Ladies and Gentlemen,
Taking a break from writing. Taking care of business. Will resume shortly. Thanks very much.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/ Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Why is Singapore not applying to extradite me?
The Singapore government forcing me to remain in Singapore for 6 months, waiting for my trial for allegedly insulting a judge on this blog has caused me to suffer great financial loss. Your financial donations will help greatly. Please send then to the address below. Many thanks.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the 17th of September 2008, I was convicted and sentenced to 3 months imprisonment in Singapore for allegedly insulting a judge in a blog post in this blog. While I was serving sentence in prison with 1 week to go for my release, I was again charged for contempt of court for allegedly showing disrespect for the judge in another case, for saying things such as " I do not expect to get a fair trial in this court". As I knew that a denial of the charge would mean further time in prison, I pleaded guilty and said anything they wanted to hear, which resulted in no further jail time.
Since my return to the US, I have not only further criticized the Singapore judges as corrupt and agents for the dictator of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, as can be seen in all my 6 blog posts since Nov 28, 2008, I have further defied them by intentionally and publicly being in contempt of the court order off Judge Leslie Chew, of Court 15, Subordinate Courts Singapore by not only attacking the Singapore judiciary, but also by putting up the blog posts of Sept 1, 2008 and Sept 6, 2008, which were ordered removed.
By reading this blog, you can see that I am deliberately attacking the Singapore judiciary by calling them stooges of the Singapore dictator Lee Kuan Yew. The Singapore government, their Attorney General and the Singapore judiciary cannot pretend not to know what I write here because it is they who had charged and imprisonment me for 3 months because of the contents of this blog.
Singapore, as you know claims to be a first world modern city. It also claims to have the rule of law. It also claims to be a nation, proud of itself. In such a case, what I want to ask is this. Why, if this is so, if in fact Singapore claims to be country of laws; why is it doing nothing about a man in the United States deliberately calling its judges lackeys of the government and deliberately violating a court order; all of which has been given wide publicity, not only in Singapore but internationally?
I am sure if any person, had deliberately broken the laws of America or Australia or India or any other self respecting country and escaped to another, that country would use all means to repatriate him to stand trial for his crimes and be committed to prison for his contempt. I am sure that I would not dare to violate a law of any state in the US and run to another country, because I am certain that I will face extradition proceedings to have me returned to stand trial. Why, because America is a proud nation and will not stand by to see anyone brazenly flouting its laws.
I want to reiterate. While in Singapore, I had called Judge Belinda Ang a stooge of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, in my blog. According to Singapore judge Kan Ting Chiu, I had committed a serious, mind you serious, crime, for which he sent me to jail for 3 months. Now having returned to the US, I have done the same thing, expect that the criticism was even harsher. I have called High court judges Kan Ting Chiu and Judith Prakash shamelessly corrupt for being agents of Lee Kuan Yew and his government. What is more, I have deliberately broken a court order and boasting about it.
The Singapore government's complete failure to pursue me by law, clearly confirms what I have said all along. This is a government that continues to stay in power by bullying it's people into not criticizing their policies, which they do by using compliant judges to imprison dissenters. The disgusting thing is that they know that if they ever tried to apply for extradition proceedings through the American courts, they would be laughed at as a bunch of comedians. Realizing that they have no chance of convincing an American court, or for that matter, an Australian or Canadian or British or French, or any court in the free world that I have committed a crime, they remain silent as I continue from here to expose the corruption of Lee Kuan Yew and his disgraced judiciary.
As someone said it very nicely "Come and get me if you can, you bunch of bully boys. Why not try your dirty tricks in a free country, like the the USA"?
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On the 17th of September 2008, I was convicted and sentenced to 3 months imprisonment in Singapore for allegedly insulting a judge in a blog post in this blog. While I was serving sentence in prison with 1 week to go for my release, I was again charged for contempt of court for allegedly showing disrespect for the judge in another case, for saying things such as " I do not expect to get a fair trial in this court". As I knew that a denial of the charge would mean further time in prison, I pleaded guilty and said anything they wanted to hear, which resulted in no further jail time.
Since my return to the US, I have not only further criticized the Singapore judges as corrupt and agents for the dictator of Singapore Lee Kuan Yew, as can be seen in all my 6 blog posts since Nov 28, 2008, I have further defied them by intentionally and publicly being in contempt of the court order off Judge Leslie Chew, of Court 15, Subordinate Courts Singapore by not only attacking the Singapore judiciary, but also by putting up the blog posts of Sept 1, 2008 and Sept 6, 2008, which were ordered removed.
By reading this blog, you can see that I am deliberately attacking the Singapore judiciary by calling them stooges of the Singapore dictator Lee Kuan Yew. The Singapore government, their Attorney General and the Singapore judiciary cannot pretend not to know what I write here because it is they who had charged and imprisonment me for 3 months because of the contents of this blog.
