Ladies and Gentlemen,
All dictatorships with time become all powerful, above the law and beyond accountability. And that is when they begin to forget, what if they are no longer in power.
Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew and Son's greatest worry has to be their nepotism and corruption on an industrial scale. In Singapore we are not talking about a few hundred dollars stolen by one minister or other. We are talking of official salaries of no less than $3.7 million a year, paid to bed ridden Lee Kuan Yew, his son appointed prime Minister and each and every Minister in government. Not just this outrageous amount but hidden bonuses as well each year amount to 6 to 7 months salary, government linked company dividends for directorships and who knows what else. The total amount of money each of these men takes is not clearly known but it is anybody's guess; $10 million, $20 million or hundreds a year for decades!
This is not a case of Mobutu of the Congo stealing some diamonds occasionally into his Swiss bank accounts. This is open corruption which they steal every each year for decades, all tax payers money. These are crooks of the highest order, the most corrupt government in the whole world.
And then we have nepotism on a grand scale. Almost each and every Minister except for the Tamil ones like K Shanmugam, for obvious reasons, are all related to Lee Kuan Yew extended family. You have Ho Ching, wife of Lee Kuan Yew's son who is appointed Temasek Holdings chief, a state wealth fund boss, although she knows nothing about business. In reality she does nothing, except staying at home and doing her hair and nails, for, I do not know how many millions. The ones who run it are of course paid managers.
The island's state controlled newspaper Straits times has the report "Opposition Singapore Democratic party launches campaign for next general elections" Jan 10, 2015 http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/saturday/news/singapore/more-singapore-stories/story/opposition-singapore-democratic-party-launches-campaign. According to it, they are vigorously working towards the next general election.
Can you imagine what happens to any dictatorship, like Lee's Singapore, in such an event? Invariably the incoming government holds the outgoing dictators to account. Questions will be asked? Why did you steal $10 million each year of tax payers money? Where is the money? We want that money? And in third world countries, usually the incoming government just murders the outgoing dictators. Or they put them on trial to account for their actions. Will that ever happen to Lee Kuan Yew and his family and friends in their Peoples Action Party, the dictatorship that has ruled Singapore ever since independence, 1959?
And then you have the injustice in their Kangaroo Courts. Will the judges who sent JB Jeyaretnam into bankruptcy, to jail and eventually to his death accountable. Will they hold the shamelessly corrupt judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean who sent opposition politician Chee Soon Juan to bankruptcy and jail be put on trial herself and sent to jail for abusing the law?
Will judge Kan Ting Chiu who sent me to jail for 3 months in 2008 while in Singapore when I correctly stated in this blog that Judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean "prostituted" herself as a judge when she found Chee Soon Juan guilty of defaming Lee Kuan Yew, be himself tried and sent to jail?
I think it would be simply impossible for the Lee government to ever allow this to happen. It would be too high a price to pay. They have too much to answer for. It would very probably be arrest trial and imprisonment for each and every one of these dictators and their henchmen. Even if they fled the island, there is always the possibility of extradition trial and imprisonment.
In this dire scenario, it is most unlikely that they can ever lose their grip on power. They will hold on at any cost. If they knew they are losing, they would simply stuff the ballot boxes or call out the military. They are in a fix just like any other dictatorship which thinks they can do anything they want and get away with it. Eventually every single dictatorship realizes that it is not so easy. One day someone may come after you. Nothing is eternal. And at that time, things begin to get ugly.
The Lee government is now at the cross roads. Their position is today dangerously precarious. The educated Singapore population is far too small. The vast majority have already left for settlement abroad. Children are not being born in the island. It has the lowest fertility rate in the world, and the largest ageing population. All this is within a tiny population of just about a million locals and 4 million foreigners.
The economy is too fragile and volatile. It is almost entirely dependent on foreign money. If there is the slightest economic uncertainty, the first people to leave would be the foreigners many of who have been recently given citizenship to boost the numbers. With them, the money would flow out.
Lee Kuan Yew and son's PAP government survives almost entirely on this foreign investment remaining in the island. Once the money flows out, the Lee government will also collapse.
Moreover, one of the pillars of this fragile economy hopelessly dependent on foreign capital is the existence, precarious at the moment, of the 92 year old bedridden Lee Kuan Yew in poor health, the Singaporean dictator. When he dies, which is going to be soon, it will give a jolt to the stability of that fragile economy. That is when I suppose it will be time for Lee Kuan Yew's son and company along with their millions to take the first flight out.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Saturday, January 10, 2015
Friday, January 9, 2015
Singapore lawyer Subhas Anandan deceased. Defender of the oppressed or willing accomplice to their Kangaroo Courts
Ladies and Gentlemen,
For several days now, Singapore's state controlled newspapers have been printing headlines on the death of a Singapore lawyer of Indian extraction, Subhas Anandan as if was he was the greatest legal mind the island has ever seen since Magna Carta. Here is the first article that appeared among a to series since the 7th of January 2014 which reads "Veteran Criminal Lawyer Subhas Anandan dies of heart failure aged 67" http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/veteran-criminal-lawyer-subhas-anandan-dies-aged-67
Below is a picture of his presumably in contemplation.
Since the first day of news of his death, all Singapore newspapers, TV and media, all of them state controlled have been running on a daily basis, accolades, and praises , so many and so mighty that you would have thought Mahatma Gandhi was pipsqueak compared to him
What I am about to say about this man, unfortunately is not very much. I have known Subhas Anandan ever since 1981 after returning to Singapore from England to practice law. I practiced law in Singapore for 10 years during which time I had joined the opposition Workers Party and contested 2 national elections against Lee's Peoples Action Party in 1988 and 1991. I lost both times. As is the practice of Lee Kuan Yew, his son and their ruling party, anyone who openly like me, challenges them politically has to be destroyed.
As a result I was repeatedly persecuted with attorney discipline, contempt of court charges and repeated harassment. Not wanting to be a victim any longer I left Singapore permanently for the United States in December 1991.
In the early 1980s Subhas Anandan was a great supporter of the late JB Jeyaretnam, the leader of the Workers Party. He represented Jeyaretnam many times for trumped criminal charges laid on by Lee's PAP government. I had great admiration for Subhas Anandan then.
After a while, suddenly Subhas Anandan was no longer prepared to be Jeyaretnam's lawyer. Jeyaretnam had to defend himself. I never knew what the reason for the abrupt U turn but I can guess. I suppose he realized that being seen as the defender of Jeyaretnam, an arch enemy of Singapore's supreme leader is not going to advance his legal career. So out goes his once upon a time principles and in comes the rewards of licking Lee Kuan Yew's boots.
I am not sure how else he was a Lee Kuan Yew collaborator. There are rumors that he was the eyes and ears of Lee Kuan Yew among lawyers reporting on who is on this side and who is on the other. Francis Seow in one of his books refers to Subahs Anandan as a possible Lee Kuan Yew spy but admits he has no evidence.
Other than these suspicions which may be no more than conspiracy theories, there can be no doubt of one fact. Although he knew that Lee Kuan Yew's courts were nothing more than Kangaroo Courts one of whose principal activity was punishing political opponents through abusing legal process, throughout his 40 odd years in practice he made no effort in trying to correct it. He simply went along.
In Singapore criminal defendants have no right to counsel until police investigations are completed. Another way of saying it is that criminal defendants are allowed counsel only after they have confessed under torture, beatings, threats and intimidation. You don't need to be a legal eagle to know that after the accused has confessed, a lawyer is of not much use thereafter.
Most if not all Subhas Anandan's clients had all confessed. If they didn't they wouldn't be charged in the first place. In fact nearly all his clients were hung if charged for murder. His job is not so much arguing that the state failed to follow the Constitution but instead principally to say a good word on behalf of his Client to the judge, since after all he is one lawyer definitely in the good books of Lee Kuan Yew and son who control everything including the courts. In Singapore courts, it pays to have Lee's friend on your side.
