Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have been now living in Fremont San Francisco Bay Area USA for 27 years since leaving Singapore the place of my birth. I have no doubt of having done the right thing. And I believe the Singaporean system itself will do themselves in.
Singapore is not a democracy. We all know that. It is a system where a small elite of the family of Lee Kuan Yew deceased run the show. Unless you submit and are chosen, you have no say in the system regardless if you are citizen or not. It has no right to free speech and expression. Any public criticism is roundly crushed and if serious enough punished through their selected legal system. There are no free newspapers, no free media and everyone is closely surveilled day and night. They can do this because it is a small island.
This outright island wide control serves many purposes. One it attracts foreign investment which does not care of any human rights, only profits matter. Second it serves the rulers well, they can continue ruling without any opposition.
And the people of Singapore who live there are fully aware of everything I have said. And they still live there.
But here lies the problem. There should be no doubt in the minds of any thinking human being that this sort of life is unpleasant. It goes against human nature to simply live a life in submission. Afterall we are human beings and we can think.
And this is exactly why the Soviet Union collapsed. There people were required to suppress what they think and work not for your individual interest but for the state. This sort of life goes against the grain of any thinking human being and at the first opportunity they rebelled or they emigrated and thereby collapsing the state.
And the other problem Singapore island faces is that it is not Communist China. It is small and relies not on manufacturing but the brain industry where brain power jobs in science technology and commerce are needed. Second it is an English speaking country and therefore people are going to study in English either locally or in European Australian and Western democracies. And here lies the problem for this tightly controlled authoritarian state. The moment a young Singaporean studies in Australia or the West he immediately comes into contact with the freedoms of those countries. And he immediately realizes how unattractive a life in the Singaporean authoritarian state is. He immediately applies to remain in the West. He is glad that he has been able to leave the island and he encourages his entire family and friends to do the same.
Singapore is a very small island with a small population. If young educated skilled people continue to leave, the island has no choice to bring in replacements. You cannot bring in many Australians into Singapore because if you did, you would make the island another Australia, the people would demand their rights and the present rulers would be thrown out. That wont do. The only suitable people for Singapore are people from countries where citizens live without any rights, countries like China, Vietnam, Myanmar because in those countries they don't have any rights either. But the problem is these people usually do not know any English, the required language for international success. They usually don't have any real skills either.
So the end result with the increasing numbers of young educated Singaporeans leaving is the continued reduction in the quality of the workforce. No English no skills and uncompetitive compared to their competitors' across Asia.
Of course the Singapore government could stop Singaporeans from leaving Singapore for education but if they did this, it will only cause a flood of people attempting to leave either lawfully or otherwise and that wont do. I know they are trying various measures in state propaganda to paint a better picture but people with eyes can see how bad it has become.
I don't think people who love freedom have to do anything to bring about the fall of this authoritarian regime. They are already doing it to themselves by demanding people shut their mouths and brains and do as they are told.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Fremont San Francisco California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Thursday, November 29, 2018
Wednesday, October 24, 2018
What's wrong with Fascism Singapore
Ladies and Gentlemen,
If we can accept the simplistic definition of a fascist state, it is one where all organs of control, the rule of law, the courts, the civil service, the newspapers, the trade unions, everything is under the control of the state. If anyone who knows Singapore, he would call Singapore without hesitation Fascist. In Singapore the legal profession, which democracies would proudly proclaim to be free and independent is under the direct control of the Peoples Action Party government; so are the judges, handpicked for their unquestioned loyalty to the ruling party; the civil service, the unions, everyone is directly under state control.
And the state like the Orwellian Big Brother is personified by Lee Hsien Loong the son of Lee Kuan himself Singapore's first dictator. All power emanates from Lee Kuan Yew, now deceased, but immortal through his son the present Cesar.
As in all Fascist states the truth really does not matter. What matters is what the dictator says which becomes the truth, when people no longer care for the real truth. For example the state puts out the trumpet that the island was a swamp 50 years ago and it is they who brought it in one generation to today's glistening glass palace. And they repeat it ad nauseum. And the rider to that is they alone can carry you through to another 50 years to even more glass towers and skyscrapers because their opponent cannot. Rationally this argument is unsound. Any other civic minded educated group of people should be equally capable if not more but that is not what the state wants to hear and that is what Singaporeans accept as true.
Hundreds if not thousands of Lee's political opponents have been cruelly and viciously destroyed for no rime or reason. JB Jeyaretnam committed no wrong. His only crime, challenging the Lee's. His punishment through the Kangaroo courts, repeated million dollar libel awards, bankruptcy and imprisonment. It is not that the people don't know that this was an abuse of legal process, but in a fascist state they have begun to believe that JB Jeyaretnam was a criminal after all, since that is what their leader (dictator) says. The same can be said for every single destroyed opposition politician, Chee Soon Juan, Teo Soh Lung, Tan Wah Piow, Lim Chin Siong, Chia Tai Poh etc etc. Every single Singaporean knows that great injustice is done to every single one of them but over time the injustice appears to fade and people finally accept that Big Brother was right after all.
Singapore's law make so many things criminal, things would be nowhere else be considered so. Even a one man peaceful protest even though you harm no one is illegal, chewing gum is illegal, openly criticizing the government is illegal, to yell at a police officer is illegal, to own a printing press is illegal, to distribute anti government literature in public is illegal and the list goes on. You don't need to be overtly brilliant to know that this doesn't make any sense and that is the truth. But the real truth is wiped out by the Fascist truth which is all this is perfectly fine; and the people simply accept it.
In Fascist Germany Hitler came out with venom against the Jews blaming them for everything, for the economy, for unemployment for everything. Germans knew this was false but they went along. Had Hitler told them that Jews were responsible for the weather, they would have believed it too.
And the bad news is this is what industrialists like. Industrialist would prefer fascism because they destroy trade unions, and thereby suppress wages. Hitler told his industrialists that he would leave them alone as long as they left him alone. And so it was boom time for Messerschmitt, Krupp's, and Daimler Benz, thanks to Adolf Hitler. And suddenly industrial production picked up and Nazi Germany became the economic powerhouse of Europe in the 30s and 40s. The same thing is happening is Singapore. For western investors the island is paradise, no strong trade unions, no minimum wage laws, a weak powerless labor force.
This may be good for the dictatorship temporarily but the size of the island and qualities of the population pose a long term threat to this dictatorship. It can be simply put in one sentence. Education, especially an English education works against dictatorships. The more people are educated, the more they travel overseas to the West, the more they begin to find life in dictatorships intolerable. If you have an education and a capacity to think for yourself, you are able to earn a living anywhere in the world, and need not submit to this "you listen to me or else" tiny one party police state. And what makes it easier for people to leave is the worldwide acceptability of the island's passport. You can travel to almost any country visa free.
More educated Singaporeans have left for Western democracies and continue to leave the island. Once those have settled in their new homes, they encourage their relatives and friends to do the same. Even more leave. I left Singapore finally in December 1991. It was the best decision I ever made. And ever more because I chose the United States, which I consider the best country in the world. Best because it is one country which recognizes that you are a human being and you have a head on your shoulders.
The other silver lining is Singapore's lowest birth rate in the world which stubbornly refuses to rise. This leaves them no choice but to bring in plane loads of Communist Chinese nationals to make up the numbers. But they too are poised to leave once again, once they have learned some English to Australia and the West.
This importation of Communist Chinese to replace English educated Singaporeans is obviously bad. They don't speak English and unable to behave the way acceptable in modern civilized society. You have heard of Chinese women openly defecating in public, spitting and other disgusting behavior. It will take years for them to become what a modern city like Singapore requires let alone any skill. It is a great loss to Singapore which requires the best skilled workforce to compete globally.
Today the hype and glory that one reads in the island's state controlled press has no bounds. One day it claims to have the world's longest Singapore Airlines flight, next day they have baked the world's largest pancake, third day they have cooked their largest number of Chinese noodles and so on goes their list of glory. But all this is simply nonsense. Having the longest flight does no good for your country. For things that matter, Singapore is last. It is last for freedom, last for having any people with courage, last for anyone with self respect and first place for sycophancy groveling crawling and licking boots.
There is hope after all my friends. Just wait. I too am watching.
If you like what I write please publicize widely thank you.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
If we can accept the simplistic definition of a fascist state, it is one where all organs of control, the rule of law, the courts, the civil service, the newspapers, the trade unions, everything is under the control of the state. If anyone who knows Singapore, he would call Singapore without hesitation Fascist. In Singapore the legal profession, which democracies would proudly proclaim to be free and independent is under the direct control of the Peoples Action Party government; so are the judges, handpicked for their unquestioned loyalty to the ruling party; the civil service, the unions, everyone is directly under state control.
And the state like the Orwellian Big Brother is personified by Lee Hsien Loong the son of Lee Kuan himself Singapore's first dictator. All power emanates from Lee Kuan Yew, now deceased, but immortal through his son the present Cesar.
As in all Fascist states the truth really does not matter. What matters is what the dictator says which becomes the truth, when people no longer care for the real truth. For example the state puts out the trumpet that the island was a swamp 50 years ago and it is they who brought it in one generation to today's glistening glass palace. And they repeat it ad nauseum. And the rider to that is they alone can carry you through to another 50 years to even more glass towers and skyscrapers because their opponent cannot. Rationally this argument is unsound. Any other civic minded educated group of people should be equally capable if not more but that is not what the state wants to hear and that is what Singaporeans accept as true.
Hundreds if not thousands of Lee's political opponents have been cruelly and viciously destroyed for no rime or reason. JB Jeyaretnam committed no wrong. His only crime, challenging the Lee's. His punishment through the Kangaroo courts, repeated million dollar libel awards, bankruptcy and imprisonment. It is not that the people don't know that this was an abuse of legal process, but in a fascist state they have begun to believe that JB Jeyaretnam was a criminal after all, since that is what their leader (dictator) says. The same can be said for every single destroyed opposition politician, Chee Soon Juan, Teo Soh Lung, Tan Wah Piow, Lim Chin Siong, Chia Tai Poh etc etc. Every single Singaporean knows that great injustice is done to every single one of them but over time the injustice appears to fade and people finally accept that Big Brother was right after all.
