Singapore is not North Korea. Lee Kuan Yew's one man one party state is not sustainable. It will very soon collapse.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are and have been enduring dictatorships, many very brutal, but yet manage to remain for decades.

Take the case of North Korea. Unless something extraordinary and completely out of the blue happens, the dictatorship, as brutal as it is, can be expected to merrily go on for some considerable time.

It has the necessary elements to enable this. It has 24 million people, its borders are closed, it is not possible to obtain passports, the language is Korean and not English, the Internet is completely closed, the people believe the state propaganda that theirs is the best country in the world and the slightest criticism of their leaders would lead to arrest torture and even death.

Singapore is not North Korea. It does not have the structures in place to keep its citizens silenced and helpless, because they are not. Consider Singapore's circumstances. It has a mere 1.5 million local born citizens. The remaining vast majority are foreigners. It has the English language, its border's are open and anyone desiring a passport can get one. English makes the people mobile and facilitates emigration. Internet unlike North Korea is not banned enabling its people to know exactly what is happening around the world. It is not possible for Lee Kuan Yew's son to tell his people that they have the best country in the world, because it is simply not, and they know it.

Under these circumstances, it is not possible to govern a country like Singapore with brute force alone as can be done in North Korea. For a country like Singapore, the governors can only govern with the support of the people. Once that support collapses the dictatorship falls.

In 1959, when Lee Kuan Yew first got Singapore a plan was devised to dismantle civil society for the sake of economic advancement. At that time, it obviously worked. After all, then people needed jobs, not democracy. As long as they had something to eat, they were content.

But circumstances are no longer like that now. They are better educated. Many are well travelled, more sophisticated. They are no longer the sort of people who would be content as long as they had something to eat.

But the problem for Lee Kuan Yew and his son's government is that while Singaporeans have changed, the government has not. Even in this sophisticated society, free speech is illegal, there are no free and independent newspapers, assembly is illegal, protests are illegal, there is no rule of law, the judges are Kangaroos, and government supporters are rewarded while critics are persecuted. And the people are bitterly aware of their slavish lives. In fact it would not be incorrect to say that the entire population have no respect for their leaders whom they consider nothing but dishonest opportunists looking for their own pockets, not the peoples welfare. Every one of these leaders corruptly receive as salaries several millions dollars each year.

Since open revolt would result in arrest and imprisonment, the people do not resort to this. Instead they vote with their feet. Singapore has the highest brain drain in the world. It is bad enough for any country to lose their best and brightest but it is fatal for a island this size with a local population of just 1.5 million!

Another manifestation of their anger at their government is the almost zero fertility rate, the lowest in the world. And to make things worse, they have a large senior citizen population which is dying off in increasing numbers. One look at the Internet shows how bad the situation is for this government. It is impossible to find a single piece of writing from Singaporeans supportive of their government. The huge numbers of foreign companies there who primarily employ foreigners may be happy but it does no good for the locals. The foreigners aren't interested in human rights. All they want is a buck, dictator or no dictator.

There are numerous reports of the island's very low productivity rate, which should not be surprising. An unhappy population and an unhappy workforce, never gave their best. The idea is do the least for the buck for these dictators who pay themselves millions while they get nothing. Why should they work hard for a government such as this, they ask.

I think it will all unravel when 91 year old Lee Kuan Yew dies. Although he is senile and bed ridden and useless, his very presence in the island gives legitimacy to his son, whom he made Prime Minister. Upon his death the sons legitimacy no longer exists.

Despite the state controlled newspapers publishing daily both the real and imaginary exploits of the son, as far as the people are concerned, he is simply the son of Lee Kuan Yew and nothing more.

His education, his meteoric rise in the army within perhaps 5 years to general, his winning elections and promptly made Deputy Prime Minister, then Minister means nothing to the people. He is simply not a leader. Were it not for his father, he would probably now be quietly working at the Bank of China along Battery Street, pushing a pen and looking at invoices.