Subhas Anandan has, you could say, the PAP seal of approval. One example of his support for the dictatorship and one party state, is his having no objection to Singapore's lack of individual freedoms. He has nothing to say about critics of Lee being sued for defamation and bankrupted, he has no objection if free speech is denied, peaceful assembly is illegal and according to him, Singapore's courts are the best in the world and known for impartial justice, even though they are presided over by Kangaroos.
With unfailing support like that, Subhas Anandan becomes a PAP man all round. And one thing about Lee Kuan Yew and his son, as is the case with most dictators in the world, they never forget your loyalty and will reward you handsomely.
So the Lee government, in order to reward Subhas's loyalty uses their state controlled newspapers at their disposal to advertise and promote his legal practice. It is repeatedly advertised in their propaganda pages that Subhas Anandan is the best criminal lawyer in Singapore after the late David Marshall.
With free advertisement and publicity, thanks to his benefactor, naturally every single criminal went to him, not because he was any great lawyer, since there can be none in Singapore under the state controlled courts, but because it helps to have a lawyer who is on the side of the dictators with their seal of approval. So if you were a criminal and had lots of money, you went to Subhas because he could pull some backroom deal with the powers up there and get you off.
The late JB Jeyaretnam was a brilliant criminal lawyer. But the moment he stood against Lee Kuan Yew politically, his once lucrative law practice took a nose dive. He hardly had any cases thereafter. Clients did not go to Jeyaretnam once he became political opposition not because he was a bad lawyer, but because the client knows that in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore it is suicidal to be represented by a man like him. Your case is as good as lost even before you step into the courtroom.
For those who do not really understand the Singapore legal system, let me tell you this.
It is a disgraceful charade. You can look at it this way. What happens is not a trial and a test to see whether the state has complied with Constitutional requirements or that the man is guilty.
His guilt is usually decided even before he steps into the courtroom. The trial, if there is one (usually most defendants plead guilty) is usually just an opportunity for the defense to plead to the judge and the prosecutor to let his client off. If the judge feels for you, he may on occasion do so. Very often he does not. But if you had any connection with opposition politics, you stand no chance at all, regardless of the nature of your case.
Chee Soon Juan was an implacable critic of Lee Kuan Yew. He still is. He was charged numerous times for civil disobedience and repeatedly sent to jail. Invariably Chee defended himself, not because he did not want a lawyer but because no lawyer in the entire island, including Subhas Anandan refused to represent him. Subhas obviously did not want to ruin his career by defending a staunch Lee Kuan Yew critic.
He once was reported to have said, give me murderers, rapists and the worst possible criminal. But please no opposition politicians. What a disgraceful lawyer to say that.
According to Lee Kuan Yew's state controlled newspapers, the best criminal lawyer, is Subhas Anandan who has represented all manner of criminals. Subhas also has the seal of approval of the Lee Kuan Yew government. On the other side, the best civil lawyer according to Lee's state controlled newspapers is a man called Davinder Singh. He is the principle lawyer for both Lee Kuan Yew and his son to sue their political opponents for defamation of character and bankrupt them.
So you can see what sort of a lawyer you have to be in order to be given a Lee Kuan Yew seal of approval. If a criminal lawyer, make no objection of Constitutional human rights violations and proclaim Singapore criminal justice system as the best in the world for getting confessions first and defense counsel later. If a civil lawyer, represent Lee Kuan Yew and son in the Kangaroo courts and make bankrupts of any political critic.
My name is Gopalan Nair. I used to practice law in Singapore but according to them I am a very bad lawyer. I was disbarred in Singapore. I obviously did not have the seal of approval of Lee Kuan Yew and Son, I objected to Singapore's human rights violations, I called their courts Kangaroo, which they are, and I repeatedly criticized their one party state from within Singapore and now from the safety of Fremont California, USA. They don't like me at all, and when I die, they are not going to proclaim eulogies and accolades in their state controlled newspapers for me on a daily basis or at all. In fact if the PAP government is still running, I would not have even existed at all!
In fact I hope they don't say anything good about me, because if they did, it is in fact clear evidence that I have become another Subhas Anandan who has forgot where he put his spine, his principles, his honor or his conscience. I rather continue to be a bad lawyer in the Singapore books anytime, thanks very much.
In 2008 when I was in Singapore during my fateful trip which resulted in my being arrested for writing a blog critical of the disgusting judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, I met Subhas while walking along the Subordinate Courts to attend my trial for disorderly behavior, one of the many trumped politically motivated charges against me. Although I had no intention to meet him he came up to me to shake my hand. Out of courtesy I did. Perhaps he felt it could somehow reduce the guilt he carries by shaking my hand, a Lee Kuan Yew victim, being punished for criticizing him.
Subahs Anandan may have medically died of a heart attack. But the real reason why he died was because his soul was broken. His spirit was broken. Looking in the mirror at his age, he must have been reminded of a wasted life. He never had the courage to stand up to the truth, because the truth in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore was just too hard. The truth meant, less success at the bar and having to face repeated persecution and harassment at the hands of Lee.
JB Jeyaretnam was not only the best criminal lawyer, he was also a real leader with some real spine and character. At least he could have looked his face in the mirror and said I have stood by my honor. Subhas Anandan on the other hand was a man of expediency, who made his career under Lee Kuan Yew, licking his masters boots.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
For several days now, Singapore's state controlled newspapers have been printing headlines on the death of a Singapore lawyer of Indian extraction, Subhas Anandan as if was he was the greatest legal mind the island has ever seen since Magna Carta. Here is the first article that appeared among a to series since the 7th of January 2014 which reads "Veteran Criminal Lawyer Subhas Anandan dies of heart failure aged 67" http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/veteran-criminal-lawyer-subhas-anandan-dies-aged-67
Below is a picture of his presumably in contemplation.
Since the first day of news of his death, all Singapore newspapers, TV and media, all of them state controlled have been running on a daily basis, accolades, and praises , so many and so mighty that you would have thought Mahatma Gandhi was pipsqueak compared to him
What I am about to say about this man, unfortunately is not very much. I have known Subhas Anandan ever since 1981 after returning to Singapore from England to practice law. I practiced law in Singapore for 10 years during which time I had joined the opposition Workers Party and contested 2 national elections against Lee's Peoples Action Party in 1988 and 1991. I lost both times. As is the practice of Lee Kuan Yew, his son and their ruling party, anyone who openly like me, challenges them politically has to be destroyed.
As a result I was repeatedly persecuted with attorney discipline, contempt of court charges and repeated harassment. Not wanting to be a victim any longer I left Singapore permanently for the United States in December 1991.
In the early 1980s Subhas Anandan was a great supporter of the late JB Jeyaretnam, the leader of the Workers Party. He represented Jeyaretnam many times for trumped criminal charges laid on by Lee's PAP government. I had great admiration for Subhas Anandan then.
After a while, suddenly Subhas Anandan was no longer prepared to be Jeyaretnam's lawyer. Jeyaretnam had to defend himself. I never knew what the reason for the abrupt U turn but I can guess. I suppose he realized that being seen as the defender of Jeyaretnam, an arch enemy of Singapore's supreme leader is not going to advance his legal career. So out goes his once upon a time principles and in comes the rewards of licking Lee Kuan Yew's boots.
I am not sure how else he was a Lee Kuan Yew collaborator. There are rumors that he was the eyes and ears of Lee Kuan Yew among lawyers reporting on who is on this side and who is on the other. Francis Seow in one of his books refers to Subahs Anandan as a possible Lee Kuan Yew spy but admits he has no evidence.
Other than these suspicions which may be no more than conspiracy theories, there can be no doubt of one fact. Although he knew that Lee Kuan Yew's courts were nothing more than Kangaroo Courts one of whose principal activity was punishing political opponents through abusing legal process, throughout his 40 odd years in practice he made no effort in trying to correct it. He simply went along.
