Monday, December 30, 2013

In Singapore, thinking is bad for your health

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Lee Kuan Yew's tiny Singapore island city state with no more than 5 million people of whom just 2 million are native born citizens, their Ministers and politicians are, strangely enough, the highest paid in the world.

90 year old Lee Kuan Yew and his son who is the Prime Minister are each paid $3.7 million a year and an equal amount in bonuses. So are all the other Ministers. If you add it up it would probably be $6 million that each of these Ministers get. Leaving aside the bonuses, each of them is paid about 5 times the salary of president Obama of the United States.

On an alternative assessment it amounts to the total amount of all the European presidents of the European Union. Check it out for yourself. These are facts.

At the same time, Singaporeans have no rights. The Constitutional provisions that guarantee human rights have all been denied. The freedom of speech and expression article has a clause inserted in it with requires a government permit to make a public speech.

The same restrictions apply to freedom of assembly. There is no freedom of the press which is state owned and controlled under the Newspaper and Printing Presses Act. What you get to read is just what they want to tell you, nothing more. I can go on. Check it out for yourself by reading the Singapore Constitution and the Newspapers and printing Presses Act.

In the end it boils down to simply this. In Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore you live at his mercy.

Given the fact that Singaporeans, many of them, have a tertiary education, but still accept this sort of a life. A thinking man would have come to the obvious conclusion that this is wrong.

He would have tried to demand change. For his freedoms to be restored and to be free from having to live at Lee's mercy. But it appears the unique Singaporean specimen of a human being, for some unknown reason, does not think about these things.

So what sort of people are Singaporeans anyway, at least those who stay behind in Lee's one party state.

They are ones for whom none of these things matter. It is immaterial to them that Lee pays himself 5 times the salary of Obama and is more corrupt than President Mobutu who stole the diamonds.

It is immaterial that they are denied the human rights enjoyed by the citizens of the developed world such as Australia and happily live obeying the latest orders of the Lee family, whatever it happens to be.

Because loyalty and support for the Lee political party is a sure way to secure good well paying jobs and career promotions, Singaporeans make a bee line at Lee's political party organizations such as the Peoples Association and the Residents Committee to volunteer in the hope that they are seen, recognized and selected for high office.

It does not matter for any of them that their masters are corrupt and steal from them at the tune of $3.7 million a year, deny them their human rights and abuse the rule of law to silence dissent. All these injustices, it appears, is irrelevant to the citizen hopefuls lined up at Lee's offices to volunteer and be recognized. The monetary rewards is, it seems is all that matters and conscience or even logic or common sense doesn't count.

It is the same for their children. If you thought that an eduction is intended to make you think, you are wrong if you were in Singapore.

Thinking is the worst thing a Singapore child should do, in fact it could land him in big trouble. Imagine a curious intelligent student looking at the Constitution and finding out that every single human right is blacked out, and decided to stand on a soap box outside Lee Kuan Yew's palace and demand a remedy that very instant.

I think I know what would happen to him. First his parents would have rebuked and instructed him that it is bad to think such things. Second he would be arrested for doing it and sent to the mental hospital to have his head examined. Although anywhere else, he would be admired and respected for being an upright thinking citizen who followed his conscience, in Singapore he would be labeled a criminal, an idiot and a fool not to know which side of the bread is buttered.

A good student in Lee's Singapore is one who has the good sense to realize that thinking independently is dangerous and unwise. He is one who has the good sense to know that to merely follow his leaders in Lee Kuan Yew's government is always the best policy.

A good student is one that has all the right answers when confronted with the simple truth, such as, free speech is wrong because it upsets society, creates instability and the best way to live is to merely obey your rulers and be an obedient quiet boy.

In the end, what you have is an island comprised entirely of followers. People who go about their jobs without any thinking beyond it. Students who study science and physics but have no opinion about Lee Kuan Yew's $3.7 million salary or that you need a permit to make any speech along the street where you live!

The absolute right to think is held entirely by the Lee family. Lee Kuan Yew and his son are allowed to think on how to run the island. He will give the necessary orders to his minions to carry it out or he may have sessions with his minions to formulate policy.

As for the rest of Singaporeans, their lot is to quietly obey and get on with their lives. Regardless of how strongly you feel about Lee's million dollar salary or the denial of your freedoms, you simply should not take action to make it known. The good Singaporean is the quiet one who minds his business and does what he is told.

In Singapore's way of thinking, the worst people are men like myself, Gopalan Nair, who incessantly keep criticizing them. In order to make it known how bad a person I am, they jailed me for 3 months for writing a blog criticizing one of their corrupt judges Belinda Ang Saw Ean, fined me more that $3,000 or so for behaving in a disorderly manner and finally disbarred me from practicing law in their island.

Unfortunately for them, I have no intention of being a model Singaporean and simply accept their abuse of power lying down. It seems to me completely unacceptable for a man to live like this without complaining, unless he is a Yorkshire Terrier.

I am not an expert in psychology but if I had to guess, it a form of pack mentality, where everyone does like everyone else, and anyone who happens to think differently is some sort of a pervert needing to be beaten and straightened up.

My advice to Singaporeans is this. You don't have to live like this. You should either fight the system which obviously involves tremendous danger or simply get out and emigrate. Human beings, including even animals, cherish their freedom and their self respect. You will feel much better and happier in a free society. You can also tell Lee Kuan Yew and his son to stuff it up, if they knew where.

As for your children, you are doing them a great injustice by keeping them in Singapore. You are effectively raising a robot with some scientific or mathematical knowledge, not a thinking discerning human being. You should get them to live and study in a free society, not in Lee's Singapore. You are doing them the greatest injustice by leaving them in that island.

I am writing this from Fremont, California, USA near San Francisco. I can do this only because I am physically out of reach of Lee Kuan Yew's clutches. If I was in Singapore, I would not be able to write this. In fact the best thing I ever did was to leave Singapore for good. And the best thing I ever did was to bring my children to the US at a young age before their minds were permanently destroyed by the fear and repression in that island.

I am also aware that not all Singaporeans accept this nonsense. Many continue to leave the Singaporean shores for settlement abroad. They are doing the right thing. If you are reading this and have not left, you should, not only do it for yourself and but especially for your children.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Sunday, December 29, 2013

Lee Kuan Yew's government's open indifference to the people causes increasing disaffection

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are many things terribly wrong with Singapore island, and it is indeed surprising that the government gets away with it.

For one thing, it is unacceptable for any ruler of a tiny island such as Singapore with a tiny population to openly admit that he takes $3.7 million a year and a lot more in bonuses and get away with it, but he does.

This is corruption.

In any other place there would have been a revolution and Lee Kuan Yew and his son would have been behind bars. But not in Singapore.

Singapore's leaders are no longer afraid to be openly be corrupt in this way. Over the years, they know that Singaporeans are so afraid of their government that they can simply do anything they want. In any other country, they wouldn't dare.

Then there are the other blatant violations of the Constitution. No free press, no freedom of speech, no right to peaceful assembly, rigged elections and no rule of law. Yet the people simply accept it lying down.

There are no revolutions but it does not mean that the people accept it. Native Singaporeans thanks to the Internet today are completely aware of these injustices. If they do not revolt, it is because Lee and his Son, the Prime Minister will arrest and jail them and throw away the key. They are afraid, naturally so; so they are quiet. But they viscerally hate this father and son government, no doubt about it.

What happens in Singapore is exactly what happens in North Korea or Cuba. There too the people hate their regime, but as in Singapore, they would be arrested and jailed for any resurrection. So they, like Singaporeans remain quiet and accept the servility under which they live.

But there is one big difference between North Korea, Cuba and Singapore; it is impossible to escape from North Korea and with great difficulty from Cuba because you cannot get an exit permit or a passport. If indeed North Koreans could leave, everyone there would have escaped and the country would be empty.

In North Korea and Cuba, although the people hate the dictatorships under which they live, where Kin Jong Un, like Lee Kuan Yew, who we reckon is probably richer than Bill Gates, also pays himself millions and drinks Hennesy out of golden cups, there is nothing they can do. They cannot leave North Korea and neither can they revolt. They simply live as best they can under the dictatorship.

But Singapore is different. For Singaporeans who despise Lee Kuan Yew and his son for their corruption in making millions and millions off their people, and denying them their rights under the Constitution, there is an avenue out. They can leave if they want. The Singapore passport is a very welcome piece of paper. They can go nearly anywhere they want almost entirely visa free.

This gives Singaporeans an alternative and a clear advantage. If you don't want to live in a country whose rulers are openly corrupt and pay themselves millions, deny you your rights and arrest you and jail you if you question them, you can leave.

You can pack up and leave with your family to Australia, the US, Canada or any other Western country which will take you where you don't have to live under a corrupt regime and where you are treated as human beings with rights.

