Originally posted by t_a_s:Old and young Lee
ex-pm=LKY
current pm=LHL
you say next pm also LEE. which LEE?
Could be LHL's daughter, it takes 3 elections to train her
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The Reform Party Party's official beginning with Jeyaretnam's full return to politics and a clear indication that it will work with Dr. Chee's SDP is all very good news. The question now is, what is the plan?
Lets
look at Singapore now. Lee controls every possible organ of power, the
judiciary, the press, the media, everything. Therefore regardless of
whether Jeyaretnam wins a seat at the next election or even the SDP winning 4 seats will make no difference at all. You know the pattern
already. If the opposition winners are of the calibre of Francis Seow or Dr. Chee,
they will not be allowed to take their seats in Parliament. Before its
sitting, Lee would have organized a libel suit and the worthy opponent
would be worthy no more, by being kicked out of Parliament through
bankruptcy.
Jeyaretnam has been in politics for a long time. With all due respect given to
him; except for taking great punishment at the hands of Lee, he has not
managed to further democracy in Singapore at all. If at all, Jeyaretnam had caused Lee to tighten the screws even more. For instance, during
his time, Privy Council appeals were abolished and across the board,
laws became harsher with increased punishments.
And as long as
Lee continues to have a majority of even one in Parliament, he will
continue to do whatever he wants, because all the pillars of government
that matter; the judiciary, the media, the finance everything, remains
under his absolute control. Regardless of how much wisdom there is in
their cause, or how many speeches they make in Parliament, Lee can just
ignore it and there is nothing that Jeya or Dr. Chee can do, since the courts and everybody else are beholden to Lee, not to Parliament or to the truth.
So if all what Jeya hopes to do is to stand for elections, win one seat for himself, enter
Parliament and make his speeches for 5 years, I really don't think Lee
would object at all. In fact Lee may even facilitate Jeya's victory this time, since there is nothing for them to lose. Lee can give Jeya time to talk. And Lee will just ignore it, for another 5 years! It would be the same if Dr. Chee got into Parliament.
What
we have to understand is; that the power in Singapore, lies not in
Parliamentary speeches; it lies in the pillars of power; which so
happens, all of them being beholden to Lee and Lee alone. It lies in
the newspaper. You have to convince the paper to be impartial, which it
is not. It lies in the judiciary. You have to convince the judiciary to
be impartial, which it is not. You have to convince the police force
that it is not the private security of Lee Kuan Yew. Convince the civil service to be fair. Convince the colleges to be fair. Convince the HDB not to discriminate against the Malays and Indians. Convince the Civil
Service not to issue visas for unlimited numbers of immigrants from
China, because it is these pillars where the power actually lies. The
question is, how do you do it?
It is impossible to make the
aforementioned organizations impartial by speeches in Parliament. They
are not going to listen. So what do you do?
The bigger and
important task in bringing about democracy is to instill a sense of
fairness in these people. A realisation that they are not beholden to
Lee as they think. Without that realization, no amount of speeches in
Parliament can bring that about. Change has to come by forcing these
organizations to realize that what they do is wrong. So I come back to
where I started. The answer lies in protests.
Protest outside
the courts demanding justice and fairness. Protest outside Straits
Times demanding impartiality in reporting. Protest outside the Civil
Service demanding equal treatment. Protest outside the HDB demanding an end to discrimination against the Malays and Indians. Protest outside the Official Assignee demanding a reversal of Dr. Chee's bankruptcy. Protest outside the Istana demanding a reduction in the million dollar salaries of ministers.
And
these protests must be sustained and not let up until your demands are
met. I have no doubt in my mind that every civil servant, every judge,
every clerk, everyone, every Singaporean, deep in their hearts, is in
fact very much on the side of the opposition. If they act in a manner
prejudicial and unfair towards the opposition, it is because they fear
Lee Kuan Yew. Sustained protests demanding justice, will I believe, have a
redeeming and salving effect on them and they will, in the end mend
their ways and become honest men and women.
In fact the
opposition, by which I means the Singapore Democratic Party and the
Reform Party should concentrate firstly on these sustained protests to
bring these pillars of power to see reason. This is the fundamental and
first objective. Only the second objective is entering Parliament.
The
people of Singapore are confusing the Parliamentary system there, which
in fact it is not, to the parliamentary system in countries such as the
UK. In the UK, the courts newspapers and the civil service are all
independent. Moreover the power lies in the people, who are fully aware
of their rights. In Singapore, everything is in the hands of Lee. And
therefore Parliament means very little or nothing.
My message to
the opposition is this. Work on the institutions on the ground first.
Make them realise their duty to justice and equality. While this work
goes on, work on Parliament.
This has to be done by protest, first.
Gopalan Nair
Protest ? You talk so easy, I suggest you come back to spore and don't change citizenship.
Originally posted by t_a_s:JBJ is a true fighter, but I hope he will be more careful when talking, bcos SAS ( sue and sue party ) will mark his words and bankcrupt him again. The more than 200k he paid to Lee & co, dont know got donate to charity or not. so go into their own pocket ?
wat do you think? if went to charity, the media already have made a big hu-ha about it..
U r right, the media did not mention anything, so go to their own pocket liao. cost of living increase tremendously, they need $$ to buy rice.