In Singapore criminal defendants have no right to counsel until police investigations are completed. Another way of saying it is that criminal defendants are allowed counsel only after they have confessed under torture, beatings, threats and intimidation. You don't need to be a legal eagle to know that after the accused has confessed, a lawyer is of not much use thereafter.
Most if not all Subhas Anandan's clients had all confessed. If they didn't they wouldn't be charged in the first place. In fact nearly all his clients were hung if charged for murder. His job is not so much arguing that the state failed to follow the Constitution but instead principally to say a good word on behalf of his Client to the judge, since after all he is one lawyer definitely in the good books of Lee Kuan Yew and son who control everything including the courts. In Singapore courts, it pays to have Lee's friend on your side.
Subhas Anandan has, you could say, the PAP seal of approval. One example of his support for the dictatorship and one party state, is his having no objection to Singapore's lack of individual freedoms. He has nothing to say about critics of Lee being sued for defamation and bankrupted, he has no objection if free speech is denied, peaceful assembly is illegal and according to him, Singapore's courts are the best in the world and known for impartial justice, even though they are presided over by Kangaroos.
With unfailing support like that, Subhas Anandan becomes a PAP man all round. And one thing about Lee Kuan Yew and his son, as is the case with most dictators in the world, they never forget your loyalty and will reward you handsomely.
So the Lee government, in order to reward Subhas's loyalty uses their state controlled newspapers at their disposal to advertise and promote his legal practice. It is repeatedly advertised in their propaganda pages that Subhas Anandan is the best criminal lawyer in Singapore after the late David Marshall.
With free advertisement and publicity, thanks to his benefactor, naturally every single criminal went to him, not because he was any great lawyer, since there can be none in Singapore under the state controlled courts, but because it helps to have a lawyer who is on the side of the dictators with their seal of approval. So if you were a criminal and had lots of money, you went to Subhas because he could pull some backroom deal with the powers up there and get you off.
The late JB Jeyaretnam was a brilliant criminal lawyer. But the moment he stood against Lee Kuan Yew politically, his once lucrative law practice took a nose dive. He hardly had any cases thereafter. Clients did not go to Jeyaretnam once he became political opposition not because he was a bad lawyer, but because the client knows that in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore it is suicidal to be represented by a man like him. Your case is as good as lost even before you step into the courtroom.
For those who do not really understand the Singapore legal system, let me tell you this.
It is a disgraceful charade. You can look at it this way. What happens is not a trial and a test to see whether the state has complied with Constitutional requirements or that the man is guilty.
His guilt is usually decided even before he steps into the courtroom. The trial, if there is one (usually most defendants plead guilty) is usually just an opportunity for the defense to plead to the judge and the prosecutor to let his client off. If the judge feels for you, he may on occasion do so. Very often he does not. But if you had any connection with opposition politics, you stand no chance at all, regardless of the nature of your case.
Chee Soon Juan was an implacable critic of Lee Kuan Yew. He still is. He was charged numerous times for civil disobedience and repeatedly sent to jail. Invariably Chee defended himself, not because he did not want a lawyer but because no lawyer in the entire island, including Subhas Anandan refused to represent him. Subhas obviously did not want to ruin his career by defending a staunch Lee Kuan Yew critic.
He once was reported to have said, give me murderers, rapists and the worst possible criminal. But please no opposition politicians. What a disgraceful lawyer to say that.
According to Lee Kuan Yew's state controlled newspapers, the best criminal lawyer, is Subhas Anandan who has represented all manner of criminals. Subhas also has the seal of approval of the Lee Kuan Yew government. On the other side, the best civil lawyer according to Lee's state controlled newspapers is a man called Davinder Singh. He is the principle lawyer for both Lee Kuan Yew and his son to sue their political opponents for defamation of character and bankrupt them.
So you can see what sort of a lawyer you have to be in order to be given a Lee Kuan Yew seal of approval. If a criminal lawyer, make no objection of Constitutional human rights violations and proclaim Singapore criminal justice system as the best in the world for getting confessions first and defense counsel later. If a civil lawyer, represent Lee Kuan Yew and son in the Kangaroo courts and make bankrupts of any political critic.
My name is Gopalan Nair. I used to practice law in Singapore but according to them I am a very bad lawyer. I was disbarred in Singapore. I obviously did not have the seal of approval of Lee Kuan Yew and Son, I objected to Singapore's human rights violations, I called their courts Kangaroo, which they are, and I repeatedly criticized their one party state from within Singapore and now from the safety of Fremont California, USA. They don't like me at all, and when I die, they are not going to proclaim eulogies and accolades in their state controlled newspapers for me on a daily basis or at all. In fact if the PAP government is still running, I would not have even existed at all!
In fact I hope they don't say anything good about me, because if they did, it is in fact clear evidence that I have become another Subhas Anandan who has forgot where he put his spine, his principles, his honor or his conscience. I rather continue to be a bad lawyer in the Singapore books anytime, thanks very much.
In 2008 when I was in Singapore during my fateful trip which resulted in my being arrested for writing a blog critical of the disgusting judge Belinda Ang Saw Ean, I met Subhas while walking along the Subordinate Courts to attend my trial for disorderly behavior, one of the many trumped politically motivated charges against me. Although I had no intention to meet him he came up to me to shake my hand. Out of courtesy I did. Perhaps he felt it could somehow reduce the guilt he carries by shaking my hand, a Lee Kuan Yew victim, being punished for criticizing him.
Subahs Anandan may have medically died of a heart attack. But the real reason why he died was because his soul was broken. His spirit was broken. Looking in the mirror at his age, he must have been reminded of a wasted life. He never had the courage to stand up to the truth, because the truth in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore was just too hard. The truth meant, less success at the bar and having to face repeated persecution and harassment at the hands of Lee.
JB Jeyaretnam was not only the best criminal lawyer, he was also a real leader with some real spine and character. At least he could have looked his face in the mirror and said I have stood by my honor. Subhas Anandan on the other hand was a man of expediency, who made his career under Lee Kuan Yew, licking his masters boots.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Saturday, January 3, 2015
Singapore island's submissive obedient population under the Lee family's island dictatorship.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
In spite of the island government's claim, tiny Singapore island is a one party dictatorship presently run by the former dictator Lee Kuan Yew who handed over power to his son.
Although there is a Constitution in the books not dissimilar to any other constitution of any other democracy, it is totally ignored.
Lee Kuan Yew who is allegedly 92 senile and does not do any work pays himself $3.7 million a year in official salary and so does his son, the Prime Minister and every other minister in Cabinet.
In effect these salaries each are 5 times officially that of President Obama. If you added the money they take in hidden bonuses and perks it will amount to much more.
This is clearly corruption on an industrial scale.
But Singaporeans have no objection.
Except for the Internet where some complain anonymously, there are no mass protests against this, and these people continue stealing the money without any opposition.
There is no free press.
All newspapers are state owned and print state propaganda each day.
So are the TV Stations and all media outlets.
It is illegal for an independent news service to operate in Singapore without government permission.
The Constitutional requirements of the right of free speech expression and assembly are all prohibited.
They live as they do in North Korea liable to be arrested if they did any one of this.
The courts are Kangaroo Courts as in North Korea where the judges are required to dish out sentences to punish political opponents and reward government supporters.
In spite of flagrant denials of rights of the individual, surprisingly there is no opposition against this in the Singapore island peopled predominantly by ethnic Chinese, the favored race of Lee Kuan Yew and his son who are themselves Chinese.
Lee Sr. had repeatedly in the past said that Chinese are far superior race than the local Malays or ethnic Indians because the Chinese are hardworking and everyone else is lazy and dummies.
It may appear strange why a society of relatively high educational standards and affluence should put up with such nonsense, but having been born and a citizen of the island by birth and a victim of their repression, I can suggest several reasons.
