Gopalan Nair, the Singapore Dissident

last SG · 2007-09-11T17:13:02+00:00

What gives him the right to speak for Singaporeans ?

googoomuck SG

Lets not speculate any crisis.
Let the govt open the books for public scrutiny but is that possible?
We should head towards multi-party rulethree will be ideal.
Will some of the opposition consider merger and form a stronger coalition party?

Rock^Star SG

Rolling Eyes

This is a dissident that Singapore does not need. Wake up LAH Mr Nair!

While many Singaporeans do not dispute the need for democracy, it does not feature very highly on the priority list.

Think about how your SDP can provide food on the table and counter globalisation threats before you talk democracy.

Stop speaking as if the SDP's voice is the people's voice. We need democracy but that shall come after food has been placed in sufficiency on the table.

Think about why SDP garner such low votes....10-20% every election since umpteenth ages ago. Not to mention the many votes that went your way because of pure anti-PAP sentiments. THINK.

Melvin Tan SG

The problem is that the problem doesn't end there.

Firstly, the strongest way to change the PAP government through foreign interference is for some country to use force like how US invaded Iraq. After that, US, not the dissidents who called for its help, control the cards. Until today, US has refused to pull out of Iraq.

Secondly, at this point of time, no serious gathering of the international community, and I mean international governments not NGOs, appear to be interested in changing the Singapore regime.

Thirdly, most countries regime fall through the people, not foreign interference. Indonesians forced Suharto to retire. Fillipinos forced Marcos out. Singaporeans do not appear to want to do that. They exercise their vote.

While there is a view that PAP can't be displaced through the ballot and this may or may not be the case, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan are examples. The 130-year ruling PRI was voted out in favour of PAN led by Vicente Fox. The once-dominant LDP once lost the government to DPJ. The former military regime KMT is now a party in opposition.

Regards

spinsugar SG

I agree with some of Nair's views. But while he might actually have an idea there, it's pretty obvious that a majority of us Singaporeans today are not ready for the "CSJ" way of doing things (aka protests). Most of us are fearful of being associated with these ideas. We'd rather pretend not to share any of his opinions (not that we have none). We fear being associated with Chee, with his "strange" method of doing things, we shut his ideas out, and we ridicule him to distance ourselves from him. "Know your rights, take action" are fast replacing "welfare" as the new dirty words.

However despite their seemingly misguided efforts, I feel that this.. change.. that CSJ and Nair talk of is nothing to be scorned. What I find more scornful is those who shut these figures out before even hearing them out. Especially those who divert from the topic at hand by dishing out personal attacks under the pretext of expressing a fact-based opinion (when obviously there is none). Any idea is an idea worth hearing out.

Singaporeans want change. But we want minimal disruption to our daily lives ($$$). And we want someone else to take care of it for us.

Well. Change can happen, but only through a collective effort. And I'm talking about a movement here (and don't go thinking along the lines of those bus riots). But before we even get there, most of us, as individuals, must already be ready to make a real decision. And to be ready, we need to have the confidence in ourselves, in what we can do, and in our rights. But most of us grew up as sheep, never really believing in ourselves, never knowing our full capabilities, never knowing the options available to us.

When the foot shackles are removed from an elephant that's been chained up all its life but fed relatively well, it does not move, because it does not even realize it can. It has never known a different way of life. It doesn't dare venture out of its comfort zone, nor is it sure it wants to.

We Singaporeans are like that right now. We're free to "move", but we don't even know it.. nor are we sure we want to move. I mean, life chained up was "pretty alright", we didn't go hungry, we didn't have to worry about predators, right? All our lives, we've relied on and allowed our government to tell us our limitations, to "babysit" us.. what do we do when we're not happy? Complain! "Mommy do something!" We are trapped by our own minds. We don't know, don't believe, that things can be done in another way. Yes we are spoilt citizens - but we have been neglected and not allowed to grow. We are like children of a celebrity parent.. overlooked because we are technically spoilt and should be well provided for by our cash-strapped parents. I mean all parents love their kids, right? And all parents know how to take care of their kids, right? Riiiiiight..... so are these "spoilt" celebrity kids not worthy of help and sympathy?

The way I see it, the status quo will remain as long as our people continue to allow ourselves to let "mommy" provide for us as if we were children.. to be bound by our current social limitations.. by our own mindsets.. we can curse and swear at our social limitations and circumstances, but only when we develop our own ideas, unique personas, passions, and educate ourselves on the real options available to us - not just on hearsay - will we become confident enough to make a conscious decision. To tell "mommy" - enough, we are grown up and we want to be treated accordingly.

Right now, we're all confused and apathetic, "let them do what they want, I can't do anything, I don't want to get in trouble". Our young mull with much angst over the depressing prospect of graduating from cram school just to become another money-making robot in a broken dream factory. Our adults are obsessed with fighting off various issues, big and small, that just keep coming. We question, but once a govt official makes a move, we all cower in fear! Nair perceives that the govt is more afraid of us than we are of them. I concur. The fear, the limitations.. we should start to think how much of it is based on fact and how much on fear (superstition).

What LazerLord mentioned below, imho, is pretty much the 1st step to take if real change and real improvement is what we want. Educating yourself. And others. Knowing your rights.

To the reader. Will you continue playing the victim to a select few, creating your own self-fulfilling prophecies by retaining the false belief that we haven't the power to escape our fates?

Or will you educate yourself? And allow yourself to grow?

Poh Ah Pak SG

I agree with SDP's tactics on local issues.

I don't agree with foreign interference.

Foreigners will have their own agenda, let's not be stupid.

I think SDP's tactics are rather mild compared with other countries.

The taiwanese politicians will probably laugh.

Ravenclaw82 SG

The only ones dishing out personal attacks against Singaporeans and fellow opposition are the 2 you hail as heroes. Nobody is shutting them out, they shut others out and make others shut them out.

