the government simply does nothing. Another blog is the Online Citizen http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/ and The Real Singapore http://therealsingapore.com/node?page=2

    The reasons for their alienation and distrust are obvious. Here we have a government that simply believes that the Constitution is irrelevant, the people are there simply there to enrich the rulers, they have no rights and have simply to obey the daily dictates that are enacted as laws by their rubber stamp Parliament. Singapore's rulers have decided long ago that the Constitution is simply of no use to them. The rights in them, free speech, expression and assembly are completely denied. The press is totally controlled and the courts are just Kangaroo.

    This leaves the average citizen no recourse to redress injustice. A man who is denied a HDB flat has nowhere to turn; unless of course he takes the law into his own hands. A Malay or an Indian Singaporean denied a job because of his race simply has to take it lying down. A Chinese Singaporean renting a HDB flat is free to take advantage of his Indian Singaporean neighbor. The laws allow beating as an official punishment for crimes and many victims bear an intense hatred against their government for life.

    Any other country with laws to allow grievances to be aired and redressed have people that trust and respect their government. In Singapore the average person feels that he is totally at their mercy. They have no control over their destinies, the government has. There is no accountability or transparency with the government. They simply tell you whatever they want or however they want to twist it in their state controlled press. As for their legal system, the average person has no respect whatsoever. Most of their work is involved in punishing criminals.

    The situation in Soviet Union or former East Germany was not dissimilar, but with one difference. They were large countries with large populations and closed borders. Any attempt at political criticism was severely punished, and you could not leave if you wanted to. Even if many people were against their government, it could still manage as their populations were large and there are still millions who would obey. But in Singapore on the other hand, the population is tiny, perhaps just 2 million local citizens and a vast number of foreigners. Equally important is the fact that passports are readily available, the borders are not closed and anyone who cannot stand the system is free to leave.

    Can you imagine what will happen if a large portion of the 2 million of that tiny population leave? It would cause unimaginable turmoil, instability, a run on the banks, massive outflow of capital and literally doom. Even the departure of a few large investors with their money will trigger a flood. A tiny island with a tiny population such as this simply cannot withstand this.

    With the demise of the 91 year old dictator Lee Kuan Yew who has very cleverly not left any state or civic institutions worth its salt to see through a smooth transition, there will be total chaos. No one knows who will be the new Prime Minister or will it still be his son whom he placed on the throne. Sadly for him no one has any respect as most see him nothing more than his father's son.

    Singapore today does not have the strong civil institutions that is needed for stability and political transition. If it has lasted this far, it is only because everyone feared his father. When he dies there will inevitably be a power struggle among the hopefuls with the people on their part not accepting anyone.

    Remember every one of these government Ministers are mere handpicked bureaucrats, not real leaders. I predict the only way these oligarchs can remain in power would be to use increasingly repressive measures to subdue the tiny population.

    Just like Saddam Hussein could remain in power, the Singaporean hopefuls would have to use massive arrests, torture and prosecutions as their only weapon. But unlike Saddam's Iraq, Singapore has a tiny population and everyone has passports, which they would surely use to get out the moment this government turns increasingly ruthless. And there would be no one left to subdue, since they would have all left with their money.

    This situation in Singapore is not something that can last.

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


    Tuesday, September 16, 2014

    Singapore island city state government is just like any China city.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Despite official claims of having a Constitution and a parliamentary democracy, Singapore today is just another China city of the Peoples Republic of China.

    Although the Constitution of Singapore allows for a multi party democracy, it is no different from China, where it is a one party state under the Communist Party.

    In Singapore Lee Kuan Yew has decided a long time ago that his party, the People's Action Party alone will rule Singapore forever.

    To enable this, every elections held in the island is a farce. He has carefully cultivated a climate of fear by repeatedly arresting and suing anyone who stood against him, resulting in the vast majority of educated islanders having no desire in any opposition politics.

    The handful of those who dare, are only capable of muted protestations and really have no credibility as true courageous politicians, standing on principle.

    Just like in China where all newspapers are state controlled, Singapore's newspapers are the same.

    The requirement of a government license effectively prevents any free and independent newspaper from ever happening.

    One difference between China and Singapore is that China also controls the Internet, while Singapore doesn't enabling the people to get the opposite view if they took the trouble.

    Just as in China where the Communist Party has offices all over in both cities and villages, Singapore has their ruling party offices all  over the island, under both their own names and various other names such as Residents Committees, Peoples Association and a litany of others.