Singapore's law make so many things criminal, things would be nowhere else be considered so. Even a one man peaceful protest even though you harm no one is illegal, chewing gum is illegal, openly criticizing the government is illegal, to yell at a police officer is illegal, to own a printing press is illegal, to distribute anti government literature in public is illegal and the list goes on. You don't need to be overtly brilliant to know that this doesn't make any sense and that is the truth. But the real truth is wiped out by the Fascist truth which is all this is perfectly fine; and the people simply accept it.
In Fascist Germany Hitler came out with venom against the Jews blaming them for everything, for the economy, for unemployment for everything. Germans knew this was false but they went along. Had Hitler told them that Jews were responsible for the weather, they would have believed it too.
And the bad news is this is what industrialists like. Industrialist would prefer fascism because they destroy trade unions, and thereby suppress wages. Hitler told his industrialists that he would leave them alone as long as they left him alone. And so it was boom time for Messerschmitt, Krupp's, and Daimler Benz, thanks to Adolf Hitler. And suddenly industrial production picked up and Nazi Germany became the economic powerhouse of Europe in the 30s and 40s. The same thing is happening is Singapore. For western investors the island is paradise, no strong trade unions, no minimum wage laws, a weak powerless labor force.
This may be good for the dictatorship temporarily but the size of the island and qualities of the population pose a long term threat to this dictatorship. It can be simply put in one sentence. Education, especially an English education works against dictatorships. The more people are educated, the more they travel overseas to the West, the more they begin to find life in dictatorships intolerable. If you have an education and a capacity to think for yourself, you are able to earn a living anywhere in the world, and need not submit to this "you listen to me or else" tiny one party police state. And what makes it easier for people to leave is the worldwide acceptability of the island's passport. You can travel to almost any country visa free.
More educated Singaporeans have left for Western democracies and continue to leave the island. Once those have settled in their new homes, they encourage their relatives and friends to do the same. Even more leave. I left Singapore finally in December 1991. It was the best decision I ever made. And ever more because I chose the United States, which I consider the best country in the world. Best because it is one country which recognizes that you are a human being and you have a head on your shoulders.
The other silver lining is Singapore's lowest birth rate in the world which stubbornly refuses to rise. This leaves them no choice but to bring in plane loads of Communist Chinese nationals to make up the numbers. But they too are poised to leave once again, once they have learned some English to Australia and the West.
This importation of Communist Chinese to replace English educated Singaporeans is obviously bad. They don't speak English and unable to behave the way acceptable in modern civilized society. You have heard of Chinese women openly defecating in public, spitting and other disgusting behavior. It will take years for them to become what a modern city like Singapore requires let alone any skill. It is a great loss to Singapore which requires the best skilled workforce to compete globally.
Today the hype and glory that one reads in the island's state controlled press has no bounds. One day it claims to have the world's longest Singapore Airlines flight, next day they have baked the world's largest pancake, third day they have cooked their largest number of Chinese noodles and so on goes their list of glory. But all this is simply nonsense. Having the longest flight does no good for your country. For things that matter, Singapore is last. It is last for freedom, last for having any people with courage, last for anyone with self respect and first place for sycophancy groveling crawling and licking boots.
There is hope after all my friends. Just wait. I too am watching.
If you like what I write please publicize widely thank you.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Saturday, October 20, 2018
For expatriates Singapore is paradise. For locals, somehting else.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
You read many articles from foreigners why Singapore is such a great place to live. If you are there just to do business, love a well structured society where everything works, where no one complains about anything, where there is no crime because the culprits are brutally punished, if you don't really care about how locals live, then yes, the island is paradise.
But for Singaporeans who call it home, it is something else. It is a place where there is no freedom of speech. If you criticize the rulers, you are arrested, sued for defamation and bankrupted. You don't have the rule of law. Locals are dragged before the courts, denied a lawyer until they have confessed under torture and brought before Kangaroo courts to be punished. Anyone who is a known critic of the government is slated for enhanced punishment. You live a life in fear constantly making sure you are seen as a supporter of this government, making sure you don't utter anything critical, just as a Russian in the former Soviet Union, today's Communist china, Cuba or North Korea.
As for the foreigner expatriate, all these things do not matter. He does not care how people live there, how accused persons are treated, whether the courts are indeed Kangaroo Courts or whether there is freedom of the press. For him, it is just a foreign work station where he will be temporarily reside, after which he either goes home or to another country. But for locals who have any modicum of self respect, this is unacceptable. The expatriate who praises Singapore in such laudatory terms, have lived in a democracy in his own country. He would be outraged for one to suggest that he call Singapore home.
On the other hand there are many locals who do very well in Singapore. These are the ones who behave as if they are expatriates. They pretend not know any injustice meted out by their government, go about their lives in blinkers, pretend not to know of any denial of rule of law, freedom of speech or denial of democracy. In order to succeed they live a life of hypocrisy because this is the only way to succeed in the island. And this is what the rulers want.
As for the locals, if any believe that it is a wonderful island, it is mainly through ignorance. Today the vast majority of so called citizens are recently imported Chinese nationals from the Peoples Republic of China. These imported Chinese have overtaken in numbers local Singaporeans. These people have no objection in living the way they do, because this is exactly how they lived in China. They know in Communist China it is impossible to challenge the Communist Party. If you do, it is the firing squad. As long as they can make some money, it really does not matter if they had no freedom at all.
If you are upstanding self respecting proud human being, it is impossible to live with these fear ridden people. In doing so, you bring shame to yourself.
It is quite obvious that many locals detest the way they have to live in fear. And if given a chance they leave for settlement aboard primarily to Western democracies. With the Singapore passport being welcome in almost every country in the world, this is causing a huge exodus of people, mostly the English educated and skilled who are leaving. Although the island government is aware of this brain drain, they are resigned to the fact that they cannot stop it, and perhaps think that it is better that these people who are thorns on their side, should leave.
With the continuing exodus of the best and brightest among them, the result is the gradual and continual weakening of Singaporean society as a whole. Local Singaporeans today more and more do not really care for their country, their main concern being self interest. As for those who have left, there is no love lost for their former country. As far as they are concerned it is good riddance. In my case, I was given an education by England and treated much better by them, than Singapore. And today I care more for England than my former country Singapore. And this is exactly the sentiment thousands of the overseas Singaporeans feel and the future emigrants I am sure too.
But for some reason the message does not seem to register in this government. They don't seems to appreciate that unjustly punishing government critics and chasing them away have long term negative consequences. On the other hand treating citizens fairly and creating a democracy instead of authoritarianism is a good thing. This is why you notice that democracies like Australia USA and Canada continue to attract the best and brightest in the world. Those attracted to Singapore on the other hand are ignorant Chinese economic migrants, money launderers and tax cheats who don't mind the criminality of the government.
The best thing you can do if able to is to leave the island for good. Make your new lives in Australia and the West. You would realize instantly how refreshing it is to be free and your children would grow up totally different from the way they would have if left in that fear ridden island.
I am an Immigration Lawyer in San Francisco California Bay area. If you need assistance to move to USA do let me know. However I do not provide free legal advice.
If you like what I write please help to publicize this blog.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
You read many articles from foreigners why Singapore is such a great place to live. If you are there just to do business, love a well structured society where everything works, where no one complains about anything, where there is no crime because the culprits are brutally punished, if you don't really care about how locals live, then yes, the island is paradise.
But for Singaporeans who call it home, it is something else. It is a place where there is no freedom of speech. If you criticize the rulers, you are arrested, sued for defamation and bankrupted. You don't have the rule of law. Locals are dragged before the courts, denied a lawyer until they have confessed under torture and brought before Kangaroo courts to be punished. Anyone who is a known critic of the government is slated for enhanced punishment. You live a life in fear constantly making sure you are seen as a supporter of this government, making sure you don't utter anything critical, just as a Russian in the former Soviet Union, today's Communist china, Cuba or North Korea.
As for the foreigner expatriate, all these things do not matter. He does not care how people live there, how accused persons are treated, whether the courts are indeed Kangaroo Courts or whether there is freedom of the press. For him, it is just a foreign work station where he will be temporarily reside, after which he either goes home or to another country. But for locals who have any modicum of self respect, this is unacceptable. The expatriate who praises Singapore in such laudatory terms, have lived in a democracy in his own country. He would be outraged for one to suggest that he call Singapore home.
On the other hand there are many locals who do very well in Singapore. These are the ones who behave as if they are expatriates. They pretend not know any injustice meted out by their government, go about their lives in blinkers, pretend not to know of any denial of rule of law, freedom of speech or denial of democracy. In order to succeed they live a life of hypocrisy because this is the only way to succeed in the island. And this is what the rulers want.
As for the locals, if any believe that it is a wonderful island, it is mainly through ignorance. Today the vast majority of so called citizens are recently imported Chinese nationals from the Peoples Republic of China. These imported Chinese have overtaken in numbers local Singaporeans. These people have no objection in living the way they do, because this is exactly how they lived in China. They know in Communist China it is impossible to challenge the Communist Party. If you do, it is the firing squad. As long as they can make some money, it really does not matter if they had no freedom at all.
If you are upstanding self respecting proud human being, it is impossible to live with these fear ridden people. In doing so, you bring shame to yourself.
It is quite obvious that many locals detest the way they have to live in fear. And if given a chance they leave for settlement aboard primarily to Western democracies. With the Singapore passport being welcome in almost every country in the world, this is causing a huge exodus of people, mostly the English educated and skilled who are leaving. Although the island government is aware of this brain drain, they are resigned to the fact that they cannot stop it, and perhaps think that it is better that these people who are thorns on their side, should leave.
With the continuing exodus of the best and brightest among them, the result is the gradual and continual weakening of Singaporean society as a whole. Local Singaporeans today more and more do not really care for their country, their main concern being self interest. As for those who have left, there is no love lost for their former country. As far as they are concerned it is good riddance. In my case, I was given an education by England and treated much better by them, than Singapore. And today I care more for England than my former country Singapore. And this is exactly the sentiment thousands of the overseas Singaporeans feel and the future emigrants I am sure too.