Poh Ah Pak SG

Singapore is being destroyed by the Lee Administration by authoritarian rule

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I dont think I am too different from most other people who have a decent amount of education. As education enables people to think, with ideas and opinions beneficial to society; they would want to contribute politically and socially for the betterment of their society; engage in matters of national interest, public debate and controversy. In other words a desire to put their education to good use to make their country a better place. That is what an education is for.

Unfortunately for such people with an education; Singapore is a very distasteful place to live in. Distasteful, because Lee Kuan Yew and his family wish to selfishly hold on to power. Therefore, they find the need to suppress any opinion in the country which threatens their hold on power; even if that contrary opinion was in Singapore's best interests. For Lee Kuan Yew and his family that rule Singapore, all that matters is their personal interests, even if Singapore is destroyed.

And this is what Lee Kuan Yew is doing. Deliberately destroying Singapore.

Education as we know is empowering. With education, one knows that with or without Lee Kuan Yew, you can survive. Your skills will be accepted in any country in the world, and especially because you speak English. Throughout the world from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, the world atlas alphabet, an educated person knows that he is welcome anywhere where his skills are needed.

And education tells us that first world countries are democratic. Where each person is respected. Where each voice counts. Where one can advance by one's ability; and not by one's sycophancy like the case in dictatorial regimes; North Korea where one advances with the patronage of Kim Jong Il, in Burma with the patronage of General Than Swe and in Singapore with the patronage of Lee Kuan Yew. Those who succeed in Singapore with Lee's support live as slaves. You are paid huge salaries to parrot Lees orders.

On the other hand, in first world democratic countries, one advances because one has skills and abilities which are in demand, not because George Bush likes them.

Many Singaporeans presently view Singapores support, assistance and succor for the brutal Burmese military junta totally unacceptable. They are aware of massive Singapore investments in Burma. They are aware that Singapore sells arms to them. They are aware that it is these very weapons which have been used to shoot at innocent protestors. Yet they can do nothing to compel Lee Kuan Yew and his government to account for their actions.

In the case of Dr. Chee Soon Juan who felt the need to publicly protest, Lee Kuan Yew's answer is to arrest, prosecute and imprison him. The government is not open to contrary opinion. Educated people find this life of submission intolerable. Therefore they pack their bags and leave for more civilized counties where their opinions matter.

Take the fact that Singapore media is owned and controlled by the Lee family. The fact that news in Singapore is censored. The fact that there is no free flow of opinion. One is unable to read the Far Eastern Review because it is banned. You are compelled to read the government propaganda churned out in the government printing presses. An educated man would want to know the truth. Not propaganda. It is not necessary; indeed distasteful and shameful to humbly accept only propaganda. So they leave for countries where they can get the truth. They go to the UK the USA Britain Australia and New Zealand.

The daily working lives of Singapore citizens; if they are educated, is distressing and shameful. A civil servant, no matter how much he personally hates the dictatorial regime of Lee Kuan Yew, has to openly praise the administration in public; lest some government informer informs on him to his superiors, resulting in his career being jeopardized. As he needs the job and the income, he openly praises the government; yet when he goes home to his family he curses the government to high Heaven. In other words; for survival, he has to be a disgusting chameleon, living a double life.

I can take a bet with you that every civil servant, every government lawyer, every worker in government controlled companies, every taxi driver and almost everyone detests Lee Kuan Yew and authoritarian government. Yet they feel they have no choice but to go along with whatever is told to them, because there is nothing else they could do the change the system. They are aware that in Singapore Lee decides what next; and the people just go along with the flow. They feel helpless. They have no choice.

Those in high positions, do it for the money. They are prepared, for the money to trumpet the governments position, even if they personally find doing what they do distasteful and shameful. A very unsatisfactory situation; not only for them, but for the future of Singapore. You have an entire country of reluctant workers.

This sort of government where it is Lee's laws and nothing else; makes educated people very uncomfortable in Singapore. They are not prepared to live like slaves, because they need not. They can go anywhere in the world they want.

So, the educated leave. They leave in droves. They leave Singapore as I write this blog. There is an ongoing brain drain. This is damaging for Singapore. Singapore needs their educated. But Lee, because of his arrogance, forces them to leave. To replace them, Singapore tries to bring in foreigners to take their places. But their places are not being filled. A highly educated Singapore doctor who goes to Canada is being replaced by a Chinese sausage maker from Hunan who does not even speak English. A skilled native Singaporean born lawyer, who emigrates to Melbourne, is being replaced by a Chinese cook from Guangdong China.

Both the Hunan sausage maker and the Guangdong cook speak only Chinese. No English at all. Before coming to Singapore, they used to live in abject poverty in China. Needless to say, neither of them have read Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson and neither have they ever heard of such a thing as the Constitution of Singapore. They were almost slaves in China. They have come to Singapore to be Lee's slaves. They are happy that way. Both of them will never see the need to challenge the rule of Lee Kuan Yew. Lee Kuan Yew is happy to have them. But people like them, with very little education or ability are destroying Singapore. Not making Singapore great.

The ones who can make Singapore great are the ones Lee Kuan Yew is chasing from the island. Lee's actions are deliberately causing this massive and continuing brain drain. And this brain drain is destroying Singapore. And Lee is responsible for it.

Lee is aware of this serious brain drain from Singapore. He is aware that those coming into Singapore from the nearby third world Asian countries cannot match the skills and abilities of Singaporeans who are leaving. He is aware that Singapores main asset is it's people, and without good and capable people, Singapore is slowly declining to become another Asian backwater. He is aware that he is destroying Singapore.