    In China, the way to succeed is to volunteer your services at the local Communist Party agency and hope to catch the eye of the big wigs. If that happens and your work appreciated, you will be promoted up the ladder, and receiving more money, more benefits, career security, power and fame. It is questionable whether any one of these people do what they do out of altruism or is it for personal gratification, I mean money.

    Singapore functions exactly like this. Every Singaporean wanting to succeed in life in Lee Kuan Yew and Son's Singapore should first of all join the local government organization, rub shoulders with the other party supporters, pretend to be doing good work in various social and political projects for the citizens, hope to be selected by Lee Kuan Yew and Sons headhunters, and thereafter hope for better prospects, more money and a better life, thanks to the generosity of their benefactor Mr. Lee and Co.

    In Singapore those who serve in these government agencies are conveniently called "Grassroots Leaders". On the other hand if you were one who stood around promoting human rights and free speech, you are labeled a thug.

    But you can see the hypocrisy in both the Chinese aspirant in China and the Singaporean one.

    Both would claim openly that they are doing all this because they love China or Singapore respectively and it all because of pure civic consciousness.

    But the problem is when you question what they are working for. China is a one party police state where everyone is required to parrot the government line and behave like a zombie.

    Singapore is no different. It is also a one party state under Lee's Peoples Action Party, a country that denies free speech and expression, prohibits public protests and anyone who publicly advocates opposition to the regime liable to be arrested under the various laws enacted to prevent any opposition to the regime.

    Anyone in Singapore who dares to challenge the government openly is branded a thug, a criminal and an enemy of the state. Support of the Peoples Action Party is praised as loyalty to the country while opposition to it tantamount to treason and sedition.

    The path to success through supporting the one party police state in Singapore is well known on the ground. Every single Chinese immigrant who lands in Singapore today in planeloads immediately heads to one of these state agencies in the island to volunteer their support, a practice that they were well accustomed to in their erstwhile home in the Peoples Republic of China. I guess it wouldn't matter to them if the government were a bunch of monkeys, as long as they have power and control.

    Surely and steadily the plan is to create an entire island of Lee Kuan Yew one party police state supporters while at the same time marginalizing and destroying anyone who thought he had a head on his shoulders and a brain inside it.

    Throughout the 1980s while I was living in Singapore, the country of my birth, I realized the Singapore of Lee Kuan Yew is simply wrong in principle and something which I had a duty to oppose.

    It is wrong for any country to deny their citizens fundamental human rights and rule as if the Constitution does not exist.

    A country can only hope to advance if their people were allowed the right of self determination and fighting for what was just was not only a right but a duty which every human has.

    For my troubles, I was systematically subjected to a series of government reprisals, sued for contempt of court, my reputation maligned and literally prevented from practicing my profession of law.

    Two years ago, I was disbarred from ever practicing law in the island and branded a thug and a criminal, a reputation which I wear proudly on my shoulders.

    As a result of this sustained political education in the island, the entire population of the island, a tiny 2 million or so of locals Singaporeans and another 3 million foreigners, have been reduced to a cowardly, hypocrite and opportunist society where one behaves according to what the state requires.

    An average Singaporean is no longer able to engage in any discussion honestly about anything that relates to how he lives and what he thinks.

    Any judge you meet in the island would publicly tell you that he is fiercely upholding the law but privately say that he has no respect whatsoever in what he does, which is none other than a rubber stamp for government dictates.

    The same with any civil servant, any government employee or for that matter anyone else. Everyone in the island is actually doing, thinking and acting according to the template set out for them by the state, not according to what he or she really believes.

    In recent years, the government despite all it does to put their citizens in a straightjacket both in mind and spirit have begun to discover that the election results show an increasing number of Singaporeans voting for the opposition.

    Since the government have decided that they alone should rule forever, they had to invent a scheme where even the opposition is actually working for them.

    They have done this by actually promoting and co-opting the Workers Party, an opposition party having first of all made a pact with them, that they will in effect support the Peoples Action Party but outwardly appear to the people as an opposition.

    At the last election a few years ago, they won as many as 7 seats in Parliament but regardless of how many seats they capture in future elections, they would only be a pseudo Peoples Action Party committed to further their interests, a plan which would serve the regime very well.

    It is not I alone who is aware of this perfidy committed against their citizens, many other educated Singaporeans are also fully aware of this state re-education.

