The worst thing that happens to you in Singapore is the destruction of your mind

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore is a one party dictatorship run formerly by Lee Kuan Yew since his inception and now by his son Lee Hsien Loong of the Lee Family's political party the Peoples Action Party.

There can be no denial that it is a complete dictatorship run today by the Lee family's Lee Hsien Loong. Every organ of state and everyone is controlled by Lee Hsien Loong and the Peoples Action Party. The party controls the courts and all judges are Kangaroos who willingly punish and destroy political opponents. All newspapers are state owned and put out propaganda on a daily basis. Every head of any government department, every police office every soldier and everyone is required to toe the government line. If anyone openly challenges the state apparatus, they face, like in the former Soviet Union, trumped up charges and removed from their positions or jobs. Dissidents and political opponents are shamed and defamed in the state controlled newspapers. Thousands of moles are deployed all over the island to spy on you and ferret out the detractors to be punished. In Singapore, just as in the former Soviet Union or Nazi Germany no one who is critical of the government can succeed or even exist in the island.

This reason for this total subjugation and obedience required of the citizenry is 2 fold. Firstly the Singapore rulers have no intention of relinquishing power. Lee Kuan Yew's son is determined to rule and the only way to make sure of this is to destroy all political opponents. Stalin did this too. They justify it by claiming that only they are best qualified to rule and therefore it is in the interests of the state to punish any critic, naturally a very convenient argument from their viewpoint.

Secondly they argue that as Singapore is a small tiny island without natural resources, the only way to provide jobs is to attract foreign investment. And since foreign investors prefer dictatorships where the citizens workers have no rights, the subjugation, denial of human rights and repression is actually in their own best interests, a very spurious argument indeed. In other words, not having any human rights is actually in your best interests, is what their preposterous argument is!

The sad truth is that all this denial of human rights and submission of political critics is exactly what foreign investors want. Because they have no rights, a foreign company intending to set up a sweat shop assembly line would find Singapore most attractive; you can ill treat the workers as much as you want and get away with it in maximizing your profits.

Until and unless Singaporeans themselves stand up and demand their rights, this sad state of affairs would continue in the island, fueled by foreign industrialists taking advantage of the helpless powerless and weak Singaporean work force.

As you know in Singapore the citizen has no rights at all. The trade unions are all controlled by the employers and the state, the worker has no rights. There is no rule of law which means the police can pick you up anyone anytime on trumped up charges and finish you off. There is no free speech or expression as it is illegal to speak publicly against the state under Singapore law. There is no right of peaceful assembly under Singapore law. All these repressive measures are designed to stop any open rebellion against the government to entrench their rule forever.

What is most damaging is the result of such government actions on the minds of their people. Because you to always be careful when you speak or to whom you speak, you become some sort of a hypocrite. You are no longer capable of thinking normally. In Singapore you are at all times required to lead a double life. The government is aware that privately a great many people hate the system, they are content to leave you alone as long as you don't make your opinions public. So in public, people are always claiming the government is right, however ridiculous you may think their argument is. In fact they themselves know how ridiculous they sound but they say it anyway. For instance since the government line is that even the smallest peaceful demonstration is dangerous and therefore illegal, this is what the average person repeats. You will not hear anyone arguing that such a law is unjust even though it is obvious to anyone it is.

You will not hear anyone saying that there should be a free press because the government line is that a free press will result in fake news and therefore free press is bad and only state news agencies  are true. You will not hear anyone in the island questioning the arbitrary manner in which Singapore police arrest and detain people since the government argument is that Singapore police are good people and would do only right and therefore they should not be questioned.

Numerous political dissidents have been arrested charged with imaginary crimes and put away. the government claims that all these people are criminals and even though it is clearly evident that they are innocent, their only fault being to challenge the government, nevertheless the judges are still right, they are not corrupt and these political detractors deserve what they got.

Take the law and lawyers. Every single lawyer knows that every single judge in Singapore is corrupt and is a tool of the state to punish critics. But not one lawyer would dare to openly say so or do anything about it. In fact they go about their daily work as if Singapore had the best legal system in the world. And in a system where every single judge is corrupt and misuses his office to please Lee Kuan Yew's son and their henchmen, not a single lawyer would openly dare to say so for fear of losing their livelihoods and impoverished. Although the lawyers know these judges are corrupt and a criminal with any indication of open political unhappiness has no chance in the world before these judges, yet they make no demand for jury trials as the jury system has been abolished so as to make sure that the Lee government can make sure of court verdicts.

As a result of having to live this way in fear and submission, you can see how the people's minds are completely destroyed. The normal human behavior is to say what you think. But living in Singapore under this dictatorship over the years makes your thought process skewed. You can no longer be a rational normal logical person. Even though you hate the establishment, you have to say they are good. You have to be one person in public and another in private 24 hours a day.

If you go to Singapore today you would not be able to find a person to openly tell you what he thinks. Quite often if you confront him with these questions, he politely slides away by one excuse or another. He understands that the way to survive in the island is to keep your mouth shut and mind your own business. Then there are others who are the most disgraceful. These are the ones who hate the system like everyone else, but in order to advance in their careers, they have to join the state ruling party's official organ for such purposes, the Peoples Association. The hope and idea is that if you join and participate in the Peoples Association long enough, the establishment would be pleased and reward you, either by money, by career advancement or by inviting you to join the government. This lot is the most disgusting. They are literally hypocrites and not ashamed of it. They will run around under the establishment coat tails because it is profitable. It does not matter if the people have no rights, it does not matter if the workers are exploited, it does not matter if innocent honest civic minded citizens are put away by Kangaroo courts. All that matters is for them to advance and to do so, it requires them to ingratiate towards the rulers.

You can imagine why these people are therefore the least productive in the world. If you are incapable of doing what you think is right, or speaking your mind, and thinking of new ideas to improve your occupation or profession but instead are only concerned of looking good before your masters, no change can come from you and no good can come from you. You are effectively only capable of following. You are incapable of thinking for yourself and acting on your personal beliefs and ideas.

This sort of society holds the island back. No change can possibly come from the people. Any change has to come from the rulers because only they are allowed to think for themselves. Big Brother will decide for you. Your job is only obedience.

I suppose after your mind is completely destroyed in this manner, it is possible that you may not even notice it if you live there. But if you happen to move to a Western country, you will feel completely at a loss. No American or Western employer will want to have anything to do with you because instead of doing what is right, you will be spending your entire time trying to score points with your boss. A Western employer is not looking for Labrador retriever, he is looking for an independent thinking worker who will do what is best for his job, even if it means telling the boss off.

I have repeatedly advised Singaporean parents to emigrate to the west with their children. It is bad enough if the parents themselves have been turned into zombies by the state apparatus, you don't want to punish your children to the same fate. In the US and the West, independent thinking is encouraged. It is a crucial asset to advance in your life and career. It develops your ability to think openly and independently. It enables you to know that you need not grovel before anyone for your future. It teaches you that there is nothing wrong in individual opinion and the ability to realize it.

I strongly advise Singapore parents to move to the west as soon as possible. If you delay too long it may be too late and your children's minds would be irreparably permanently damaged.

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