Singapore, as you know claims to be a first world modern city. It also claims to have the rule of law. It also claims to be a nation, proud of itself. In such a case, what I want to ask is this. Why, if this is so, if in fact Singapore claims to be country of laws; why is it doing nothing about a man in the United States deliberately calling its judges lackeys of the government and deliberately violating a court order; all of which has been given wide publicity, not only in Singapore but internationally?
I am sure if any person, had deliberately broken the laws of America or Australia or India or any other self respecting country and escaped to another, that country would use all means to repatriate him to stand trial for his crimes and be committed to prison for his contempt. I am sure that I would not dare to violate a law of any state in the US and run to another country, because I am certain that I will face extradition proceedings to have me returned to stand trial. Why, because America is a proud nation and will not stand by to see anyone brazenly flouting its laws.
I want to reiterate. While in Singapore, I had called Judge Belinda Ang a stooge of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, in my blog. According to Singapore judge Kan Ting Chiu, I had committed a serious, mind you serious, crime, for which he sent me to jail for 3 months. Now having returned to the US, I have done the same thing, expect that the criticism was even harsher. I have called High court judges Kan Ting Chiu and Judith Prakash shamelessly corrupt for being agents of Lee Kuan Yew and his government. What is more, I have deliberately broken a court order and boasting about it.
The Singapore government's complete failure to pursue me by law, clearly confirms what I have said all along. This is a government that continues to stay in power by bullying it's people into not criticizing their policies, which they do by using compliant judges to imprison dissenters. The disgusting thing is that they know that if they ever tried to apply for extradition proceedings through the American courts, they would be laughed at as a bunch of comedians. Realizing that they have no chance of convincing an American court, or for that matter, an Australian or Canadian or British or French, or any court in the free world that I have committed a crime, they remain silent as I continue from here to expose the corruption of Lee Kuan Yew and his disgraced judiciary.
As someone said it very nicely "Come and get me if you can, you bunch of bully boys. Why not try your dirty tricks in a free country, like the the USA"?
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Saturday, December 6, 2008
Judge or PAP politician? Justice Kan Ting Chiu of the Singapore High Court.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I claimed trial and disputed the charge that I had intentionally insulted Justice Belinda Ang of the High Court when I wrote in this blog that she had "prostituted her position as a judge" during the Lee Kuan Yew vs Dr. Chee Soon Juan trial, held from May 26 to May 28, 2008 in Singapore. I was charged under the following Penal Code section:
Section 228, Singapore Penal Code: Whoever intentionally offers any insult or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to $5,000, or with both.
I was clearly not guilty under the section. The elements of the section were inapplicable in my case.
Offering an insult: It is well established that any law has to be clear and precise on it's face. The word "insult" is so vague and open to a million interpretations that no one could know one way or the other whether something is an "insult" or not. It is precisely for this reason that this section is clearly unenforceable and void.
For instance, would calling someone "fat" if he was in fact fat amount to an insult. It is like a court convicting a person under a law which says "it is unlawful to be a bad person". Clearly no one could know what is precisely a "bad person". One person's opinion would clearly be different from another.
This is exactly what I argued in court. I told Justice Kang that it would have been impossible for anyone beforehand to know what was an insult and what was not. And such laws have a chilling effect on all speech, where people would not want to offer any criticism lest the court finds that it amounts to an insult. This completely contravenes the supreme law of the land, the Constitution, which guarantees free speech and expression. Justice Kang had nothing to say on this point.
Second, I argued that if something I said amounted to the truth, it cannot amount to an insult. The dictionary definition of the word "prostituting ones position of judge" (see my earlier blog post Dec 3rd 2008) clearly defines it as a person who abuses his or her office for an odious purpose. With various examples in my blog post of May 29, 2008, I had described factually my reasons why I said this. What I said was the truth. And therefore how can stating the truth amount to an insult? To this, Justice Kang made a remark which was out of this world. He said, a remark can be an insult even if it was true. He said, to tell someone that "his father was a drunk and his mother is a bigamist" even if true amounted to an insult. To this, I told him that it should depend on the circumstances in which it was said, but it all fell, as was to be expected on deaf ears.
Examine these words: any insult or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding. Any reasonable reading of these words should mean that the defendant should have been physically present in court and either insulted the judge or interrupted the proceedings. I had never insulted Justice Ang in her court and neither did I interrupt her proceedings. Instead, I wrote a blog post criticizing her conduct as a judge. I had never asked her to read my blog post. Other people read my blog. But how can that amount to my insulting her, without even any action by me in her court.
Of course, the judge took no interest in anything I said and wholeheartedly agreed with the prosecutor that a) the insult need not be in her court even though the section clearly means this and b) it did not matter that I did not personally insult her. It was sufficient that others read it in my blog!