    Because passports are easily available and an English education system, thousands refusing to live under a one party police state where success requires one to prostitute one's beliefs and principles, they are leaving in droves to the West.

    The number of students opting for an education abroad continues to grow and those who have left are not returning to their island. Also, those who have already emigrated are pulling their friends and relatives to join them and this huge brain drain is literally emptying out the local Singapore born educated and skilled leaving only those who are incapable of leaving remaining in that island.

    And mind you with a tiny population, not more than perhaps 2 million native born, the island would be hard pressed to withstand anymore of this.

    Every single Minister in Lee Kuan Yew's cabinet today is an unmitigated opportunistic cowardly hypocrite.

    Take the case of K Shanmugam, the Tamil Minter of Law. At a young age his parents advised him to sacrifice his soul and his mind to the Lees as a sure but disgraceful way to succeed under the regime.

    So he assiduously does everything to please the dictatorship. He joins all the necessary government agencies and works hard as a "grassroots leader", Lee's definition for sycophants and bootlickers.

    He goes to the Singapore university and either by design or hard work, no one knows which, he passes all his exams and is promptly made a Minister.

    In his job, the passes laws to completely criminalize protests or any opposition to the government. In return he is labeled a great lawyer, a great politician and a string of other accolades too numerous to mention.

    But does he really believe in denying a free press, fundamental human rights and turning his fellow citizens into a society of slaves? Probably not. But he does this anyway because both he and his parents felt that success should be achieved at any cost, never mind one's principles. It is the same with every other Minister cringing and crawling at the feet of this administration because you achieve success, at any cost.

    Today Singapore does not have any thinkers, or even men of principle. They have no chance in Lee's island. You can if you want oppose the system and fight for what you believe and end up miserable broke and living under the bridge somewhere in the island.

    But the good news is that even if no one had the courage or naivety, depending on your point of view, to stand up to this administration, the forces prevailing in the island today will under its own volition destroy this regime.

    With ever increasing educated and thinking Singaporeans leaving their shores the quality of the average Singaporean will continue to decline.

    What will be left in the island is an entire society of people, all of whom are cowards, hypocrites and opportunists and who are poorly educated and unable to think beyond their work and what they will watch on TV that day.

    Such a society cannot expect to advance and succeed among the nations of the world which are free, democratic and allow their citizens to think and form opinions on their own without fear of prosecution and arrest.

    It will become a society of followers and not leaders and such a society has no hope to achieving even a iota of what the free peoples of the world can achieve.

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

    Sunday, September 14, 2014

    Native born Singapore university educated and skilled English speaking citizens leave the island to settle in the West

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    About a year ago, the state controlled Singapore newspapers and media published a number of reports on the government being alarmed over the mounting brain drain to the West.

    Goh Chock Tong, a former Prime Minister, handpicked by Lee Kuan Yew to continue his grip on power, even went so far as to chastise those who emigrated by calling them "quitters" even though he never mentioned that his own daughter was one, having married an Englishmen and now settled in Bradford West Yorkshire, England, colloquially known as Little Pakistan as it has the largest Pakistani population in the world outside Pakistan.

    I know. I did my "A" levels there.  It has also the best chapatti and curry anywhere else outside Pakistan.

    Although there were several Singapore oligarchs including the dictator himself, Lee Kuan Yew and Son making numerous demands and pleas for Singaporeans to remain in the island and not abandon it, it seems it has not helped. The numbers leaving has in fact increased.

    Singapore is in the most advantageous position for those intending to emigrate. It has English education, the best language for emigration.

    What then is the prime reason for it's citizens wanting to leave?

    It is simply that most educated, skilled and thinking human beings would find living in the island distasteful.

    It is distasteful for human being to live under a dictatorship.

    Humans are by nature a free spirited people and given the choice they would rather live in a free society where they can think and do as they please instead of a society where they have to live the way some dictator wants them to live.

    Singaporeans today are aware that they do not live in a free society.

    They don't have a free press and media as they are all state owned and controlled.

    They lack the fundamental freedoms that others in the West take for granted, such as freedom of speech, expression and assembly, and any one of these acts can result in your arrest and land you in jail.

    Just as in Communist China where the ticket to success is membership in the Chinese Communist Party and actively supporting them, in Singapore success also requires joining one of the numerous government organizations such as their Peoples Action Party or Peoples Association and spend a long time doing volunteer service in them.