But for some reason the message does not seem to register in this government. They don't seems to appreciate that unjustly punishing government critics and chasing them away have long term negative consequences. On the other hand treating citizens fairly and creating a democracy instead of authoritarianism is a good thing. This is why you notice that democracies like Australia USA and Canada continue to attract the best and brightest in the world. Those attracted to Singapore on the other hand are ignorant Chinese economic migrants, money launderers and tax cheats who don't mind the criminality of the government.
The best thing you can do if able to is to leave the island for good. Make your new lives in Australia and the West. You would realize instantly how refreshing it is to be free and your children would grow up totally different from the way they would have if left in that fear ridden island.
I am an Immigration Lawyer in San Francisco California Bay area. If you need assistance to move to USA do let me know. However I do not provide free legal advice.
If you like what I write please help to publicize this blog.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Sunday, October 14, 2018
Singaporeans themselves are the biggest obstacle to democracy in Singapore.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Those among the citizens of Singapore island who want democracy should realize that it is Singaporeans themselves who are the main obstacle to democracy.
The majority among Singaporeans for whatever reason simply do not want democracy and would rather live under a one party state fascist government in the island. This is clear and manifest from each and every single parliamentary election since independence where the ruling party has consistently won without exception.
The minority who claim to fight for democracy such as Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan and others complain the reason for the majority voting for this government is fear and therefore the results unfair.
It is true that the system favors the government in elections through the control over citizen's housing, employment and pension funds but the truth is, despite all these pressures, if the people really wanted the government out, they can. They can vote them out. And if that doesn't work they can bring them down in massive street protests, a result easily achievable in an overcrowded tiny island.
But this has never happened. In every single island election, the ruling one party PAP government have consistently won, despite the fact that they manipulate the courts, deny human rights including free speech and expression, deny workers rights and the rule of law. The people of Singapore are fully aware of these transgressions but yet have willingly voted for this government. Therefore who are these minority folk on their moral high horse, shouting injustice to demand a change in the system.
The history of that island is tragic. The certain punishment upon anyone who challenges the system is crystal clear. Very good people from JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan, Tan Wah Piow, James Gomez, Roy Ngerng, etc. etc. have all been destroyed or sent into exile. Their only crime was to fight for Singapore's betterment. This one party government in the island does not mind turning away every single intelligent honest citizen who cares for his country. Although a great loss to the island, it seems they do not care. The only thing they appear to care is protecting their own interests and making sure the island is attractive to foreign investors and money launderers; because a country that does not give their citizens any rights is very good for company owners bottom profit line.
My advice to concerned citizens who yearn for freedom and democracy in Singapore island is to not waste their time. This Singapore government will not only make sure you never succeed, you will be punished victimized and your careers ruined. It serves no purpose in your martyrdom because you are simply not appreciated by the majority of citizens who willingly live under this regime. This regime cannot last simply because as the best and brightest continue to either withdraw from participation or leave the island for settlement abroad, the quality of the citizenry weakens. Those remaining are always less intelligent, lacking courage and the inability to understand that it is good to be free. As the best and brightest continue to leave Singapore, this one party state government are left with no choice but to bring in huge numbers of Chinese nationals to replace those who left. These new arrivals are invariably of poorer stock compared to those leaving. By and large they are economic migrants not dedicated to the interests of their new home.
Hundreds and thousands of very good people, highly skilled and motivated with a real desire to do good for their country have been completely destroyed. JB Jeyaretnam was a brilliant criminal lawyer but his challenge to this dictatorship resulted in repeated jailings, bankruptcy and disbarment. So was the fate of Chee Soon Juan, a university professor reduced to poverty and loss of his career. Roy Ngerng was sacked from his job and had to go into exile, his career destroyed. James Gomez was a professor whose career was destroyed and forced to go into exile. JB Jeyaretnam's son, Kenneth tried his hand at politics but has given up and gone back to England. I myself have been disbarred in the island having previously left in 1991 for California. I am happy to be practicing law in California USA. Imagine the contribution we could have made to our country if not for this totally insecure regime, who can only feel safe by destroying anyone who oppose them
For myself I can say this. The best decision I made was to leave Singapore. Had I stayed behind, I am faced with the totally unacceptable option of either supporting this one party dictatorship which denies every single human right using Kangaroo courts or face total poverty in opposition. Looking back, I can emphatically say without hesitation, I made the right choice to leave. Today I live in a free society, California USA, where I can speak my mind and strive for a career and happiness, which would not be possible under the PAP Singapore government. I simply cannot accept life under a totalitarian regime, and not accepting it, I will be destroyed.
I have seen hundreds of very good people, the best, being destroyed by this fascist government. Please don't destroy your lives. Don't let this government destroy you. The best thing you can do for yourselves is to withdraw participation with this government and better still to leave for a better life abroad.
I am an immigration lawyer. If you are planning to come to America, you can call me. I do not provide free advice. I can be contacted by telephone at 510 491 8525 or Email at nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area.
If Singaporeans want to live in the disgraceful way they do, let them. You don't have to.
If you like what I write, please spread this blog widely both in Singapore and worldwide. Thank you.
Gopalan Nair
Those among the citizens of Singapore island who want democracy should realize that it is Singaporeans themselves who are the main obstacle to democracy.
The majority among Singaporeans for whatever reason simply do not want democracy and would rather live under a one party state fascist government in the island. This is clear and manifest from each and every single parliamentary election since independence where the ruling party has consistently won without exception.
The minority who claim to fight for democracy such as Singapore Democratic Party leader Chee Soon Juan and others complain the reason for the majority voting for this government is fear and therefore the results unfair.
It is true that the system favors the government in elections through the control over citizen's housing, employment and pension funds but the truth is, despite all these pressures, if the people really wanted the government out, they can. They can vote them out. And if that doesn't work they can bring them down in massive street protests, a result easily achievable in an overcrowded tiny island.
But this has never happened. In every single island election, the ruling one party PAP government have consistently won, despite the fact that they manipulate the courts, deny human rights including free speech and expression, deny workers rights and the rule of law. The people of Singapore are fully aware of these transgressions but yet have willingly voted for this government. Therefore who are these minority folk on their moral high horse, shouting injustice to demand a change in the system.
The history of that island is tragic. The certain punishment upon anyone who challenges the system is crystal clear. Very good people from JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan, Tan Wah Piow, James Gomez, Roy Ngerng, etc. etc. have all been destroyed or sent into exile. Their only crime was to fight for Singapore's betterment. This one party government in the island does not mind turning away every single intelligent honest citizen who cares for his country. Although a great loss to the island, it seems they do not care. The only thing they appear to care is protecting their own interests and making sure the island is attractive to foreign investors and money launderers; because a country that does not give their citizens any rights is very good for company owners bottom profit line.
My advice to concerned citizens who yearn for freedom and democracy in Singapore island is to not waste their time. This Singapore government will not only make sure you never succeed, you will be punished victimized and your careers ruined. It serves no purpose in your martyrdom because you are simply not appreciated by the majority of citizens who willingly live under this regime. This regime cannot last simply because as the best and brightest continue to either withdraw from participation or leave the island for settlement abroad, the quality of the citizenry weakens. Those remaining are always less intelligent, lacking courage and the inability to understand that it is good to be free. As the best and brightest continue to leave Singapore, this one party state government are left with no choice but to bring in huge numbers of Chinese nationals to replace those who left. These new arrivals are invariably of poorer stock compared to those leaving. By and large they are economic migrants not dedicated to the interests of their new home.
Hundreds and thousands of very good people, highly skilled and motivated with a real desire to do good for their country have been completely destroyed. JB Jeyaretnam was a brilliant criminal lawyer but his challenge to this dictatorship resulted in repeated jailings, bankruptcy and disbarment. So was the fate of Chee Soon Juan, a university professor reduced to poverty and loss of his career. Roy Ngerng was sacked from his job and had to go into exile, his career destroyed. James Gomez was a professor whose career was destroyed and forced to go into exile. JB Jeyaretnam's son, Kenneth tried his hand at politics but has given up and gone back to England. I myself have been disbarred in the island having previously left in 1991 for California. I am happy to be practicing law in California USA. Imagine the contribution we could have made to our country if not for this totally insecure regime, who can only feel safe by destroying anyone who oppose them
For myself I can say this. The best decision I made was to leave Singapore. Had I stayed behind, I am faced with the totally unacceptable option of either supporting this one party dictatorship which denies every single human right using Kangaroo courts or face total poverty in opposition. Looking back, I can emphatically say without hesitation, I made the right choice to leave. Today I live in a free society, California USA, where I can speak my mind and strive for a career and happiness, which would not be possible under the PAP Singapore government. I simply cannot accept life under a totalitarian regime, and not accepting it, I will be destroyed.
I have seen hundreds of very good people, the best, being destroyed by this fascist government. Please don't destroy your lives. Don't let this government destroy you. The best thing you can do for yourselves is to withdraw participation with this government and better still to leave for a better life abroad.
I am an immigration lawyer. If you are planning to come to America, you can call me. I do not provide free advice. I can be contacted by telephone at 510 491 8525 or Email at nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. I am in the San Francisco Bay Area.
If Singaporeans want to live in the disgraceful way they do, let them. You don't have to.
If you like what I write, please spread this blog widely both in Singapore and worldwide. Thank you.
Gopalan Nair
Friday, September 28, 2018
Singapore destroys history Professor Doctor Thum Ping Tjin
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The latest lamb to the slaughter in the one party state Singapore is the Singaporean Oxford History professor Thum Ping Tjin.
The pattern in that dictatorship island is tragically predictable. In their quest to tighten the laws even further to silence dissent, a select committee was formed to legislate "fake news" laws.
When Professor Thum correctly, at the Singapore hearing, pointed out it was the government themselves who were the main "fake news" culprits, routinely arresting and imprisoning political critics throughout the entire island history, by labelling them communists, it naturally attracted their wrath once again, and the destruction machinery went into action.
This claim by Professor Thum is, to anyone who knows Singapore, completely accurate because the only crimes of those imprisoned was that they were critics of the government. It was the same old case of "give a dog a bad name and hang him".