Examine these words: Sitting in any stage of judicial proceeding. The case, assessment of damages before Judge Ang in the High Court between Lee Kuan Yew and Dr. Chee took place from May 26 2008 and ended on May 28, 2008. Justice Ang then said that she will state the amount of damages at a later date. The court was no longer sitting in proceedings after May 28, 2008. There will not be any court hearings after this at all. All that will happen after May 28, 2008 is for the Judge, at some unspecified time in the future, to inform the parties by mail of the quantum of damages that Dr. Chee has to pay. I had written this blog post criticizing her on May 29, 2008 at which date, the court was no longer sitting. The hearing was concluded by then.
I therefore told Judge Kang that I cannot be guilty of the charge since the court was no longer sitting in proceedings. To this argument, Justice Kang stated that because Judge Ang had yet to decide on the quantum of damages, the court, believe it or not, was still "sitting in proceedings". What then, I asked Judge Kang, if Judge Ang does not decide on the quantum of damages for 2 years! Can it then be said that her court was sitting in proceedings for the full 2 years!
To anyone reading this section, "sitting in proceedings" has to mean only one thing, that is, the court has to be physically in session with parties arguing their case before it. Otherwise, by no stretch of imagination, can it ever be argued that it is. Again all this fell on deaf ears. His stand was that because Judge Ang was yet to deliver her judgement on the quantum of damages, her court was "still sitting in proceedings", even though the court was not in session! As far as he was concerned, there was nothing more to it.
And further proof that the Judge was misusing this law was this. The prosecutor could not find a single authority that had any similarity to my case. He relied on one case, the only one he could find. In that case, the defendant, being angry at the sentence ordered by the judge, yelled expletives at him in Tamil and damaged the dock in court!
Judge Kang during my trial in the High Court from Sept 08, 2008 to Sept 17, 2008 was not acting as a judge. He was a PAP politician, silencing criticism of Lee Kuan Yew and his courts. He was also using me to intimidate everyone else in the island of Singapore, warning them them not to criticize Lee Kuan Yew's government or his courts, regardless of how much they abuse the law. And if they did, they will be have to serve a prison sentence of 3 months, like me.
It is up to the reader of this blog to ponder over this question. Are you going to be bullied by Judge Kang and keep your mouth shut (because that is what he wants you to do) or are you going to say that you are a human being and will not allow him to intimidate you?
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
I claimed trial and disputed the charge that I had intentionally insulted Justice Belinda Ang of the High Court when I wrote in this blog that she had "prostituted her position as a judge" during the Lee Kuan Yew vs Dr. Chee Soon Juan trial, held from May 26 to May 28, 2008 in Singapore. I was charged under the following Penal Code section:
Section 228, Singapore Penal Code: Whoever intentionally offers any insult or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to $5,000, or with both.
I was clearly not guilty under the section. The elements of the section were inapplicable in my case.
Offering an insult: It is well established that any law has to be clear and precise on it's face. The word "insult" is so vague and open to a million interpretations that no one could know one way or the other whether something is an "insult" or not. It is precisely for this reason that this section is clearly unenforceable and void.
For instance, would calling someone "fat" if he was in fact fat amount to an insult. It is like a court convicting a person under a law which says "it is unlawful to be a bad person". Clearly no one could know what is precisely a "bad person". One person's opinion would clearly be different from another.
This is exactly what I argued in court. I told Justice Kang that it would have been impossible for anyone beforehand to know what was an insult and what was not. And such laws have a chilling effect on all speech, where people would not want to offer any criticism lest the court finds that it amounts to an insult. This completely contravenes the supreme law of the land, the Constitution, which guarantees free speech and expression. Justice Kang had nothing to say on this point.
Second, I argued that if something I said amounted to the truth, it cannot amount to an insult. The dictionary definition of the word "prostituting ones position of judge" (see my earlier blog post Dec 3rd 2008) clearly defines it as a person who abuses his or her office for an odious purpose. With various examples in my blog post of May 29, 2008, I had described factually my reasons why I said this. What I said was the truth. And therefore how can stating the truth amount to an insult? To this, Justice Kang made a remark which was out of this world. He said, a remark can be an insult even if it was true. He said, to tell someone that "his father was a drunk and his mother is a bigamist" even if true amounted to an insult. To this, I told him that it should depend on the circumstances in which it was said, but it all fell, as was to be expected on deaf ears.
Examine these words: any insult or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding. Any reasonable reading of these words should mean that the defendant should have been physically present in court and either insulted the judge or interrupted the proceedings. I had never insulted Justice Ang in her court and neither did I interrupt her proceedings. Instead, I wrote a blog post criticizing her conduct as a judge. I had never asked her to read my blog post. Other people read my blog. But how can that amount to my insulting her, without even any action by me in her court.
Of course, the judge took no interest in anything I said and wholeheartedly agreed with the prosecutor that a) the insult need not be in her court even though the section clearly means this and b) it did not matter that I did not personally insult her. It was sufficient that others read it in my blog!