That is why we see him going to various Australian, US and Canadian cities, speaking to overseas Singaporeans and begging that they return to Singapore. He has set up, at public expense organizations such as the Singapore Overseas Unit trying to make Singaporeans return. But we have seen that all his efforts have come to zero. The fact is that educated people have more capability and self respect and they need not return to Singapore island to be told by Lee Kuan Yew what to think and how they should live their lives.

The sooner he realizes this fact the better.

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/10/singapore-is-being-destroyed-by-lee.html

Ravenclaw82 SG

Aung San Suu Kyi is under home arrest but we don't see her trying to leave her house every day or think of gimmicks to disturb the guards. We don't see her trying to set herself on fire then u-turn when she lights a match. She just sit quietly at home. All that makes her different from Chee.

Poh Ah Pak SG

Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew family, their cronies and high level foreign talent enjoy prosperity. Not ordinary Singaporeans.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The state owned and controlled Singapore newspaper the Straits Times, just as all the other Singapore newspapers are; reports with pride the A380 Singapore Airlines aircraft made its first flight from Singapore to Sydney. Great. Should Singaporeans now go home and celebrate. Should they now open their champagne bottles; provided they can afford one? Or should they be asking what do they get out of it all? Nothing!

Don't forget, Lee Kuan Yew got Singapore Airlines with your money paid for through your CPF, by the ordinary Singaporeans; the taxi driver, the plumber and the hawker. Hard earned money, which Lee forcefully takes; I say forcefully, because it is illegal not to pay the government CPF and other forms of taxation such as HDB payments. Its your money which he uses to run his Singapore Airlines.

But who actually benefits from the success of the Airline which by the way is being run with your money? Not you, let me be clear. Not the average Singaporean worker. Here is who benefits.

First the directors of the airline who are comprised of Lee family members and his cronies and friends. Lee Kuan Yew and personal family members who pay themselves huge chunks of solid cash as directorship fees and salaries and dividends. Next come the high level executives, Lee Kuan Yew cronies, with mind boggling salaries which they take at will. Next comes the pilots, half or more of whom are foreigners, Australian, New Zealand, British and other nationalities, experienced pilots each with several thousand hours flight time. The other half are Singapore pilots. These you could say enjoy the benefits of the success of the world airline.

The vast majority of Singaporean employees, the ramp attendants, the cargo handlers, the traffic marshals, the cleaners and the grease monkeys do not. It does not matter how much the airline makes, these jobs will continue to be minimum wage jobs. And if the Singaporean is so stupid as to complain; the job will be taken away from him and immediately given to a recently arrived Chinese national from Harbin, who by the way is quite prepared to work for the peanuts!

So my dear Singaporean, don't let Lee Kuan Yew, deceive you as he appears very successful in doing. He has no plans to share the success of Singapore Inc with any one of you. He is happy that you are around to work and contribute your CPF monies to him, because he needs money. With your money, he will run Singapore Airlines intent on making profits. But the profits are not intended for you, mind you. He wants more and more money; and he needs you to be around to enable it.

And in doing this, in order to successfully deceive you; he has the help of his propaganda machine, the Straits Times, which will report on a daily basis to you that the company has done brilliantly, in Singapore, in London and all over the world; and they do this in the hope that you will feel a sense of gratification because of your airline's success. Please return to reality from somnolence, from your daydream and reverie. You are sleepwalking my friends. Realise that you are being deceived.

The truth of the matter is that the average Singaporean is worse off today than he was 10 years ago. There are many reports published on this. A380 may have made its maiden flight. But you are not on that aircraft. You may have a chance to clean it. But not more than that.

Take it from me. There is nothing in it for you. As for you, Lee Kuan Yew has one plan and it is not encouraging. He expects you to work at your job as a cargo handler until you drop dead, literally; as he has made it clear that he will not permit you to retire nor withdraw your CPF savings. You will work until you die. I am sorry but that is the plan. I have only tears for you.

It is the same with everything else in the country that they flaunt. The Port of Singapore Authority, the Formula I, Tumasek Holdings with assets all over the world, GIC trading with your money in Timbuktu, Republic of Mali? I do not know where, but they are all over the world. Singapore Inc International. All this buzz and activity carried out with the hard earned moneys of local Singaporeans CPF contributions, which Lee uses at his pleasure with totally no accountability. Not to you, not to me, not the world, not to anyone. He does whatever he wants, with your money. And what happens to the profits? Well, you know the answer. He and his family and friends eat that money. Nothing goes to you. As for you, just shut up, stop complaining and work until you drop dead.

Ordinary Singaporeans should know by now that they have no say in how their country is run. No say in where their money is going. No right to demand a share of the profits which is rightfully theirs, since it is their money that made these investments possible in the first place.

Making new malls, building new roads and building a new symphony orchestra will not make the average man feel any better because he cannot eat the new roads or the mall. Just looking at it gives him no satisfaction.

So next time my friend the average Singaporean reads in the state controlled local newspaper that Tumasek Holdings has made a billion dollars in profits, they should ask what is there in it for them? And if they do not get a satisfactory answer, it is about time to join Dr. Chee in his next protest and demand

"All right my boy, Lee Kuan Yew, congratulations. Now where is the bacon?"

as the huge Russian bear had asked Boris Yeltsin when he won the Russian elections; the bear balancing the diminutive Yeltsin in the palm of his hand; ready to be crushed at any moment. A caricature.

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/10/singapores-lee-kuan-yew-family-their.html

reddressman SG

Would Gopalan had been able to accomplish what he did if he had remained in sg ??

u know, I know.

Tiggerific SG

just asking… do you guys drop by his blog or offer him comments to his posts?

kramnave SG

what has he achieved ?

Poh Ah Pak SG

The shameful 2 faced lives that Singaporeans lead.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I was in Singapore from Nov 1 to Nov 9. East coast Malaya from Nov 9 to 12. Nov 12 travel from Wakaf Bahru/ Tumpat Thai border to Singapore on Malayan Railway Eastern Line. Departed Singapore 5.40 pm Changi, SQ2 Nov 13. The following my observations.