And this is exactly what is happening now. As long as the government does not bring in legislation to stop people leaving, hundreds of thousands have already left and will continue to leave. Compared to it's small population size, there is a large and growing Singapore diaspora in Australia and other Western countries and growing fast.

Alarmed by the huge numbers leaving, in the recent decades we have seen repeated trips of senior Singapore ministers as well as his son visiting the main cities of Australia and the West begging Singaporeans to return to serve Singapore, appealing to their conscience and loyalty, but it appears they have decided to stop doing this for obvious reasons.

Singaporeans once having left it seems, do not want to go back. To quote Martin Luther King, I suppose Singaporeans have seen the light.

It appears they have had it with their former country and it is quite obvious why. For one thing, if you are determined to be corrupt and pay yourself millions but cannot tolerate anyone complaining by putting them in jail, I doubt anyone would want to come back.

The Australian government does not behave like this. I know two countries that do; North Korea and Singapore.

The consequence of this: the native Singaporean population continues to shrink. Although it is impossible to get the figures, native Singaporeans, by which I mean Singaporeans who are born in the island as well as their parents, should hardly amount to 1.5 million today or even less. This is occasioned by mounting emigration, rock bottom reproduction rates and an ageing population. And even this  number continues to shrink into extinction.

In the past the government used to make a great deal of fuss about this; but it seems today they are silent. They no longer discuss the issue of diminishing native Singaporeans. I suppose there is nothing they can do, and it serves no purpose to discuss it anymore.

To replace them, the island government is dishing out citizenship to foreigners of Chinese ancestry at breakneck speed. Hundreds and thousands of Malaysian Chinese and a huge number of Chinese from Communist China are being brought in in planeloads and given citizenship.

Problem is, most of them are illiterate in English and are only capable of Mandarin Chinese. Lee Kuan Yew prefers Chinese immigration over other races because he believes that Chinese are a superior race to Malays or Indians.

Lately you must have noticed, 90 year old ethnic Chinese Lee Kuan Yew who is in a wheel chair is always seen in the Ming Emperor's robes costume.

Since the recently arrived instant citizen from China is probably a noodle seller or a Chinese organ grinder, he is unlikely to have heard anything about Plato's democracy, let alone the Constitution or worse the Magna Carta or the Bill of Rights.

As far as he is concerned Singapore is probably better than living in Chengdu, China or the outer reaches at the border of Mongolia. So he comes here for a bit more money and perhaps an education or the sort you get under teachers afraid of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore.

At elections, he will dutifully vote for the Lee Kuan Yew's son and his PAP since they are the ones who brought him here, and as far s he is concerned, he cares 2 hoots whether Lee Kuan Yew pays himself $3 million a year or $35 million or whether you have human rights to speak or whether newspapers are free and independent or state owned.

Since the Lee Kuan Yew's recent arrival noodle seller from China has nothing too much in his head in the way of theories relating to freedoms or human rights, one way or another, he shouldn't worry about living in a democracy or otherwise. After all he didn't have any rights in his Communist China from which he came.

You can see the situation now. There are 2 huge torrent flows of people, one which are the native English speaking native Singaporeans out to the West and the other, the Chinese from China comprised of the noodle seller and Chinese organ grinder into the island.

Today, although there are no solid facts on the ground, at the rate at which the island has been morphing from a Singaporean one to a Communist Chinese one, Singapore island has probably completely changed. Singapore's culture, social norms, mannerisms, traditions and ethos molded after 50 years since independence is gone.

Today Singapore is a Chinese society similar to any Chinese city in China. I have never been to China, but Singaporeans would attest to the fact that it has changed. It must. If you change the population entirely from one people to another, it has to happen.

But the consequences are dire. Lee Kuan Yew and his son would probably not have any trouble continuing to be corrupt and pay themselves the $3.7 million year since these new Singaporeans or neo Peoples Republic of China Chinese are not going to complain.

Most of them are here for the opportunity, not because they are jingoistic or have any burning loyalty to the island. I suppose after a while, once they have made enough, they too will leave and be replaced by a fresh bunch of noodle sellers and Chinese organ grinders.

And in a few years, except for a handful of what I call native Singaporeans, you would have an entirely Communist China Singapore speaking Mandarin with a Chengdu accent. As for elections, I think Lee and his son have nothing to fear. All of them would vote for the Lee government or anyone else who happens to be around.

Finally the quality, and global competitiveness  of Singaporeans will collapse. It's connection with England, other free developed countries, and the freedoms which Singaporeans were promised under the Constitution would become a dead letter.

An island like this may survive as sidekick to Communist China but it is not going to be anywhere as attractive as a place to live. It is going to the dogs.

The only reason why I can write this and not be instantly arrested and jailed is because I am physically in the USA. If I were to be write this from within Singapore, I would be, like in North Korea, instantly arrested.

Being in America I can speak my mind. A Singaporean within Singapore cannot do that. One obvious reason why he leaves.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Friday, December 27, 2013

Singapore ethnic Malay spits at ethnic Chinese women. Incident could ignite inter racial riots

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On October 22, 2013 at Singapore's  Woodlands bus interchange, after some sort of an argument, a Singapore Malay man spat at the faces of 2 Singaporean ethnic Chinese women. After a video of the spitting incident appeared on the Internet and going viral, the suspect was promptly arrested and now in court. Please see state owned news agency Straits Times report of Dec 28, 2013. The video can be seen here. http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/man-admits-spitting-bus-interchange-claims-it-was-only-once-20131228


Juraimi Kamaludin, 48, accused for spitting on a woman face at Woodland               
The report carefully omits to mention the ethnicity of the accused and that of the victims, an official practice in such cases not to stir the flames of inter racial hatred.

This sort of thing is especially incendiary in the multi racial island where it is no secret that the average Malay who are all Muslims hold a deep seated hatred against the Chinese for taking their island and denying them jobs, a sentiment which has on several occasions manifested in a deadly way with island wide riots of Chinese and Malays leaving several dead. The present government, despite their protestations of innocence, is not helping to assuage either side by their determined and established policy of racial discrimination.

But despite this precaution taken by the Singaporean authorities, the jam packed overcrowded island with a majority ethnic Chinese and small but significant Malay presence means that it is inevitable that racial violence may erupt.

There is no hiding the fact that the average Malay in Singapore is disaffected. Since the early days when they were the original inhabitants, the British and subsequently the Lee Kuan Yew ethnic Chinese government deliberately began increasing the Chinese proportion of the island leaving the Malays whose island it originally was, not only marginalized in numbers but also economically leaving them as bus boys for affluent Chinese. Surely this would cause resentment and it has.

It is indeed a surprise that for so long the Malays have kept quiet and accepted this discrimination against them in their own country. I am sure that this Malay suspect was motivated to spit at the Chinese women not only because of the misunderstanding at the bus stop, it was undoubetedly occasioned by the discrimination he continues to endure in his own island. I have no doubt in my mind whatsoever that had the women in question been Malays, or even Indians, he would never have done that.

Although one cannot excuse such a disgraceful act regardless of who it was, at the same time one can understand the reasons for such acts as these as attributable to the years and years of blatant racial discrimination suffered by the Malays in the land of their birth as the original inhabitants of the island; a claim which they have far and above any Chinese or Indian who ever step foot there.

We cannot say when but it may be that Malays or Chinese who may want to rock the boat take advantage of incidents like this, and perhaps even with support from Malaysia or Indonesia, majority Muslim countries who feel eked by the blatant racial discrimination practiced against their kin, may decide it time to stoke the fire a little and create a little riot, like the one we saw on December 8, 2013 in Little India Singapore.

It is very easily accomplished.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Singapore one party state. Signs of losing grip on power

Ladies and Gentlemen,

     I would have thought that any government expecting to remain in power must have the respect and mandate of the people. One that rules without legitimacy or law but by brute force, terror and repression may last a little while, but unlikely for long.

     This is what Lee Kuan Yew's government is facing in Singapore. It is a government that relies on fear, threats and repression to rule. Not by force of law but by the misuse of it. Their grip on power  is beginning to unravel. You already see the growing dissatisfaction brewing under the surface.

      There have been increasing numbers of bloggers criticizing both the government and the judiciary causing them to react with increasing frequency of libel actions, contempt of court actions and criminal prosecutions. As more Singaporeans stand up to the injustice, they would have to prosecute even more people in the hope that criticism is somehow silenced, something we know will not happen. In fact history tells us, the more you repress your people, the more they rise.

     For one thing, no people would be prepared to accept a government that is openly corrupt. In Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew, his son and all cabinet ministers pay themselves millions of dollars which they call a salary. This is corruption and the people are angry. But if they complain they are sued, charged with criminal offenses and jailed. By the illegal use of force the people are prevented from stopping this corruption.

     It is natural for people to criticize their legal system if it is seen as corrupt or their government is seen as incompetent. In Singapore however people are not allowed to exercise their natural human right to complain. If they criticize the legal system they are immediately charged for contempt of court for scandalizing the judiciary. If they complain about the government or any minister, they are sued for defamation and jailed or bankrupted. By the illegal use of power and law the people are prevented from exercising their lawful right to criticize.