Although the Chinese race are not entirely a submissive and supine lot (look at the Chinese revolutionaries in China of 1949 and the recent Hong Kong democracy protesters) the Singapore version of Chinese are.
The Singaporean Chinese derives from Southern coastal China stock, comprised mainly of small mum and dad corner shop tradesmen who had no interest in politics.
For them the only thing important was to make money and ideas such as democracy was irrelevant.
It made no difference if Lee Kuan Yew paid himself $3.7 million or $70 million as long as they were left alone to make some money.
The other reason is the changing demography of the island today.
The original native population of the island, of which I mean those who were born there and whose parents had come to the island in the 1920s or 30s or even before is fast shrinking to extinction.
Of the 3 million or so some years ago, there are no more than perhaps 1.5 million today or less and due to the lowest fertility rate in the world and massive on-going brain drain to the West, will disappear entirely in just one generation.
These native Singaporeans have been brainwashed and intimidated so much so that they have a mortal fear of opposing the regime.
Over the years anyone in open opposition to their regime has been repeatedly punished, fined imprisoned and bankrupted and their faces shown in headlines in the state controlled press.
Examples of these victims are JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan, Tang Liang Hong and myself.
These locals have been effectively taught the message and chiseled into their minds that any opposition to the dictators is suicidal and a path to destruction and penury.
So, unless you want to suffer the fate of JB Jeyaretnem, local Singapore citizens simply refuse to protest these injustices, not because they are not aware of it, but because they are afraid as to what will happen to them if they did.
To compensate for the local population going extinct, they bring in plane loads of ethnic Chinese from wherever they are found.
In fact as along as your were Chinese and had some qualifications, it did not matter if you were from the outer boundaries of the Kalahari, Botswana, you are still welcome.
The immigrants to the island are principally from Communist China, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Communist China because they can earn a few more dollars in Singapore, Malaysians for the same as well as to escape from a dominating Islamic country and Indonesia for the same reasons.
And all these people are given full citizenship and entitled to vote as if they were like any native born citizens.
Although they take the citizenship, the vast majority of them have no real interest in that small island, except to make some money.
They too like the intimidated brainwashed citizens care two hoots if Lee paid himself whatever amount he wanted.
And neither are they bothered about such things as individual rights, after all, they are there to make a buck.
As far as the Malays and Indian citizens of Singapore, they have become simply irrelevant, their numbers being so reduced to a mere handful thanks to Lee's Chinese superiority theory.
And then there is one additional factor, the privileges of membership in Lee's party.
The Peoples Action Party has several umbrella organizations on the ground and it is well known that joining and serving in them would cause them to advance your career, increase your salary and protect you and your family.
There are also privileges such as periodic holidays and holiday camps paid for by the tax payer.
Therefore the majority of Singaporeans volunteer at these organizations for the benefits it provide and it is simply stupid not to in Lee's Singapore.
The reader can see the picture by now. It really serves no purpose to be so stupid as to challenge this government. It is simply suicidal.
As Hitler said, Eine Reich Eine Volk Eine Furher, so do the Singapore Lees say, "One Country, One People, One Lee Kuan Yew or His Son".
The political leadership loves such a society as it guarantees their grip on power.
But for the future of the island such a sheepish society is doomed to failure.
Any society to progress in this day and age needs patriotic citizens who care not only about themselves but about their society.
The people of France protest over the increasing unemployment, increasing immigration and the European Union's demands at austerity.
In Greece there are protests over many such things too.
In England people are protesting over the increasing immigration from Eastern Europe and are threatening to withdraw from the European Union.
They do this because they love their country and their society.
But in Singapore Lee pays himself 5 times the salary of Obama, there is no rule of law, there are no rights, there is no constitution and the people live under dictate.
But yet there are no protests at all.
There is the silence of the cemetery, except activity in the Peoples Association, a branch of Lee's Peoples Action Party.
One can only conclude that the entire island population cares two hoots about their island, and concerned at only going to work and going home to watch state approved TV programs.
A robotic opinion-less, mindless society of conformists such as this would not necessarily mean that the island will collapse instantly.
But it is on the path to collapse.
This sort of a society always needs a leader to tell them what to do, build houses for them, give them jobs and tell them how to behave.
Since they are unable to think independently, they cannot do any of this by themselves.
It appears Lee Kuan Yew, the island's supreme leader since 1959 just as Fidel Castro, is 92 and bedridden.
He is going to die soon.
His son is now telling his people what to do.
It appears the son's children on the other hand are abroad and refuse to return and want no part to play in the charade.
They have to appoint someone else to take his place to tell Singaporeans how to behave, where to live, what to do and what not to do in return for a quiet uneventful life.
I am not sure in this world of competition, Singapore can survive this way.
There are not enough thinking heads.
How long is something I cannot say.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
In spite of the island government's claim, tiny Singapore island is a one party dictatorship presently run by the former dictator Lee Kuan Yew who handed over power to his son.
Although there is a Constitution in the books not dissimilar to any other constitution of any other democracy, it is totally ignored.
Lee Kuan Yew who is allegedly 92 senile and does not do any work pays himself $3.7 million a year in official salary and so does his son, the Prime Minister and every other minister in Cabinet.
In effect these salaries each are 5 times officially that of President Obama. If you added the money they take in hidden bonuses and perks it will amount to much more.
This is clearly corruption on an industrial scale.
But Singaporeans have no objection.
Except for the Internet where some complain anonymously, there are no mass protests against this, and these people continue stealing the money without any opposition.
There is no free press.
All newspapers are state owned and print state propaganda each day.
So are the TV Stations and all media outlets.
It is illegal for an independent news service to operate in Singapore without government permission.
The Constitutional requirements of the right of free speech expression and assembly are all prohibited.
They live as they do in North Korea liable to be arrested if they did any one of this.
The courts are Kangaroo Courts as in North Korea where the judges are required to dish out sentences to punish political opponents and reward government supporters.
In spite of flagrant denials of rights of the individual, surprisingly there is no opposition against this in the Singapore island peopled predominantly by ethnic Chinese, the favored race of Lee Kuan Yew and his son who are themselves Chinese.
Lee Sr. had repeatedly in the past said that Chinese are far superior race than the local Malays or ethnic Indians because the Chinese are hardworking and everyone else is lazy and dummies.
It may appear strange why a society of relatively high educational standards and affluence should put up with such nonsense, but having been born and a citizen of the island by birth and a victim of their repression, I can suggest several reasons.
Although the Chinese race are not entirely a submissive and supine lot (look at the Chinese revolutionaries in China of 1949 and the recent Hong Kong democracy protesters) the Singapore version of Chinese are.
The Singaporean Chinese derives from Southern coastal China stock, comprised mainly of small mum and dad corner shop tradesmen who had no interest in politics.
For them the only thing important was to make money and ideas such as democracy was irrelevant.
It made no difference if Lee Kuan Yew paid himself $3.7 million or $70 million as long as they were left alone to make some money.
The other reason is the changing demography of the island today.
The original native population of the island, of which I mean those who were born there and whose parents had come to the island in the 1920s or 30s or even before is fast shrinking to extinction.
Of the 3 million or so some years ago, there are no more than perhaps 1.5 million today or less and due to the lowest fertility rate in the world and massive on-going brain drain to the West, will disappear entirely in just one generation.
These native Singaporeans have been brainwashed and intimidated so much so that they have a mortal fear of opposing the regime.
Over the years anyone in open opposition to their regime has been repeatedly punished, fined imprisoned and bankrupted and their faces shown in headlines in the state controlled press.
Examples of these victims are JB Jeyaretnam, Chee Soon Juan, Tang Liang Hong and myself.
These locals have been effectively taught the message and chiseled into their minds that any opposition to the dictators is suicidal and a path to destruction and penury.
So, unless you want to suffer the fate of JB Jeyaretnem, local Singapore citizens simply refuse to protest these injustices, not because they are not aware of it, but because they are afraid as to what will happen to them if they did.
