Nazi Germany and Singapore. Striking similarities

Ladies and Gentlemen,

From 1933 to the beginning of the Second World War, Hitler's Nazi Germany was the most powerful country in Europe. From the ashes of the First World War it built itself into a powerful military machine and the most successful economy in Europe under Adolf Hitler. Minus the executions and mass murders, the way Nazi Germany rose to power has striking similarities to the late Singaporean dictator Lee Kuan Yew and now his son who has stepped into his shoes.

BREAD AND WORK
Hitler's promise to the masses in Germany's poor was his promise of bread and work. This was a powerful message that created mass support for his movement. Lee Kuan Yew too in the 1950s promised food and work. They both managed to do that.

FASCISM
Hitler learnt from Benito Mussolini the governance through Fascism. The idea was for the state to control every organ of power in the land. They control the press, controls trade unions or better still abolish them, control TV and Radio, deny free speech and assembly, kill anyone who dares to criticize you, conduct show trials with Kangaroo judges to punish dissidents, destroy the weak minded or biologically or genetically inferior peoples, use propaganda to promote your achievements. This is what Nazi Germany did to rise to power.

And this is exactly what Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore under his son's control does. In Singapore anyone who publicly criticizes the ruling government is destroyed. JB Jeyaretnam who for years dared to challenge the government was repeatedly persecuted in Kangaroo courts in show trials and accused of all sorts of trumped up charges, removed from office, bankrupted and impoverished and destroyed. The same fate suffered by another prominent opposition politician who similarly dared to criticize, brought before Kangaroo courts in show trials, vilified and defamed, thrown out of his job, jailed and bankrupted into poverty.

Countless others too numerous to mention suffered the same fate.

I too suffered. From 1984 to 1991 I was in Singapore engaged in opposition politics. Repeatedly harassed, repeatedly charged with trumped up false charges, brought before show trials with Kangaroo judges, defamed and impoverished. Instead of continuing to allow them to abuse me, I left the country permanently in 1991 for California USA where I am now a citizen.

THE EFFECT OF THESE SHOW TRIALS AND PERSECUTION OF OPPONENTS
The purpose of these show trials to shame and punish political opponents is for a purpose much more important. It is to silence and intimidate every other citizen into submission. The intent is to instill fear and forcing them to accept the authority of Adolf Hitler and Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and his son today. This is the most important purpose of these show trials that are routinely conducted in Singapore island today.

Under Hitler's Germany, the people were aware of the brutality and injustice of the Nazi Government. But they were powerless to resist because if you do you will be killed. It is the same in Singapore of today. Singaporeans are fully aware that they are living under a dictatorship where they have no rights at all, totally under the mercy of these Kangaroo courts controlled by Lee Kuan Yew's sons and his Peoples Action Party. But they are powerless to resist because if they do, they fear they will suffer the  dire fate of other political dissidents of the past such as JB Jeyaretnam and Chee Soon Juan. As a result they fear to stand up to their government.

UNDERSTANDING THE PRIORITIES
Both Hitler and Lee Kuan Yew knew that the priorities of both the Germans of 1933 and Singaporeans of the 1950s was work and food. Human rights and such niceties did not appear high in their list of desirables. So Hitler burnt books on democracy and other social theories. The people should just concentrate on work and making a living, not philosophizing. Lee Kuan Yew did the same. Singapore university no longer teaches subjects like philosophy or democracy or if they still do, it is placed in book shelves you will not find. The point was for the Singaporean to go home to watch his television and eat at the hawkers center and leave such things as politics to Lee Kuan Yew's friends and not go around minding other peoples business.

I have to say this policy has worked. Today it is impossible for you to speak to any Singaporean who has any concern about the way he lives. He has no idea of any of that. His mind has been successfully adjusted by long years of behavior training to concentrate only on his job, food and daily pleasures. The thinking man does not exist in Singapore as he did not exist in Nazi Germany.