Just as in Stalinist Russia, in Singapore, the real truth never matters. The truth is what they say it is. Once the decision is made to destroy the opponent, a series of articles are immediately released in their state controlled press attacking not only what Thum said but also attacking his reputation. Their news smear sheets questions his credentials as professor, that he never was a professor at Oxford, that all his claims were lies and even worse, he is a traitor to Singapore despite incontrovertible proof recently released by British archives that none of these people were even remotely Communist! They were all arrested according to British archival reports only because they were political threats to Lee Kuan Yew and his government.
The consequence of the state action against Thum is for him, sadly, dire. He is for all purposes, finished. He himself has become, pardon the pun, history, like the subject he specializes. The result is he will never be employed in that island, he will never be allowed any privilege either by the government or by anyone. He will not be granted any license, any teaching position. In other words, he is henceforth condemned.
This Singapore one party state are total Machiavellians. Once you cross them, you are forever condemned. There is no hope of rehabilitation. Thum is condemned for life. Perhaps if he crawls licks their boots and begs for mercy, perhaps, but unlikely.
This is what befalls any open critic of that one party state. And it is easy for the state like Singapore island to do this. It is a small place. The state controls everything and everybody, the press, the government, TV stations, radio, all government offices, through threats and intimidation all private companies, teachers, schools, employers, citizens, everyone! Thum has no chance whatsoever.
The message is very clear and everyone knows this. If you want to survive in Singapore mind your own business. If you stick out like a nail, you will be hammered. Thum has by daring to openly criticize Singapore government not only hurt himself, he has become a example for Singapore to warn everyone else not to be like him under pain of total destruction.
Here are the salient examples in the island's shameful history. You will see primarily the choice of punishment is defamation of action lawsuits in their Kangaroo courts.
J B Jeyaretnam was lawyer and the most prominent of opposition critics from the 1970s to the 1980s. A lawyer, he spoke the truth and strove for democracy. His fate, being struck off the Bar repeatedly sued for defamation, made to pay all his money to Lee Kuan Yew, the then Prime Minister and Son, jailed and bankrupted and made penniless. He died in 2008.
Chee Soon Juan, also a former professor is presently living in Singapore. Because he challenged this government, he was as expected, thrown out of his professorship, repeatedly sued for defamation, repeatedly jailed and bankrupted. Now he is jobless and penniless, his career wasted.
Teo Soh Lung was a lawyer and opposition critic. She too was victimized, jailed, defamed and discredited resulting in her having to give up her law practice.
I was a lawyer and former opposition politician in Singapore. I was repeatedly harassed, disciplined by the Singapore legal profession on trumped up charges, convicted of criminal offenses. Instead of living in the island to be victimized even further I left for permanent settlement in California USA where I now live and practice law.
Besides the victims above of this one party island dictatorship, there are several thousands more who were abused and punished all because of their opposition to this regime. Some continue to live in the island in obscurity. Thousands have left the island.
Of course it hurts those who have the courage to stand up for their country. They are the best among citizens because only they despite calamitous consequences of losing their livelihoods and being reduced to a life of poverty did what they did to stand up against this dictatorship. This shows courage and integrity.
But I believe that the ones who suffer more are this island dictatorship itself. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's son and his dictatorship are literally shooting themselves in the foot.
Firstly every Singaporean who knows that persecuting these heroes is wrong, would develop a deep hatred against this regime, like I did. They would also lose respect for all the state institutions. Each time the island's Kangaroo courts destroys an innocent political opponent, respect for the legal system and courts is lost. Each time the Prime Minister, the late Lee Kuan Yew's son sues his opponent in court, he is despised, mocked and ridiculed. He loses all credibility. The newspapers in the island are made fun of, as nothing but propaganda. In the end, the entire present government, their police, their courts is ridiculed and loses respect.
I am a England trained barrister, formerly practicing in Singapore. When I wrote a post in 2008 in this blog criticizing a shameless woman judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for "prostituting herself and her office as a judge" while presiding over the Chee Soon Juan defamation case, I was criminally charged for "insulting a civil servant" and sent to jail. But there was no insult at all since the English word "to prostitute" also means abusing ones office, in her case judicial office, which she clearly did.
I had left Singapore much earlier in 1991 because I had lost all respect or confidence in this regime. It is impossible to live a normal human life if you have to live in fear. Today every Singaporean lives in fear of the government, making sure they are not seen as openly and publicly criticizing the government because at the slightest, he can be hauled up and destroyed.
Thousands of Singaporeans who do not wish to live this way emigrate to the West where they can hope to live normal lives without fear. Parents send their children abroad in the hope that they can develop normal thinking minds instead of being brainwashed in the island. This mounting brain drain to the West is hurting this regime at its very foundation. The only who are leaving are like me, educated intelligent thinking individuals. I have taken my skills, and experience and use it for the betterment of the society where I live now, California USA instead of Singapore. I think this massive emigration of educated Singaporeans is the biggest threat to this dictatorial regime.
I am sure these dictators in the island are fully aware of the loss they are suffering, losing the very best in their society through emigration. But unfortunately for them, they are unable to do anything about it. For one, as the island relies on foreign investment for survival, a society with a helpless workforce like in Singapore with no worker rights are, alas, is attractive to foreign companies. Secondly a society with no rights whatsoever ensures the dictators continue to remain in power. This one party state is therefore willing to accept the fact that its best citizens will leave the island thereby reducing the quality of its people as a necessary evil which they can temporarily overcome through importing foreign labor and giving instant citizenship. Unfortunately these foreign imports are no match for the highly skilled courageous committed and honest Singapore citizens who leave, as they usually do not know English, have little skills in comparison and have no clue about their island to which they have recently come. They have no loyalty or interest in the island. Their only purpose is to be able to earn a few dollars more than what their impoverished home countries of China India Bangladesh Philippines or Burma can provide.
Tiny Singapore island cannot survive if all its best citizens pack up and leave its shores.
My advice for those who want to see the fall of the Singapore dictatorship like I do is to emigrate. This is the best way you can hurt this regime. Although this method will not reap immediate results, in the competition among countries, the productivity and ingenuity of its citizens matter.
The best Singaporeans who leave the island will be positively contributing to the societies to which they go, like Australia. I have been living in California USA since 1991 and am a valuable member of my society here.
By their abuse of power and authority, by which they have discredited themselves, they have lost one of their citizens, me. I think you can hurt this regime quite well. All you have to do is to pack up and emigrate to the free world. This way, you not only benefit yourself, you also effectively hurt this regime. In the long run, with a constant loss of local Singaporean talent, they would be hard pressed to succeed or compete with other countries whose citizens on the other hand have respect for their countries and governments.
An Australian is proud of Australia, proud of its democracy, its rule of law, its freedom. An average Singaporean is ashamed of Singapore.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
If you like what I write please disseminate this blog across the island and world. Thank you.
The latest lamb to the slaughter in the one party state Singapore is the Singaporean Oxford History professor Thum Ping Tjin.
The pattern in that dictatorship island is tragically predictable. In their quest to tighten the laws even further to silence dissent, a select committee was formed to legislate "fake news" laws.
When Professor Thum correctly, at the Singapore hearing, pointed out it was the government themselves who were the main "fake news" culprits, routinely arresting and imprisoning political critics throughout the entire island history, by labelling them communists, it naturally attracted their wrath once again, and the destruction machinery went into action.
This claim by Professor Thum is, to anyone who knows Singapore, completely accurate because the only crimes of those imprisoned was that they were critics of the government. It was the same old case of "give a dog a bad name and hang him".
Just as in Stalinist Russia, in Singapore, the real truth never matters. The truth is what they say it is. Once the decision is made to destroy the opponent, a series of articles are immediately released in their state controlled press attacking not only what Thum said but also attacking his reputation. Their news smear sheets questions his credentials as professor, that he never was a professor at Oxford, that all his claims were lies and even worse, he is a traitor to Singapore despite incontrovertible proof recently released by British archives that none of these people were even remotely Communist! They were all arrested according to British archival reports only because they were political threats to Lee Kuan Yew and his government.
The consequence of the state action against Thum is for him, sadly, dire. He is for all purposes, finished. He himself has become, pardon the pun, history, like the subject he specializes. The result is he will never be employed in that island, he will never be allowed any privilege either by the government or by anyone. He will not be granted any license, any teaching position. In other words, he is henceforth condemned.
This Singapore one party state are total Machiavellians. Once you cross them, you are forever condemned. There is no hope of rehabilitation. Thum is condemned for life. Perhaps if he crawls licks their boots and begs for mercy, perhaps, but unlikely.
This is what befalls any open critic of that one party state. And it is easy for the state like Singapore island to do this. It is a small place. The state controls everything and everybody, the press, the government, TV stations, radio, all government offices, through threats and intimidation all private companies, teachers, schools, employers, citizens, everyone! Thum has no chance whatsoever.
The message is very clear and everyone knows this. If you want to survive in Singapore mind your own business. If you stick out like a nail, you will be hammered. Thum has by daring to openly criticize Singapore government not only hurt himself, he has become a example for Singapore to warn everyone else not to be like him under pain of total destruction.
Here are the salient examples in the island's shameful history. You will see primarily the choice of punishment is defamation of action lawsuits in their Kangaroo courts.
J B Jeyaretnam was lawyer and the most prominent of opposition critics from the 1970s to the 1980s. A lawyer, he spoke the truth and strove for democracy. His fate, being struck off the Bar repeatedly sued for defamation, made to pay all his money to Lee Kuan Yew, the then Prime Minister and Son, jailed and bankrupted and made penniless. He died in 2008.
Chee Soon Juan, also a former professor is presently living in Singapore. Because he challenged this government, he was as expected, thrown out of his professorship, repeatedly sued for defamation, repeatedly jailed and bankrupted. Now he is jobless and penniless, his career wasted.
Teo Soh Lung was a lawyer and opposition critic. She too was victimized, jailed, defamed and discredited resulting in her having to give up her law practice.
I was a lawyer and former opposition politician in Singapore. I was repeatedly harassed, disciplined by the Singapore legal profession on trumped up charges, convicted of criminal offenses. Instead of living in the island to be victimized even further I left for permanent settlement in California USA where I now live and practice law.