     It is natural for people to peacefully protest their grievances in public. There is nothing wrong with a man peacefully protesting what he feels is wrong and to make known to others his grievance. In Singapore he is denied the right to do this.

     Under Singapore law, he can only protest at a particular location called Speakers Corner but it is useless to do this there, since you are not allowed to protest at the location of your grievance, thereby completely negating the purpose.  For instance if you were dismissed from Sembawang Shipyard, you can only protest your dismissal at Speakers Corner, some 20 miles away!

     The people have a right to have access to an independent press. In Singapore every single news media is state owned. Instead of reading news, in Singapore you get propaganda or carefully censored news. News which they feel is not in their interest is conveniently not published. On the other hand, they deliberately use the media to vilify and defame their critics.

     The people have a right to free and fair elections. In Singapore the elections are rigged. Candidates representing the government invariably win. In fact the Workers Party which claims to be opposition is actually today nothing more like a branch of the government itself and works for the interests of the ruling party, not the opposition. As a result, effectively Singapore has no political opposition. It is a one party state.

     People are threatened before elections not to vote for the opposition. The government secret security agencies all have information about each and every resident in the island who are carefully monitored and kept under surveillance. Before elections they are threatened to vote for the government or else. Big Brother is watching you.

     The police have absolute powers and act purely at the orders of the government. They are poorly educated and the lower ranks are mostly comprised of poorly educated Malays. They have no knowledge of such things as the rule of law and willingly carry out any order of the government in the belief that it is their job.

     The average person is not safe from police harassment and arrest. The law is easily misused to target anyone with views contrary to that of the ruling party. And when you are victimized and persecuted, you have no recourse under the law because the judges are corrupt and beholden to the ruling party. A known government critic knows even before he steps into the courtroom that he is guilty.

     Singaporeans are under the Constitution entitled to an independent judiciary. Unfortunately  the government has made sure that all judges are beholden to them and make decisions that always favor the government and are always against political opponents. This happens like clockwork. If the people complain and criticize these Kangaroo judges they are charged with scandalizing the judiciary and jailed.

     Today Lee Kuan Yew's son is Prime Minister. But Singaporeans have no respect for him because they know he was simply put there by his father, not through free and fair elections. As a result he does not have the respect of his people. In fact many consider him effeminate like a woman, as shown in his mannerisms and ways, and some see his smile similar to that of a clown giving him the name Clown Prince.

    All this is wrong and unacceptable. As a result of their actions the government of Singapore is simply illegitimate. They are not ruling according to law, but simply by brute force, fear, compulsion and repression. Singaporeans are supposed to have rights under their Constitution but the Lee Kuan Yew and Son government of today simply denies the people their rights.

     As people become more educated and informed, as Singaporeans have become, they are beginning to question each of these wrongs. They are not prepared to allow their Ministers to get away with a salary of $3.7 million a year. This is downright corruption and they will not stand for this.

     They are not prepared to remain silent when they see injustice. As a result more and more people are speaking up and criticizing the government and their judiciary and to stop this growing trend the government has began to charge and sue more and more people for their criticism.

     The problem with this government is that they know that paying themselves millions is indeed corruption. They know that rigging elections is wrong. They know that people have a right to criticize. But since allowing legitimate criticism would also mean they would lose their control over Singaporeans, they have no alternative but to sue anyone who criticizes so that no one will, because as long as no one dares to criticize or protest against them openly, they would still, hopefully, be able to cling on to power.

     Unfortunately for them, it is impossible to keep a population silent through repression and misuse of the law for too long. As long as the people know that the government is abusing their power as the Lee government is doing, they will, despite the danger of criticizing, still do it, because they have that right.

     And with time, as the amount of criticism and protests will inevitably increase, the government would have to use more and more force and repression to silence them. This is obviously counter productive for the government. As they increase the repression, even more people would stand up against them.

     The wheel towards more freedom is turning against this government. With time, you will see even more criticism, even more protests, even more agitation. The government should realize that what will save them is justice and doing the right thing. By abusing their power as they have been doing, the groundswell of agitation and criticism would only increase and result in their very early downfall. That much is certain.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Monday, December 23, 2013

Singapore's property bubble; cause for alarm. HDB property owners beware

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It is an understatement to say property prices in the tiny island of Singapore is expensive. Very expensive. But it wasn't so a even a decade ago.

With the veneer of a vibrant successful city state, carefully orchestrated by the Joseph Goebbels of Singapore's state owned news agencies (mind you every single news media is state owned, the island propaganda machinery), we all thought and so did everyone else that it was nothing but boom town.

As a result the scarce land resources and a bursting at the seams population increase, brought about by instantly importing 3 million foreigners into the overcrowded tiny island, not to mention, all the good news being purveyed both within and without the island naturally made land prices shoot up not ten fold but 100 fold.

But if I  knew the fundamental flaws of the regime, I would be very worried to say the least. I would in fact, had I been sitting on a property which has appreciated 100 fold, think the best think to do now is to sell and clear out as fast as I can.

This is why.

It is not very certain, in fact it is most unlikely that the island and it's economy would outlast the 90 year old dying Singaporean Superman, the All mighty and Omnipotent, Lee Kuan Yew for whom the sun rises, the birds sings and swallow appears in Spring (Sorry I forgot there is no Spring in Singapore, it is a tropical cauldron).

Unlike Australia, Hong Kong and every other vibrant democracy, there is no established manner for change of government. Today it is Lee Kuan Yew who rules, albeit through his son, but when he dies, the question is, does his son rule and if so why? After all his son was appointed Prime Minister by his father although the Constitution makes no provision for dynastic change. Don't forget we are not the Ming Dynasty.

And if son decides not to rule, what happens next? Does he simply appoint someone of his choosing and are we all simply to submit to whoever that person happens to be?

All this really does not make much sense. In fact let me put it straight.

When 90 year old gravely ill Lee Kuan Yew dies, which is going to happen soon, you are going to have chaos, simply because no one knows what is going to replace him. There is no established protocol in place unlike democracies of the world with respected judiciaries and the rule of law.

On the one hand we have a Constitution. But that constitution is simply ignored.

Instead of an independent judiciary, we have one which is corrupt and beholden to the dictatorship.

The people have lost all respect for their judiciary which is seen routinely charging bloggers for "scandalizing" them, a queer way of putting it,  and contempt of court for any criticism however innocuous.

You have a police force which no one respects either.

Most of them are dummies with no more than 6th grade education who will go around arresting anyone whom they are ordered to. They are simply dummies or thugs. The people have no respect for them either. Unlike in the US where you need a college degree.

And then you have parliamentary elections which are routinely rigged. Qualified opposition candidates no longer dare to stand for elections because they fear defamation actions before Kangaroo court judges and instant impoverishment and bankruptcy.

And then you have the daily floods which are getting deeper and deeper day by day with climate change, warmer atmospheric temperature and heavier rainfall.

And as we speak, principally because of the Internet, and the fact Asians given a chance would want to further their education, you are creating more and more thinking individuals who for the first time realize that all that glitter is not necessarily gold and Singapore is really in a precarious position on the ledge and liable to collapse and break into smithereens like Humpty Dumpty. So they emigrate to Australia in droves and there is this unstoppable and mounting brain drain.

Remember when 90 year old Lee Kuan Yew dies which is going to happen pretty soon, and the certain uncertainty that will inevitably follow, a small island with a tiny population like Singapore completely reliant on foreign businesses, is unlikely to remain intact.

At the first sign of uncertainty, there will be investment outflow, and after that there will be panic.

And it does not take much to empty out an island with only 2 million locals and the remaining 3 million foreigners and foreign businesses. It is simply going to collapse.

My warning to property owners, and I mean this with all earnest, investors and anyone doing business or has interests in Singapore, think about what I have said.

For the vast majority of Singaporeans, in fact 99%, who all live in government built Housing and Development Board flats, their property value is usually their only asset. And what a pity if you lose it all.

And there is a good possibility that with Lee Kuan Yew's demise which, by the law of nature is going to happen very soon (he is 90 and gravely ill), there will be severe instability and a very good likelihood that HDB flats prices will come tumbling.

I fear this will happen. And this means of course that if you thought your flat could be sold for $400,000.00 it will probably go for just $40,000.

Perhaps it makes sense to be prudent and get out while you can. You will thank me for it.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Singapore Little India riot deportations. A third Minister warns foreigners they will be summarily deported.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the aftermath of the Little India Singapore riots of Dec 8, 2013 when lowly paid and ill treated Indian foreign workers went on a riot in an area with the same name, about 25 of them have been arrested while 57 have been arbitrarily and summarily deported to India without giving them any chance to defend themselves.

