Ladies and Gentlemen,
Singapore's lawyers dress in their traditional black suits pulling formal leather briefcases looking all serious and hurrying in and out of Singapore courtrooms. You cannot be faulted if you believed that they were real lawyers. Sadly, except for their outward appearance, they are far from lawyers in the real sense. Truly, they
are not in a position to further the interests of their client one bit,
except with the agreement of Lee Kuan Yew and his complaint judges. They are helpless in furthering the law.
They can go through the motions, but truly, the law is Lee unto
himself, through the medium of his willing judge.
Any red blooded lawyer in this situation would have protested to high Heaven and demanded that the law should rule, not Lee Kuan Yew. But not in Singapore.
In Singapore, the lawyers themselves are terrified of him and therefore
their main purpose is to stay out of prison and earn a living, because to demand that the law be upheld would mean ruination in every sense of the word.
I had to remain in Singapore for 6 months, 2 of which I spent in prison for writing an article critical of one of his judges. During the rest of the time, I spent a great deal of time in court defending myself, where I met many lawyers going about their work.
One of the lawyers I met, whom I knew from the days I practiced in Singapore was G. Raman. The meeting with him was short. I asked him whether he was aware of the abuse of the legal system by Lee Kuan Yew and what was he doing about it. He answered me with a question. He asked me whether I wished that he should lose his house, meaning of course that if he challenged Lee Kuan Yew, he would be sued and would have to sell his house to pay him. And then he promptly left, wearing his black suit and tie and pulling a large bag with many files in it, looking very intelligent and wise.
Another lawyer I spoke to in court was Mangalam Amaladass. To the same question, he had nothing to say, and after that meeting he never spoke to me again when I met him.
If
there is one profession that should be ashamed of themselves, it is the
lawyers. It is they who have intimate knowledge of the law, the
importance of the Constitution,
and the need to uphold it. It is upon their shoulders that lie this
burden by the very fact they are lawyers. And it is very sad to see
their complete abdication of their duty to their calling.
Dr. Chee Soon Juan has to fight his cases himself because no Singapore lawyer is prepared to represent him. Chia Ti Lick, solicitor, is one lawyer who is prepared to do it, and we give him credit for it. But understandably he too is constrained from going the full extent of calling a rat a rat. He has to moderate his arguments, making sure that it will not invite the wrath of Lee Kuan Yew which would be the end of his career. So in effect, sadly, someone who is being persecuted by Lee Kuan Yew in his courts might feel it best to argue his own case, since there is no one; not a single lawyer who is prepared to say it as it should, come what may, because that is what the duty of a lawyer really is.
I understand the legal profession in Singapore is shrinking, which shows that many lawyers are unwilling to continue
with this charade. Many are emigrating. New entrants to the profession
are declining. We must applaud those who take this route. But it is
those who stay behind and continue practicing without protest who must
think of what they are doing. They must examine their conscience.
Pretending to be lawyers, going around dressed in black suits and pulling bulky files in and out of courtrooms is not enough.
Gopalan Nair
If I want people to be my friend, the first thing to do is to protect them....
....yeah... all these from a guy who apologise to get out of a situation, and when out, retracted the apology....
a pot calling the kettle black.
Since he assumed that the laws in Singapore works this way, why he bother to interfere, let us live in peace lah.
If he is out to seek personal revenge, dun damage the laws here, as a Singaporeans, i am proud of my laws and orders here. No need some outcasted lawyer to mess up our life.
it is not the law problem. it is the system and pple that manage the law problem.
btw there are pple who feels that the law here are too strict. there is no room to make mistake.
hia lawyers friends refuse to speak to him because they are afraid he might use their names in quoting when he write on his blog or publish a book to challenge LKY.
it is no use trying to challenge the LKY when he still run singapore.
maybe a probe into LKY can only be conducted when another party start to rule singapore. like the example in taiwan.
Originally posted by reyes:hia lawyers friends refuse to speak to him because they are afraid he might use their names in quoting when he write on his blog or publish a book to challenge LKY.
it is no use trying to challenge the LKY when he still run singapore.
maybe a probe into LKY can only be conducted when another party start to rule singapore. like the example in taiwan.
Hike! Fuhrer!
As a dictator yourself, you truly understand another dictator mind.
My dear Fuhrer, as the Americans use to say, "If u cannot beat them, join them" until a day you find your chance "Whack them hard"
And as the Chinese said, "A gentleman revenge takes years to realise"
More job opportunities for me. lol!
....yeah... all these from a guy who apologise to get out of a situation, and when out, retracted the apology....
a pot calling the kettle black.
Then what should Gopalan Nair do?
Gopalan Nair criticised PAP regime, which local lawyer criticised PAP regime?
Where got pot and kettle black?
pple become lawyers for $$$, and fighting LKY is generally a $$$ losing business
Lee Kuan Yew will sue you until bankrupt.
That is his style.
Can any of you imagine a Singapore withour LKY?
Originally posted by angel7030:
Hike! Fuhrer!
As a dictator yourself, you truly understand another dictator mind.