Besides the victims above of this one party island dictatorship, there are several thousands more who were abused and punished all because of their opposition to this regime. Some continue to live in the island in obscurity. Thousands have left the island.
Of course it hurts those who have the courage to stand up for their country. They are the best among citizens because only they despite calamitous consequences of losing their livelihoods and being reduced to a life of poverty did what they did to stand up against this dictatorship. This shows courage and integrity.
But I believe that the ones who suffer more are this island dictatorship itself. Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew's son and his dictatorship are literally shooting themselves in the foot.
Firstly every Singaporean who knows that persecuting these heroes is wrong, would develop a deep hatred against this regime, like I did. They would also lose respect for all the state institutions. Each time the island's Kangaroo courts destroys an innocent political opponent, respect for the legal system and courts is lost. Each time the Prime Minister, the late Lee Kuan Yew's son sues his opponent in court, he is despised, mocked and ridiculed. He loses all credibility. The newspapers in the island are made fun of, as nothing but propaganda. In the end, the entire present government, their police, their courts is ridiculed and loses respect.
I am a England trained barrister, formerly practicing in Singapore. When I wrote a post in 2008 in this blog criticizing a shameless woman judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean for "prostituting herself and her office as a judge" while presiding over the Chee Soon Juan defamation case, I was criminally charged for "insulting a civil servant" and sent to jail. But there was no insult at all since the English word "to prostitute" also means abusing ones office, in her case judicial office, which she clearly did.
I had left Singapore much earlier in 1991 because I had lost all respect or confidence in this regime. It is impossible to live a normal human life if you have to live in fear. Today every Singaporean lives in fear of the government, making sure they are not seen as openly and publicly criticizing the government because at the slightest, he can be hauled up and destroyed.
Thousands of Singaporeans who do not wish to live this way emigrate to the West where they can hope to live normal lives without fear. Parents send their children abroad in the hope that they can develop normal thinking minds instead of being brainwashed in the island. This mounting brain drain to the West is hurting this regime at its very foundation. The only who are leaving are like me, educated intelligent thinking individuals. I have taken my skills, and experience and use it for the betterment of the society where I live now, California USA instead of Singapore. I think this massive emigration of educated Singaporeans is the biggest threat to this dictatorial regime.
I am sure these dictators in the island are fully aware of the loss they are suffering, losing the very best in their society through emigration. But unfortunately for them, they are unable to do anything about it. For one, as the island relies on foreign investment for survival, a society with a helpless workforce like in Singapore with no worker rights are, alas, is attractive to foreign companies. Secondly a society with no rights whatsoever ensures the dictators continue to remain in power. This one party state is therefore willing to accept the fact that its best citizens will leave the island thereby reducing the quality of its people as a necessary evil which they can temporarily overcome through importing foreign labor and giving instant citizenship. Unfortunately these foreign imports are no match for the highly skilled courageous committed and honest Singapore citizens who leave, as they usually do not know English, have little skills in comparison and have no clue about their island to which they have recently come. They have no loyalty or interest in the island. Their only purpose is to be able to earn a few dollars more than what their impoverished home countries of China India Bangladesh Philippines or Burma can provide.
Tiny Singapore island cannot survive if all its best citizens pack up and leave its shores.
My advice for those who want to see the fall of the Singapore dictatorship like I do is to emigrate. This is the best way you can hurt this regime. Although this method will not reap immediate results, in the competition among countries, the productivity and ingenuity of its citizens matter.
The best Singaporeans who leave the island will be positively contributing to the societies to which they go, like Australia. I have been living in California USA since 1991 and am a valuable member of my society here.
By their abuse of power and authority, by which they have discredited themselves, they have lost one of their citizens, me. I think you can hurt this regime quite well. All you have to do is to pack up and emigrate to the free world. This way, you not only benefit yourself, you also effectively hurt this regime. In the long run, with a constant loss of local Singaporean talent, they would be hard pressed to succeed or compete with other countries whose citizens on the other hand have respect for their countries and governments.
An Australian is proud of Australia, proud of its democracy, its rule of law, its freedom. An average Singaporean is ashamed of Singapore.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
If you like what I write please disseminate this blog across the island and world. Thank you.
Saturday, September 22, 2018
An Appeal to Singaporeans and Readers Worldwide
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I had been silent for a bit but have now returned. The job I am doing here is very important for making known to Singaporeans and the world what the island of Singapore really is. In this regards I ask that you help publicize this blog as widely as possible to regain the readership which I had prior to my becoming silent interregnum. As the reader would already note, this dictatorship is already suffering with the flood of Singaporeans leaving for settlement abroad, the almost daily floods, the beginning of the collapse of the government housing market of 99 year leases of which are the vast majority of housing, lack of credibility due to the Kangaroo courts, judicial beatings (caning) and the free willy police force. By publicizing this even further the eventual doom for the dictatorship would become that much more precipitous.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen
Gopalan Nair
I had been silent for a bit but have now returned. The job I am doing here is very important for making known to Singaporeans and the world what the island of Singapore really is. In this regards I ask that you help publicize this blog as widely as possible to regain the readership which I had prior to my becoming silent interregnum. As the reader would already note, this dictatorship is already suffering with the flood of Singaporeans leaving for settlement abroad, the almost daily floods, the beginning of the collapse of the government housing market of 99 year leases of which are the vast majority of housing, lack of credibility due to the Kangaroo courts, judicial beatings (caning) and the free willy police force. By publicizing this even further the eventual doom for the dictatorship would become that much more precipitous.
Thank you ladies and gentlemen
Gopalan Nair
Wednesday, September 19, 2018
Like the proverbial ostrich burying its head, Singapore shuns threats to existence
Ladies and Gentlemen,
What Singapore has going for it is it's island wide Stalinist style control over the media. Singapore government like Stalinist Russia controls the entire media, every single newspaper, TV station every magazine or article either written or broadcast. As a result they control the thought process in the island. George Orwell in 1984 stated what is happening in the island, who controls the thought process, controls the future. Alas this is the tiny Singapore island today. This gives the government the ability to paint a rosy picture. Reading the Singapore newspapers, you are not going to hear any bad news; the politicians are the best, the ministers are the best, the teachers are the best, the schools are the best, everything is just fine; that is what you are told. And by this pretense, which the world believes, they manage to get business and investment, jobs and money. But unfortunately this will not last simply because it is not true.
There are a number of fundamental weaknesses for which this dictatorship has no answer.
One of them is climate change. If you read the news, which unfortunately they cannot hide, you would have known the flooding occurs in the island not occasionally as in the past but almost every other day. They have no control over the climate. The island straddles the Equator and temperatures are becoming unbearable causing sea levels to continually rise and increasingly severe thunderstorms that drop almost an entire ocean of water each time it rains. It cannot build a dyke around the island as they could in Holland and with half the tiny island underwater there would be nowhere left. If the island cannot survive, this dictatorship cannot survive too.
Another is the monumental housing fiasco. 90% of the tiny island population live in government owned apartments that are leased for 99 years with the government retaining ownership. If the earlier apartments were built in the 1950s, 60 years of the leases have run out. These houses were leased using the people's retirement savings where each apartment costs several hundred thousand dollars. Now after having paid several hundred thousands of their retirement funds, eventually when the lease runs out, the government takes it and they have nothing. They would be left with no retirement at all! And if they wanted to sell it, no one would buy, since it is a depreciating asset, and worse, a depreciating asset with a termination date! Now if the island population find themselves cheated of their entire retirement savings by this government under false promises, there would either be a revolution, or there would be bloody murder! Either way this dictatorship has to fall.
Singapore has the world's lowest fertility rate in an already tiny island population. If no one is having any children, they can only function, as they do now, by importing large numbers of ethnic Chinese from Communist China who think they can earn a few bucks more in Singapore. These people have no loyalty to the island, no understanding of Singaporean culture and society. The island will be soon transformed into a clone of any city in mainland China. I cannot predict the consequences of such an alien society changing what was once Singapore, but I reckon, there is going to be some problems. Whether this will contribute to the eventual downfall of this dictatorship, I am sure it will.
Large numbers among Singaporeans emigrate to the West democracies. This is only to be expected. An educated person with skills and self respect would not want to live in a dictatorship like this without the right to free speech, Kangaroo courts, and forced submission to this dictatorship. I did not, which is why I left. Thousands like me have left for Australia, New Zealand, America and the West. And from the safety of being outside Singapore and where the dictatorship's thugs and their Kangaroo courts have no power over me, I can write and speak about Singapore and discredit the dictatorship. Almost every other Singapore émigré to the West discredits the island too. This tends to expose what the island really is, and will undoubtedly contribute to its downfall in the end.
Singapore has managed to carry on so far by hoodwinking the rest of the world into thinking it is something it is not. It has managed to carry on under hypocrisy and false pretenses. But truly no country can go on for too long like this. Soviet Union managed to go some way by propaganda through its state controlled Pravda and Izvestia. But it finally fell.
Singapore has managed so far by repressing any criticism and locking up and bankrupting its critics. This has been an inducement to foreign multi national companies which consider the island stable and it's people submissive. But this tactic of profiting by suppressing its own citizens cannot last forever although I concede that it may survive some time yet.
Singapore is like a wooden house which is rotten in its foundation. Slowly but surely the rot will work its way up and the structure has to collapse.
Western democracies on the other hand have got it right. They understand that a happy and free individual is a productive individual and an asset to his country. The majority of Singaporeans hate their government and if given a chance, would leave the island. Such a people cannot advance the island. I now live in United States and an American citizen. I love the United States for what it stands because I am free. Because I know I have rights. Because I know there is the rule of law. Because I know I don't have to agree with the government if I do not, and because I know I cannot be punished if I oppose the government. That is why I would do the best for my country now, America. Which is why I don't wish the Singapore dictatorship well even though I was born in that island.