MASS EMIGRATION AND EXODUS
Many Germans knew what Hitler was doing to his people. As a result large numbers of the best scientists and academics and professionals, many of them Jews as well as ethnic Germans left Germany, many to the US. As a result Hitler lost a large portion of his highly educated citizens. However many Germans stayed despite knowing Hitler's repression. It is the same situation today in Singapore. Thousands of highly educated Singaporeans disgusted with what Lee Kuan Yew's son is doing to Singapore have emigrated to the West, although many still have decided to stay.

The exodus from tiny Singapore  of it's educated is so large and especially crippling for a tiny island like Singapore. There is not a single major western country where you will not find the Singapore diaspora. London, New York San Francisco (where I live), Sydney Melbourne, Frankfurt Brussels Vancouver Toronto Auckland and every major city has a growing Singapore population. Germany could handle it because they are a much larger country. For a depletion of it's population from tiny Singapore at this rate has to be a catastrophe.

LACK OF ALTERNATIVE VIEWPOINTS
In Germany the only political view point was the National Socialist Party of Hitler. That was the only political party or philosophy allowed. In Singapore it is the PAP. No other party is really allowed. It is not that other parties do not officially exist, they do. But they are nothing. No one dares to join them, say anything openly and they are other than at election time, comprised of only one member, it's founder. There are no other members.

In Hitler's Germany they were more honest instead of the hypocrisy you find in Singapore. In Hitler's Germany other political parties were not allowed. If you did, you will be shot.

NO NEED FOR ANY HUMAN RIGHTS
Adolf Hitler did not see any need for any human rights. After all he will take care of you. Why should you have any rights. Therefore a German under Nazi Germany did not have a free press. You read only what was published by the German state newspapers under propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels. You are not allowed to demonstrate in public or speak ill of Adolf Hitler, since according to Hitler, he was such a nice man and how could possibly anyone have anything to complain! In any case if you demonstrated you will either be shot, deported or sent to concentration camp.

In Singapore too there are no human rights, no right to free speech, expression and assembly. The reasoning I assume is the same as Hitler. Since Lee Kuan Yew's son is only going to do good for you, why in Heaven's should you have any reason to complain. The reasoning is, that after all he will provide housing in the state owned Housing agency the HDB. He will provide jobs by attracting foreigners to set up factories in the island. He will build roads, infra structure, make sure you have access to daily needs. Then why the need to protest and criticize? That is why the PAP government of Singapore does not allow any human rights in the island.

WORKERS HAVE NO RIGHTS
Hitler abolished trade unions because the leaders of industry wanted a free reign on workers. As a result industry succeeded and Nazi Germany began to produce an immense amount of goods for the rest of Europe becoming the richest economy in Europe. Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore today is no different. Singapore workers have no rights and their unions are powerless. The plan is to make manufacturing in Singapore so attractive to foreigners. When workers are powerless, surely it is very very attractive to foreign businesses. This way businesses set up in Singapore at sweat shop wages while workers are unable to make ends meet. The only ones who profit are the Lee family and their friends and foreign businesses. The locals have to struggle to survive and there is nothing they can do.

THE SILVER LINING
This sort of abuse simply cannot last. If it lasted in 1933 Europe it was because Nazi Germany did not have Internet. Singapore has. What this means is that Singaporeans today do not have to accept this nonsense. Which is why the mass emigration brain drain is so large from tiny Singapore, they are desperately short of workers to man their businesses. Because of the bad reputation they have the only ones who would tolerate coming to Singapore to work are Chinese Communists from Communist China. But these are hardly qualified workers because they do not speak any English. So with fewer and fewer qualified workers and locals becoming increasing disgruntled and unhappy, you have not only a dwindling work force but an unhappy and unproductive one at that.

As long as the Singapore government is determined to be a carbon copy of Nazi Germany, it is bound to fail as Hitler did, although for different reasons.

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