Every morning Singapore I wake up and turn on TV Channel News Asia. Steven Chia and a diminutive woman who keeps nodding her head at regular intervals, almost to outdo TV's "noddy the horse" read the news followed by Jennifer Alejandro to read the business news. Alejandro on her part introduces herself phonetically as Olihandro for some reason when it should be pronounced Alejandro as spelt (J being pronounced as H in Spanish, unlike in Portuguese were it is the same as in English). Alejandro is simply Alexander in English.

The point is this. These TV newsreaders unlike their other Singaporean citizens, do actually speak English and not Singlish. Second they appear to have an education commensurate to their reading the news. Third they appear to be very westernized with westernized mannerisms, effusing confidence replete with the jokes and the small talk which is expected of any newsreader in any western country.

But one thing makes them very different from any western newsreader. The fact that they are quite prepared to surrender their destinies to the whims of a despot. Any western newsreader being unwilling to do.

It strikes me as odd, very odd, that such apparently educated self confident young men and women, such as these western style newsreaders would be quite prepared to act their parts in a so called first world country, yet are prepared to live, presumably out of fear, in circumstances where they have no rights at all, and all rights belong only to the Lee family.

It is not only them. The greatly experienced SIA pilots on all the legs to Singapore and back only spoke an atrocious form of English, as we know Singlish, which is in fact English with a Hokkien accent. I am quite sure that listening to them, any English speaker from any part of the English speaking world, hearing it for the first time, would be hard-pressed in being convinced that it is actually English. But what was even more astonishing was the fact that all of them had an English name before their Chinese name, like Robert Chong and so forth. One will wonder why these people are so determined to have English names when they have so much difficulty in speaking it. Why are they so desperately trying to hide their Asian identity? And if they are so ashamed to be Chinese, should they not try a little harder in trying to speak English for a change.

The taxi driver from Changi Airport to my hotel had many complaints. Not enough money. Taxi company charging too much. Difficult to survive. To my question why he did not do anything about it, his answer was that it was useless. He did not wish to openly protest as the government will retaliate and cause him and his family harm. He was afraid. He cannot do anything to change his bleak prospects. He is resigned to the fate the government has for him. A pathetic case, just as the sad cases of each and every Singaporeans that we meet. A country consumed in fear.

Dying for good Indian food, I head for Tekka Market. There I meet an Indian foreign talent, a civil engineer. He is a Singapore Permanent Resident. He lives alone in Singapore. His wife and children live in India. He has been in Singapore for 6 years. He is not interested in being a Singapore citizen. As too many Indian students are going into software engineering, there is a shortage of civil engineers in India, he claims. He claims he can make as much money now in India as in Singapore. He told me he cares 2 hoots for Singapore. He will go anywhere in the world where he can make money. Then he will go home to India. He is Indian, he reminded me.

At the market I meet up with Uncle Yap. He paints an even grimmer picture of Singapore. He says the government does not pay CPF because they have run out of money. This is evident in their laying off many workers in government departments. And these, even the highly educated ones, according to Uncle Yap, end up as security guards and taxi drivers. He even said that there was a PhD driving a taxi around. The foreign talent policy, according to him is deliberately carried on by the government to suppress the wages of Singaporeans to remain competitive. If true, very distressing news for all Singaporeans.

A friend of mine, Jagir Singh Towana. Ex police officer. Spent entire career in the Singapore Police Force. After retirement, one would have expected him to live in comfort and leisure. No not so. Despite ailing health, he has had a heart bypass operation, he has no choice but to drive a Mercedes Benz taxi as a relief driver to the licensee. This is another example of the dark side of the Lee Kuan Yew's first world country.

Another old friend Gurunathan is busy running around as a real estate broker. He claims he has no time to see me as before. He has to run around making money to pay for his HDB flat. According to him, the HDB did not care whether you had food. Their flat must be paid for first! So even though he retired from Telecoms many years ago, despite every muscle and limb hurting, if indeed it did, the man has to still run around the length and breath of the island, hoping to make a deal to pay for his flat and food on the table.

We have Bala and Thanabal, the former in his 60th year, and the latter 57. Both have all sorts of ailments. Bala has severe diabetics, suffered a stroke and now has a liver condition. Thanabal a lifetime smoker has had a "balloon" medical procedure in his heart. Both are ailing. Yet both, with all their strength have to work. This Lee Kuan Yew's first world country is not prepared to lend them a hand.

Yet neither Bala, Thanabal nor Gurunathan would dare to even mention the word "protest". They are terrified to even mention the word. Terrified at what Lee Kuan Yew would do to them if they even so much so as raised a whimper. This is the example of Lee Kuan Yew's first world citizens in his first world country.

I spoke to my friend Nazir Mohammed Khan. He is the grandson of carpet dealer Amir and Sons along Orchard Road. This man had a lot to say in complaints. He had stories like how Lee Kuan Yew and his family forced the then owners of Goodwood Hotel to sell it to them and other interesting pieces of information; whether true or not only God knows. But in the end, he will refuse to do anything even remotely of registering his complaints in the open. On a fear register of 1 to 10, you could consider him nine. Now since he knows that I write this blog, he has refused to meet me at all!

I saw my friend Sambasivam of MediaCorps Tamil Section. He was my old friend. Same complaints as usual of the government censoring the media. But as expected he is not prepared to do anything about it. Again, the all encompassing fear.

I sometimes find it hard to accept the fact that in a country with such an educated population, why do they not realize, as everyone can see, that if sufficient numbers show their dissatisfaction, the magic words being sufficient numbers, the government is powerless to punish everyone. And it is not too hard to galvanize sufficient numbers. Surely this is possible.