You all know that people around the world if given a chance would want to emigrate to America, to Australia or New Zealand. Singapore island is very low on their list. But it is difficult to emigrate to these countries because they want only the best. The only ones who end up in Singapore are the Communist mainland Chinese, the impoverished Indians and Bangladeshis for the simple reason that they are not accepted in the West. You can see therefore in the skills ranking, that these are second rate people, and the unemployed Australian or New Zealander who ends up there. They are not the cream. The cream are in the US. I am sure you appreciate what this means. If you do not have the best in workers, you are not going to compete the best either. Which obviously explains why the ones who change the world live in the West. In Singapore, all they can do is to write some propaganda in their state controlled press about their inventing the universe! Another reason why the best would not come to that island is its ridiculous reputation. Who would want to come to an island where people can be caned and whipped just for chewing gum! Even if not true, that's what they think!
The decline in the quality of the Singaporean is due to actions of this dictatorship themselves. Singapore schools can produce good students. But when teachers are ordered to stymie and stifle creativity and individual thinking, children who are able to leave the island leave because they don't want to be brainwashed. And that is the reason why I left.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
What Singapore has going for it is it's island wide Stalinist style control over the media. Singapore government like Stalinist Russia controls the entire media, every single newspaper, TV station every magazine or article either written or broadcast. As a result they control the thought process in the island. George Orwell in 1984 stated what is happening in the island, who controls the thought process, controls the future. Alas this is the tiny Singapore island today. This gives the government the ability to paint a rosy picture. Reading the Singapore newspapers, you are not going to hear any bad news; the politicians are the best, the ministers are the best, the teachers are the best, the schools are the best, everything is just fine; that is what you are told. And by this pretense, which the world believes, they manage to get business and investment, jobs and money. But unfortunately this will not last simply because it is not true.
There are a number of fundamental weaknesses for which this dictatorship has no answer.
One of them is climate change. If you read the news, which unfortunately they cannot hide, you would have known the flooding occurs in the island not occasionally as in the past but almost every other day. They have no control over the climate. The island straddles the Equator and temperatures are becoming unbearable causing sea levels to continually rise and increasingly severe thunderstorms that drop almost an entire ocean of water each time it rains. It cannot build a dyke around the island as they could in Holland and with half the tiny island underwater there would be nowhere left. If the island cannot survive, this dictatorship cannot survive too.
Another is the monumental housing fiasco. 90% of the tiny island population live in government owned apartments that are leased for 99 years with the government retaining ownership. If the earlier apartments were built in the 1950s, 60 years of the leases have run out. These houses were leased using the people's retirement savings where each apartment costs several hundred thousand dollars. Now after having paid several hundred thousands of their retirement funds, eventually when the lease runs out, the government takes it and they have nothing. They would be left with no retirement at all! And if they wanted to sell it, no one would buy, since it is a depreciating asset, and worse, a depreciating asset with a termination date! Now if the island population find themselves cheated of their entire retirement savings by this government under false promises, there would either be a revolution, or there would be bloody murder! Either way this dictatorship has to fall.
Singapore has the world's lowest fertility rate in an already tiny island population. If no one is having any children, they can only function, as they do now, by importing large numbers of ethnic Chinese from Communist China who think they can earn a few bucks more in Singapore. These people have no loyalty to the island, no understanding of Singaporean culture and society. The island will be soon transformed into a clone of any city in mainland China. I cannot predict the consequences of such an alien society changing what was once Singapore, but I reckon, there is going to be some problems. Whether this will contribute to the eventual downfall of this dictatorship, I am sure it will.
Large numbers among Singaporeans emigrate to the West democracies. This is only to be expected. An educated person with skills and self respect would not want to live in a dictatorship like this without the right to free speech, Kangaroo courts, and forced submission to this dictatorship. I did not, which is why I left. Thousands like me have left for Australia, New Zealand, America and the West. And from the safety of being outside Singapore and where the dictatorship's thugs and their Kangaroo courts have no power over me, I can write and speak about Singapore and discredit the dictatorship. Almost every other Singapore émigré to the West discredits the island too. This tends to expose what the island really is, and will undoubtedly contribute to its downfall in the end.
Singapore has managed to carry on so far by hoodwinking the rest of the world into thinking it is something it is not. It has managed to carry on under hypocrisy and false pretenses. But truly no country can go on for too long like this. Soviet Union managed to go some way by propaganda through its state controlled Pravda and Izvestia. But it finally fell.
Singapore has managed so far by repressing any criticism and locking up and bankrupting its critics. This has been an inducement to foreign multi national companies which consider the island stable and it's people submissive. But this tactic of profiting by suppressing its own citizens cannot last forever although I concede that it may survive some time yet.
Singapore is like a wooden house which is rotten in its foundation. Slowly but surely the rot will work its way up and the structure has to collapse.
Western democracies on the other hand have got it right. They understand that a happy and free individual is a productive individual and an asset to his country. The majority of Singaporeans hate their government and if given a chance, would leave the island. Such a people cannot advance the island. I now live in United States and an American citizen. I love the United States for what it stands because I am free. Because I know I have rights. Because I know there is the rule of law. Because I know I don't have to agree with the government if I do not, and because I know I cannot be punished if I oppose the government. That is why I would do the best for my country now, America. Which is why I don't wish the Singapore dictatorship well even though I was born in that island.
You all know that people around the world if given a chance would want to emigrate to America, to Australia or New Zealand. Singapore island is very low on their list. But it is difficult to emigrate to these countries because they want only the best. The only ones who end up in Singapore are the Communist mainland Chinese, the impoverished Indians and Bangladeshis for the simple reason that they are not accepted in the West. You can see therefore in the skills ranking, that these are second rate people, and the unemployed Australian or New Zealander who ends up there. They are not the cream. The cream are in the US. I am sure you appreciate what this means. If you do not have the best in workers, you are not going to compete the best either. Which obviously explains why the ones who change the world live in the West. In Singapore, all they can do is to write some propaganda in their state controlled press about their inventing the universe! Another reason why the best would not come to that island is its ridiculous reputation. Who would want to come to an island where people can be caned and whipped just for chewing gum! Even if not true, that's what they think!
The decline in the quality of the Singaporean is due to actions of this dictatorship themselves. Singapore schools can produce good students. But when teachers are ordered to stymie and stifle creativity and individual thinking, children who are able to leave the island leave because they don't want to be brainwashed. And that is the reason why I left.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
San Francisco Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Friday, September 14, 2018
How does the one party island Singapore fascist dictatorship stay in power
Ladies and Gentlemen,
This is how the island state Singapore a one party state fascist dictatorship stays in power
Attractive to Foreign Investment
Singapore island state is the ultimate country for foreign investors. There is no minimum wage laws, employers can pay anything they want. Workers have no rights. Labor Unions either don't exist or if they do, serve the employers, not workers. The Kangaroo courts placed by the dictatorship will always side with employers in any dispute, so workers have no chance. Under these circumstances the island is a paradise for foreign companies who are eager to establish factories there. As a result there is abundant work for Singaporeans. But they have no rights. This is a sort of trade off. You have work, which is better than no work, while at the same time, you have no rights. This is so because foreign companies are concerned with profits, not human rights. Any worker who strikes is immediately arrested and jailed. If he is a foreign worker immediately deported thereafter.
This fear among the workers prevents anyone from asserting his rights.
Attractive to Foreign Investment Good Infra Structure
The island dictatorship knows that foreign companies look for a good infra structure to locate their foreign factories. If you have mud roads, and broken telephones, it does not help business. So the island dictators made sure that Singapore has good infra structure; good roads, good telephones and good transportation.
Attractive to Foreign Investment; The English language
Singaporeans can speak and understand English although very poor in articulation. They speak a very bad version of English. However it is still English and this is attractive for foreign businesses. They also learn their own native languages, Malay Chinese and Tamil. The English language knowledge in the island gives it an edge over other countries who do not have English in attracting foreign investment.
Kangaroo Courts
There is no rule of law in the island. Instead they have rule by law. Which means the dictatorship, by definition, can pass any law they want, which they do, to ensure that government policy, not law, becomes law by itself. Therefore always anyone who criticizes the government is arrested and found automatically guilty and punished, any political opponent is immediately destroyed through the courts. In most cases after the case is over, the judge waits for orders from the government on the sentence. After the inevitable verdict, their newspapers and media which are all state controlled display the victim's identity and pictures, in order to prevent him from being employed anywhere in the island and as a deterrent to anyone who may foster such stupid ideas. In this manner any criticism is effectively silenced.
The lack of any opposition to the government makes the island a very quiet and predictable place which also is another big reason why foreign companies are attracted to the island, its stability and predictability because everyone is scared.
Israeli Style Total Surveillance/ Small Island
In Israel if any Palestinian is up to any mischief within Israel or the Palestinian territories, he is immediately monitored through modern surveillance techniques and immediate action is taken and the person arrested. In Singapore it is far easier to do this because it is much smaller. In Singapore a tiny island, the dictators have employed a vast force of Internal Security surveillance where your every move is watched and observed 24 hours a day. As a result any attempt by anyone to stage a protest or disturbance is immediately thwarted, and the citizen promptly arrested and jailed, his identity is immediately published forthwith and his life promptly destroyed. No resistance to the island's rulers stands a chance. The entire island population have resigned themselves to a life of total submission.
Who are these Singaporeans who willingly live this way?
By and large they are the average Singaporean. By which I mean a person who has had some sort of an education or even a college degree. But he is by no means intelligent. He is not aware that it is better to live a free man than one under bondage like he does. He reckons that as long as he minds his own business and not question authority, he can live a reasonably good life. Imagine the Germans in Nazi Germany. Many Germans who lived under Hitler were aware that what Hitler was doing was wrong such as killing Jews and punishing detractors. But then they reckon that as long as they kept their mouths shut, life was very good in Nazi Germany. Work was plentiful, wages were good and they could go on holidays too. In fact just as Singapore manages to attract foreign investment by suppressing its workers, Nazi Germany managed to receive foreign trade and investment for the same reasons. Nazi German economy too, like Singapore did very well, but as expected it did not last.
Large foreign 3rd rate work force
Singapore has a large foreign workforce, as much as 30%. They mostly come from the nearby impoverished Asian countries such as Burma, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh. The wages in their native countries are miserable so it is much better to work in Singapore. But they lack passion about anything. All they need is a job which their own countries does not provide. For these workers, they have no concern about human rights and workers rights since all they are concerned is the good wages they get in Singapore compared to their home countries. All of them would prefer if given a chance to go to countries where they would be treated better such as Australia or USA but because their skills do not qualify them, Singapore is still better to work compared to their home countries. Therefore these workers are by and large poor quality in intelligence, skills and capabilities. As a result of the dictatorial life they live under, Singapore suffers because of their inability to attract the best and brightest who prefer life in Western democracies.
