25/11/2005
Singapore High Commissioner in
Canberra's Letters to Major Australian Dailies
25 Nov 05
Editor, The Age
[email protected]
In your report "Singapore Accused of Hypocrisy on Drug Stance" (The
Age, 23 Nov 05), you quoted Dr Chee Soon Juan's comments on
Singapore's economic links with Myanmar "despite the regime's
complicity in the opium trade" and insinuated that the Singapore
Government had invested in projects in Myanmar that supported the
activities of the drug lords.
This is an old, baseless allegation which Dr Chee first raised
almost a decade ago. The Singapore Government had then explained
that the investment by the Government of Singapore Investment
Corporation (GIC) in the Myanmar Fund was completely open and above
board. The Fund held stakes in hotels and companies that were
straightforward investments in bona fide commercial projects. Other
investors in the Fund included Coutts & Co, an old British
bank, and the Swiss Bank Corporation. GIC was a passive investor in
the Fund. Subsequently, it divested its stake in 2003.
At the time, the Government also offered to set up a Commission of
Inquiry, so that Dr Chee could produce his evidence, and there
could be a full and open investigation. Unfortunately, Dr Chee
never took up the offer.
If any Singaporean disagrees with our tough laws on drugs and the
death penalty for drug traffickers, the proper and democratic way
to proceed is to contest and win an election, and press to change
the law in Parliament. Dr Chee has stood for elections three times,
but lost each time, most recently in 2001 garnering barely 20% of
the popular vote.
Dr Chee has compared his struggle to Mahatma Gandhi's
non-violent fight against the British in India, but
Singaporeans know Dr Chee for what he is. In 1993, he was dismissed
by the National University of Singapore for misusing university
research funds to pay for postage on his wife's PhD thesis and
falsifying transport claims. In 1996, when appearing before a
hearing at a Parliamentary Select Committee, he wilfully gave false
information and was censured by Parliament for perjury. Dr Chee's
rehashed allegations about Singapore's links with Myanmar, and his
criticisms of Singapore democracy, must be seen in this
light.
Joseph K H Koh
High Commissioner
Singapore High Commission
17 Forster Crescent
Yarralumla, ACT 2600, Australia
Tel 61 (2) 6273 3944
Fax 61 (2) 6273 9823