But as to why they do not see what I can see, is a problem that beats me. Especially why Mr. Steven Chia, the Channel NewsAsia TV newsreader, that outspoken, classy, sophisticated Western educated confident young man wishes to live his life in submission beats me.

And on the whole, the average Singaporean appeared to be classic Kaisu characters. Greedy, selfish, money driven, generally angry and impatient. A vast contrast to the people of Kota Bahru...

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/shameful-2-faced-lives-that.html

Poh Ah Pak SG

Singapore. It is impossible to change the government through national elections.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Anyone with a pair of eyes, ears and a functioning head on his shoulders should have realized this much in Singapore Island. That it is impossible to change the government through conventional channel of elections. And as proof of the utter corruption of the Singapore administration responsible for this unacceptable state of affairs is the glaring and obvious Dr. Chee Soon Juan and Mr. JB Jeyaretnam. One need not go further than that. But I will anyway, starting with Dr. Chee Soon Juan and Mr. JB Jeyaretnam.

Each and every honest Singaporean will agree; honest ones that is; that the bankrupting of Dr. Chee and Mr. Jeyaretnam by Lee Kuan Yew, defaming them at will in the state controlled papers, the Straits Times, repeatedly calling them liars and cheats and dishonest persons, was entirely without justification. Anyone with any honesty will agree with this statement. We all know that neither of them was guilty of any defamation of any sort against anyone; that the defamation actions against them were politically motivated and carried out by a corrupt judiciary; their being made bankrupt was totally unjustified and calculated for one purpose and one purpose alone, that is, to disqualify them from standing for elections.

We also know that both of them, Dr. Chee and JB Jeyaretnam; are the 2 most eminent and capable of politicians; responsible honest loyal sincere and intelligent among Singaporeans; who most deserve to be in Parliament; who are best suited to protect Singaporeans interests. Yet without any shame; knowing full well that each and every Singaporean considers their disqualification totally unacceptable, indeed ridiculous; yet the Lee Kuan Yew Administration goes ahead and does what everyone can see is nothing short of outrageous. Lee makes them bankrupt and disqualified from Parliamentary elections.

This alone shows that this Administration will not stop short of taking even the most unacceptable action to remain in power. With this fact well known, any Singaporean should know that it is impossible to remove this Lee Kuan Yew Administration from power, as they are capable of any and all illegality to remain in power.

Although not necessary, I will point out even more reasons why the opposition should forget here and now, winning Parliamentary elections and forming the government.

In order for free and fair elections, one has to have an independent media, totally lacking in Singapore. All media in Singapore is owned and controlled by the Singapore government. It is furthermore an offence to print and distribute newsprint without a permit; and just in case you are minded to apply for it, the advice should be to forget it, since it will not be granted.

The state owned and controlled media will repeatedly and with heightened intensity just before any general election, defame all opposition politicians, even threatening them with defamation suits. This will frighten off any possible opposition political candidate from running; and every citizen from voting for any opposition candidate.

Electioneering system is weighted against the opposition. The few days that is permitted for electioneering is too short favoring the Lee Kuan Yew party since they can plan it years ahead.

It is impossible for opposition politicians to speak freely at rallies since there is the constant fear of defamation actions; as what happened to Tang Lian Hong in 1997 elections.

The judiciary is corrupt and beholden to the Lee Government. This prevents any honest and capable politician from standing at elections since he knows that he may, the very next minute, be bankrupted by Lee Kuan Yew's judges who willingly do his bidding.

And I can go on but it is not necessary. As for Hougang and Potong Pasir, these wards will continue to remain under the opposition or pseudo opposition to be more correct. Lee Kuan Yew prefers these 2 politicians to continue in Parliament as they serve to paint a good face on the PAP for the rest of the world to see; since they can say that it is not true to call Singapore a one party state. At the same time Lee is confident, by the past actions of these 2 politicians, that they are really not interested in challenging the PAP. Hougang and Potong Pasir are therefore really not examples for anyone to use in arguing that Singapore has a fair election system.

What I say is this. First the people of Hougang and Potong Pasir should stop relying on these opposition political parties and do what is right. They should not follow laws that they know to be unjust. These laws such as the 5 person protest law should be broken. If you do it in numbers, Lee Kuan Yew is powerless to do anything. The newspapers licensing law should be broken as being without any rational basis. The societies act should be broken because of the same. The people should break the house to house street collections act and the political donations act and solicit for moneys locally and worldwide for the same. When defamation suits are filed, they should be just ignored and not given any co-operation, leaving the despot to do whatever he wants.

By doing these things and getting away with them, Singaporeans empower themselves. And when you empower yourselves, Lee will have to take you seriously. And when he does that, is when Singaporeans will ever manage to succeed through the ballot box.

Until and unless these things happen, Lee Kuan Yew will continue to treat each one of Singapore citizens, nothing more than a nuisance. Your views will continue to be ignored and you will forever remain in Singapore, nothing more than slaves.

There are a few free men and women in Singapore. The most notable of them are Mr. JB Jeyaretnam and Dr. Chee Soon Juan. I too am a free man living in California, Gopalan Nair of Fremont California, USA.

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/singapore-it-is-impossible-to-change.html

Poh Ah Pak SG

The one big mistake Lee Kuan Yew made.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

For all Lee Kuan Yew's talk of how smart he is, and how he has "a radar in his head that can see over the horizon" and all that bombast, one thing is very clear. He could not see that his greatest error was appointing his son Prime Minister.

Lee should know that Singapore has for the last 40 years been not only a one party state but more importantly a pure and classic dictatorship. Every order, every policy, every law, every program is decided by one man alone, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

You have ministers, that is true. But we all know that every Minister takes his decision only after having received the nod of the supremo, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. Comical Vivian (Dr. Vivian Balakrishnan) as I like to call him can make as many speeches as he likes. The moment he speaks beyond Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's liking, comical Vivian becomes history. Same with every other Minister. I only mentioned Comical Vivian especially since he has provided amusement in the past, like when he told schoolchildren to speak up and not be afraid. That they should speak until either "they turn into jars" or their "mouths become ajar" I do not know which but equally ridiculous as we can see! You see, none of these Ministers are permitted to have a mind of their own. They can exist as nothing more than the mere mouthpieces of one man, or else they become history.