Examine these words: Sitting in any stage of judicial proceeding. The case, assessment of damages before Judge Ang in the High Court between Lee Kuan Yew and Dr. Chee took place from May 26 2008 and ended on May 28, 2008. Justice Ang then said that she will state the amount of damages at a later date. The court was no longer sitting in proceedings after May 28, 2008. There will not be any court hearings after this at all. All that will happen after May 28, 2008 is for the Judge, at some unspecified time in the future, to inform the parties by mail of the quantum of damages that Dr. Chee has to pay. I had written this blog post criticizing her on May 29, 2008 at which date, the court was no longer sitting. The hearing was concluded by then.
I therefore told Judge Kang that I cannot be guilty of the charge since the court was no longer sitting in proceedings. To this argument, Justice Kang stated that because Judge Ang had yet to decide on the quantum of damages, the court, believe it or not, was still "sitting in proceedings". What then, I asked Judge Kang, if Judge Ang does not decide on the quantum of damages for 2 years! Can it then be said that her court was sitting in proceedings for the full 2 years!
To anyone reading this section, "sitting in proceedings" has to mean only one thing, that is, the court has to be physically in session with parties arguing their case before it. Otherwise, by no stretch of imagination, can it ever be argued that it is. Again all this fell on deaf ears. His stand was that because Judge Ang was yet to deliver her judgement on the quantum of damages, her court was "still sitting in proceedings", even though the court was not in session! As far as he was concerned, there was nothing more to it.
And further proof that the Judge was misusing this law was this. The prosecutor could not find a single authority that had any similarity to my case. He relied on one case, the only one he could find. In that case, the defendant, being angry at the sentence ordered by the judge, yelled expletives at him in Tamil and damaged the dock in court!
Judge Kang during my trial in the High Court from Sept 08, 2008 to Sept 17, 2008 was not acting as a judge. He was a PAP politician, silencing criticism of Lee Kuan Yew and his courts. He was also using me to intimidate everyone else in the island of Singapore, warning them them not to criticize Lee Kuan Yew's government or his courts, regardless of how much they abuse the law. And if they did, they will be have to serve a prison sentence of 3 months, like me.
It is up to the reader of this blog to ponder over this question. Are you going to be bullied by Judge Kang and keep your mouth shut (because that is what he wants you to do) or are you going to say that you are a human being and will not allow him to intimidate you?
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
The Singapore Straits Times Report "Nair retracts apologies" Wednesday December 3rd 2008
Ladies and Gentlemen,
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.Any amount will be appreciated.When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair". Many thanks Gopalan Nair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The state controlled press, the Straits Times of Singapore of Dec 3, 2008, reports that 2 days after I reached American soil, I retracted any apology given in the Lee Kuan Yew controlled courts of Singapore, Court 15, Subordinate Courts, before Judge Leslie Chew. This is correct. All apologies are retracted. So is my undertaking not to write my mind on the dire lack of human rights, the shameful lack of independence of the courts and everything else that need to be addressed. I shall also be reposting the blog posts which I was required to remove of Sept 1 and Sept 6 of 2008 in this blog.
The newspaper report states that the Singapore attorney general is looking into my turn about. My advice to the Attorney General of Singapore is to do all he can and whatever he wants. But the sad fact, for him that is, I am on American soil. America is a free country.
If he determined to make a fool of himself, extradition is what he has to consider. To do that, Singapore has to apply through diplomatic channels to register the claim in a US court. A US court would then have to consider whether what I did would be a violation of the laws in Singapore. In considering the question, they will have to look into the question whether what I did would tantamount to a crime in the United States. It is here that Singapore would find themselves in a bind. America is a country of laws. And their judges are proud to defend those laws. Not like Singapore which uses its courts as their principle tool to silence dissent. There is no way that Singapore can even hope to succeed. But I would be glad if they tried, which would make me an even greater celebrity than what they already have made me.
Dictatorships all over the world use dirty tactics to stay in power for as long as they can. I say for as long as they can, because sooner or later they all collapse. One of these tactics is to unjustly condemn a man and then repeat that lie over and over, hoping that the lie will eventually take root.
The state controlled press report mentions that "In writing about the case on his blog, he insulted High Court judge Belinda Ang". This is a deliberate lie. This refers to my arrest and conviction for what I had written in my blog post Thursday, May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court. The material words which the Singapore Court relied on to convicted me before Justice Kan Ting Chiu of the Supreme Court were
"The judge Belinda Ang was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings, by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders. There was murder, the rule of law being the repeated victim."
The state controlled Singapore court with its complaint judge Kan Ting Chiu found that the words "prostituting herself during the entire proceedings", among other parts of the blog post, was an insult to her.
This is completely untrue. According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, other than the usual meaning of a prostitute being a street walker, it also means
a) to devote to corrupt or unworthy purposes, debase, e.g. to prostitute one's talents b) devoted to corrupt purposes c) a person who (as a writer or painter) who deliberately debases himself or his talents (as for money).