    On the other hand any evidence that you were not their supporter or worse showed sentiments which were contrary to them meant that you will not only be unemployed for life, you would also be constantly persecuted so as to educate you to mend your ways.

    Fortunately with the advent of the Internet and greater opportunity to travel, more and more educated and English speaking Singaporeans are realizing they don't have to live this way.

    They begin to realize that Australians, Englishmen, Americans, Europeans and everyone else who live in democratic countries do not have to live in fear of their government.

    They can speak their mind without fear of arrest and imprisonment and develop their full potential without the requirement of having to show support for Lee Kuan Yew, his Son and his government.

    They also begin to see that the average Western citizen is a far superior human being than the product of Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew one party state.

    They speak better, they have more courage, they are more confident and are interesting and full of ideas.

    Whereas, the Singaporean, the product of an upbringing under Lee Kuan Yew on the other hand is timid, cowardly, lacks confidence and is constantly in fear of his government resulting in his having to live his life tailored according to what Lee Kuan Yew wants of him.

    The result of this realization that they are living their miserable lives as slaves under Lee Kuan Yew has resulted in serious consequences to the island demographics.

    The demographic change to the island is so serious, it is now existential.

    Remember the island today has a tiny population, perhaps no more than 2 million native born citizens in a tiny place which is no more than 26 miles across and 16 miles on the vertical and slightly less at high tide.

    And with this already minuscule population, the island has the lowest birth rate in the world, with childbirth not even replacing the parents.

    At the same time, it has one of the largest ageing population with a large proportion of the 2 million above the age of 60 years old.

    Most couples have no children at all.

    Despite the government both threatening, cajoling and pleading with their criticizes, offer generous tax breaks and other perks to grease their palms, the Singaporean is simply refusing to procreate.

    Now having finally realized that no matter what they do, they are simply not having children, the government has stopped their attempts at persuasion and finally realized that the children simply will not be born in sufficient numbers, full stop.

    And recently according to a state owned newspaper the Straits Times of Sept 12, 2014 which carried the report "4 in 5 parents here open to sending kids abroad" the state controlled newspaper report states that according to a survey of more than 300 parents, 4 out of 5 would consider sending their children aboard for an education citing the reasons as "Being independent, getting international work experience and gaining confidence are the key benefits of studying abroad, the parents felt" http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/education/story/4-5-parents-here-open-sending-kids-abroad-poll-20140912

    Singapore parents today have realized the damage that the Singapore education system is doing to their children.

    The pervasive fear factor is the main cause of an inferior education system in the island.

    Teachers instead of telling their students to fearlessly stand up to their beliefs are required to warn their students of the dangers of opposing their government.

    Obedience they are told is a virtue and independence of thought is dangerous.

    This sort of a Singaporean education, the parents realize, does not produce independent thinkers, it produces the Singaporean robots, which you see in the island today.

    With the island of just 2 million or so local English speaking citizens, has the highest brain drain in the world, the lowest fertility rate in the world, the highest ageing population in the world, and with the latest state controlled newspaper report, the greatest number of children leaving for education abroad, can you even imagine the consequences of these trends?

    Anyone who is already overseas is instantly going to realize their far superior and happier lifestyle in the West and are themselves going to be a powerful magnet to attract others left behind in the island to join them.

    This means even more leaving for the West and further depleting the 2 million locals even more.

    At the same time far too few children are being born which means even fewer Singaporeans.

    And with this latest report even more parents are going to send their children abroad, which of course means that not a single one would return after their education, lowering the 2 million remaining even more.

    To replace the English speaking Singaporeans leaving for the West, the government is replacing them with a huge influx of foreigners, mainly from Communist China.

    These immigrants are by their very nature third rate and cannot replace the highly skilled highly educated loyal Singapore citizens.

    It must be obvious why this is so.

    All of them have no loyalty to Singapore as the native Singaporeans had, since all they want is a job which they did not have in their native countries.

    Also the majority of them come from Communist China, a people preferred by Lee Kuan Yew over other races.

    He thinks they are something of a master race and are somehow superior to other races whom he considers lazy, incompetent and unsuitable.

    But the problem with the Chinese is that most have no English proficiency at all and it will take too long for they or their children to learn English and be productive in society.

    In any case most of them would have preferred to have gone to the West and the only reason they are in Singapore is because they were rejected.