I think there will be a power struggle when the 91 year old dictator dies. The son would probably be kicked out. Whoever else claims the seat is not going to be respected by Singaporeans since there are no leaders in Singapore, merely scholarship students who passed exams and then given jobs as Ministers at top salaries to do Lee's bidding. None of these characters would have the dedication, daring, courage and loyalty to run the risk of politics, especially under these uncertain circumstances. In all probability they would probably pack up and leave the country.

There are no Fidel Castros, Che Guevaras, Martin Luther Kings or Gandhis in that island. Their so called leaders would probably shiver and shudder in fear, even if it was just thunder and lightning.

I don't see much hope out there. This one man one party dictatorship style does not work in a society like this. Despite all his claim for great wisdom and foresight, Lee Kuan Yew failed to realize that in a society with greater sophistication and ability, it is not possible to run the country like they did in 1959. But it doesn't seem they are going to change anytime soon. And that would be their undoing.

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

Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's Son is terrified of his 91 year old father dying

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If you read Singapore's state controlled newspapers, (all newspapers, TV and the entire media are state controlled), you would never ever suspect that Lee Kuan Yew's son, whom he appointed Prime Minister in his place, is terribly worried about what would happen to him when his father dies. After all his father is 91, according to official sources (perhaps a few years more from other sources), and is already bed ridden and his batteries are losing their shelf life.

He would not be worrying now if he was the Prime Minister of any democracy with a well entrenched civil society with laws democratically enacted through a legitimate Parliament. After all, when Lee Kuan Yew goes, there is a system in place respected by the people to hand over to a new government and Prime Minister.

But Singapore was never a democracy. It has always been a one man, one party dictatorship for the last 50 years under his father and now by proxy his son. Civil society does not exist. Rigged elections are conducted every 5 years when Lee Kuan Yew's men always win. Having won, they enter Lee's rubber stamp Parliament where any law he wishes passes smoothly and without hitch.

The courts are an extension of his ruling party who whenever necessary pass verdicts against government critics destroying them with million dollar damage awards. The result is that they are either impoverished through bankruptcy, jailed or exiled. No Singaporean has any respect for these Kangaroo judges and if they can, remain as far as possible from them.

All the Members of Parliament and Ministers are minions and stooges of Lee Kuan Yew and now his Son. They have no independent view at all. All of them have only one view, that of the ruling party. And the ruling party's view which they extol has to be, one party dictatorships are good and democracy is bad; freedom of speech and assembly and peaceful protest are bad and simply accepting the dictates of the government is good; and so on and so forth. You get the message. You can also see why such a message is not going to resonate in any society, not even a Singaporean one after Lee Kuan Yew.

Political activity is appreciated, as long as it is pro government. Local citizens as well as foreigners are welcome to join and actively participate in the string of organizations of the ruling Peoples Action Party, which include Peoples Association, Residents Committees and Citizens Consultative Committees. In fact there is a great deal to be gained from serving in these organizations, such as promotion in your career, chosen for top jobs and even being chosen as Ministers with a million dollar pay. On the other hand political activity for anti ruling party is prohibited. If caught you may lose your job and as a foreigner, deported for interfering in local affairs.

Both the government and the entire population have turned themselves into hypocrites and opportunists without character, principles or moral uprightness. Both the Ministers and the people would swear under oath if necessary that they truly support the government. Privately the Minister would tell you that they do it for the millions they are paid, and the citizen would say, it promotes his career prospects.

Mahatma Gandhi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela are not part of the syllabus of school children. Under the Singaporean doctrine of what is good and what is bad, these are bad men who overthrew governments. Imagine what would happen to Lee Kuan Yew's Son, if Singapore has a Mahatma Gandhi. Therefore any reference to these leaders are either blocked or skimmed over. Teachers are told to warn their children the dangers of following them. Instead the Chinese traditional Confusion values of prostrating at your Emperor's feet is promoted. In this case the feet of Lee Kuan Yew's son.