And this was exactly what Judge Belinda Ang did during those 3 days of May 26 to May 28, 2008 in the High Court of Singapore. Reading the blog you will see that my accusation is factually correct. She unashamedly, throughout the proceedings permitted her position of a judge to be used for Lee Kuan Yew and his son's advantage; not the not the interests of the law.
And I repeat those words I said again here. She undoubtedly "prostituted herself in her position as a judge" to serve the interests of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, the Prime Minister of Singapore.
Therefore there was no insult at all. My claim is factually correct. I am lawyer and I choose my words with discretion. But whatever the truth was, did not matter to Lee Kuan Yew's agent, Judge Kan Ting Chiu that day. He finds that I insulted the judge when there was no insult at all. And now, the state controlled Straits Times picks it up and repeats that defamation again and again hoping that people will believe that I had in fact insulted the judge.
And then another lie. The report reads " Separately in July he behaved in a disorderly fashion and hurled expletives at police officers". I did no such thing.
I was accosted by 5 men claiming to be police officers who demanded to see my particulars in Little India on the July 4th 2008 at about 8.30 pm in Race Course Road, Little India, Singapore. Not knowing who they were I refused. And a little later, I was arrested. Of course, I being Gopalan Nair, and a former Singapore opposition politician, they pressed charges and came up with anything they can imagine which included an accusation that I called one of the police officers "A Malay bastard" and that I was gesticulating with my hands.
The trial took 18 days. The police officers in an orchestrated fashion recited the same lies. In fact they could have said anything they wanted, even that I had tried to kill them and the Lee controlled court of Judge James Leong presiding, Court 16, Subordinate Court would have accepted it.
But the judge James Leong having accepted the lies, and convicts me of disorderly behavior and hurling expletives at police officers, the Singapore state controlled paper picks it up and repeats that lie again and again, hoping that somehow the Singapore public would believe that I am a man who goes around hurling abuses at police officers and being disorderly in public.
The Singapore government in their eagerness to tarnish the name of anyone that criticizes them is going about this entirely the wrong way. They should realize that they have chosen the wrong man to defame and punish. I denied both the Judge Belinda Ang case and the disorderly case, which took 18 days and 8 days of trial. They spent a great deal of money and effort. Perhaps they hoped that I would have pleaded guilty and left the country without much fuss. But my refusal to admit the charges and go to trial meant my staying in Singapore for 6 months, which was much more damaging to them.
During this long stay in Singapore, I was able to associate with Dr. Chee Soon Juan and members and activists of their party, understand the political situation in Singapore better and even assist in their political activism.
It increased awareness of may case among the Singapore public, where strangers used to come up to me and shake my hand with appreciation, my picture being on that paper almost everyday. My case received international attention with world bodies calling for my release and for the charges to be dropped. This blog overnight began to be read by almost everyone in Singapore who knew English.
All this, was not in the interests of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. If they had given it some thought and found out the sort of person I was, they would have done well to deport me the very day I wrote the blog. But they seem adamant to continue in their folly by their continued interest in me with their newspaper report of Dec 3, 2008.
If someone could advice the Singapore authorities and their state controlled newspaper that it is best to leave me alone for their own good. Of course I hope they would continue with this vendetta against me, because it greatly serves my purpose of exposing this regime of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore.
The report also states "Mr. Nair was admonished, warned against launching future attacks on the judiciary and had to pay the AGC (Singapore Attorney General) $5,000.00 in legal costs."
While I was in prison, a day before my release, Francis Lim, police officer from Central Police Station came to prison and gave me a letter from the Attorney General demanding that I pay about $6,000 (inclusive of their expenses) by November 26, 2008, which was the date of my banishment from Singapore Changi Airport. You would like to know that I have not paid this and I don't intend to pay this ever. And they made no attempt to stop me from leaving!
By way of parenthesis, you would like to know that in an earlier politically motivated case which partly resulted in my leaving Singapore in 1991 for good, another contempt of court case, an election rally speech in Bukit Merah where I stood as a Workers Party candidate in that by election, I was ordered to pay the Attorney General $13,000.00 which I have refused to pay, as I was already in the US by the time they worked out the figures. And not just that, about that time, I was suspended from practicing as a lawyer in Singapore for 2 years for writing a letter to the then Attorney General demanding that he explain himself on a matter relating to the late JB Jeyaretnam, another shameful political action, in which they worked out my liability for costs in access of, believe it or not, $150,000.00. I have not paid that either.
No other government would sit idly by when an individual mocks their court orders in this fashion. They would take every effort to go after that individual no matter where he was. But you see, the Singapore government is not any other country. All their bravado and their arrogance is only in that small island where they rule by intimidating people by abusing the law. They leave alone anyone outside their borders because they know that they are a morally bankrupt country which will not command the respect of anyone else. Not to say that Singaporeans respect their government or their legal system, but because of fear there is nothing they can do in that prison which is called Singapore.