    Singapore's leaders it appears are not as smart as they are made out to be.

    They have failed to realize that educating Singaporeans in the English language, opening the Internet to them, and easy access to passports work in an diametrically opposite direction from a dictatorship with no freedoms, no free press and information and a police state.

    They have failed to realize that no human society if given a chance would want to live in bondage.

    They will seek freedom.

    Cuba under Fidel Castro (now Raul) does not have the problems of a population going extinct that Singapore has.

    Just like Cuba, Singapore is a dictatorship. Just like Cuba it has not free press or media, all state controlled.

    Just like Cuba, you will get arrested if you protest or speak without a license.

    But unlike Cuba, Singaporeans can readily acquire passports and leave the island if they want and go to the West.

    And unlike Cuba, although the mainstream media and news are state controlled, the Internet is not, and Singaporeans are free to read what is written outside the state controlled media.

    And this gives Singaporeans ideas the government does not want you to know.

    If Lee Kuan Yew and his son want to stem the unstoppable brain drain to the West thereby totally destroying the island republic, it has to do what Cuba does.

    It has to restrict the availability of passports and stop Singaporeans access to the Internet like Cuba does leaving Singaporeans opportunity only to read local state propaganda.

    It has also to stop Singaporean's accessibility to blogs such as mine, to prevent them from getting ideas which do not further the aims of Lee Kuan Yew and his Peoples Action Party; thereby preventing me from continuing to be a thorn at their necks.

    If Lee and Son does not do this, the brain drain will continue and result in the total disappearance of educated English speaking Singaporeans from the island, a number perhaps just 2 million.

    What will be left is the poorer quality Singaporeans who do not speak English or have sufficient education or skills to allow emigration to the West.

    You will also have the million dollar scholars, nothing more than opportunists who return to Singapore for the money.

    You will also have the hoards of Chinese mandarin speaking immigrants who come because they were unsuccessful in moving to the West and the others from disparate nearby countries who were unable to find jobs in their native countries.

    These people have no commitment to Singapore and would be the first to leave for any other place where they could find a better job with more money.

    For an island which today does not have more than perhaps 2 million people, this is not good news.

    Singaporean dictators Lee Kuan Yew and Son have to realize that a repressive society that treats their citizens as slaves and not free man and women, would find their lives unattractive and unfulfilling.

    If given a choice they would flee to free Western democratic countries, which are far superior to Singapore, and when they are there, would prominently and proudly display their middle finger to Lee Kuan Yew and his Son, like I have done.

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

    Sunday, September 7, 2014

    Singapore's changing into a People's Republic of China satellite city.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Since the early days, ever since 1959, Lee Kuan Yew has been the sole ruler of the island. Even today, despite handing over the reins to his son, who is nothing more than his mouthpiece, the place has been run as if it were their private property.

    He has made it abundantly clear on repeated occasions, that he considered it unsafe for his island to be run on the wishes of his people, based on his belief, that he alone knew what is best, claiming that it will result in nothing short of a disaster if his people had any say in anything.

    So he dismantles the Constitution. He denies basic freedoms, the right to free speech and assembly, the right to protest, the right to question the government. He silences the legal profession through the Legal Profession Act. The Law Society, the governing body of the profession whose president and it's key members are government appointees. In any case, no Singapore lawyer would dare to question any laws or the rights of individuals since they would face trumped up charges of imagined impropriety and disbarred through the Kangaroo courts.

    Today the government is literally run by Lee Kuan Yew and his son as their personal possession. They pass rules and laws and make policy as they deem fit, through their rubber-stamp Parliament, and the average man has no part to play in that equation.

    One of the policies he adopted, naturally without any consultation with his people, is the decision to allow mass importation of citizens of the Peoples Republic of China to populate the island due to the massive decline of it's already tiny population of no more than perhaps 2 million native born Singaporeans, down from 3 million a few years ago, the massive outflow of local Singaporeans for settlement aboard and it's increasing ageing population.

    Although the Constitution requires equal protection, naturally Lee totally ignores it and allows only Chinese nationals from Communist China to form the vast majority of immigrants, literally hundreds of thousands, while allowing only a trickle of other races, while totally barring Malays from the neighboring regions.

    Lee's official argument for this is that he feels the Chinese from Communist China are a superior race, more hardworking and industrious while other races are inferior lazy and unsuitable, a sentiment more likely associated with such dictators as Adolf Hitler.