Obviously this is a gross violation of civil liberties not to mention the laws governing United Nations but this one party police state of Singapore, which it is, if you know it as well as I do, doesn't seem to care what anyone else thinks.

And this time, this corrupt woman, by the way who is paid millions of tax payers money, is weighing in to argue that it is perfectly normal to simply pack away and deport any foreigner you do not like and this is a perfectly normal practice!

It may be normal practice in Nazi Germany but I certainly don't want it to be so in Singapore.

I wonder which other country would consider simply labeling a foreigner "a threat to national security" (it seems that is all what it takes) and then ship him off that minute, no questions asked! I know one other country that used to do that. You guessed it; Hitler's Nazi Germany. Now you know one other country considers doing that perfectly normal too, Singapore.

In an article which appeared in one of Singapore's state owned news agency, ChannelNewsAsia on Dec 21, 2013, she is reported to have said "Due process had been given to the 57 foreign workers who were repatriated following the Dec 8, riot at Little India" according to the Senior Minister for law and Education Indranee Rajah. Please see http://www.channelnewsasia.com/news/singapore/little-india-riot-due/930316.html

I wonder how she arrived at the conclusion that due process was given to them when we all know none of them were given any opportunity to defend themselves!

The police had conducted their own investigations in private and come to the conclusion that these individuals were to be deported and that was that!

I would have thought, and so would a rookie law student that due process, requires natural justice. And natural justice means the ability for the suspects to be given a chance to defend themselves before an independent tribunal open to the public.

Merely interrogating them, and very probably beating them too, because that is what Singapore police routinely do, in private and deciding that deportation was proper and shipping them off that very instant is certainly not what I understand by due process and I am sure, neither do you.

She says "repatriation orders fall under the executive function of the government", as if to say after pulling out the fingernails of a suspect under torture and when questioned simply say "pulling out fingernails under torture falls under executive function of the government"!

My dear woman, listen to this. It is simply not enough for you to say, this or that "falls under the executive function of the government" and simply abuse the rights of your people.

That is simply not enough. Your process should stand up to public scrutiny. And in this case it simply does not.

And then she says " the process had been carefully considered with extensive interviews and investigation". Very clever indeed!

Let me put it this way. Perhaps you know that the "process has been carefully considered" but how do we know that?

And I am absolutely sure that the deportee did not know that either because otherwise there wouldn't be this outpouring of outrage and indignation around the world against these summary deportations.

Let me out it you this way. A man passed a house with a dog which was viciously barking at him. The owner of the dog, noticing the alarm in the face of the man tells him not to worry because "barking dogs don't bite" to which the man very reasonably replies "You know that and so do I, but does the dog know that?"

We have the same problem here Senior Minister. No in this case I don't know that the process was carefully considered unless he had a right to a hearing.

But here is where her remarks become even more alarming. She says "Each country has the right to determine it's own laws. This is a system which we have chosen for Singapore. It has worked for the safety and security of Singaporeans which we place in paramount importance".

This statement should remind someone with any sense of history of Nazi Germany where Hitler tells his Germans that these laws which we have made for you are good for you because we know best! Sends the chill down the spine, I have to say.

Yes each country has the right to make their laws but the laws have to be just.

You can't simply do anything you please and say "you have the right to make your own laws".

This law of deporting people without a hearing in unjust and simply saying that you have a right to do it, does not make it right.

In fact under the law, you "don't" have the right to make such a law being ultra vires the Constitution.

And then I notice that throughout you use the word "we" and that "we" have done this and "we" have done that.

Who is the "we" that you are referring to? Is it the one party state's government to which you presently belong where the elections are rigged and critics removed through defamation actions, which conveniently allows you (the "we") to simply do anything you want?

No I am sorry, it is not good enough for you to say "we" have done this or that because the actions of "we" are not only contrary to the Constitution, "we" does not reflect the will of the people either and what is more, it is an affront to human decency. 

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Singapore gives jobs to Filipino tourists while locals are unemployed

Ladies and Gentlemen,

We have known all along Singapore's bizarre unexplainable neglect of their own citizens in employment preferring foreigners instead!

One of Singapore's state owned news agencies Straits Times reports on Dec 23, 2013 titled " Filipino professionals head to Singapore as tourists to seek jobs" http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/filipino-professionals-head-singapore-tourists-seek-jobs-20131223.

The story talks of Filipino national Mr. Ramz who came in March as a tourist to Singapore and candidly discloses that he came specifically to look for a job, not to visit.

In any other country Ramz would be treated as a visa violator, as his visa application as a tourist was fraudulent, having no intention of visiting Singapore but to seek employment.

But this sort of behavior is, totally acceptable for Singapore which appears to favor foreigners over locals for jobs.

It seems according to the report, he remained in the island for 4 months, having one meal a day to save money while he researched every job agency for employment finally obtaining one as a financial analyst at a salary of Singapore $2,800 a month.

No other country in the world allows this sort of thing.

In fact it is very probable that Ramz , like most other Filipinos, would have preferred to have got a job in the United States, Australia, New Zealand or Canada rather than Singapore which was his last choice.

In fact Ramz would not have even been allowed to step foot in any of these countries and probably not have been issued with any visa because there is a strong likelihood that, if allowed to enter the US, he will not return to Philippines.

Singapore it appears has very low standards and will allow anyone in, which is why, Ramz is not only given a visa to enter Singapore, he is able to get a job right away as well.

What is more, no one knows whether Ramz is a serial murderer in the Philippines as unlike other developed countries, Singapore does not require a background check before being given residence and employment.

This is an example of the poor quality of foreigners who are admitted into Singapore, a place that will accept anyone who wants to come in.

Locals always come first before foreigners in every other country.

This sort of total disregard for the interests of Singaporeans in their own country, is one reason why young Singaporean men and women should show no loyalty for Singapore.

When the island's million dollar ministers plead and beg asking their citizens to remain and not emigrate, they should be told their entreaties sound very hollow.

Why should any Singaporean in his right mind have to do national service and give up 2 years of his life to his country when he is treated worse than this Filipino who can simply walk in and find a job, totally regardless of how many Singaporeans are unemployed.

In every single country in the world, citizens have advantages over foreigners. Singapore is the only country in the world where, for jobs, it is the other way round.

Which is why young educated skilled Singaporeans should have no hesitation in refusing to do national service and packing off to Australia where he knows, when he becomes an Australian, his country would protect jobs for him and not give it to a Singaporean tourist.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Singapore Law Minister repeats his warning to foreigners. I will summarily deport you.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After complaints from some quarters against the news that Singapore has begun summarily deporting Indian citizens without giving them their day in court on charges that they are a threat to Singapore's security, yesterday the Law Minister through his press secretary has repeated that ominous charge,

In essence he says "You will be summarily deported without due process".

Please see the report of one of Singapore's state owned news agencies Straits Times report of Dec 22, 2013 titled "Law allows Minister to decide who is deported" http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/sunday/breaking-news/singapore/story/law-allows-minister-decide-who-deported-20131222

I had written day before yesterday in this blog why the arbitrary and summary deportations of foreign citizens within Singapore is a violation of natural justice and an attack on one's conscience and decency.

Foreigners who are given the right to work and live in Singapore are entitled to the same rights as citizens according to Amnesty International which has criticized the injustice.

Please see Dec 18, 2013 report of Amnesty International titled "Singapore must give fair hearing to migrants facing deportation over riot" https://www.amnesty.org/en/news/singapore-2013-12-18

In the report Isabelle Arradon, Amnest Interantional's Director says

"It's important to remember that migrant workers face various forms of discrimination in Singapore. They are not afforded the same legal protection as nationals, and many work in very poor conditions,"

"The principle of non-discrimination and the right to freedom of expression, assembly and association are afforded to citizens only in Singapore’s Constitution. Thus, migrant workers are effectively excluded from these provisions."


Treating foreign workers who are lawfully in the country this way shows Singapore in a very bad light and reflects the poor character of the government in power.

It shows a government who could care less about such things as human rights in their country and shows a complete disregard of what the world thinks of them, no better than Nazi Germany, reminiscent of the horrifying summary deportations of Jews and Gypsies.

Already the island's tiny native population which is actually no larger that a mere 2 million today, continues to shrink at an alarming rate, especially in an area where it is needed the most, the brain drain of the best and brightest, that leave in droves annually for permanent settlement in Australia and the West.

There is no doubt that the vast majority of young men and women, the top of their classes who leave do so primarily because of these disgraceful human rights abuses carried out both to their fellow citizens as well as foreigners.

And these are the very ones the tiny island with a tiny population needs the most.

In addition the island's native population continues to decline with the world's lowest fertility rate, not to mention a large aging population.

This scenario is not something any country can withstand, let alone a tiny one like this.

By a strange quirk of circumstance this abuse of power turns out to the advantage of those wanting to see the end of the one party police state.

This disgraceful ill-treatment of foreigners in the island actually turns out to be another valid reason for educated decent Singaporeans to emigrate to the West, another body blow to the regime.