I would have been satisfied even if a single human being had read this. But with the wide coverage that this blog gets, and with the grapevine, Singapore will hear this and will hear my side of the story.
Many thanks.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.Any amount will be appreciated.When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair". Many thanks Gopalan Nair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The state controlled press, the Straits Times of Singapore of Dec 3, 2008, reports that 2 days after I reached American soil, I retracted any apology given in the Lee Kuan Yew controlled courts of Singapore, Court 15, Subordinate Courts, before Judge Leslie Chew. This is correct. All apologies are retracted. So is my undertaking not to write my mind on the dire lack of human rights, the shameful lack of independence of the courts and everything else that need to be addressed. I shall also be reposting the blog posts which I was required to remove of Sept 1 and Sept 6 of 2008 in this blog.
The newspaper report states that the Singapore attorney general is looking into my turn about. My advice to the Attorney General of Singapore is to do all he can and whatever he wants. But the sad fact, for him that is, I am on American soil. America is a free country.
If he determined to make a fool of himself, extradition is what he has to consider. To do that, Singapore has to apply through diplomatic channels to register the claim in a US court. A US court would then have to consider whether what I did would be a violation of the laws in Singapore. In considering the question, they will have to look into the question whether what I did would tantamount to a crime in the United States. It is here that Singapore would find themselves in a bind. America is a country of laws. And their judges are proud to defend those laws. Not like Singapore which uses its courts as their principle tool to silence dissent. There is no way that Singapore can even hope to succeed. But I would be glad if they tried, which would make me an even greater celebrity than what they already have made me.
Dictatorships all over the world use dirty tactics to stay in power for as long as they can. I say for as long as they can, because sooner or later they all collapse. One of these tactics is to unjustly condemn a man and then repeat that lie over and over, hoping that the lie will eventually take root.
The state controlled press report mentions that "In writing about the case on his blog, he insulted High Court judge Belinda Ang". This is a deliberate lie. This refers to my arrest and conviction for what I had written in my blog post Thursday, May 29, 2008 Singapore. Judge Belinda Ang's Kangaroo Court. The material words which the Singapore Court relied on to convicted me before Justice Kan Ting Chiu of the Supreme Court were
"The judge Belinda Ang was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings, by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders. There was murder, the rule of law being the repeated victim."
The state controlled Singapore court with its complaint judge Kan Ting Chiu found that the words "prostituting herself during the entire proceedings", among other parts of the blog post, was an insult to her.
This is completely untrue. According to Webster’s Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary, other than the usual meaning of a prostitute being a street walker, it also means
a) to devote to corrupt or unworthy purposes, debase, e.g. to prostitute one's talents b) devoted to corrupt purposes c) a person who (as a writer or painter) who deliberately debases himself or his talents (as for money).
And this was exactly what Judge Belinda Ang did during those 3 days of May 26 to May 28, 2008 in the High Court of Singapore. Reading the blog you will see that my accusation is factually correct. She unashamedly, throughout the proceedings permitted her position of a judge to be used for Lee Kuan Yew and his son's advantage; not the not the interests of the law.
And I repeat those words I said again here. She undoubtedly "prostituted herself in her position as a judge" to serve the interests of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, the Prime Minister of Singapore.
Therefore there was no insult at all. My claim is factually correct. I am lawyer and I choose my words with discretion. But whatever the truth was, did not matter to Lee Kuan Yew's agent, Judge Kan Ting Chiu that day. He finds that I insulted the judge when there was no insult at all. And now, the state controlled Straits Times picks it up and repeats that defamation again and again hoping that people will believe that I had in fact insulted the judge.
And then another lie. The report reads " Separately in July he behaved in a disorderly fashion and hurled expletives at police officers". I did no such thing.
I was accosted by 5 men claiming to be police officers who demanded to see my particulars in Little India on the July 4th 2008 at about 8.30 pm in Race Course Road, Little India, Singapore. Not knowing who they were I refused. And a little later, I was arrested. Of course, I being Gopalan Nair, and a former Singapore opposition politician, they pressed charges and came up with anything they can imagine which included an accusation that I called one of the police officers "A Malay bastard" and that I was gesticulating with my hands.
The trial took 18 days. The police officers in an orchestrated fashion recited the same lies. In fact they could have said anything they wanted, even that I had tried to kill them and the Lee controlled court of Judge James Leong presiding, Court 16, Subordinate Court would have accepted it.
But the judge James Leong having accepted the lies, and convicts me of disorderly behavior and hurling expletives at police officers, the Singapore state controlled paper picks it up and repeats that lie again and again, hoping that somehow the Singapore public would believe that I am a man who goes around hurling abuses at police officers and being disorderly in public.