But things are not moving the way the Son wants. Unfortunately Singaporeans are educated in the English language and not in Outer Mongolian, which makes access to the Internet very easy. As a result, in the Son's eyes, the Singapore population is being poisoned by undesirable information such as democracy and freedom from outside which today has infiltrated the entire English speaking society of the island, which is 99%. And the people are not happy with their lives under a dictator, this time the Son, benevolent or otherwise. In Haiti, you had Papa Doc and then Baby Doc. In Singapore you have Lee Kuan Yew and then now the Son.

What the Son's worry is this. First the island is tiny with an even tinier population. The local Singapore born population who understand the island and the way of life has been reduced from a previous 3 million to no more than a miniscule 1.5 million now, through the lowest fertility rate in the world, mounting mass emigration to the West and the old people dying. The island's population of 5 million therefore consists predominantly of foreigners, many of who have taken citizenship primarily for jobs. All these foreigners have no intention of sinking roots in the island and would leave either at the first job opportunity elsewhere or the slightest unrest of any kind.

Tiny Singapore island with a tiny population is obviously the last choice of these migrants. After all who would trust their lives in a place as tiny as this with no democracy whatsoever. In fact all these migrants, many who have got citizenship are there simply because they were rejected from emigrating to countries of their choice. In desperation before their own people become extinct, the government has been accepting these third rate rejects.

All these Ministers and Members of Parliament are merely handpicked appointees, and none have any real support on the ground. And no one has any independent opinions of their own. When Lee Kuan Yew departs, none of them is any different from the other, capable of only parroting the long established government line which we all know, leaving one no better or no different from any other. And worst of all none of them have any legitimacy or respect of their citizens, who consider them nothing more than hand picked political opportunists.

To give you an example, in England, there are leaders who are in favor of immigration, others against; leaders for greater participation in Europe, others isolation; some who want the Euro, others the British Pound and so on. Any discerning Englishman can support the leader of his choice to promote his viewpoint. In this way the public can choose, this way or that. Englishmen respect their politicians and their judges. This situation does not exist in the Singapore island where everyone thinks alike and the judges are kangaroos.

No one knows what is going to happen at Lee's death. If the government continues today, it is because Lee Kuan Yew is still alive, in coma or otherwise. But when he dies the fear factor that maintained the island in one piece for so long unravels.

In that scenario, it is uncertain what will happen to the Son. Will he continue as Prime Minister or will he travel to his holiday home in Bermuda (I don't know if he has one there) and never come back? Will the other power hungry ethnic Chinese run around seizing power? Will there be martial law to silence the unhappy population? Will the foreign banks take out their money and go to Vanuatu? Will the economy collapse? And will the entire population capable of leaving depart to Australia Canada, South Africa, New Zealand or even join the Bushmen of the Kalahari?

One never knows but we will soon find out, if the reports of the 91 year old dictator's poor health are true.

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

Singapore today at the cross-roads. Continue repression and alienate the entire population or allow freedom and be overthrown

Ladies and Gentlemen,

All dictatorships in the world sooner or later reach a point of reckoning. They have to decide either to continue their dictatorial rule and antagonize their entire population or face reality and liberalize. Unfortunately either path leads to their destruction.

Singapore's short history had known only one man, Lee Kuan Yew who is now 91 and bed-ridden. Since 1959, he strutted around as the superman, on a sustained programme of building state owned high rise apartments, no bigger than a cubicle, and housing almost the entire population, almost 90%.

He provided cheap labor for foreign companies who set up manufacturing and assembly line workshops where the island housewives worked for pennies. In order to facilitate the foreign investors, he criminalized strikes, dismantled trade unions, silenced free speech and expression, destroyed the free press and abolished the rule of law.

Singaporeans it appears went along with it. After all he was making things better for them. There were no more riots, civil unrest, and everyone was cowed into submission and obedience. He said listen to me, for I alone have all the answers.

So did Hitler who managed to endear almost the entire German population before the war. He said, I will make you great again. And true to his promise, he improved the economy, destroyed the communists and made life for the industrialists profitable.