The island is turning into, if it not already has, into a Nazi Germany or a Mussolini's Italy. It is a police state where you could be picked up and interrogated completely at the whim of the authorities.

And especially if you happen to be a known critic, you stand no chance at all.

No decent right thinking human being would want to be associated with a country that has a total disregard to international norms of decency and respect for civil liberties.

This sort of arrogance may work in Putin's Russia for some time as it has millions of people and a few disgruntled citizens will not turn into an instant revolution.

But Singapore is different. It is a tiny overcrowded island no more than 720 square meters, and although it has 5 million people, no more than 2 million are native born.

What should be more troubling for Lee Kuan Yew and his son is the fact that unlike Putin's Russia, the islanders speak English making emigration to the West far easier.

And then we have the major game changer looming in the very near horizon. Lee Kuan Yew 90 and gravely ill is going to die any minute. For an island that is almost synonymous to his name, his sudden demise may also be that of the island itself.

While Lee Kuan Yew shoots himself in the foot by these harebrained abuse of foreigner's rights, even more young Singaporeans would leave for Australia which by the way is a country that does not summarily deport foreign nationals; which for a Singaporean by birth like me wanting to see the back of this one party police state both encouraging and gratifying.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Friday, December 20, 2013

Singapore Little India Riots. Police Commissioner claims the right to deport foreigners anytime he pleases

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In the wake of the riots by Indian foreign workers in Little India Singapore on Dec 8, 2013, the island city state's Police Commissioner Ng Joo Hee claims the very alarming threat to deport any foreigner he pleases without any right to a judicial hearing.

This worrying revelation means no foreigner within the island is safe from being deported anytime. The only requirement for deportation, according to him, is the internal finding by the island's police that the foreigner is a "threat to the interests or well being of Singapore".

According to this Police Commissioner, the foreigner faced with this life changing accusation, facing the prospect of  summarily losing his source of income or livelihood and becoming destitute, and peremptorily being shipped off to his native country, will not even be given the chance or recourse to defend himself .

As you can see, the painful consequence of such a heartless policy not only extends to the foreign worker or lawful permanent resident but also to his entire family who depend on him for a livelihood. This cruel and heartless long standing standard immigration policy of the island was made known by the Police Commissioner at a press conference on Friday evening.

Please see the report in Singapore's State Run News Agency Straits Times of Dec 20, 2013 titled "Little India Riot: 53 workers repatriated; 200 to report to CID to be formally warned" http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/friday/breaking-news/singapore/story/little-india-riot-53-workers-repatriated-200-report-cid-be-formally-ad

The Police Commissioner of Singapore's rendition of Singapore law to justify summary deportations appeared on Friday at his Press Conference verbatim on video, where he says the following:

"Foreigners regularly get deported. Foreigners are regularly stopped at the border and not permitted to enter Singapore. It is quite regular and common practice that ICA (Immigration and Customs Authority) does everyday. We do it all the time."

But we are not just talking about foreign visitors being turned away at the Singapore Airport or at a border crossing. We are talking here of deporting foreign citizens who have already taken lawful residence in the island and working either as temporary workers or permanent residents, perhaps even for years.

What the Police Commissioner is saying is that these people, just because they happened to be foreigners can be deported anytime just because he has made a finding that they are a threat to state security without more.

The ramifications of this statement are very troubling indeed, and should send chills down the spines of every single foreigner physically within Singapore, including foreign workers and even lawful permanent residents in the island republic.

Singapore's policy of simply accusing a foreigner and summarily deporting him for being a "threat to the interests of Singapore" without giving him any right to answer the charge before an independent tribunal is simply contrary to law and natural justice, shocking to the conscience of any decent country in the world.

This is what we could expect of Nazi Germany which deported millions of Jews, non Aryans and Gypsies  and they too were never given a chance to defend themselves.

This is a thoroughly unacceptable practice. Of course it is completely understandable for a visitor to be turned away at an airport or border crossing without the need for a hearing before a tribunal.

But it is a completely different thing to deport people who have already been admitted into the country either as a visitor, foreign worker or permanent resident, and even sunk roots in the island, without giving him a right to respond.

It is a required by law in the United States, Canada, Australia, all European countries and indeed all countries that claim to have the rule of law to give proper notice to a removal charge to the subject foreigner who then is allowed to respond to the government allegations and if unresolved an opportunity to appear before an Immigration Judge.

The legal basis for this is the fact that the foreigner has a beneficial proprietary right to work and earn an income or live in the country which cannot be arbitrarily taken away without due process .

According to this report from Singapore's state owned news agency the Straits Times, they had repatriated 53 foreign workers to their home countries without any right to a hearing.

What this shameful act by the Singapore government means is that it is no better than some banana republic which merely allows people in when they want and deport anyone they don't want completely at their discretion requiring only a blanket official statement that so and so "is a threat to national security".

This disgraceful lack of rule of law and you-listen-to-me-or-else arrogance continues to hurt the tiny island city state's ability to ever succeed in anything.

For a start, thousands and thousands of English educated young Singaporeans who are aware of this sort of abuse of their people's civil liberties, no matter citizen or otherwise, continue to emigrate to Western countries where they can expect some decency to towards their fellow man.

This will hurt any country but it is devastating for a tiny island with no more than perhaps just 2 million or less native born citizens left, and shrinking, with the rest being all foreigners.

Thousands of native highly qualified  English educated Singaporeans who have already gone to Australia and the West from this tiny native population of just 2 million are encouraging their family and friends to join them, over and above new applicants, who are dying to leave this repressive one party police state; and each disgraceful episode such as these deportations only heightens the flow.

Any Singaporean who is able to think and has tasted life in the West would not, over his dead body, want to ever live in an island like Singapore.

To cover the mounting loss of numbers who have left and are leaving, the authorities are desperately scrambling to bring in immigrants who are, by the way, mostly rejects who have been unsuccessful in their migration applications to the West. These immigrants too, given the chance will also leave at the first opportunity.

No one, unless you are a heartless brute, will accept a law which allows foreigners to be simply packed off and deported, just because they are foreigners, just like that.

This sort of high handedness by a government in a tiny country with a native local population of just 2 million today, greatly reduced from 3 million just a decade ago, will simply mean that the thinking and discerning native population would be entirely wiped out within the next few years leaving only illiterate ethnic Chinese noodle sellers who can't tell the difference between the United States and North Korea.

In a tragic way, these repressive measures by the Singapore government should come as a blessing in disguise for anyone wishing to see the back of Lee Kuan Yew's one party government.

It will tend only to expedite the island's demise, from what we know Singapore to be, leaving it with only temporary employment seeking foreign migrants in the island prepared to accept this totalitarian dictatorial rule, because they can have no better, leaving the island effectively changed into another North Korea replete with desperate temporary workers willing to obey this one party police state and the dumb ethnic Chinese noodle seller who can't tell the difference one way or the other.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Wednesday, December 18, 2013

Singapore Little India Riots. Police detain and question 3,700 Indian nationals to charge 30 in court

Ladies and Gentlemen,

On December 8, 2013 in Little India, an area in Singapore some Indian nationals rioted after one of their fellow men was run over and killed by a bus in front of them. They were also probably unhappy with their meager pay and miserable working conditions causing them to riot.

But what is shocking is the fact that they in fact detained and interrogated no less than 3,700, according to the state controlled press in the island, mostly Indian nationals to investigate this riot. And obviously most of them were innocent and had nothing to do with the riot, since only 30 of them were charged, their names having been chosen at random by the police from government work permit records.

This sort of random arbitrary police action against masses of innocent individuals is a clear violation of police powers, not tolerated by any civilized society. The right of the police to investigate crimes does not override the citizen's right to privacy and be free from unlawful searches and seizures. There has to be probable cause before you demand that someone appear before you to be interrogated. Here there was none. You simply cannot go on a fishing expedition, as in this case of rounding up 3,700 people! Only in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.

This is a clear violation of the privacy rights of people as well as their right to be free from arbitrary and unlawful searches and seizures. If this is allowed, there is no question that it is nothing short of a police state permitting the questioning and search of anyone anytime they please.

Outraged by this police unashamed high handedness, complaints have been lodged by a Human Rights organization called Workfair Singapore that many innocent people among the 3,700, who were asked to report to Police headquarters and beaten up to extract confessions. The Deputy Police Commissioner has confirmed that complaints have been lodged and he is investigating.

No civilized society allows it's police to detain and question anyone they want to investigate crime. Toa Payoh is a housing estate of several housing blocks. Are the police saying that in order to investigate a case of theft in a flat in the area, they have a right to to round up hundreds of thousands of residents in the entire housing estate interrogate and beat up some of them, in the name of crime investigation?

By their rounding up as many as 3,700 people of Indian descent in Singapore, are they also saying that they could stop anyone along the street simply because he looks Indian (since Indians rioted) and bring him in for questioning?