The Singapore government in their eagerness to tarnish the name of anyone that criticizes them is going about this entirely the wrong way. They should realize that they have chosen the wrong man to defame and punish. I denied both the Judge Belinda Ang case and the disorderly case, which took 18 days and 8 days of trial. They spent a great deal of money and effort. Perhaps they hoped that I would have pleaded guilty and left the country without much fuss. But my refusal to admit the charges and go to trial meant my staying in Singapore for 6 months, which was much more damaging to them.
During this long stay in Singapore, I was able to associate with Dr. Chee Soon Juan and members and activists of their party, understand the political situation in Singapore better and even assist in their political activism.
It increased awareness of may case among the Singapore public, where strangers used to come up to me and shake my hand with appreciation, my picture being on that paper almost everyday. My case received international attention with world bodies calling for my release and for the charges to be dropped. This blog overnight began to be read by almost everyone in Singapore who knew English.
All this, was not in the interests of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore. If they had given it some thought and found out the sort of person I was, they would have done well to deport me the very day I wrote the blog. But they seem adamant to continue in their folly by their continued interest in me with their newspaper report of Dec 3, 2008.
If someone could advice the Singapore authorities and their state controlled newspaper that it is best to leave me alone for their own good. Of course I hope they would continue with this vendetta against me, because it greatly serves my purpose of exposing this regime of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore.
The report also states "Mr. Nair was admonished, warned against launching future attacks on the judiciary and had to pay the AGC (Singapore Attorney General) $5,000.00 in legal costs."
While I was in prison, a day before my release, Francis Lim, police officer from Central Police Station came to prison and gave me a letter from the Attorney General demanding that I pay about $6,000 (inclusive of their expenses) by November 26, 2008, which was the date of my banishment from Singapore Changi Airport. You would like to know that I have not paid this and I don't intend to pay this ever. And they made no attempt to stop me from leaving!
By way of parenthesis, you would like to know that in an earlier politically motivated case which partly resulted in my leaving Singapore in 1991 for good, another contempt of court case, an election rally speech in Bukit Merah where I stood as a Workers Party candidate in that by election, I was ordered to pay the Attorney General $13,000.00 which I have refused to pay, as I was already in the US by the time they worked out the figures. And not just that, about that time, I was suspended from practicing as a lawyer in Singapore for 2 years for writing a letter to the then Attorney General demanding that he explain himself on a matter relating to the late JB Jeyaretnam, another shameful political action, in which they worked out my liability for costs in access of, believe it or not, $150,000.00. I have not paid that either.
No other government would sit idly by when an individual mocks their court orders in this fashion. They would take every effort to go after that individual no matter where he was. But you see, the Singapore government is not any other country. All their bravado and their arrogance is only in that small island where they rule by intimidating people by abusing the law. They leave alone anyone outside their borders because they know that they are a morally bankrupt country which will not command the respect of anyone else. Not to say that Singaporeans respect their government or their legal system, but because of fear there is nothing they can do in that prison which is called Singapore.
I would have been satisfied even if a single human being had read this. But with the wide coverage that this blog gets, and with the grapevine, Singapore will hear this and will hear my side of the story.
Many thanks.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Adventure
Ladies and Gentlemen,
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.Any amount will be appreciated.When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair". Many thanks
Gopalan Nair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Can I share some stirring words with you. I had lunch today in Chinese restaurant and the fortune cookie had this
"the only people who never fail are those who never try"
While in Queenstown Prison Singapore for 60 days for writing a blog post in this blog, which the Lee Kuan Yew government calls insulting a judge, I read a novel, which name I forget which had this, of which I am guilty,
"self delusion is a pre-condition for any act of consequence".
Someone who died rounding Cape Horn in the BOC Round the World Single Handed Yacht Race, his name was Harry something, which I forget. He was washed off his deck trying to round the Horn in the Roaring Forties in 70 knot gale. His life line saftey harness snapped. The Chilean Navy tried to search but had to leave because they could not operate at night. The Australian navy came later. Harry was never found. His words,
"life should be one long adventure, or it is nothing"
When I look back at my ordeal in Singapore, it is true that at the time it was hard. But now when I revisit it in my mind, it was one of the greatest adventures of my life. And to come back to shambles in California and having to pick up from where I started, is another adventure.
You can say this again, my life has been a roller coaster. But you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way. I agree entirely with Harry.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.Any amount will be appreciated.When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair". Many thanks
Gopalan Nair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Can I share some stirring words with you. I had lunch today in Chinese restaurant and the fortune cookie had this
"the only people who never fail are those who never try"
While in Queenstown Prison Singapore for 60 days for writing a blog post in this blog, which the Lee Kuan Yew government calls insulting a judge, I read a novel, which name I forget which had this, of which I am guilty,
"self delusion is a pre-condition for any act of consequence".