Just like Lee Kuan Yew, he told the Germans that he alone had all the answers. There is no need for Cabinet meetings, discussions and debate. And for a time he delivered what he promised. He occupied Austria, Czechoslovakia, Poland and the whole of Western Europe. Like Lee Kuan Yew, he appeared invincible and the people simply loved it.

But history doesn't stay the same. Things change. Today Lee Kuan Yew and by extension his son, have no more accomplishments to trumpet. There are no more Communists to fight, no more anarchists, no more trouble makers on the streets, no more opportunity to say that I alone am the superman.

At the same time Singaporeans are becoming more educated, the Internet enables the citizens to know at anytime what is happening in the Middle East or Ukraine. It has pictures of young students in Hong Kong and Europe demanding rights, freedoms and justice, while they are not allowed to do any of this.

For the first time, Singaporeans are no longer satisfied with their lot. They don't have to live like this anymore. The island wide quiet of the cemetery has become suddenly boring. They need some zest in life. They want to have their say. They demand representation for taxation.

This is where the problem lies. Dictators survive by always having some enemy or other. If there is none, they have to create one. Only by funneling the anger at the enemy can dictators hope to retain their people's support. But the time has no come, where there are no longer enemies, seen on unseen; and it is difficult to create one.

Rationally Singapore today does not have a legitimate government that any people would respect. It has literally abolished the Constitution. Rights of free speech and expression, assembly, peaceful protest or the rule of law are all openly abrogated. It is rationally and logically impossible for any society to show respect and loyalty to an administration that does this, absent any emergent reason. Today if they are arguing that they have to do this, because otherwise foreign capital would flee and they would all be unemployed, it is an untenable one. Foreign capital is attracted not by making slaves of its citizens. It is an argument that simply does not fly.

Over decades now the Internet is awash with anti government writings. It is almost impossible to find even one that favors the government and if you do, it is very probably put up by paid government agents writing under false identities.

Over the entire history of Singapore under Lee Kuan Yew and now his son, the principle has always been, either you are with me or against me. There has never been any room in the island for those who thought otherwise than the ideas and policies of Lee Kuan Yew.

In Germany under Hitler, it was Eine Reich, Eine Volk, Eine Fuhrer, or one country, one people one leader as it was in Lee's Singapore. The plan today is to make the whole of the island following one political philosophy, that is Lee Kuan Yew.

If you complied and did the dance, you stand to live unmolested, your career advanced and a life without trouble. Although unlike Hitler, Lee doesn't shoot his opponents, he will make your life miserable. You literally become an outcast if unwilling to play his tune. You stand to lose your job, sometimes even arrested and bankrupted. For anyone not wanting to live a life of penury, it makes sense to join the bandwagon.

Although you are not arrested and targeted for punishment if you complained on the Internet incognito, no one who has dared to proclaim his opposition openly has ever been left unscathed. From the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s, it was JB Jeyaretnam who was the target for destruction. After that it was Chee Soon Juan who suffered a similar fate. Other than these 2 citizens, there has really been no one else who has dared to stand up and be counted. The entire population have simply accepted their fate and have accepted the reality that is Singapore.

As a result of the almost universal anger towards their tormentors, they refuse to have children bringing down the fertility rate in the island to the lowest in the world, they refuse to marry, they leave for settlement abroad, leaving the already declining population to no more than perhaps just mere 1.5 million of local born citizens, not counting the million or so recently born citizens who are the children of recent immigrants. This dictatorial intolerant rule has completely destroyed the way of life in the island for their citizens, who are today mostly from somewhere else brought in to replenish the local population which s literally going extinct.

You don't see any numbers of citizens daring to stand up to this one man one party rule but occasionally there are exceptions. Today the targets for Lee Kuan Yew and son marked for destruction is a blogger Roy Ngerng and a 22 year old blogger and activist Han Hui Hui. Recently Ngerng had claimed in his blog that Lee Kuan Yew's son, the Prime Minister was responsible as head of the state run retirement fund CPF's inability to account for citizen's funds. The son, brooking no disrespect, commenced a court action against him for damages for defamation. Please see the state controlled newspaper article here. http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/pm-lee-commences-suit-against-blogger-roy-ngerng-20140529

Recently the court heard his case on a motion by the Lees for summary judgment but instead of giving judgment immediately, they reserved judgment for an unspecified date in the future. The only reason for their adjournment has to be fear that if they went ahead and found against him, the already intense dislike for them would only become worse. They think that by postponing it, they may be able to contain the growing anger island wide.