Singapore does not murder people
The Singapore government does not murder it's citizens. I think if they could get away with murdering their political opponents, they will, but they realize that if they resort to murder like other dictators, the international community would oppose their actions and it would be difficult to preserve their dictatorship. So instead of murdering you, they imprison you, harass you, victimize you, defame you, deny you employment and harm not only you but also your entire family. Sometimes I wonder which is worse, just killing you outright or victimizing you your entire life!
In the long run Singapore dictatorship will lose out from competition from free and democratic countries
Today countries by reason of the Internet and International Mass media are able to attract the best and brightest. The best and brightest individuals are those with an education, and ability to think for themselves and the knowledge that human beings are much happier in their lives if they are free with human rights. For example although I was born in Singapore, I am a lawyer by profession and my skills enables me to live in a country that I choose. Because of my knowledge of these things, there is no reason for me to live under a dictatorship. Thankfully I do not have to live like the poor Bangladeshi or Filipino who has the desperate choice of living in his own country and starving to death or live in a dictatorship like Singapore where he can least survive and support his family. So I realty don't have to live in Singapore or Burma or North Korea or Communist China. I would be miserable if I did so. This is why I choose to live in America because I don't have to live in a country with Kangaroo Courts and under a Lee family dictatorship.
I am sure you can see that I am not the only one who yearns to live as a free man and not under a repressive regime like Singapore. Just like me there are millions of others around the world who would similarly avoid countries like Singapore as they would the bubonic plague. Not only the rest of the world, but also within this dictatorship one party state island, there are many Singapore citizens who detest living under these miserable circumstances and are trying to leave the island for democracies elsewhere. Many have already left.
And the ones who are leaving are the best among the human race. They have skills, education, knowledge, a desire to live as a free people, analytical ability to judge between right and wrong. Such people contribute greatly to the countries where they live. I am for instance a practicing lawyer in Fremont San Francisco California USA. I am able to do good work and contribute to society. I am an asset to my society. Unlike the average helpless Singaporean I am able to create my own destiny. This freedom helps me in my state of mind thereby enabling to improve on my work, my thinking and my overall well being. On the other hand if I was forced to live in a repressive island like Singapore, I would be unhappy, my work and productivity will suffer.
In the long run this denial of human rights and the treatment of their citizens as worse than dogs will begin to hurt them. Countries which are free will beat the island in the race for progress because the best of human kind continue to go to the free counties and only the 2nd rate and less intelligent remain in the island. So as the free countries increase their proportion of skilled intelligent thinking citizens, Singapore will begin to have more and more third rate helpless desperate ignorant people. In this manner, their productivity will decline, their competitiveness will decline and they would be left far behind.
If America asks Singapore to jump, they would ask how high?
In order to stay in power Singapore is totally obedient to America. One way they stay in power is because America is supportive due to their obedience. This disgraceful total submission to America not only preserves the dictatorship, it remains very attractive to American companies foreign investment. Like what President Truman told a journalist who questioned American support for Nicaraguan dictator Samoza, "He may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son a bitch"!
How you can defeat this Singapore dictatorship
Unfortunately if you were to politically oppose this regime, you will not succeed. You will be arrested thrown in jail, and financially destroyed. And because there are still those in the island who would work for this regime to destroy you, you don't stand a chance. And the fact that they have a bad name as they do now, will not affect their ability to attract investment since foreign companies are only concerned with the profit line.
But you can still do your part in working to destroy this dictatorship by simply packing and leaving for the Western democracies. Singapore has a very low birth rate and they manage to still go on only by bringing in large numbers of impoverished poorly skilled workers from neighboring countries. If you continue to leave the island in large numbers, the population of the tiny island will materially change with a majority of third rate foreigners in the population ratio. Because the quality of these foreign workers are generally poor, and the world becoming more aware of the shameful political system in that island, it will not be able to attract anyone with any true understanding of the island.
When the dictatorship finds that it cannot attract skilled thinking intelligent people, Singapore as you know today will collapse. You can do your part by packing and leaving.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont San Francisco California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
This is how the island state Singapore a one party state fascist dictatorship stays in power
Attractive to Foreign Investment
Singapore island state is the ultimate country for foreign investors. There is no minimum wage laws, employers can pay anything they want. Workers have no rights. Labor Unions either don't exist or if they do, serve the employers, not workers. The Kangaroo courts placed by the dictatorship will always side with employers in any dispute, so workers have no chance. Under these circumstances the island is a paradise for foreign companies who are eager to establish factories there. As a result there is abundant work for Singaporeans. But they have no rights. This is a sort of trade off. You have work, which is better than no work, while at the same time, you have no rights. This is so because foreign companies are concerned with profits, not human rights. Any worker who strikes is immediately arrested and jailed. If he is a foreign worker immediately deported thereafter.
This fear among the workers prevents anyone from asserting his rights.
Attractive to Foreign Investment Good Infra Structure
The island dictatorship knows that foreign companies look for a good infra structure to locate their foreign factories. If you have mud roads, and broken telephones, it does not help business. So the island dictators made sure that Singapore has good infra structure; good roads, good telephones and good transportation.
Attractive to Foreign Investment; The English language
Singaporeans can speak and understand English although very poor in articulation. They speak a very bad version of English. However it is still English and this is attractive for foreign businesses. They also learn their own native languages, Malay Chinese and Tamil. The English language knowledge in the island gives it an edge over other countries who do not have English in attracting foreign investment.
Kangaroo Courts
There is no rule of law in the island. Instead they have rule by law. Which means the dictatorship, by definition, can pass any law they want, which they do, to ensure that government policy, not law, becomes law by itself. Therefore always anyone who criticizes the government is arrested and found automatically guilty and punished, any political opponent is immediately destroyed through the courts. In most cases after the case is over, the judge waits for orders from the government on the sentence. After the inevitable verdict, their newspapers and media which are all state controlled display the victim's identity and pictures, in order to prevent him from being employed anywhere in the island and as a deterrent to anyone who may foster such stupid ideas. In this manner any criticism is effectively silenced.
The lack of any opposition to the government makes the island a very quiet and predictable place which also is another big reason why foreign companies are attracted to the island, its stability and predictability because everyone is scared.
Israeli Style Total Surveillance/ Small Island
In Israel if any Palestinian is up to any mischief within Israel or the Palestinian territories, he is immediately monitored through modern surveillance techniques and immediate action is taken and the person arrested. In Singapore it is far easier to do this because it is much smaller. In Singapore a tiny island, the dictators have employed a vast force of Internal Security surveillance where your every move is watched and observed 24 hours a day. As a result any attempt by anyone to stage a protest or disturbance is immediately thwarted, and the citizen promptly arrested and jailed, his identity is immediately published forthwith and his life promptly destroyed. No resistance to the island's rulers stands a chance. The entire island population have resigned themselves to a life of total submission.
Who are these Singaporeans who willingly live this way?
By and large they are the average Singaporean. By which I mean a person who has had some sort of an education or even a college degree. But he is by no means intelligent. He is not aware that it is better to live a free man than one under bondage like he does. He reckons that as long as he minds his own business and not question authority, he can live a reasonably good life. Imagine the Germans in Nazi Germany. Many Germans who lived under Hitler were aware that what Hitler was doing was wrong such as killing Jews and punishing detractors. But then they reckon that as long as they kept their mouths shut, life was very good in Nazi Germany. Work was plentiful, wages were good and they could go on holidays too. In fact just as Singapore manages to attract foreign investment by suppressing its workers, Nazi Germany managed to receive foreign trade and investment for the same reasons. Nazi German economy too, like Singapore did very well, but as expected it did not last.
Large foreign 3rd rate work force
Singapore has a large foreign workforce, as much as 30%. They mostly come from the nearby impoverished Asian countries such as Burma, China, Indonesia, Philippines and Bangladesh. The wages in their native countries are miserable so it is much better to work in Singapore. But they lack passion about anything. All they need is a job which their own countries does not provide. For these workers, they have no concern about human rights and workers rights since all they are concerned is the good wages they get in Singapore compared to their home countries. All of them would prefer if given a chance to go to countries where they would be treated better such as Australia or USA but because their skills do not qualify them, Singapore is still better to work compared to their home countries. Therefore these workers are by and large poor quality in intelligence, skills and capabilities. As a result of the dictatorial life they live under, Singapore suffers because of their inability to attract the best and brightest who prefer life in Western democracies.
Singapore does not murder people
The Singapore government does not murder it's citizens. I think if they could get away with murdering their political opponents, they will, but they realize that if they resort to murder like other dictators, the international community would oppose their actions and it would be difficult to preserve their dictatorship. So instead of murdering you, they imprison you, harass you, victimize you, defame you, deny you employment and harm not only you but also your entire family. Sometimes I wonder which is worse, just killing you outright or victimizing you your entire life!
In the long run Singapore dictatorship will lose out from competition from free and democratic countries
Today countries by reason of the Internet and International Mass media are able to attract the best and brightest. The best and brightest individuals are those with an education, and ability to think for themselves and the knowledge that human beings are much happier in their lives if they are free with human rights. For example although I was born in Singapore, I am a lawyer by profession and my skills enables me to live in a country that I choose. Because of my knowledge of these things, there is no reason for me to live under a dictatorship. Thankfully I do not have to live like the poor Bangladeshi or Filipino who has the desperate choice of living in his own country and starving to death or live in a dictatorship like Singapore where he can least survive and support his family. So I realty don't have to live in Singapore or Burma or North Korea or Communist China. I would be miserable if I did so. This is why I choose to live in America because I don't have to live in a country with Kangaroo Courts and under a Lee family dictatorship.
I am sure you can see that I am not the only one who yearns to live as a free man and not under a repressive regime like Singapore. Just like me there are millions of others around the world who would similarly avoid countries like Singapore as they would the bubonic plague. Not only the rest of the world, but also within this dictatorship one party state island, there are many Singapore citizens who detest living under these miserable circumstances and are trying to leave the island for democracies elsewhere. Many have already left.