To compensate for the local population going extinct, they bring in plane loads of ethnic Chinese from wherever they are found.
In fact as along as your were Chinese and had some qualifications, it did not matter if you were from the outer boundaries of the Kalahari, Botswana, you are still welcome.
The immigrants to the island are principally from Communist China, Malaysia and Indonesia.
Communist China because they can earn a few more dollars in Singapore, Malaysians for the same as well as to escape from a dominating Islamic country and Indonesia for the same reasons.
And all these people are given full citizenship and entitled to vote as if they were like any native born citizens.
Although they take the citizenship, the vast majority of them have no real interest in that small island, except to make some money.
They too like the intimidated brainwashed citizens care two hoots if Lee paid himself whatever amount he wanted.
And neither are they bothered about such things as individual rights, after all, they are there to make a buck.
As far as the Malays and Indian citizens of Singapore, they have become simply irrelevant, their numbers being so reduced to a mere handful thanks to Lee's Chinese superiority theory.
And then there is one additional factor, the privileges of membership in Lee's party.
The Peoples Action Party has several umbrella organizations on the ground and it is well known that joining and serving in them would cause them to advance your career, increase your salary and protect you and your family.
There are also privileges such as periodic holidays and holiday camps paid for by the tax payer.
Therefore the majority of Singaporeans volunteer at these organizations for the benefits it provide and it is simply stupid not to in Lee's Singapore.
The reader can see the picture by now. It really serves no purpose to be so stupid as to challenge this government. It is simply suicidal.
As Hitler said, Eine Reich Eine Volk Eine Furher, so do the Singapore Lees say, "One Country, One People, One Lee Kuan Yew or His Son".
The political leadership loves such a society as it guarantees their grip on power.
But for the future of the island such a sheepish society is doomed to failure.
Any society to progress in this day and age needs patriotic citizens who care not only about themselves but about their society.
The people of France protest over the increasing unemployment, increasing immigration and the European Union's demands at austerity.
In Greece there are protests over many such things too.
In England people are protesting over the increasing immigration from Eastern Europe and are threatening to withdraw from the European Union.
They do this because they love their country and their society.
But in Singapore Lee pays himself 5 times the salary of Obama, there is no rule of law, there are no rights, there is no constitution and the people live under dictate.
But yet there are no protests at all.
There is the silence of the cemetery, except activity in the Peoples Association, a branch of Lee's Peoples Action Party.
One can only conclude that the entire island population cares two hoots about their island, and concerned at only going to work and going home to watch state approved TV programs.
A robotic opinion-less, mindless society of conformists such as this would not necessarily mean that the island will collapse instantly.
But it is on the path to collapse.
This sort of a society always needs a leader to tell them what to do, build houses for them, give them jobs and tell them how to behave.
Since they are unable to think independently, they cannot do any of this by themselves.
It appears Lee Kuan Yew, the island's supreme leader since 1959 just as Fidel Castro, is 92 and bedridden.
He is going to die soon.
His son is now telling his people what to do.
It appears the son's children on the other hand are abroad and refuse to return and want no part to play in the charade.
They have to appoint someone else to take his place to tell Singaporeans how to behave, where to live, what to do and what not to do in return for a quiet uneventful life.
I am not sure in this world of competition, Singapore can survive this way.
There are not enough thinking heads.
How long is something I cannot say.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Sunday, December 28, 2014
Singapore's languishing military. Singapore's National Service, a total flop
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore island today, a tiny piece of real estate 16 miles North to South and 26 miles East to West and slightly smaller at high tide, with a population packed like sardines, one on top of the other in high rise apartments, all 5 million of them, has a defense system based on conscription (national service) which for all intents and purposes is today totally dead.
They simply can't enlist enough people and the barracks are literally empty. In desperation, about a month ago, their state controlled newspaper Straits Times had reported accepting volunteers to serve in the army and a mere half a dozen had applied. As of today, it is uncertain whether even the six are still there or simply left. They had also said that women, hitherto exempt can volunteer if they want. About 6 women were reported, with a picture of one in jungle fatigues, to have joined but again, we are not sure if they too have left. Since that last report, we have not heard anything more from the state controlled newspaper. I assume the attempt has failed.
There are several reasons for this.
Although on paper, it is supposed to be a parliamentary democracy, it is in fact a fiefdom belonging to the Lee family and their relatives and friends. In other words they do anything they want. So, Lee Senior, who is now 92 and bedridden and about to die, some decades ago, decided, never mind the Constitution, that the ethnic Chinese population in the island has to be increased because like him, the Chinese race are hardworking, and smart while the other races are all stupid.
So he continues to bring in plane loads of Chinese nationals from Communist China to boost the numbers, resulting in today, the population is 75% Chinese, a tiny smaller proportion Malay and a small handful Indians. But he obviously forgot to think over this racial question when introducing conscription. The Chinese are coastal Chinese from China who traditionally were involved in small businesses and shop front retail business. They have a traditional dislike for all things military and getting a Singapore Chinese into a military uniform is like trying to make a cat take to swimming. As a result every single local Chinese male is trying his best to get out of national service.
Many go abroad for studies and never return. Others try to feign physical or biological incapacity or illness. I came across one ethnic Chinese gentleman this year who met me in my Fremont California office. He said he got away because he was able to be declared mentally unsound. He did this by working up a history with his doctor over a full year finally convincing the army medical board that he was indeed mad. One Malay gentlemen escaped during service this year and is presently in California. He tells me he has no intention to return. I advised him that Singapore cannot obtain his extradition.
The other cause is the shrinking population. According to CIA statistics on fertility, Singapore has the world's lowest, which is 1.2, meaning that a couple has either one child or none at all. Singapore's true native population, by which I mean people born in the island whose parents and grandparents came to the island, is at most 1.5 million if not less. There are other Singapore citizens who were brought in recently within the last ten years. Other than them the others making up the balance of 3.5 million are all foreigners. With this demographic pattern, in just one generation, the entire true blood Singapore citizens will die off completely leaving hardly anyone to be conscripted. They are trying to increase the numbers of immigrants and force their children to serve, but the records show that half of these immigrant children simply give up their residence status to avoid service and those who do serve do so very reluctantly and eventually get way anyway.
You can see the fallacy of this policy. Immigrants come to Singapore looking for work. They have no intention of serving in the army for 2 years. Naturally if you force them, they are either not going to come or find every way possible to get out of it. Which is precisely what is happening today.
Also Singapore is no Israel which has arguably a historical political religious and nationalistic reason which makes conscription attractive to many. Singapore on the other hand has none. It has no enemies and it is run by a father and son dictatorship.
And then you have the phenomenon of ethnic Chinese women in Singapore who treasure marrying European or American men so as to settle in the West. It appears that some of these Western men have some difficulty in getting wives where they are, and go to Asia like Singapore where Chinese women are aplenty waiting for the opportunity. So when they marry, they go the West and have children there which means one less Singapore male for Lee's army.
I receive numerous letters from these Western gentlemen, who have either children born with their Chinese wives in Singapore or children of the woman from a prior marriage, who now want no part of national service because they have no intention of living in the island.
And who can blame them. If you can live in Frankfurt Germany and raise your children there, why in Heavens would you want to bring them up in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore for the brainwashing to be turned into an imbecile at the end of it.
What happens in these cases almost always is that the government remains firm in demanding they serve, which means that if they are in Singapore, they somehow try to leave the island and never return or if they are abroad, never return to the island. If they do, they know they will be arrested and jailed. In this manner, there is no doubt that Singapore loses a large number of young men, highly educated in foreign universities because they have not done national service and are afraid to return.
The other reason why national service is failing is Singapore's political system. It is a compete one party dictatorship devoid of any fundamental human rights, no free speech, no right to free expression, no free press, no rule of law; simply an island where the Lees and their friends can do anything they want. Young men who are increasing educated, and have travelled and have the Internet, are aware of their lives in Singapore, no better then slaves. Why should they, be spending time to serve these dictators?