As for Han Hui Hui, she spoke on many occasions criticizing the government for the same. Although she has not been sued like Ngerng, she has been ordered to appear at the police station for long periods of interrogation, no doubt to intimidate her into silence but also to discover the identities of others who were involved for similar harassment.

An Internet search lately for the names Roy Ngerng and Han Hui Hui suddenly discloses numerous writers criticizing their actions. This is what happened. Recently at the Speakers Corner, they had approached a Minister who happened to be there, Teo Ser Luck to confront him on the government's repressive measures.

Unbeknownst to them, some mentally backward children were performing some show on a stage whom the government claims were stressed as a result of the encounter. Although both Ngerng and Han stated that they were not aware of the children's incapacity since they appeared normal and capable of performing on stage, Lee's 5th Column, or his cyber brigade went into full gear to write of their insensitivity and irresponsibility for deliberately harming mentally handicapped children.

Even though Ngerng and Han had apologized, it still wasn't enough to satisfy these supporters of  the dictatorship, determined to vilify and defame these unwholesome critics of Singapore's great leader Lee Kuan Yew and Son.

Their hope of course is to throw as much mud as possible at them in the hope that they not only would give up, no one else would dare to do what they did.

Of course such sustained persecution and prosecution of critics who have done nothing more than challenge the policies of the dictatorship is a double edged sword. On the one hand they may manage to silence these 2 brave individuals. On the other the island wide anger against this establishment can only get worse.

Singapore's dictatorship today has reached a fork in the road. Do you take the road that continues the repression and persecution and continue to rule through fear, and thereby antagonize every single Singaporean? Or do you take the road of restoring democracy and the peoples freedoms. Either way the Singapore dictators don't stand a chance. By cracking the whip even more, you sow the seeds for an overthrow. And if you allow their freedoms, you do the same. It is a no win situation for these tyrants as it is everywhere. It is a hard rock or a hard place and nothing in between.

Singapore's state controlled newspapers can go on as if nothing is amiss. But we know that there is a great deal amiss in that tiny island with a tiny population.

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

Singapore's headline news and "bowel incontinence". A disgusting business.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

If you want to know how bad the quality of Singapore's local news in their state controlled newspapers have become, you may want to read the headlines news, I mean it, headline news, in the Straits Times today titled "Bowel incontence is not part of ageing" says SGH doc". http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/health/story/bowel-incontinence-not-part-ageing-says-sgh-doc-20141007. You can see a picture of the famous patient, worthy of headline news only in Singapore I must add, and her doctor below.

 

I don't want to upset anyone's appetite. You can read this Singaporean "headline news" for yourself. It is simply that this woman had diarrhea for a decade and suddenly comes this Singaporean doctor who tells her that she hasn't any diarrhea but "stomach incontinence" instead, whatever that is, and this happens to be in the Singaporean sense, their headline news!

 If you wondered why the Singaporean journalism is given a abysmally low standing of 150th among the world's newspapers for being the least free, by Reporters without Borders, in the world, now you see why.

This happens in every country in the world which are run by dictators, in Singapore's case Lee Kuan Yew the father and now the Son,  who control their media and turn it into propaganda sheets. There is no real news about the country, their policies, political debate, new ideas about economy, politics, simply nothing. Just as in North Korea, Lee Kuan Yew's state controlled Straits Times would put out each day what they intend to do, such as building a road somewhere in the island, and when they don't have anything else, well report on the woman with the 10 year diarrhea who has now finally taken the right medicine.  

Better still take the picture of the disgusting 10 year diarrhea woman standing next to her diarrhea doctor and stick in the state controlled newspaper as headline news.

A mucky bit of news to say the least.