    The local population made up of Singapore born Chinese, Malays and Indians have been helpless, as has been their lives in the island, to protest this total change in the demographic make up of their country.

    As a result the balance in the already tiny and diminishing native population of the island is dramatically changing. The Singaporean way of life that the local ethnic Chinese, Malays and Indians used to live is completely altered. This has serious consequences on the lives of the already tiny local population.

    Singapore at least in theory, was based on democratic principles derived from it's history of being a British colony. It was supposed to have a Constitution and people were supposed to have rights. These Communist Chinese immigrants who now make up the majority in the island come from a country that is a one party Communist State under whose constitution the Communist Party will rule in perpetuity. These Chinese do not have or know what is human rights, the right to free speech and expression and naturally and willingly accept as normal, living under a dictator as they have done in their former native country.

    With an entire population that thinks this way, tiny Singapore is going to become not only in practice but also in theory, a one party police state such as in Communist China and any hope of the island ever becoming a democracy will become a pipe dream.

    The average citizen of Singapore, which is now or will be, a native of the People's Republic of China would not think of ever questioning their rulers, and the Lee Kuan Yew and Son government which is already ruling the way the Communist Chinese do, will become both in theory and practice, a carbon copy of Communist China.

    Besides the political damage done to the island's democratic foundations, the customs traditions and way of life of local Singaporeans would be completely destroyed and changed forever. In effect, the people of Singapore would be living the way they do in Beijing, or Shanghai with the cultures, ethos, way of life and manners not of those of Singapore but of China.

    With the determination of the Lee and Son government to press ahead with this permanent disastrous demographic change, even more liberal minded Singaporeans including local Chinese who do not wish to live in Singapore, literally a Chinese city of the Peoples Republic of China would decide to leave for settlement aboard thereby quickening the permanent transformation of the Republic of Singapore into an offshore satellite  city of the Peoples Republic of China.

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

    Friday, September 5, 2014

    Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore an island city state built on behavior training and brainwashing.

    Ladies and Gentlemen,

    Since 1959, since the very birth of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew who thought very highly of himself, decided, it seems, the best way to build the island was first to ensure correct behavior and thinking. Or brainwash them first and make them build the city.

    Ever since then he has doggedly and single mindedly proceeded to create his Singapore person which we find today.

    And what is he? He is very obedient, very law abiding, very quiet, very submissive, very polite and very hard working. You would have thought that this was a great specimen of a human being. But the problem is, they are incapable of forming any opinions of their own. Whatever they think they were told which they always unconditionally accept. Unfortunately, you can see that a man such as this, is not only submissive, he is also very boring.

    Let me give you the examples.

    Every parent wants her child to get a good job and have a secure life. This is how it is done in Singapore.

    Child goes to school, works very hard and passes all his exams. Child is told in no uncertain terms that it is important to support the government and never say anything derogatory of it. Better for child to keep as quiet as possible and totally obedient. The more obedient and quiet the better. In Lee's Singapore obedience and silence are the greatest of virtues.

    As a result child is very quiet. Always does his homework. Always takes part in the required extra curricular activities. Child goes on to do national service and is totally obedient and follows orders.

    This quiet obedient child is the best candidate for a good government job. His parents are very happy. Child works for the government. Child is promoted. Child lives a comfortable life thanks to Lee Kuan Yew.

    Child wants to be a lawyer in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. He passes all exams. Very quiet and obedient. He is selected to join the Legal Service. He quietly obeys the government. He praises the government. He completes all his work on time. Lee's government is pleased.

    He is promoted judge. He is told to abuse the law and send opposition critics to jail . He willingly does it. He pretends to be a judge but actually he is quite aware that he is an dishonest opportunist and a hypocrite. He doesn't mind as long as it pays well.

    Lee's government makes sure to constantly remind the public that it pays to support the government. He pays his ministers $3.7 million a year, the highest political salaries in the world for such a tiny island.

    And he constantly makes this fact known in his state controlled newspapers. So every parent's dream is that one day their child would be noticed by Lee Kuan Yew's son and made minister, to be ever after wallowing in millions in unimaginable lives of luxury.

    And the parents do everything possible to try to achieve the jackpot, a Singapore minister under Lee Kuan Yew or his son. At a young age, the child is sent to a government run kindergarten, made to join government political organizations, volunteer in them, pass their exams at school and make sure they never utter one syllable that may annoy the great dictator or his son.

