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.
Friday, September 28, 2018
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
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