In these circumstances let us look at the long awaited demise of this man, Lee Kuan Yew. Now please keep in mind that the entire Singapore knows only one type of government, that is, taking orders from one man. With his demise; can we expect that suddenly every one will begin to take orders and comply to the dictates of Lee Kuan Yew's son? We have read various reports that his son does not appear to instill confidence even among his own political party! Will he be able to gain the confidence of the Singaporean public?

This is where Lee Kuan Yew went terribly wrong. In his mistake in appointing his son, Prime Minister. He could have done much better in appointing someone more senior and with more experience in that position; that way perhaps, I say perhaps, the fear that they had for him would also transcend to his successor. But his son was the worst possible choice of appointment for Prime Minister. That is quite clear, in this system where all orders emanate from one man at the top.

This is what I see, if I can humbly predict the scene after his impending certain demise. The news is good. There will be crisis in the political scene. With the crisis, those Ministers would be the first to cash out the Singapore dollars into better positioned hard currencies. I think the first man to pack and leave would probably be Comical Vivian himself. With a small country, small population like Singapore, it is enough that one dishonest Comical Vivian cashes out. There will be a run on the currency. There will be a run on the people. There will be a run on the banks. There will be exodus. There will be another perestroika and instability.

But the good news is, out of the chaos will rise a phoenix of democracy free speech and expression and betterment for all.

Lee Kuan Yew will unwittingly be the cause of the fall of his son and the fall of his party which has held an illegal stranglehold on power over his people for 40 years.

To that extent, we have to thank Mr. Lee Kuan Yew.

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/one-big-mistake-lee-kuan-yew-made.html

Poh Ah Pak SG

Singapore. The fight for democracy.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

The war is on in Singapore. The war between Lee Kuan Yew and his dictatorship and the forces demanding democracy in the island; Dr. Chee Soon Juan and company. The front lines have been drawn. The issues are joined. When and what will the outcome be?

The circumstances appear unfavorable to the dictator Lee Kuan Yew. The winner is going to be the forces for freedom and liberty. These are the facts.

Singapore is an international city. It's livelihood depends on international banking, global trading, international commerce, high value added manufacturing, tourism. All areas where Singapores reputation as a free and democratic nation with the rule of law is important. It is easy for Laos to remain a totalitarian country since it's economic base is domestic faming. It is not so easy for Singapore to be this way. Singapore's population is not comprised of peasants as it is in Laos.

What Singapore is trying to do is impossible. It wants to remain an international city depending on international commerce and banking; yet at the same time it wants to maintain it's authoritarian rule over them. These are 2 opposites that cannot exist together. Whether Lee likes it or not, the very nature of Singapore will require that it become a freer more democratic society and the continuing attempts by the Lee Administration to keep Singaporeans subservient is bound to fail.

Singaporean political activists too are aware of this. They have taken to the streets. They have deliberately defied unjust laws designed to keep them quiet. They have deliberately broken the 5 person protest law that requires an assembly of 5 or more people to require a permit. They have protested without a permit even though there were more than 5. The government had earlier prosecuted them and sent them to jail. As they appear to be willing to go to jail, the government is at a loss. They now seem reluctant to continue with the prosecutions.

These illegal prosecutions have been exposed to the rest of the world. European countries, Scandinavian countries have been outraged by the repression of the Singapore government against its citizens. This knowledge, that Singapore denies its citizens their democratic rights is beginning to hurt Singapores trade with the rest of the world. Many European countries have begun to stop investing in Singapore. Since Singapore is not China, being a very small country, European countries can easily relocate their investments to other neighboring countries without any great loss.

The number of protests is beginning to increase. More Singaporeans are beginning to use the Internet. They are reading blogs such as Singapore Democrat. They can see with their own eyes, the arrogance of the Singapore government. They can see the police arbitrarily harassing and arresting peaceful protesters. The police brutality. At Hong Lim Park last year for IMF/ World Bank meeting. At the SDP Freedom walk. At the peaceful protest in front of the Istana. Each and every time, we see armed policemen harassing intimidating and apprehending peaceful unarmed citizens who are doing nothing more than peacefully standing or walking.

Watching this, the people are indignant. They are upset. They disrespect their government. They look at Lee Kuan Yew as nothing more than a big bully. He uses his armed police. The citizens have no arms. Yet they stand courageously facing these bullies.

In this on going standoff between the peaceful protestors and these armed government bullies there can be only one victor. That victor is the truth. And the truth is on the side of the weak unarmed peaceful protestors.

As I write. As Singaporeans watch with horror Chee Siok Chin and John Tan being bundled away in unmarked police cars (see videos in Singapore Democrat) they become angry. Angry at their government which instead of protecting them is hurting them. Who are these policemen anyway, they ask. They are public servants paid salaries from Singaporean earnings. And these people, after taking our money are abusing us!

As the Singaporeans watch in horror, their supporters numbers swell. More and more become protestors. And with more and more protestors, the police begin to take more and more harsh measures. I expect this. And the Internet will show more and more police brutality.

And what is most important is the truth. The truth always triumphs. And the truth is on the side of Singaporean peaceful protestors. And the Singaporeans will ultimately triumph. And the despots will fall. There can be no other way. That is the law. The law of truth.

In 1954, the truth was on the side of Viet Minh forces when they overran the French Garrison at Dien Bien Phu. The French were overcome and defeated. In 1975 the truth was on the side of the Viet Cong. The Americans were overcome. In 1962 the truth was on the side of Ahmad Ben Bella in Algeria. The French were overcome. In 1947 the truth was on the side of the Indians in India. The British were overcome.