Also they see the injustice being done to them in many ways. Foreigners who come in do not have to do national service. Foreigners get preference in jobs because employers do not employ those who are encumbered for 20 years in reservist obligations, of 2 weeks each year. As a result, in their own island, foreigners have work and Singapore males are unemployed.
One major reason why they demand national service is the 20 year obligation to remain in Singapore. The brain drain from the tiny population is so large making the government desperate to try any means possible to retain their young men, army reservist obligation being one of them. This is because passport validity for these men only extend up to their next reserve obligation. If they don't return their passports are not extended and they end up illegal in that foreign country.
This is not a problem if you are in the US since you can obtain work permits without proving that you have a valid passport since your situation can be easily explained as a consequence of a dictatorship's desperation.
The whole system is failing and will soon collapse. Like North Korea which controls information, Singapore's state controlled newspapers make no mention of the dire state in which national service is today, for fear that if they admitted this, a core institution of state, it may cause panic and encourage even more to leave.
Problems of this huge scale, are usually suffered by dictatorships, not by democracies which allow citizen participation. In Singapore, just as in North Korea, the dictators can do anything they want and therefore they make laws at the whim of the moment, not realizing that other characteristics of the country may have adverse effects in the policy. It is as if, one hand does not know what the other is doing, a state of affairs typical of all dictatorships.
As a result dictatorships have constantly to correct the errors they have made, thereby creating even more errors until the whole system becomes a joke. This is exactly what is happening today in Lee Kuan Yew and Son's Singapore not only in their failed national service policy but in every other branch of government policy.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Singapore island today, a tiny piece of real estate 16 miles North to South and 26 miles East to West and slightly smaller at high tide, with a population packed like sardines, one on top of the other in high rise apartments, all 5 million of them, has a defense system based on conscription (national service) which for all intents and purposes is today totally dead.
They simply can't enlist enough people and the barracks are literally empty. In desperation, about a month ago, their state controlled newspaper Straits Times had reported accepting volunteers to serve in the army and a mere half a dozen had applied. As of today, it is uncertain whether even the six are still there or simply left. They had also said that women, hitherto exempt can volunteer if they want. About 6 women were reported, with a picture of one in jungle fatigues, to have joined but again, we are not sure if they too have left. Since that last report, we have not heard anything more from the state controlled newspaper. I assume the attempt has failed.
There are several reasons for this.
Although on paper, it is supposed to be a parliamentary democracy, it is in fact a fiefdom belonging to the Lee family and their relatives and friends. In other words they do anything they want. So, Lee Senior, who is now 92 and bedridden and about to die, some decades ago, decided, never mind the Constitution, that the ethnic Chinese population in the island has to be increased because like him, the Chinese race are hardworking, and smart while the other races are all stupid.
So he continues to bring in plane loads of Chinese nationals from Communist China to boost the numbers, resulting in today, the population is 75% Chinese, a tiny smaller proportion Malay and a small handful Indians. But he obviously forgot to think over this racial question when introducing conscription. The Chinese are coastal Chinese from China who traditionally were involved in small businesses and shop front retail business. They have a traditional dislike for all things military and getting a Singapore Chinese into a military uniform is like trying to make a cat take to swimming. As a result every single local Chinese male is trying his best to get out of national service.
Many go abroad for studies and never return. Others try to feign physical or biological incapacity or illness. I came across one ethnic Chinese gentleman this year who met me in my Fremont California office. He said he got away because he was able to be declared mentally unsound. He did this by working up a history with his doctor over a full year finally convincing the army medical board that he was indeed mad. One Malay gentlemen escaped during service this year and is presently in California. He tells me he has no intention to return. I advised him that Singapore cannot obtain his extradition.
The other cause is the shrinking population. According to CIA statistics on fertility, Singapore has the world's lowest, which is 1.2, meaning that a couple has either one child or none at all. Singapore's true native population, by which I mean people born in the island whose parents and grandparents came to the island, is at most 1.5 million if not less. There are other Singapore citizens who were brought in recently within the last ten years. Other than them the others making up the balance of 3.5 million are all foreigners. With this demographic pattern, in just one generation, the entire true blood Singapore citizens will die off completely leaving hardly anyone to be conscripted. They are trying to increase the numbers of immigrants and force their children to serve, but the records show that half of these immigrant children simply give up their residence status to avoid service and those who do serve do so very reluctantly and eventually get way anyway.
You can see the fallacy of this policy. Immigrants come to Singapore looking for work. They have no intention of serving in the army for 2 years. Naturally if you force them, they are either not going to come or find every way possible to get out of it. Which is precisely what is happening today.
Also Singapore is no Israel which has arguably a historical political religious and nationalistic reason which makes conscription attractive to many. Singapore on the other hand has none. It has no enemies and it is run by a father and son dictatorship.
And then you have the phenomenon of ethnic Chinese women in Singapore who treasure marrying European or American men so as to settle in the West. It appears that some of these Western men have some difficulty in getting wives where they are, and go to Asia like Singapore where Chinese women are aplenty waiting for the opportunity. So when they marry, they go the West and have children there which means one less Singapore male for Lee's army.
I receive numerous letters from these Western gentlemen, who have either children born with their Chinese wives in Singapore or children of the woman from a prior marriage, who now want no part of national service because they have no intention of living in the island.
And who can blame them. If you can live in Frankfurt Germany and raise your children there, why in Heavens would you want to bring them up in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore for the brainwashing to be turned into an imbecile at the end of it.
What happens in these cases almost always is that the government remains firm in demanding they serve, which means that if they are in Singapore, they somehow try to leave the island and never return or if they are abroad, never return to the island. If they do, they know they will be arrested and jailed. In this manner, there is no doubt that Singapore loses a large number of young men, highly educated in foreign universities because they have not done national service and are afraid to return.
The other reason why national service is failing is Singapore's political system. It is a compete one party dictatorship devoid of any fundamental human rights, no free speech, no right to free expression, no free press, no rule of law; simply an island where the Lees and their friends can do anything they want. Young men who are increasing educated, and have travelled and have the Internet, are aware of their lives in Singapore, no better then slaves. Why should they, be spending time to serve these dictators?
Also they see the injustice being done to them in many ways. Foreigners who come in do not have to do national service. Foreigners get preference in jobs because employers do not employ those who are encumbered for 20 years in reservist obligations, of 2 weeks each year. As a result, in their own island, foreigners have work and Singapore males are unemployed.
One major reason why they demand national service is the 20 year obligation to remain in Singapore. The brain drain from the tiny population is so large making the government desperate to try any means possible to retain their young men, army reservist obligation being one of them. This is because passport validity for these men only extend up to their next reserve obligation. If they don't return their passports are not extended and they end up illegal in that foreign country.
This is not a problem if you are in the US since you can obtain work permits without proving that you have a valid passport since your situation can be easily explained as a consequence of a dictatorship's desperation.
The whole system is failing and will soon collapse. Like North Korea which controls information, Singapore's state controlled newspapers make no mention of the dire state in which national service is today, for fear that if they admitted this, a core institution of state, it may cause panic and encourage even more to leave.
Problems of this huge scale, are usually suffered by dictatorships, not by democracies which allow citizen participation. In Singapore, just as in North Korea, the dictators can do anything they want and therefore they make laws at the whim of the moment, not realizing that other characteristics of the country may have adverse effects in the policy. It is as if, one hand does not know what the other is doing, a state of affairs typical of all dictatorships.
As a result dictatorships have constantly to correct the errors they have made, thereby creating even more errors until the whole system becomes a joke. This is exactly what is happening today in Lee Kuan Yew and Son's Singapore not only in their failed national service policy but in every other branch of government policy.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Friday, December 26, 2014
Singapore's brave young David William Grasskov and the movie The Scent of a Woman
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Yesterday I posted on this blog the story of the 18 year old boy David William Graaskov who did something extraordinary in Lee Kuan Yew's son's Singapore island.