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

 

 

Is there turbulence and instability under the quiet calm of tiny Singapore island

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Winston Churchill the illustrious Prime Minister of England once wrote "Dictators ride to and fro on tigers from which they dare not dismount." Quotation from his book "While England Slept" 1938.

The dictatorship in Singapore is a classic example of Winston Churchill's quote.

Although on the surface, thanks to the state controlled propaganda media, nothing seems amiss in the minuscule tiny island of Singapore of calm and quiet with just 2 million or less of native citizens and the majority being foreigners who have been recently granted citizenship to compensate the abysmally tiny and declining population, there are serious faults in the system which cause one to seriously doubt whether it will last beyond the 91 year old dictator Lee Kuan Yew's fast impending demise.

If Singapore island, a tiny speck with a tiny population continues to function normally today, it is only through brute force of the police and the state controlled courts which will punish any detractor causing any trouble.

But for any country to survive, it has to have the respect and support of their people.

This the Lee family government simply do not have.

Every pillar of society and government has been thoroughly discredited and the people have no respect at all in their government.

The Singapore government openly abuses the law courts for their political purposes, through defamation actions intended not to compensate the victim but to destroy and intimidate political opposition.

The repeated use of these defamation actions over the entire 50 years of Singapore's existence under the Lees has effectively destroyed any respect for their legal system.

People do not challenge authority because they are simply afraid.

Singapore lawyers have been so intimidated that they are afraid even to represent any political opponent.

Some years ago, when Chee Soon Juan was targeted for destruction as a political opponent, he could not find a single lawyer in the entire island to represent him.

When he complained to the judges and requested a foreign attorney, his request was denied, leaving him in the end to have to represent himself!

As for the media in that minuscule island for 2 million locals, it is entirely state controlled.

You need a government permit to print and publish any newspaper, run a radio or TV station and only government supporters are granted licenses.

The only media now free is the Internet leaving this the only avenue for the islanders who want to read independent news.

The police are free to do literally whatever they want.

No universally accepted fair and impartial police procedure applies.

Anyone can be questioned anytime at their fancy, and especially government critics are totally at their mercy and liable to any amount of trumped up charges and put away.

On 4th of July 2008, I was arrested in Singapore initially because they claimed I had knocked on a police car in a street, which I obviously didn't. Since the car didn't have any damage or my fingerprints, they dropped that accusation.

When I denied it, they came up with a charge that  I was disorderly and had shouted obscenities at them.

Eventually no charge of ever knocking on a police car in Little India, a Singapore district, was ever brought and after an 18 day trial when I enjoyed myself cross examining every one of their witnesses who carefully orchestrated their evidence, I was naturally found guilty and fined $3,000.00.

I was surprised why they didn't send me to jail for this, but I subsequently knew why.

They had already planned to send me to jail for writing a blog criticizing their judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean who had sent the aforementioned Chee Soon Juan to jail and fined him several thousand dollars for criticizing Lee Kuan Yew and his son, a trial which was scheduled to be heard some months ahead. So there was no need to send me to jail just yet!

You see, I was a critic of their government.

The law had to bend to punish me harshly.

And this entire travesty of justice was daily splashed across their state controlled press and media.

I wonder who benefited more from the exercise and that wide publicity.

On the one hand, they may have succeeded in instilling fear once again in the population not to ever challenge their authority.

But on the other hand, it gave an excellent opportunity for me once again to expose the Kangaroo courts in the island, thereby destroying any little respect anyone may still have in their judicial system.

In order to make sure there is no possibility whatever for any challenge to their authority, laws have been enacted to literally abolish the Constitution.

There is no freedom of speech, expression, assembly or the right to even peacefully protest.

Singaporeans are not fools.

They are an English educated tiny population.

They are fully aware that they are living under slavery and at the complete mercy of the dictatorship.

This is why the island is suffering from a threat of existential proportions from which they have no solution, their disappearing citizens.

Even from this tiny local population of perhaps just 2 million, it has one of the highest rates of emigration in the world, mostly to Canada, Australia and New Zealand.