What are they anyway, the Gestapo?

There is no doubt about it, Singapore is plain and simple a police state. The police in Singapore can simply do anything they want. On the claim that they are investigating crime, they can, under Singapore's laws stop and question anyone, demand that they attend at police headquarters for questioning and simply beat you up as well if they choose.

There should be no surprise, given the police's unlimited powers, why thousands and thousands of good educated people are leaving Singapore's shores for settlement in the West preferring to live in a free society under rule of law. And it should be no surprise why people around the world are not making a beeline to apply for settlement in North Korea or to Singapore if you had any choice.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Singapore's Little India riots. Indian nationals arrested complain of police brutality, assault and torture in custody.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Since the December 8, 2013 riots in Singapore's Little India, Singaporean police have been repeatedly assaulting and torturing Indian nationals in custody to obtain confessions. They have also said they will be deporting 53 Indian nationals summarily without giving them any right to challenge their deportations.

This was reported in Singapore's state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Dec 18, 2013 titled "Activist group calls for investigation into allegations of police assault" Please see http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/wednesday/breaking-news/singapore/story/activist-group-calls-investigation-allegations-police-assault-20131218

According to the report "Workfair Singapore, a group of civil society volunteers concerned about workers rights, said on Wednesday that it is "deeply dismayed" that some of the workers remanded on charges of rioting in Little India have complained of police assault in a place where there were no cameras."

You can see how despicable and cowardly the Singapore police are, if in fact these accusations are true, to assault them "where there are no cameras" for the obvious reason that they will not be found out. The Singaporean police should be ashamed of themselves. They should be held to account. They should not escape justice.

This organization, Workfair Singapore, should be applauded for doing an excellent job. They have correctly also in this report stated that such police brutality is illegal under the "United Nations Declaration against Torture (1975), and Convention Against Torture (1984) and statements made under coercion or duress are inadmissible in a court of law"

Workfair Singapore called on the Minister to appoint an independent investigator apart from the Public Prosecutor who has been asked by the judge to investigate, which should have complete access to all complainants as well as the police officers who were involved in the incident.

However what the Singapore government, one party police state wants to do is to ask the government public prosecutor to carry out a private investigation into the matter.

You can see how ridiculous this plan is. It is like asking the fox who had just recently stole the chickens to investigate whether any chickens were stolen! Or like asking an arsonist to investigate a fire!

Of course the plan, no prizes for guessing, is that in due course Singapore Public Prosecutor would make an official statement that he had assiduously carried out an impartial investigation and the result was that no one assaulted the Indian nationals and more, the Indian nationals are all congenital liars and should be very harshly treated. End of case, Singapore style.

Workforce Singapore also justifiably complains that "the police have decided that 53 of those investigated are to be deported summarily without trial. They correctly state that "the arbitrary deportation of these 53 persons raises grave concerns about the state of Rule of Law in Singapore"

You don't need to be a law professor to know that one doesn't simply pick people up and just deport them. They are human beings. They have a right to defend themselves before an impartial arbiter. And you are denying them that by simply deporting them. 

Workfair Singapore  have also noted that many of those arrested are going to have their work passes summarily cancelled and deported. This is completely unjustified. You simply cannot cancel someone's work permit, even if he is a foreigner, and simply pack him off. You have to give him a chance to explain himself before an independent tribunal before you do that.

The actions of Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore smack of Nazi Germany and how the Gestapo would deal with their arrestees. This is not how a so called modern city state should be behaving.

In answer to Workfair Singapore's legitimate complaints, the Singapore Deputy Commissioner of Police, T. Raja Kumar, a clever selection by the Singapore authorities since he is a Tamil Singaporean of Indian descent, instead of choosing a Singaporean of Chinese descent who are in the majority, presumably to avert claims of racial discrimination, has predictably dismissed every single complaint of Workfair Singapore as being unjustified since there is, according to him, nothing wrong with anything the police did.

Here you will see how stupid he sounds. Please see their state controlled newspaper  Straits Times article of Dec 19, 2013 titled "Deporting foreigners "provided for in the law" says Deputy Commissioner of Police. Please see http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/deporting-foreigners-provided-the-law-says-deputy-commissioner-police-

He says in a blanket fashion "Laws such as the Immigration Act empower the authorities here to deport foreigners who are a threat to the safety and security of Singapore", as simple as that!

But he fails to mention that the authority who decides this is the government themselves with no opportunity for the poor deportee to contest it! It is like saying Hitler's Gestapo will decide whether you are a threat to Nazi Germany and then take you out to the yard and shoot you!

This Singaporean Tamil has to be told that in civilized societies you don't do it like that. First of all, there has to be rules and above all those rules have to be fair. Simply saying that we have the laws is simply not enough my dear Tamil T. Raja Kumar.

Once again he makes a blank general statement that "these 53 persons by their actions, satisfy the conditions for deportation" full stop! What arrogance!

He goes on in the report in the same fashion, to say that the government has the right to simply do anything they want and no one can question them because "that is the law"! He sounds more like Adolf Enichmann (I am sure the Tamil T Raja Kuamr has not heard of him), Hitler's right hand man at the concentration camp to a question from a Jew who is just about to be incinerated, "that is the law, my dear" !

No need to waste valuable time on this rubbish from Lee Kuan Yew's Deputy Police Commissioner. You can read the article for yourself.

As I had earlier known the Singapore police are going to engage in police brutality as they ordinarily do whenever they arrest any suspect.

When I was arrested in 2008 and had to spend eight days in police custody, for a blog post I wrote, I too was subjected to police brutality through prolonged sleep deprivation and being repeatedly interrogated with repeated threats to extract a confession. I did not confess. But these young men are simple people without a legal background and obviously easy prey to be abused at will.

I applaud the work of Workfair Singapore in what they do. Singaporeans, the Indian government and the Indian people should condemn this police brutality and should agitate and condemn them for their actions.

In the end, as always, it is the shallow minded Singapore government which will suffer the consequences of this police brutality. Firstly the world has already heard of it. That is bad already.

Second, the Indian nationals will one day return to their country. Their newspapers, which are free and independent unlike the state controlled ones in Singapore will pick up their stories, and you would have created a long standing ill will between the government and people of India against this banana republic one party Singapore police state.

This will further alienate not only Indians but good people all around the world, not forgetting Singaporeans of conscience which will add to the already mounting problems that this small minded cowardly island already faces.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Monday, December 16, 2013

Singapore Little India riots of Dec 8, 2013. Police detain and interrogate 3700 innocent Indian citizens

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's  state controlled media has earlier reported that some 300 Indian foreign workers were involved in the Dec 8, 2013 Sunday riots in an area called Little India. In fact so far only about 30 have been charged making the claim of 300 a gross exaggeration by itself!

But what is even more shocking, high handed and gross abuse of police power is the admission by them that as many as 3,700 innocent Indian citizens working in Singapore have been detained and interrogated obviously with the object of finding more rioters.

Please see Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits Times of Dec 11, 2013 titled "Little India Riot: Eight more riot suspects held, 24 workers charged." http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/eight-more-riot-suspects-held-24-workers-charged-20131211

The report reads " At a briefing for the media yesterday, the police said investigations were in full swing with 3,700 foreign workers from 10 dormitories across the island interviewed so far".

The Indian government should note this is a blatant abuse of the rights of their citizens. Singapore police are blatantly violating the rights of these Indian citizens.

The law specifically requires that every person has the right to be free from unlawful searches and seizures. By law the Singapore police have no right to interrogate 3,700 Indian citizens working in Singapore who are all totally innocent of any crime.

By their arrogance and abuse of police powers, they are telling us that they can simply do anything they want, including detaining and questioning Indian citizen workers simply because they are Indian workers and for no other reason.

What they are saying is that just because Indian citizens are suspected of rioting in Little India, they have a right to detain and interrogate every single Indian citizen foreign worker in Singapore even though they have no evidence against any one of them, in the hope that they could find some!

This is a gross abuse of police powers.

It is very clear that when the Singaporean police detained and interrogated 3,700 Indian citizens working in Singapore, they did so only because they were Indian citizens, not because they had even an iota of evidence against any one of them.

In effect, what this alarming misuse of police powers means is that no Indian citizen is safe from police harassment, questioning and interrogation in Singapore. They could simply round up as many Indian citizens just because they are Indian citizens, detain and interrogate them anytime they want, for no reason whatsoever.

It is quite clear that these 3,700 Indian citizens who were detained and interrogated were names the police obtained from Singapore government work permit records. They were simply and randomly selected for the indignity of detention and interrogation.

Singapore island, a one party police state, should be sent a clear message by the Indian government, Indian workers unions and activists that they will not tolerate Singapore government highhandedness and their police force abusing the rights of Indian citizens in Singapore. This random detention and interrogation without probable cause should cease and desist immediately.