He did the unthinkable, in the Singaporean context, a one party state devoid of free speech, expression, assembly, the rule of law or a free press.
Please see State Controlled newspaper Straits Times article of Dec 24, 2014 here http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/teen-first-among-five-toa-payoh-graffiti-case-plead-guilty-theft-c
18 year old Graaskov, with some friends of his climbed atop a HDB (Housing and Development Board) government housing apartment block and wrote the words "Democracy" and "Freedom" and words in similar vein critical of the repressive one party state which denies its citizens any fundamental right.
Obviously he felt strongly, the denial of his rights in his country and wanted to change things. An honorable sentiment, undoubtedly.
What he did was not a crime of moral turpitude, there was no personal gain for him; only that as a person of strong principles and convictions, he felt he had to do something about it. And having courage, he did what he felt he should do. Hardly any young men in that orchestrated one party state island, has even an iota of the courage and character of this young man; I can say that without any hesitation.
Instead of being a criminal as the Singapore government is treating this young man, he is a hero, a young man of character and an abundance of spine.
Had he done the same in London, Paris or Rome or any other city in any other respectable country, people would not even have batted an eyelid. But he is not in London, Paris or Rome. He is in an island run by Lee Kuan Yew's son, where any criticism is immediately answered with arrest, imprisonment, a defamation lawsuit, bankruptcy, shaming in the state controlled press and other cowardly acts.
For his trouble, he has been repeatedly portrayed in headlines on their state controlled press with his picture as if he was a dangerous criminal of the worst kind imaginable.
He has been shown in headlines over many days in shackles and chains under police escort, a plan deliberately to depict him as a criminal of the worst kind all because he wrote some anti government slogans.
The purpose of course is not so much to punish him but more importantly to relieve the fear of this dictatorship that others would dare to do the same and they would be toppled the next minute.
This is not so much an exercise of law enforcement but and exercise of inflicting fear in others who may even consider such a course. Imagine what would happen to these dictators of their one party state if there were thousands of David William Graaskovs holding up signs critical of the Lee government!
So the problem has to be nipped in the bud, and a harmless young man who is merely seeking freedom has to labelled a hard core criminal as if he had only yesterday murdered 100 Singaporeans in broad daylight and boasted about it.
Please see my blog post of yesterday here: A brave young Singapore boy with courage character principles and leadership, David William Graaskov
And it here that I am reminded of the Al Pacino movie The Scent of a Woman and a striking similarity of the boy in the movie with young Graaskov. In it, some boys in a school had thrown some paint over a teacher in a caper. This boy knew who they were. When questioned by his teachers, he refused to name them feeling a sense of moral responsibility not to betray his friends, even though he was faced with expulsion from the school. The scene is a school auditorium with Al Pacino sitting with the boy at the inquisition. An excellent piece of acting by Al Pacino.
You can see it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ4HUD-wErc
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Yesterday I posted on this blog the story of the 18 year old boy David William Graaskov who did something extraordinary in Lee Kuan Yew's son's Singapore island.
He did the unthinkable, in the Singaporean context, a one party state devoid of free speech, expression, assembly, the rule of law or a free press.
Please see State Controlled newspaper Straits Times article of Dec 24, 2014 here http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/teen-first-among-five-toa-payoh-graffiti-case-plead-guilty-theft-c
18 year old Graaskov, with some friends of his climbed atop a HDB (Housing and Development Board) government housing apartment block and wrote the words "Democracy" and "Freedom" and words in similar vein critical of the repressive one party state which denies its citizens any fundamental right.
Obviously he felt strongly, the denial of his rights in his country and wanted to change things. An honorable sentiment, undoubtedly.
What he did was not a crime of moral turpitude, there was no personal gain for him; only that as a person of strong principles and convictions, he felt he had to do something about it. And having courage, he did what he felt he should do. Hardly any young men in that orchestrated one party state island, has even an iota of the courage and character of this young man; I can say that without any hesitation.
Instead of being a criminal as the Singapore government is treating this young man, he is a hero, a young man of character and an abundance of spine.
Had he done the same in London, Paris or Rome or any other city in any other respectable country, people would not even have batted an eyelid. But he is not in London, Paris or Rome. He is in an island run by Lee Kuan Yew's son, where any criticism is immediately answered with arrest, imprisonment, a defamation lawsuit, bankruptcy, shaming in the state controlled press and other cowardly acts.
For his trouble, he has been repeatedly portrayed in headlines on their state controlled press with his picture as if he was a dangerous criminal of the worst kind imaginable.
He has been shown in headlines over many days in shackles and chains under police escort, a plan deliberately to depict him as a criminal of the worst kind all because he wrote some anti government slogans.
The purpose of course is not so much to punish him but more importantly to relieve the fear of this dictatorship that others would dare to do the same and they would be toppled the next minute.
This is not so much an exercise of law enforcement but and exercise of inflicting fear in others who may even consider such a course. Imagine what would happen to these dictators of their one party state if there were thousands of David William Graaskovs holding up signs critical of the Lee government!
So the problem has to be nipped in the bud, and a harmless young man who is merely seeking freedom has to labelled a hard core criminal as if he had only yesterday murdered 100 Singaporeans in broad daylight and boasted about it.
Please see my blog post of yesterday here: A brave young Singapore boy with courage character principles and leadership, David William Graaskov
And it here that I am reminded of the Al Pacino movie The Scent of a Woman and a striking similarity of the boy in the movie with young Graaskov. In it, some boys in a school had thrown some paint over a teacher in a caper. This boy knew who they were. When questioned by his teachers, he refused to name them feeling a sense of moral responsibility not to betray his friends, even though he was faced with expulsion from the school. The scene is a school auditorium with Al Pacino sitting with the boy at the inquisition. An excellent piece of acting by Al Pacino.
You can see it here.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJ4HUD-wErc
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Wednesday, December 24, 2014
A brave young Singapore boy with courage character principles and leadership, David William Graaskov
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Straits Times picture above shows 18 year old David William Graaskov, on the right his father, left his attorney, and presumably behind him, his mother.
Please refer to the Straits Times article, "Teen is first among five in Toa Payoh graffiti case to plead guilty to theft, criminal trespass" http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/teen-first-among-five-toa-payoh-graffiti-case-plead-guilty-theft-c
David William Graaskov, 18, is no ordinary Singapore young man. He is one of the few young men and women, far too few unfortunately in that island, who has the character and courage to stand on principle. No one can say that he does not have courage, character or integrity, qualities that most young men and women who have grown up under Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporean dictator and his son, the Prime Minister, utterly lack.
Any father or mother should be proud to have a boy like him. And in his journey in life ahead of him, one can see the making of a leader unlike the vast majority of others in that island who can only live their lives in fear and obedience.
Singapore is a repressive island, devoid of basic human rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, association and anyone engaging in any such activity is liable to be arrested and imprisoned, loss of job and career and victimized the rest of his life by a government determined to keep their citizens under control.
Since the consequences of any attempt to assert their citizens rights under the Constitution will result in harsh and serious consequences to their life and liberty, most Singaporeans do not dare to criticize the government openly or demand their rights for fear of certain retribution, as is the case in Communist China.
This courageous young man David William Graaskov is not among the general cowardly population that you find in in the island of Singapore. On May 07, 2014, he and 4 other young men of his age, climbed atop a HDB Government Housing Residential Block and wrote slogans such as "Freedom" protesting the lack of basic human rights of the citizens. Since as mentioned Singapore laws makes it illegal to protest, he and the others were charged for vandalism which under Singapore law not only results in imprisonment but also caning (whipping) a very brutal and inhuman form of punishment which leaves the victim suffering permanent injury and scarred for life.