It was reported that in 1953, a year before the Viet Minh overran the French Garrison at Dien Bien Phu in Northern French Indo China which resulted in the French defeat, Ho Chih Minh had told a French Army Officer that for every French soldier who died, ten Viet Minh will die. But in the end, the Viet Minh will win and the French will lose.

Similarly the political activists and the opposition political supporters should tell Lee Kuan Yew and his cronies in power that it may take some time for the opposition to win, but as sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, in the end, democracy will triumph and the dictatorship will fall. This is the truth.

My hope is that Lee Kuan Yew will not, in his desperation when the time for democracy is near, use harsh measures like his good friends, the Burmese Generals did recently in Burma by shooting at Singaporeans. Doing this will only precipitate his fall, which is a certainty.

Lee Kuan Yew and his cronies actually find themselves now in a desperate situation. Whether they like it or not, they have to cling on to power. They fear what will happen to them if they step down from power. They have a lot to fear and a great deal to explain as to what has happened to millions of dollars of public money which remains unexplained and unaccounted for.

They fear Dr. Chee Soon Juans dreaded question to Goh Chock Tong Where is my money (Or where is Tumaseks money?)

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/singapore-fight-for-democracy.html

Poh Ah Pak SG

Without protests Singapore will not change.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In countries where there is a vibrant democracy, civil society, free press, independent judiciary and a representative parliament, protests are less important or necessary for change. The organs of civil society, it's pillars of a representative parliament can effectively bring about change. Singapore does not have such a society. Singapore is a dictatorship with Lee Kuan Yew as its dictator. It does not have any of the safeguards that a democratic society has; no independent judiciary, a rubber stamp parliament, a state owned and controlled press. In these circumstances, you cannot expect parliament to speak for you. If you want change, you have no choice but to take to the streets and protest. You have to make Lee Kuan Yew listen, whether he likes it or not.

Just as the Filipinos made Marcos listen whether he liked it or not. Just as the Poles did in Poland bringing down communism. Just as the Ukrainians did. Just as the Romanians did in Bucharesti. Just as the Serbs did in Sarajavo. Just as Mandela did in Pretoria.

At this moment, Lee Kuan Yew has neither respect nor regard for his people. Somehow he has begun to believe that he alone is God's choice to rule over you. That he will decide, the rubber stamp parliament will promptly place their seals of approval, the the law is passed. He alone will do the thinking and he alone will execute. You are living in a classic directorship with him as the dictator.

Over the years, you have seen that nothing you said mattered. He has increased his salary to $3 million over the objection of the entire population. He has decided to introduce casinos, regardless of what you thought about gamblers. As for the Malays and Indians, he has decided that they are only entitled to live in selected areas of Singapore and not necessarily their choice, re: HDB policy of racial segregation. He has decided that Singapore should have 75% Chinese regardless of how fertile the 3 races each are (overwhelming Chinese human imports to counteract the increasing number of Malays being born).

In the history of countries, the most effective way of making governments listen has been through protests. South Africa would have retained apartheid had it not for Mandela and the ANC taking to the streets. India would not have been free had it not for Gandhi adopting Satyagraha. And let us not forget Burma. Burma is going to be free. And it will be because of Burmese protests.

Other than the more abstract issues such as freedom of the press and so on, you can see there are burning issues, blatant outrages being committed by this government. First take the CPF issue. A large section of the population including many friends of mine are suffering because the government is unjustly refusing to pay their rightful retirement money, causing them pain and hardship in having to continue to work. It is not that they do not have savings because they have a lot of savings in the CPF. The problem is, the government is refusing to pay. The government is reneging on the promise they made when the CPF scheme had first started. They promised that it was our retirement money. They promised to give to us at 55. Now they betray their promise. This is not just. This alone should make your blood boil. This calls for a protest. This is so, because without a protest, this rubber stamp parliament under this dictator will never listen.

This is not the only burning grievance. The poor are crying out. They are being handed cooking oil and bags of rice and a few hundred dollars and are told to fend for themselves. They cannot possibly survive. They are suffering untold misery in their one room HDB cubicles. And while they suffer, these old folks who were the pioneers who built Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew and his ministers dance in public and pay themselves $3 million per year. This too should make your blood boil.

Furthermore there is discrimination even in this. Did you know that unlike you, Lee Kuan Yew and company will be paid pensions. You only get CPF, that is if you ever get it! Why the special treatment for Lee Kuan Yew, his son and cronies? Is this not corruption. If not what is it?

Citizens of Signapore, what are you waiting for. Have the courage. The country is yours as well as Lee Kuan Yew.

And lastly, protest is your right, not a privilege. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights guarantees you that right. It is a right that humans proudly possess. And it is honorable for you to exercise that right. There is no shame in it. If you have any doubts, you can confirm this by asking SDP's former Indian lawyer who claims to be a human rights lawyer. I understand he is returning to practice after a year's suspension. Congratulations to him.

If I sounded like Mark Anthony in Shakepear's Julius Ceaser, it wasn't intentional.

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/without-protests-singapore-will-not.html

Poh Ah Pak SG

Singapore's bid to be an international legal services center!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

One really wonders what goes on in the minds of the Singapore government officials when they suggest that Singapore is capable of becoming an international legal hub like London and New York!

The Attorney General Mr. Chan Sek Kiong and the Deputy Prime Minister and Law Minister Jayakumar speaking at the International Bar Association Meeting in Singapore a few months ago, actually wanted Singapore to be a place where businesses and individuals from neighboring countries and afar used the Singapore courts to settle their disputes! They said this because, according to them, Singapore has a good legal system and the rule of law!

Wait a minute. Was it Singapore they were talking about?