Indian workers in Chennai India should start organizing protests and demonstrations outside Singapore Consulate General against this random unjust detention and interrogation of thousands of innocent Indian workers.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com




Sunday, December 15, 2013

Singapore North Korea and Syria striking similarities

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are many striking similarities between Singapore, North Korea, and Syria.

For one, in all of them, when the dictator dies, power devolves to his son, in North Korea to Kim Jong Un, in Singapore to Lee Kuan Yew's son, although Lee is still alive and in Syria to Bashar al Assasd. They are all dynasties, with power handed down from father to son.

All three countries are tightly controlled and any dissent is severely crushed. In North Korea and Syria, they will probably shoot you. In Singapore they use defamation laws and Kangaroo courts to sue and bankrupt you or even send you to jail, after which they continue to victimize you. You will be denied jobs, promotion or a career. Your family too will be victimized for life.

In all three countries, it is highly profitable to join and support the government party. Lee Kuan Yew, his son and family members pay themselves millions of dollars. In fact they are paid as much as five times the salary of the US president and several times more, millions, secretly. They live lavish opulent lives driving luxury cars and living in mansions. Unlike North Korea and Syria, Singapore's rulers and their clique make sure not to flaunt their wealth, although they drive around in expensive cars and under heavy police escort. In Singapore, this huge gap in incomes is a way to sending a message to others, the advantages of supporting the government, and the futility of being a critic.

All three countries are governed through fear. It is the ability of the government to inflict fear in their people that enables them to rule. Once that fear is removed, all three governments are powerless. This is so because none of these countries are governed with legitimate laws. For instance in Singapore it is simply unacceptable for any ruler to pay himself $3.7 million a year (the salary of Lee Kuan Yew). They can only do this by punishing anyone who questions them. Similarly in Singapore the law that denies free speech or assembly, which is enshrined in the Constitution,  cannot by justified by any means. But they can enforce such an unjust law by punishing anyone who attempts to exercise it. It is the power to punish anyone anytime that allows the Lee government to remain in power, just as the North Korean or the Syrian.

Since it is highly problematic, even dangerous, to espouse opinions against the government even though they are clearly fascist and unjust, most ordinary people simply act ignorant and go along with the flow. Most Singaporeans assert no public view on their leaders paying themselves millions which is plain corruption, they have no opinion on the fact that free speech, expression, free assembly and free press are all denied.

Just as in North Korea and Syria, most people in the island simply live their lives without saying or opining on anything which concerns their rights. This way they stay out of trouble and the only ones who do get into trouble are people such as myself Gopalan Nair who questions their dictatorship and denial of human rights.

There is one major difference however between these countries. It is almost impossible to get out of North Korea and as for Syria, unless you are English educated or have skills, it is equally difficult to emigrate. In the case of Singapore on the other hand, it is very easy to get out if you want. Most countries accept Singapore passports without visas and as they are English educated, this makes it even more easier. This explains the huge emigration rate from Singapore to Western countries and this is what is seriously worrying the Singapore cabal, a problem from which they have no answer.

The only solution they have is to simply replace those leaving by allowing immigration into Singapore in large numbers; only problem is that the ones who come are the rejects which western countries such as Australia, Canada and US do not want since their first choice is the West and only choose Singapore as a last choice.

Needless to say the Singapore authorities are obviously living in denial. Day by day their already tiny population continues to decline almost to extinction but they continue their tight grip on power by denying basic fundamental rights, the very reason which fuels this torrent of migration to the West.

Time will tell whether this huge torrent of migration to the West from this tiny island being replaced by second rate foreign immigrants will cause the island itself to collapse and that time, I am afraid is approaching fast.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Singapore Little India arrests. Indian worker unions and activists should protest outside Singapore Consulate General in Chennai, India

Ladies and Gentlemen,

I am writing this blog with great trepidation and alarm over the condition of the Indian nationals arrested and presently in custody of Singapore Police, over the recent Little India Singapore riots of last week. 

As I write this blog, recently arrested Indian foreign workers accused of rioting in Little India area of Singapore are now being tortured in police custody of the Singapore authorities. According to their laws, these Indian nationals are not allowed to have lawyers while being interrogated. They are being detained in police custody and are being tortured daily to extract confessions.

This is a violation not only of Indian law but of international law which requires that arrested persons are allowed legal representation. This brutal abuse of Indian citizens by the Singapore government should be stopped. Singapore should not be allowed to torture Indian citizens.

Only last week Lee Kuan Yew's son, the Prime Minister  has publicly stated that he will "use the full force of the law" to prosecute these people. As Singapore is literally a one party police state, under his complete control, they would anything to please him, which I fear is to brutalize them to extract confessions.

Both the Indian government and the workers of India should not tolerate this abuse of their citizens in Singapore. Under Indian law, a democracy, any person arrested has the right to have a lawyer as soon as he is arrested. This right that Indians have is being blatantly abused by the Singapore authorities. This is not something any Indian should tolerate.

I urge union leaders and human rights activists in Tamil Nadu, India from which all those arrested are from, to immediately organize demonstrations and protests outside the Singapore  Consulate General in Chennai, India to demand that those arrested are fairly treated. The address and telephone number of the Singapore Consulate General is;

Singapore Consulate General
17-A North Boag Road
T. Nagar, Chennai 600017
Tamil Nadu, India
Tel: (91) 44 2815 8207

Indians in India should force the Singapore authorities to accept the norms of civilized society and international law to make sure that they are immediately given legal representation, to demand that any statements made them without legal representation be nullified and Indian lawyers from India be allowed access to their citizens to ensure their rights are not being abused.

If any Indian interested party wishes to interview me on the fact that arrestees are being abused, I am willing to provide any information needed. I am a Singaporean by birth and now a US Citizen. I was also a former opposition politician in the island. I am also a practicing lawyer in the US.

I have personal knowledge that accused defendants will be abused in police custody. In 2008 when I was arrested in Singapore for writing a blog criticizing their legal system while physically in the island, I was kept in custody for 8 days during which time I was denied legal representation while I was daily tortured and interrogated without the assistance of counsel. This disgrace, is normal practice in the island and these Indian nationals, especially since they have no legal training, would be abused tortured very badly especially to satisfy the Prime Minister who wants them to suffer "the full force of the law".

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Aftermath of riots in Little India Singapore. Armoured police vehicles patrol the area.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Singapore's knee jerk reaction to the riots last week, as expected of this one party police state, in the island's Little India area is to send swarms of heavily armed armored police vehicles, called Red Mariahs, to patrol the area, with a heavy police presence combing the area. Please see the Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits Times article of Dec 15, 2013 titled "Quiet Sunday in Little India as foreign workers choose to stay away" http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/sunday/breaking-news/singapore/story/quiet-sunday-little-india-foreign-workers-choose-stay-away-20131215

This is the stupidest reaction any government would have adopted.

It is quiet clear that the reason for that spontaneous outburst of violence by the measly paid foreign workers from India was their bad working conditions.

They are paid no more than Singapore $800 per month ($600.00 US) on average leaving them not enough to even eat 3 good meals a day. Furthermore their housing conditions are abominable in overcrowded rooms with inadequate facilities.

And to top it all, they are not given enough free time, made to work 12 hours or more each day with only one day off. In conditions such as this, it was only a matter of time that this sort of violence would erupt. In fact it the government was lucky that there were no more fatalities.

The foreign workers from India and from other countries in Singapore who suffer under equally bad working conditions and pay should learn from this riot and start organizing peaceful protests and demonstrations. Like these ill treated and abused Indian workers, there are thousands of Filipino maids, Bangladeshis, Chinese nationals and others who suffer equally if not worse.

Although I am certain such violence is going to erupt again despite these overreaching pathetic attempts at patrolling the streets with armored vehicles as if it was a war zone, I ask my fellow workers not to resort to violence. The better policy is to organize island wide protests and demonstrations.

The Filipinos should consider organizing these events in the Orchard Road Area where they congregate weekly, the Bangladeshis in the vicinity of Serangoon Road Mohammed Mustafa and the Chinese nationals in Chinatown.

I say without hesitation that the  Singapore government of today needs foreign workers as much as you need them. So don't worry of being deported if you protest. They simply can't deport everyone. Furthermore the bad publicity in India and Philippines which have independent newspapers unlike in Singapore where they are state controlled, is going to hurt them badly if they do.

Get yourself organized. Speak to your community leaders and force this government which takes advantage of you to stop it this instant. Force them to pay you decent wages and living conditions. I am sure they will succumb to your demands because they cannot run the island without you.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Wednesday, December 11, 2013

In Singapore, arrested criminal defendants have no right to lawyer.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

There are several blatant shameful violations of human rights in Singapore island. A shocking one, for a so called modern city state is the denial of right to counsel for criminal defendants.

Singapore law states that the Defendant has the right to counsel but only after investigations are completed. Repeat "only after investigations are completed"

This means that once arrested, the police detain and interrogate him without a lawyer. If he asks for one, he is refused.

