I disagree a little bit with what Atobe said previously.
'Freedom of Speech' is a parlance originating from
Westerners.
I think everybody know about this.
Not sure if it can be attributed to Confucius, or other
prominent Asian thinkers, Gandhi, Buddha.......I think none.
Actually if we see the Asian society around us.....you know the
Thai King cannot be insulted, or u can go to jail.
I think maybe some similar legislation exist in England, up to
today. Cannot insult the Queen of England.
But the difference with Singapore is that........Singapore has
no King......so the function of the 'state symbol' , or 'senior
leader' apparently is somewhat taken over to a certain extent
by...President, PM....and maybe MM, not sure about him.
If we look at nearby countries, Indonesia, Malaysia, actually
they also had old laws prohibiting the insult of President and PM,
but nowadays those laws have morphed into a more modernized,
euphemized, and secularized common 'libel/ slander' law. That is
the path they take. Something very similar to Singapore now.
I think this characteristic is quite unique to Asian societies,
as I have never heard of Bush or Blair ever sued anyone for libel/
slander, despite, actually objectively speaking, they indeed have
become victims many times.
This is a 'reflection' of 'social norms', so nobody can really
blame LKY etc suing. It is not a matter of him, nor a matter of
laws, nor application of laws, it is a matter of social beliefs.
Since he live here and grew up here, and is a rather old man now,
he will definitely reflect this value system. If you expect him to
embrace 'Freedom of Speech' like the western model, then that will
be the weird one instead.
But coming back to specifics, talking about CSJ, actually I am
not clear myself, whether he is indeed a so-called 'Agressive
man'.
I dont know him and I dont know the specifics of the case.
But I have a feeling, a gut insticnt, a guess, actually his
portrayal as an 'agressive man' is a spin, an exaggeration by
political spin-doctors. It is just a campaign or a spin to cast him
with a certain image.
I did watch a few YouTube videos of him, he seem very normal to
me. Quite moderate and well-grounded. Not insane or agressive or
like to yell. Everything seem usual. The time when he was
interviewed, or when he was selling his books to passerbys, or when
he was blocked by policemen when he wanted to demonstrate. I
haven't seen any 'agressive outbursts'.
So it makes me suspect this portrayal of him as 'agressive' ,
'uncouth' , etc is just abit like.......spin.
Tell me which YouTube video has him behaving 'agressively' , I
think maybe nobody has seen one. It is quite bizarre, but when an
idea is repeated over and over again, it sticks, and an image is
formed in people's minds. But maybe its not true.
So anyway, good night everybody, have a nice weekend.
Meat Pao.
Genghis Khan had children, Atilia the Hun loved his family, Himmler
was only a chicken farmer, Hitler was devout Christian and Osama a
religious Muslim.
Nice personalities, object of role modelship, but they had shown
their capacity to harm societies and other humans.
It's not easy to judge a person. If CSJ had been an oridinary
man, in time, we would have either overlook his faults or cast him
aside in friendship. But CSJ is not an ordinary man. He is a party
chief of a political group seeking to form the next government of
Singapore and rule over us. Thus we have to judge him more
carefully before we give him power.
The only way we can judge him fairly is to asses his public
actions if he is worthy to rule.
Fact 1. Misappropriation of research fund.
1993. He was sacked by NUS for misapporopiation of fund. It
doesnt matter if it was a dollar or millions of dollars. He had
absolutely no right to use research fund for his own individual
use. That he had, only shows his character in contempt for money
not his own. And character is something that cannot be changed
overnight. Would the People dare put someone like him to watch
over our CPF monies and tax revenues, worth an estimated US$300
billion?
Fact 2. Biting the hand that fed him.
SDP was led by MP Chiam ST. MP Chiam give CSJ the chance to
power, but in the end, he kicked out MP Chiam. Later, CSJ
insinuated that MP Chiam was acting on behalf of the ruling
party. CSJ was sued for defamation by MP Chiam, which MP Chiam won
in an open court.
Fact 3. Slander, lies and half truths to power
CSJ was never shy to slander, spread lies and half truths to
gain power. You and i are more than familiar with his cases too
much to mention here again. He was given a fair trial with an
independent judiciary to asses his claims, yet each time, under
vow, he had no evidences. If one has no evidence, but spread lies,
it will hurt the image and integrity of the innocent. If the
innocent does not take action, trust and integrity will erode,
chaos will reign, more so if the innocent is a head of State.
Fact 4. No respect for laws. Civil Disobedience
Singapore is a lawful country. We got so far as a nation because
each of us know that the law is fair, equal and for everyone. Yet,
he, CSJ, who seek to rule over us, continually broke the law to
justify his powerlust. He doesnt give a damn to laws, and does as
he pleases, such as apply for a permit to speak at the speakers
corner. Easy enough, just apply to the police and usually one get
it, yet he refused and went ahead, forcing the authorities no
choice but to act, for the law applies to all.
Even before he gain power, he is prepared to break laws. What
more if he holds power, what would he tyrannically do to us
innocent civilian citizens?
There is more, and you can research for yourself for an
objective view, but i will stop here. I am not attempting to change
your mind, or asking you to support or not to support him. I
only seek that you critically analyse his actions and base your own
judgement to act as you will. We have only one vote, and one vote
to get it right not only for ourselves, but for others in our
society as well.