It has one of the lowest fertility rates in the world where there are insufficient children born to even replace their parents.

As if this was not bad enough, it has a fast ageing population.

Some years ago, in order to desperately stem the abysmally falling birth rate, this government even went to extent of showing soft porn on their state controlled TV stations at late night in the hope that couples would watch and immediately engage in sex and make babies thereafter. That too failed.

Then Lee Kuan Yew, his son and several of their ministers who are corruptly paid multi millions of dollars went out hat in hand to the capitals of the world's Singapore diaspora to plead for them to return playing on their loyalty to the country of their birth.

That too failed, as no one returned. Today they are resigned to the fact that the population will simply continue to decline and disappear and there is nothing they can do about it.

This dictatorial rule has also completely destroyed their state security apparatus which they rely upon through conscription.

The vast number of young men who have to do national service are simply against it.

As a result they find every way possible way to avoid it and if they can leave the island, do so and never return.

In fact the numbers in the armed forces have diminished so much, the government recently announced in an desperate attempt that even permanent residents and women, hitherto not liable, can if they wish voluntarily join the army.

Once again that too is a complete flop as no one has come forward. The barracks are literally empty.

You can see why this government is a total disconnect with their tiny population.

Any government expecting their people to play their part in society has to be respectable.

If you lose every single iota of respect, how can you expect them to feel a sense of belonging and patriotism to their home and country.

You don't need to be particularly bright to know that a denial of free speech, expression, assembly or the rule of law will not endear any people to their government.

If they manage to rule today, it is not because they have good governance, it is despite it.

It is a society which is governed entirely by fear, a society which runs on the rule of "you listen to me or else".

This is a government which like Winston Churchill said, is riding a tiger and they are afraid to dismount because it will devour them if they did.

Lee Kuan Yew is now 91 years old.

So far he has run his country on this principle and fear.

It does not have free and fair elections and every single minister and government official is not freely elected but appointed through rigged elections under a climate of fear.

There are no leaders in Singapore, only followers who parrot the Lee Kuan Yew doctrine.

When he dies, the question is what next.

Will his son, who presently is in power entirely because of his father continue to argue that free speech is bad, free and fair elections are bad, an independent judiciary is bad and the rule of law is bad and expect his people to go along with it?

The tiny population of Singaporeans simply do not have a sense of belonging to their society, a patriotism or feel that they have a stake in their country. They feel it is not they who own Singapore, the Lee family who pay themselves and their cronies millions, do.

There are no strong civic institutions in the island that is essential to stability and seamless succession from one government to another.

No one has any respectability or legitimacy to galvanize any society in Singapore for action, since no one can claim to be a leader in that society. There is only one leader. Lee Kuan Yew himself.

If they claim to be leaders as is printed in the sate controlled press, it is only because of Lee Kuan Yew and what he will do to you if you disobey.

This lack of strong and stable civic institutions will be the very cause of instability and collapse in a society especially as tiny as this.

Upon the demise of the 91 year old Singapore dictator, I can envisage an even greater flood of Singaporeans leaving the shores of the tiny island with just perhaps a miniscule 2 million locals.

As for the recent arrivals who have been given instant citizenship to boost the numbers, they would be the first to leave as they, just as any economic migrant wouldn't really care if they lived in Singapore or some other place, as long as it is stable and money is made.

And with it you will also see an outflow of capital of both locals and foreigners and with that you can say goodbye to Singapore.

You can see this sort of a disastrous scenario is bad enough for any country.

It is devastating for a tiny miniscule island with just 2 million or so native population with the ability to pack up and vote with their feet if they want.

As for the Singapore dictators, they are behaving as if nothing is amiss.

Reading the Singapore state controlled press, you wouldn't think anything is wrong.

Singapore's handpicked leaders and their 91 year old dictator are simply living in denial.

I suppose they think if there is nothing you can do about it, it serves no purpose to talk about it.

As Churchill said, the Lee family who run Singapore are riding a tiger. They are afraid to dismount lest the tiger devours them.

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