Once arrested and locked up in in the police cell, the Defendant is assaulted, threatened and intimidated or promises made to him to confess. For a  poorly educated simple person, which most people who allegedly commit crimes generally are, he has no idea what all these threats and bullying will mean to him; he is totally ignorant of his rights and almost invariably, after a while, he confesses to anything the police demand.

Once he has signed the confession, conveniently, this is "the end of their investigation" when the defendant is graciously allowed to see a lawyer. But the lawyer at this stage is of little use to him for obvious reasons since he has already confessed!

You can see the blatant violation of the rule of law here. The crucial time a defendant needs a lawyer, as we all know, is at the time of his arrest and that is also precisely the time when he is denied one.

In the US, Australia and throughout the civilized world, unlike Singapore, the criminal Defendant has the right to a lawyer as soon as he is arrested. In the US the police are obliged by law to read him his rights (also known as the Miranda warning, named after the case Arizona vs Miranda) : "you have the right to remain silent etc".

And the law specifically provides that a failure to give the Miranda warning is by itself a ground for acquittal. The law is the same in in all civilized countries including the UK, Europe, Canada, Australia and throughout the free world. This does not mean the police do not secure convictions, they do all the time. The fact that an accused is given a right to counsel from the time of arrest in no way impairs the administration of justice or the prosecution of criminal defendants. Singapore is among one of the few backward countries in the world who is afraid to give their citizens the right to counsel at arrest.

You can see why the bunch of criminal lawyers of Singapore  are no better than impostors. They simply cannot do anything for their client, in almost all cases, since their clients have all already confessed.

The only few who can resist the threats, intimidation and false promises of the police are the educated ones who know their rights. But the truth is that most criminal defendants are not educated because if they were, there is no need to resort to crime.

The problem is Singapore lawyers are a bunch of castrated eunuchs. In any other country in the world if such a denial of rights exist, they would have kicked up such a stink sky high to paralyze the whole legal system until justice is done. But in Singapore no one has the balls to do that, and ironically the ones who are most afraid of the authorities, even more than the ordinary citizen, are the lawyers.

So whenever you read stories of criminal lawyers in Singapore reported to have "defended" their clients, the truth is they have done no such thing. In truth all the laws and procedures written in the books there are just a bunch of baloney. There are no juries in criminal cases.

Moreover, all cases are decided by judge alone, who by the way are handpicked sycophants and ass lickers to obey the government unconditionally anytime. So even though you see the legal system being put through the motion, of lawyers dressed in black with judges using legalese, in Singapore it is simply one big farce.

Lee Kuan Yew and son rule the island and they rule the courts. It is as disgusting as that.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Tuesday, December 10, 2013

Dumb Singaporean lodges police report against Indian TV Station in India on the riots

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Referring to the recent riots in the Little India area of Singapore last Sunday, one dumb Singaporean has, it appears, lodged a police report in Singapore against a TV Station in India! How much more dumb can you get! And not just that, the equally dumb Singapore state controlled newspaper the Straits Times of Dec 10, 2013 has seen it necessary to report it. Please see report http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/little-india-riot-police-report-made-against-sun-tvs-riot-report-20131

It seems an Indian TV station, Sun TV, according to the Singapore report had got the facts wrong when they reported in India that the rioting happened because an ethnic Chinese Singaporean bus driver had pushed an Indian national off the bus, the Chinese began beating the Indians, the Indians retaliated and the poor Indian who was pushed off the bus was run over by that bus and killed.

As one individual Singaporean, identity unknown, the dumb fool, had taken issue with this version of events, he had gone to a local Singapore police station and lodged a report against the Indian TV station in India! It appears no one told him that the Singapore police has no jurisdiction in India to arrest anyone, let alone the staff of Sun TV and his only recourse is to complain to their Singapore government who could then take up the issue with Indian authorities if they want.

But whoever this dumb individual is, someone has to tell him that it is no good filing police reports in Singapore against people in India, in Africa or even in Timbuktu! The Singapore police are powerless in India. And that police report is as good as scratch paper.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email:nair.gopalan@yahoo.com

Singapore expected to brutally torture Indian nationals suspected of rioting.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

A civilized country treats even their criminals with civilized decency expected in the 21st Century. Not so with Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew's son's one party police state. I expect these suspected rioters of the December 8th 2013 of Little India Singapore to be brutally tortured.

Singapore does not have the rule of law. A person arrested for a criminal offense is not entitled to a lawyer until, according to them, their investigations are completed. This can last from one to several weeks. What this means is that these Indian citizens who have been arrested for burning police cars and beating up some police officers will be kept incommunicado in their cells while they are interrogated. This obviously means they will be beaten, threatened, intimidated, deprived of sleep for long hours until they confess. Only after their confessions under torture have been obtained will any lawyer be allowed to see them.

In this case, these unfortunate souls are in for a very cruel ride. Lee Kuan Yew's son, the de facto dictator of Singapore has shown a personal interest in this case and vowed to, in his own words "prosecute them to the full extent of the law".

This is one of personal vengeance and low minded vindictiveness. He personally feels that his power base has been shaken by this riot and  with a cowardly sense of insecurity, he thinks by hurting these people badly, he can continue to instill fear and extract obedience from his people. This is the behavior of a coward, not a statesman. He does not realize that leaders are respected for their mercy, not their cruelty.

Of course in a country where it is highly desirable to be appreciated by the dictator himself, every single police officer and prison warden in charge of this case would be going out of their way to torture these men as much as possible, hopefully to be recognized and promoted in their careers.

And the torture that they would be subjected to would be much worse than for instance if they had arrested me. These workers being mostly uneducated simple people from humble origins, without connections are easy game for them to do as they want, since they are less capable or likely to complain. Any suggestion of torture and mistreatment would simply be denied and no one would have been the wiser.

In addition to the beatings and torture they would endure while in detention, if they are charged with rioting, the offense carries the punishment of caning. For those unaccustomed with the brutality of this punishment let me explain. Prison officers will administer as much as 24 strokes of the cane. Each stroke of the cane is administered with full force. From the first stroke to the bare buttocks naked skin, the skin tears and the bottom becomes bloody. And they beat him again and again on the same bloody wound until his backside becomes a bloody mess of blood and flesh. He cries out in pain but cannot escape because his hands and feet are tied to a trestle.

This punishment is illegal under the United Nations Convention as being cruel and unusual punishment. But Singapore simply refuses to comply with international law and conventions governing the treatment of prisoners.

The scars remain for life. There can be no more brutality than this. Only two countries in the world have such barbarity in their laws, Singapore and Malaysia. I fully expect the judge in this case in order to please Lee Kuan Yew's son will order these beatings to the full measure.

I have personal experience of being a prisoner, and a very proud one, in Lee Kuan Yew's son's jail. In 2008 I was arrested and imprisoned for 3 months because I had written a blog criticizing their judge, the disgraced Belinda Ang Saw Ean, who was openly biased against political dissident Chee Soon Juan who was sued by Lee Kuan Yew and his son.

I was kept in the island's cell in the Central Police Station for about 8 days. I suppose because I was a lawyer and liable to kick up a fuss if they assaulted me, they did not. But they subjected me to other forms of torture. I was subjected to the torture of sleep deprivation. Even night almost every 2 hours I was woken up handcuffed and taken for interrogation.

During the interrogation I was repeatedly threatened with Sedition charges which meant being in jail for up to 3 years. I was repeatedly accused of being an agent or a spy of some sort and of having used computer systems to hide my identity and sending Emails to numerous government officials and judges. This went on day after day with the interrogator writing a confession and demanding that I sign it. Had I been ignorant of the law, and not a strong minded person, I am sure I would have confessed to anything they wanted. But because I held tight, they simply could not get me to sign what they want. Furthermore they were afraid to beat me and instead, applied sleep deprivation and extreme cold in their air conditioned interrogation rooms to try to break me.

I will be writing a book about my adventures in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore but that will have to wait for the moment.

Singapore is a pariah state for the lack of rule of law and the way their government officials function. It is like North Korea with a pack mentality. Of course if Kim Jong An is displeased every single minion in the country would do everything to torture and torment the victim. It is no different in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.

I would recommend the Indian government to personally get involved in this case to ensure their nationals are not mistreated.

If the Indian government needs my assistance or if the Indian media wants to know what it is like to be an accused criminal in Singapore island, I would be pleased to assist.

As everyday passes we read that more and more people are being arrested and charged. This is because those already arrested are forced to give names of others through intimidation and torture. Also numerous government spies are circulating in the Little India Singapore area eavesdropping spying for evidence.

I would suggest any Indian anywhere in the island to be vary of what they say and whom they speak to. We should try our best to prevent this torture island police from arresting anymore people. No one should be subjected to this sort of torture, not even the meanest criminal on Earth.

Gopalan Nair
Attorney at Law
A Singaporean in Exile
Fremont, California, USA
Tel: 510 491 8525
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com