    Some of these children would grow up to eventually attain the jackpot and the millions under the Lee family and made Ministers in his government. Even if they didn't they are sure to be given jobs at astronomical salaries in government departments. It is almost impossible to fail in Singapore island if you are a staunch government supporter.

    Unfortunately Lee Kuan Yew never realized that to achieve a sustainable state, you first have to have independent thinking individuals, because it is the diversity of opinion which you find in the West that propels the society to surge ahead. Simply having the handful of high ranking government ministers doing all the thinking and expecting everyone else to just obey, vastly restricts the opportunities of any state to advance.

    In the West, government is a collaboration between the people and their politicians. In Singapore there is no such collaboration. The thinking is done by Lee Kuan Yew, his son and his chosen minions. The people have to simply obey.

    The quiet obedient hardworking Singaporean may be the model citizen under the Ming Emperor. But we are not living in medieval times. Today, the world is competitive and you need independent thinking citizens to come up with new ideas, especially ideas which are contrary to those of the government, to change improve and advance. Otherwise we would continue to think the way Lee Kuan Yew thinks, which is, he is always right and everyone should listen.

    Singapore is not the only state which has advanced under a dictatorship. Nazi Germany was the most economically powerful state in Western Europe between 1933 to 1939. So was Italy under Mussolini which managed great economic strides. So was Spain under Franco. Not to mention the Soviet Union under Stalin which saw economic development far greater than even the USA.

    But you have seen eventually where all these countries have ended. They all failed. It is true that coercion and force can in the short run produce results. But in the long run they all run out of steam. What good is a worker today, like a Singaporean, who is always quiet and obedient and incapable of any independent thought. These are not the people who will have ideas and the courage to pursue them, firstly because Lee may not approve or secondly it is too risky compared to just getting a steady job under the Lee government, while keeping your mouth shut.

    This is  why you see Western democracies have achieved sustained and continued progress. Their governments understand that the first requirement for any progress is the right to think independently without fear. Of course such societies have dissension but it the very fact of dissension that gives every citizen the knowledge that he is free to think how he wants and his future is not dependent on submitting to some dictator. In such societies citizens have a sense of belonging to their countries, they have a stake in it, and it is rewarding to stay behind and improve it.

    Singapore on the other hand produces an entire island of hypocrites. Judges pretend to uphold the law but are in fact Lee's PAP politicians in judicial robes using the law to destroy the opposition. Teachers claim to be teachers but they teach not an independence of thinking but submission to authority. A civil servant claims to be impartial but rewards government supporters and denies opponents.

    A Singaporean today is a boring individual. He has no independent opinion of anything. He is not articulate. If you ask him a question, it will take him a few minutes to respond, to formulate his thoughts to produce the best politically correct answer.

    There are a few Singaporeans in the bay area of San Francisco where I live, but no one hears about them. They are inconspicuous and live their quiet lives in obscurity.

    They get around, a few of them on occasion, with the other Singaporeans who live here, arranging to eat Singapore chicken rice in quiet parties and mind their own business. Being ethnic Chinese you cannot tell them apart from PRC Chinese, Taiwanese or even Filipinos with much larger populations here.  They are not extrovert, outspoken or even visible in any real sense. Since they live no different from how they lived under Lee Kuan Yew, sometimes you wonder what they ever came here. One Singaporean Chinese I met in San Francisco told me that they are a people who "don't want to make waves".

    It is not healthy for any human being to live in such hypocrisy as they live their lives there. It is not healthy for a people to live in such helplessness because the Lee government would be displeased if they became their own selves.

    Lee Kuan Yew and his son are not going to lead Singapore anywhere better with the quality of the people they have. They have to realize that the first requirement for any country to advance is for their people to live as human beings, able to form their own opinions, and even promote them if they see fit without the fear of being punished.

    In the end the average Singaporean is far inferior to an average Australian, average Englishman or average American. The Australian can say and do what he wants without fear, the Singaporean cannot. That is why the average Australian remains in Australia, has more children than the Singaporean, reaches far more greatness than the Singaporean.

    For a small population for its size, Australians have excelled in the world stage. Australians have become some of the world's best actors in Hollywood, they have some of the best word's scientists, the world's great adventurers and sportsmen.

    All Singaporeans can produce are yes-men, sycophants and bootlickers only capable of getting steady job under the Lee Kuan Yew government in return for keeping their mouths shut.

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