Someone who died rounding Cape Horn in the BOC Round the World Single Handed Yacht Race, his name was Harry something, which I forget. He was washed off his deck trying to round the Horn in the Roaring Forties in 70 knot gale. His life line saftey harness snapped. The Chilean Navy tried to search but had to leave because they could not operate at night. The Australian navy came later. Harry was never found. His words,
"life should be one long adventure, or it is nothing"
When I look back at my ordeal in Singapore, it is true that at the time it was hard. But now when I revisit it in my mind, it was one of the greatest adventures of my life. And to come back to shambles in California and having to pick up from where I started, is another adventure.
You can say this again, my life has been a roller coaster. But you know what, I wouldn't have it any other way. I agree entirely with Harry.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
The continued need to expose this dictatorship.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.Any amount will be appreciated.When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair".
Many thanks Gopalan Nair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Every Singaporean, yes, I mean every Singaporean, knows that Lee Kuan Yew rules through fear. That the payment he calls salary of $3.7 million is in fact corruption by another word. The same applies to all his Ministers who are thieves just like him. Everyone knows that he may in fact be taking even more money without telling it. Everyone knows that if any Singaporean were to question him about it, he will be destroyed. And everyone knows that the method he uses for the destruction is his courts. And we all know that his courts are his tools to silence and destroy his opponents. Everyone knows this. He too knows that everyone knows this.
So my purpose is to say it as it is. Call a rat a rat, and not rabbit, because it is not. So saying this publicly; publicly calling his judges corrupt is necessary. As with more people publicly saying this, his control weakens, because he only stays in power as long as the people believe in him. When, as is now, the entire public treat him and his courts as a pretence, and the office holders pretenders; consequences damaging follow.
Singaporeans leave the country. Those remaining in Singapore live in a unhealthy state of self denial. It makes them lose interest in what they do, lose interest in their jobs, and they worry about their futures. Their children's futures.
So my purpose is quite clear. I say these things publicly. Yes it is true, I now write from the protection of the United States, but that makes no difference to my object. Which is to publicly expose this dictatorship. Which I believe is bad for Singapore, it's people and it's children.
Needless to say, you in Singapore face unimaginable hardships if you were to write like me. You will suffer the wrath of the dictator. But I say this. What choice do you have? Would you rather continue to live in silence and in fear and shame, or would you rather stand up like a man, and live like a man.
I have made my choice as you can see. I live in America. But it is you that has to make this choice as to how you live. I may be criticized for saying that living like a man is preferable anytime to living like sheep, because I live in America, but I cant help it. This is where I am.
I have not said much more than you already know, but it still has to be said. And I said it.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.Any amount will be appreciated.When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair".
Many thanks Gopalan Nair
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Every Singaporean, yes, I mean every Singaporean, knows that Lee Kuan Yew rules through fear. That the payment he calls salary of $3.7 million is in fact corruption by another word. The same applies to all his Ministers who are thieves just like him. Everyone knows that he may in fact be taking even more money without telling it. Everyone knows that if any Singaporean were to question him about it, he will be destroyed. And everyone knows that the method he uses for the destruction is his courts. And we all know that his courts are his tools to silence and destroy his opponents. Everyone knows this. He too knows that everyone knows this.
So my purpose is to say it as it is. Call a rat a rat, and not rabbit, because it is not. So saying this publicly; publicly calling his judges corrupt is necessary. As with more people publicly saying this, his control weakens, because he only stays in power as long as the people believe in him. When, as is now, the entire public treat him and his courts as a pretence, and the office holders pretenders; consequences damaging follow.
Singaporeans leave the country. Those remaining in Singapore live in a unhealthy state of self denial. It makes them lose interest in what they do, lose interest in their jobs, and they worry about their futures. Their children's futures.
So my purpose is quite clear. I say these things publicly. Yes it is true, I now write from the protection of the United States, but that makes no difference to my object. Which is to publicly expose this dictatorship. Which I believe is bad for Singapore, it's people and it's children.
Needless to say, you in Singapore face unimaginable hardships if you were to write like me. You will suffer the wrath of the dictator. But I say this. What choice do you have? Would you rather continue to live in silence and in fear and shame, or would you rather stand up like a man, and live like a man.
I have made my choice as you can see. I live in America. But it is you that has to make this choice as to how you live. I may be criticized for saying that living like a man is preferable anytime to living like sheep, because I live in America, but I cant help it. This is where I am.
I have not said much more than you already know, but it still has to be said. And I said it.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Monday, December 1, 2008
An appeal for donations
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.
If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.
Any amount will be appreciated.
When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair".
Many thanks
Gopalan Nair
As you are aware, my forced stay in Singapore for 6 months by the Singapore government by their holding my passport and preventing me to travel, has resulted in severe financial burden to me. I have to get my law practice back into swing and get all other small matters taken care of. I am therefore badly in need of financial assistance. Your donations at this time will be greatly appreciated.
If you can donate, please send the moneys through Western Union which is available at any post office in Singapore. Same applies to those in other countries.
Any amount will be appreciated.
When sending the funds, please email me the reference number to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com. Payable to "Gopalan Nair".
Many thanks
Gopalan Nair
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