And the ones who are leaving are the best among the human race. They have skills, education, knowledge, a desire to live as a free people, analytical ability to judge between right and wrong. Such people contribute greatly to the countries where they live. I am for instance a practicing lawyer in Fremont San Francisco California USA. I am able to do good work and contribute to society. I am an asset to my society. Unlike the average helpless Singaporean I am able to create my own destiny. This freedom helps me in my state of mind thereby enabling to improve on my work, my thinking and my overall well being. On the other hand if I was forced to live in a repressive island like Singapore, I would be unhappy, my work and productivity will suffer.
In the long run this denial of human rights and the treatment of their citizens as worse than dogs will begin to hurt them. Countries which are free will beat the island in the race for progress because the best of human kind continue to go to the free counties and only the 2nd rate and less intelligent remain in the island. So as the free countries increase their proportion of skilled intelligent thinking citizens, Singapore will begin to have more and more third rate helpless desperate ignorant people. In this manner, their productivity will decline, their competitiveness will decline and they would be left far behind.
If America asks Singapore to jump, they would ask how high?
In order to stay in power Singapore is totally obedient to America. One way they stay in power is because America is supportive due to their obedience. This disgraceful total submission to America not only preserves the dictatorship, it remains very attractive to American companies foreign investment. Like what President Truman told a journalist who questioned American support for Nicaraguan dictator Samoza, "He may be a son of a bitch, but he's our son a bitch"!
How you can defeat this Singapore dictatorship
Unfortunately if you were to politically oppose this regime, you will not succeed. You will be arrested thrown in jail, and financially destroyed. And because there are still those in the island who would work for this regime to destroy you, you don't stand a chance. And the fact that they have a bad name as they do now, will not affect their ability to attract investment since foreign companies are only concerned with the profit line.
But you can still do your part in working to destroy this dictatorship by simply packing and leaving for the Western democracies. Singapore has a very low birth rate and they manage to still go on only by bringing in large numbers of impoverished poorly skilled workers from neighboring countries. If you continue to leave the island in large numbers, the population of the tiny island will materially change with a majority of third rate foreigners in the population ratio. Because the quality of these foreign workers are generally poor, and the world becoming more aware of the shameful political system in that island, it will not be able to attract anyone with any true understanding of the island.
When the dictatorship finds that it cannot attract skilled thinking intelligent people, Singapore as you know today will collapse. You can do your part by packing and leaving.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont San Francisco California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Tuesday, September 11, 2018
Singapore a place for sycophants oppurtunists yes-men and crawlers
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I have been observing Singapore politics for decades now. Besides I was in active politics in Singapore between 1980 to 1990. One thing has dawned on me over the years which is this. Singapore will not change into a democracy anytime soon, perhaps never.
And the activists fighting for freedom admirable men and women such as Thum Ping Tjin, Kirsten Han, Jolovan Wham are in fact not going to get anywhere in their quest for democracy in the island. I am not in any way denying the good work they are doing but their struggle for freedom in the island will not succeed, now or even the near future.
You have to understand human nature. Democracy is an intangible idea. First you have to understand what it is and why it is a good thing. But most people, the average man, has not studied political philosophy. He has not read John Stuart Mill on Liberty and other scholastic works. He goes about his daily life, goes to work, feeds his family, goes to the movies and tries to be happy. In Singapore as long as he minds his own business and does not question the Singaporean leaders, he is left alone unharmed. So whether he has a right to read what he wants really does not bother him.
What Thum Ping Tjin is trying to do is not only to try to convince the average Singaporean, who by the way is quite happy to be left alone without ever knowing anything about the virtues of democracy, that democracy is a good thing, that Lee Kuan Yew's son the Prime Minister is not allowing it, and therefore someone who espouses democracy should be put in his place to give them democracy. This is a difficult task under normal circumstances.
Any attempt by anyone to impose democracy on a people is unlikely to work. And it will not work in Singapore. If you are championing democracy, the people should already be demanding it. And then you can be their leader to bring it about. This however is not the case in Singapore. There is no indication in the island that anyone wants democracy. Occasionally you have a lone protestor or demonstrator who is promptly arrested and sent to jail under circumstances where no one cares.
Recently with the seismic political change to more political openness in Malaysia, there has been heightened activity among Thum Ping Tjin and other like minded people including the British citizen former Singaporean Tan Wah Piow in political meetings, public lectures, political seminars and YouTube sessions on democracy. Of course I applaud them for their actions. But frankly all this is not going to go anywhere. Simply because the average Singaporean has no clue or even the slightest interest in any of it.
But such a bleached uninteresting society will not succeed in the long run. Anyone who has any education in such things is going to find the Singapore island a very boring uninteresting distasteful place. If you have an education and skills, if you are a thinking person, you can make a living anywhere in the world, and you don't necessarily have to live in such as dictatorship. I am such a person. I don't have to live under PAP Singapore. So I left. This is why the brain drain which has been going on for a long time will continue. The remining Singaporeans will be those who do not have such an education about liberty and democracy who will be content to live in an island like that.
There are even people in the US who think that way. Only recently I was having a barbecue with an ethnic Chinese from Taiwan who lives in California. He had only good things to say about Singapore, which only included its economic success. But when I told him that you cannot criticize the regime, his answer was there is no need to criticize. According to him, all you have to do is keep your political ideas to yourself and make as much money as you can, like they do in Communist China. Which he said is not hard to do.
Once again let me make my point clear. You can only bring about change if the ground already demands change. If no one wants any change, as a lone voice on the pedestal, you cant get anywhere. And Thum Ping Tjin should be aware of that I hope.
Let me give you and example although it does not fit squarely in this case. Che Guevara was very successful in his revolution in Cuba. Why, because the Cubans already hated their dictator Batista and wanted him out. On the other hand he failed miserably in the Belgian Congo and in Bolivia, where he was shot, for the simple reason that both these people were not dying to oust their rulers let alone know what communism even meant!
Amarjit Singh, the former Singapore judge who now works for Rajah and Tann was previously my employer in that island. While I was actively pursuing my fight for democracy in the island, he once told me this in the form of a parable. He said about my activism " When it shines, go out. When it rains go out with an umbrella. When it is stormy, don't go out al all". At the time I considered him a shameful opportunist prepared to lick the boots of the government. But now, although I detest his way of life, I think he was right in his advice.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
I have been observing Singapore politics for decades now. Besides I was in active politics in Singapore between 1980 to 1990. One thing has dawned on me over the years which is this. Singapore will not change into a democracy anytime soon, perhaps never.
And the activists fighting for freedom admirable men and women such as Thum Ping Tjin, Kirsten Han, Jolovan Wham are in fact not going to get anywhere in their quest for democracy in the island. I am not in any way denying the good work they are doing but their struggle for freedom in the island will not succeed, now or even the near future.
You have to understand human nature. Democracy is an intangible idea. First you have to understand what it is and why it is a good thing. But most people, the average man, has not studied political philosophy. He has not read John Stuart Mill on Liberty and other scholastic works. He goes about his daily life, goes to work, feeds his family, goes to the movies and tries to be happy. In Singapore as long as he minds his own business and does not question the Singaporean leaders, he is left alone unharmed. So whether he has a right to read what he wants really does not bother him.
What Thum Ping Tjin is trying to do is not only to try to convince the average Singaporean, who by the way is quite happy to be left alone without ever knowing anything about the virtues of democracy, that democracy is a good thing, that Lee Kuan Yew's son the Prime Minister is not allowing it, and therefore someone who espouses democracy should be put in his place to give them democracy. This is a difficult task under normal circumstances.
Any attempt by anyone to impose democracy on a people is unlikely to work. And it will not work in Singapore. If you are championing democracy, the people should already be demanding it. And then you can be their leader to bring it about. This however is not the case in Singapore. There is no indication in the island that anyone wants democracy. Occasionally you have a lone protestor or demonstrator who is promptly arrested and sent to jail under circumstances where no one cares.
Recently with the seismic political change to more political openness in Malaysia, there has been heightened activity among Thum Ping Tjin and other like minded people including the British citizen former Singaporean Tan Wah Piow in political meetings, public lectures, political seminars and YouTube sessions on democracy. Of course I applaud them for their actions. But frankly all this is not going to go anywhere. Simply because the average Singaporean has no clue or even the slightest interest in any of it.
But such a bleached uninteresting society will not succeed in the long run. Anyone who has any education in such things is going to find the Singapore island a very boring uninteresting distasteful place. If you have an education and skills, if you are a thinking person, you can make a living anywhere in the world, and you don't necessarily have to live in such as dictatorship. I am such a person. I don't have to live under PAP Singapore. So I left. This is why the brain drain which has been going on for a long time will continue. The remining Singaporeans will be those who do not have such an education about liberty and democracy who will be content to live in an island like that.
There are even people in the US who think that way. Only recently I was having a barbecue with an ethnic Chinese from Taiwan who lives in California. He had only good things to say about Singapore, which only included its economic success. But when I told him that you cannot criticize the regime, his answer was there is no need to criticize. According to him, all you have to do is keep your political ideas to yourself and make as much money as you can, like they do in Communist China. Which he said is not hard to do.
Once again let me make my point clear. You can only bring about change if the ground already demands change. If no one wants any change, as a lone voice on the pedestal, you cant get anywhere. And Thum Ping Tjin should be aware of that I hope.
Let me give you and example although it does not fit squarely in this case. Che Guevara was very successful in his revolution in Cuba. Why, because the Cubans already hated their dictator Batista and wanted him out. On the other hand he failed miserably in the Belgian Congo and in Bolivia, where he was shot, for the simple reason that both these people were not dying to oust their rulers let alone know what communism even meant!
Amarjit Singh, the former Singapore judge who now works for Rajah and Tann was previously my employer in that island. While I was actively pursuing my fight for democracy in the island, he once told me this in the form of a parable. He said about my activism " When it shines, go out. When it rains go out with an umbrella. When it is stormy, don't go out al all". At the time I considered him a shameful opportunist prepared to lick the boots of the government. But now, although I detest his way of life, I think he was right in his advice.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
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