Did they think even for a moment, with the present abysmal view that the world has on the type of justice being meted out there, would even one foreigner dream of coming within even a mile of the Singapore courts for dispute resolution!

If Mr. Chan Sek Kiong, the Attorney General wants to be told the stark reality of the disappointment of Singapore justice, I will do it. This is the sad state of affairs of the Singapore legal system.

Over the last 40 years, Singapore judges have been used by Lee Kuan Yew to subvert the law to silence JB Jeyaretnam, a prominent opposition politician who is now 82 and only recently reinstated to the Bar after being kept out of law practice nearly a decade!

Singapore courts has been repeatedly misused for the pleasure of Lee Kuan Yew to sue JB Jeyaretnam for defamation when no defamation existed even once. He was ordered to pay astronomical sums of money by the same Singapore courts at the behest of Lee, and being unable to pay, bankrupting him and disbarring him. This had gone on for the last 30 years. And the preferred tool of Lee Kuan Yew to finish of JB Jeyaretnam was the Singapore courts.

While the entire country knows this dirty practice of Lee using the courts; while the judges willingly comply to his despicable requests; to destroy and silence the opposition, does he expect foreigners to bring their cases to these same discredited Singapore courts?

Not only Jeyaretnam but almost all opposition politicians have been destroyed through the misuse of the Singapore courts to please Mr. Lee Kuan Yew. You will recall Mr. Tang Liang Hong, lawyer who was sued and ordered to pay several million dollars by Singapore courts at Lee's behest during the 1997 national elections. Unable to pay, he was bankrupted and driven into exile. He now lives in Melbourne Australia.

Francis Seow, another opposition politician, had been arrested and jailed under the Internal Security Act just because he wanted to contest the elections in 1988. At the orders of Lee Kuan Yew, the police and the Singapore courts have filed several charges against him for tax evasion. He managed to escape and now lives in Boston, Mass.

And of course there is the injustice that was and is being done to Dr. Chee Soon Juan who is presently being persecuted in Court No. 7, Subordinate Courts in yet another politically motivated trumped up charge; a travesty of justice.

There are others of course. M Jufrie; A. Balakrishnan; Wee Han Kim; late Dr. Lee Seow Cho; the falsely labeled Marxist conspirators, who were neither Marxist nor conspirators consisting of 22 or so of them; the list goes on. All this evil is done in Singapore by the Singapore Legal System because Lee Kun Yew wants them done. If there is one country in the world which does not have the rule of law, it has to be Singapore.

It is not that only I know this. Singaporeans know this. The world knows this. Yet the Attorney General of Singapore and the Deputy Prime Minister wants foreigners to come to Singapore to use the Singapore legal system for their disputes, because it has rule of law!

What did they think the foreigners were? Dummies!

The truth is this, which you already know. The Singapore legal system has been discredited by Lee's actions, and it is now beyond repair; beyond redemption. It is a country where the government uses the courts as a tool to stymie any criticism and to sue bankrupt and imprison any dissenters who are bold enough to speak up against Lee.

Even within Singapore, the courts systemically find in favor of the government even in civil cases where the opponent is a private individual.

The criminal law denies a person the right to counsel at the time of arrest but only after the prosecution has completed their investigation. This means by the time the defendant gets a lawyer, he has already confessed under torture. The Singapore code of evidence permits evidence regardless of how it is obtained and there are no laws against illegal searches and seizures and no protection against the use of coerced confessions under torture. What little safeguards there are to protect police excesses are routinely ignored.

I do not know what the legal system in North Korea or Burma is, but I believe that the degree of a lack of checks against police abuses between these countries and Singapore is only a matter of degree.

According to Mr. Philip Alston of the UN, Singapore has the highest rate of executions per capita in the world. It also has the totally unacceptable cruel and unusual punishment of caning (striking the bare buttocks of the prisoner with a stick or cane very hard calculated to cause extreme pain) which draws blood and leaves the poor victim's buttocks in a mass of blood and flesh, even for such minor transgressions as overstaying your visit!

As for executions, they hang people; even small time drug moles like the 22 year old Australian Ngyuen last year who was stupid enough to be caught with a small quantity of drugs at the Singapore Airport.

A barbaric, inhuman country whose judges permit themselves to be used to make favorable verdicts for their master, Lee Kuan Yew.

Yet the Singapore Attorney General and it's Deputy Prime Minister states at the International Bar Association meeting held this year in Singapore that the country is suited to be an international legal hub where international parties decide their legal cases using Singapore courts or arbitrators. What? Are they mad?

Gopalan Nair

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/singapores-bid-to-be-international.html

Poh Ah Pak SG

Letter from Associate Profesor George Dutton, University of California, Los Angeles.

Dear Mr. Nair,

Thanks for writing your blog to get the word out about what is going on in Singapore and the farce of a trial awaiting Chee Soon Juan. I am currently teaching an intro course on Southeast Asian Studies at UCLA (125 students enrolled), and will be lecturing tomorrow on censorship and political restrictions across the region, in which Singapore will feature prominently. Last week the class saw an excerpt from "Singapore Rebel" and so I appreciated your update on Mr. Chee so that I could share it with my class. I spent a year at NUS from 1987-1988, and so saw the ISA being applied at first hand, so to speak, and have tried to follow the situation in S'pore closely since then. Keep up the good work and I'll be following your blog with interest.

Best wishes,

George Dutton
________________________________________
George Dutton
Chair, Southeast Asian Studies IDP
Associate Professor, UCLA Dept. of Asian Languages and Cultures 290 Royce Hall Los Angeles, CA 90095

http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2007/11/letter-from-associate-profesor-george.html

GEORGE DUTTON
http://www.humnet.ucla.edu/humnet/ealc/faculty/dutton/

AndrewPKYap SG

hahaha... Laughing

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