Yesterday, December 22, 2014, young Graaskov pleaded guilty to theft and criminal trespass in Lee Kuan Yew's sons Courts in Singapore. He will be sentenced at a subsequent date.
Graskov is clearly a hero. He need not have bothered to do this. He has nothing to gain from doing this. Like the other cowardly young men and women who are satisfied to live in bondage, he could have done nothing and merely went on with his life. But not Graaskov. He felt that this is wrong. And when something is wrong, it is courageous who stand up to it. It is honorable act. It shows character and leadership.
In fact he has much more integrity and leadership than even his ethnic Chinese lawyer walking next to him, a member of a legal profession that has shown it has no intention to do any real lawyering. Very probably his lawyer , undoubtedly a very timid fellow would have advised him to plead guilty and not antagonize the judge. To show how timid these Singapore lawyers are, you might want to know that opposition politician Chee Soon Juan, when sued for defamation of character some years ago, by Lee Kuan Yew and his son, was unable to find a single lawyer to represent him in that entire island! That explains volumes of the lawyering capacity of these Singaporean lawyers.
If I was Graaskov's lawyer, I would have advised him to fight the charges. Of course I realize that there is the possibility of caning, but this government today is so maligned and has lost so much respectability that it is most unlikely that they would cane 18 year old Graaskov.
Of course it is certain that he would lose at any trial but the publicity that he generates by mounting a Constitutional right of free speech and expression , would result in Lee's son, the Prime Minister who controls everything including the courts, suffering much more loss to his reputation, while Graaskov would come out the hero, a David who stood up to the one eyed Goliath.
We all come to the cross roads in life's journey. At that point those with courage and leadership take the right path, even though it is hard. Others take the easy path although they know it is wrong. Here we have Graaskov, standing up to what is right regardless of the consequence, while other lesser mortals remain quiet and submit.
If I had to follow a leader, I can say without hesitation that it will be Graaskov, not the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who are incapable of doing anything but going back from school to their TV sets as if nothing is happening around them.
Making a prediction, I say, 18 year old Graaskov, would one day be a leader of men.
I would also suggest that Graasskov's parents should try to send him to the West for his higher education. He is surrounded by an entire island of submissive and cowed population and this is not good for his upbringing or his education. His Singapore teachers themselves terrified of the government would be telling him to be like the others and submit in silence. His parents, if they are Singaporeans would probably be telling him the same thing. And the Singaporean mindset is itself bad because it considers submission and obedience as virtues while challenging authority is a crime.
Graaskov has shown extraordinary courage even while living under such suppressive and repressive climate as Singapore island. Imagine how much more he will progress if allowed to live among people who have their heads screwed on right and know that it is heroic and honorable to stand up to an unjust regime, and submission to injustice is cowardly.
Well done Graaskov. You have guts.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
The Straits Times picture above shows 18 year old David William Graaskov, on the right his father, left his attorney, and presumably behind him, his mother.
Please refer to the Straits Times article, "Teen is first among five in Toa Payoh graffiti case to plead guilty to theft, criminal trespass" http://www.straitstimes.com/news/singapore/courts-crime/story/teen-first-among-five-toa-payoh-graffiti-case-plead-guilty-theft-c
David William Graaskov, 18, is no ordinary Singapore young man. He is one of the few young men and women, far too few unfortunately in that island, who has the character and courage to stand on principle. No one can say that he does not have courage, character or integrity, qualities that most young men and women who have grown up under Lee Kuan Yew, the Singaporean dictator and his son, the Prime Minister, utterly lack.
Any father or mother should be proud to have a boy like him. And in his journey in life ahead of him, one can see the making of a leader unlike the vast majority of others in that island who can only live their lives in fear and obedience.
Singapore is a repressive island, devoid of basic human rights such as freedom of speech, assembly, association and anyone engaging in any such activity is liable to be arrested and imprisoned, loss of job and career and victimized the rest of his life by a government determined to keep their citizens under control.
Since the consequences of any attempt to assert their citizens rights under the Constitution will result in harsh and serious consequences to their life and liberty, most Singaporeans do not dare to criticize the government openly or demand their rights for fear of certain retribution, as is the case in Communist China.
This courageous young man David William Graaskov is not among the general cowardly population that you find in in the island of Singapore. On May 07, 2014, he and 4 other young men of his age, climbed atop a HDB Government Housing Residential Block and wrote slogans such as "Freedom" protesting the lack of basic human rights of the citizens. Since as mentioned Singapore laws makes it illegal to protest, he and the others were charged for vandalism which under Singapore law not only results in imprisonment but also caning (whipping) a very brutal and inhuman form of punishment which leaves the victim suffering permanent injury and scarred for life.
Yesterday, December 22, 2014, young Graaskov pleaded guilty to theft and criminal trespass in Lee Kuan Yew's sons Courts in Singapore. He will be sentenced at a subsequent date.
Graskov is clearly a hero. He need not have bothered to do this. He has nothing to gain from doing this. Like the other cowardly young men and women who are satisfied to live in bondage, he could have done nothing and merely went on with his life. But not Graaskov. He felt that this is wrong. And when something is wrong, it is courageous who stand up to it. It is honorable act. It shows character and leadership.
In fact he has much more integrity and leadership than even his ethnic Chinese lawyer walking next to him, a member of a legal profession that has shown it has no intention to do any real lawyering. Very probably his lawyer , undoubtedly a very timid fellow would have advised him to plead guilty and not antagonize the judge. To show how timid these Singapore lawyers are, you might want to know that opposition politician Chee Soon Juan, when sued for defamation of character some years ago, by Lee Kuan Yew and his son, was unable to find a single lawyer to represent him in that entire island! That explains volumes of the lawyering capacity of these Singaporean lawyers.
If I was Graaskov's lawyer, I would have advised him to fight the charges. Of course I realize that there is the possibility of caning, but this government today is so maligned and has lost so much respectability that it is most unlikely that they would cane 18 year old Graaskov.
Of course it is certain that he would lose at any trial but the publicity that he generates by mounting a Constitutional right of free speech and expression , would result in Lee's son, the Prime Minister who controls everything including the courts, suffering much more loss to his reputation, while Graaskov would come out the hero, a David who stood up to the one eyed Goliath.
We all come to the cross roads in life's journey. At that point those with courage and leadership take the right path, even though it is hard. Others take the easy path although they know it is wrong. Here we have Graaskov, standing up to what is right regardless of the consequence, while other lesser mortals remain quiet and submit.
If I had to follow a leader, I can say without hesitation that it will be Graaskov, not the hundreds of thousands of young men and women who are incapable of doing anything but going back from school to their TV sets as if nothing is happening around them.
Making a prediction, I say, 18 year old Graaskov, would one day be a leader of men.
I would also suggest that Graasskov's parents should try to send him to the West for his higher education. He is surrounded by an entire island of submissive and cowed population and this is not good for his upbringing or his education. His Singapore teachers themselves terrified of the government would be telling him to be like the others and submit in silence. His parents, if they are Singaporeans would probably be telling him the same thing. And the Singaporean mindset is itself bad because it considers submission and obedience as virtues while challenging authority is a crime.
Graaskov has shown extraordinary courage even while living under such suppressive and repressive climate as Singapore island. Imagine how much more he will progress if allowed to live among people who have their heads screwed on right and know that it is heroic and honorable to stand up to an unjust regime, and submission to injustice is cowardly.
Well done Graaskov. You have guts.
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Monday, December 8, 2014
Video. Singaporeans should break unjust laws
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Please watch my latest video December 7, 2014 titled "Singaporeans should break unjust laws". Best Wishes from Fremont, California, USA.
http://youtu.be/SpJ3JQKNOC4
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
Please watch my latest video December 7, 2014 titled "Singaporeans should break unjust laws". Best Wishes from Fremont, California, USA.
http://youtu.be/SpJ3JQKNOC4
Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Facebook: www.facebook.com/singapore.dissident
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