My dear Fuhrer, as the Americans use to say, "If u cannot beat them, join them" until a day you find your chance "Whack them hard"
And as the Chinese said, "A gentleman revenge takes years to realise"
now i see ur true colour. kekeke.
Originally posted by Chris88110:Can any of you imagine a Singapore withour LKY?
will anything happen?
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:Then what should Gopalan Nair do?
Gopalan Nair criticised PAP regime, which local lawyer criticised PAP regime?
Where got pot and kettle black?
the principle of the matter is still the same.....
many singapore lawyers are spineless....
gopalan nair is also spinless.... if he feels strongly about his conviction, don't apologise. he is afraid of being jailed. another ball-less opposition.
yeah, now is the time to quietly collect evidence and quote from the ruling party. hope that day will come and and possible joint coalition party can rule singapore and start a probe into L?K?Y
Originally posted by Chin Eng:gopalan nair is also spinless.... if he feels strongly about his conviction, don't apologise. he is afraid of being jailed. another ball-less opposition.
Have you spent time in prison for your conviction? If not your words are empty, vacuous, rubbish.
i know le all sg lawyers drive car
dude learn the basics of a country if ur gonna whine about juz being in jail
government - formed by PAP
PAP - founded by Lee Kuan Yew and some others
Singapore - builded mostly by Lee Kuan Yew
Laws - "Lee" laws not "Internation" Laws
its called the advantage of being in rule but also it comes with a hardship he built singapore yet how many of us singaporeans actually thank him for building our nation up? Also if you were in power and u did WHAT YOU THINK was right for the nation while naturallly different people = different views and u get flamed all over the net just for making sure that the people are living well enough for themselves? If YOU are in power, YOU will be the one getting flamed so suck it up and be a man and live your life normally 1 black mark against you isn't going to kill you
International Laws*
Ladies and Gentlemen,
On
the 17th of September, 2008, after a trial of 8 days, Judge Kan Ting
Chiu of the High Court Singapore found me guilty of insulting Judge
Belinda Ang. I did no such thing, but in Singapore they can make
anything happen. The corrupt judges are there to do anything Lee Kuan
Yew wants. And in this case, it will please Lee to have me arrested and
jailed for criticizing a Singapore judge. It is as you know, Lee Kuan
Yew's Singapore. What I did was to write a blog post on the Internet
criticizing Judge Ang for being biased in favor of Lee Kuan Yew and his
son in their defamation case against Dr. Chee and the SDP. It was
nothing more than an exercise of freedom of speech guaranteed to me by
United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The trial
before Judge Kan was nothing but a show trial. The judge of course went
through the motions of legalese and procedures. But in the end, as
expected I was found guilty. He was not acting as a judge in a case. He
was sending a signal on behalf of Singapore’s Lee Kuan Yew that it is
dangerous to criticize Lee's government or his judges. I have a blog
post just on my case here. Please read it.
My sentence was 3 months jail. I had asked for time to arrange my matters before I surrendered my person to jail.
A
day before surrendering myself to jail, I went to see Dr. Chee Soon
Juan at his office at Jalan Gallegos off Jalan Leban along Upper
Thomson Road in the afternoon. We both came down to talk at a coffee
shop below. He gave me good advice. He told me not to lose my spirit in
jail. "Always keep your chin up" he says. "Lee Kuan Yew wants to break
your spirit. Don’t let him", he says. “The thing that Lee hates most is
when his victim refuses to give in”. “Never let him win”, he says. “If
you stand tall despite the punishment, you win and he loses”. “Keep
your spirits about you”, he says. And he finished with reminding me
that “it is an honor to go to jail for your beliefs”. Not many in
Singapore can claim to do that.
My request for time was granted.
I reported to the High Court registry 3 days later on the 20th of
September 2008 at 12 noon. I had brought along some books to read, as I
knew that prison meant nothing to do at all every day. At the High
Court registry I was ordered to hand over my books to the police there
who promised to hand them to the prison and later I could receive them.
I
was handcuffed and taken down from the 5th floor of the High court to
street level in an elevator. 2 policemen were escorting me. At street
level, I rode the prison van from the High Court to Queenstown Prison.
I still had my watch with me. The time was about 2 pm. After a ride of
about 30 minutes, I arrived at Queenstown Remand Prison.
I was
taken to a room and asked to take off all my clothes and change into
prison clothes which were a blue pair of shorts and a white T shirt. A
prison warden was watching me do it. I was asked to put my own clothes
and shoes into a container which was taken away.
I was then told
to sit at a counter facing an officer in the next room. Here there was
a row of about 4 counters where prison officers will carry out the
procedures for prisoners recording their personal items for
safekeeping. The officer was seen taking out all the items I had and
recording them one by one; one watch, one wallet, one comb, etc. After
recording, he takes a picture with mounted cameras of the items taken
and they were recorded.
I was given a plastic bracelet which I
was asked to wear. This bracelet had my prisoner number 101232008.
Thereafter I was prisoner 101232008.
Once that was over, I was
given a box with an open cover and a thin floor mat. In the box were
one towel, a piece of soap in a container, a small toothpaste which had
no fluoride and no brand which was made in China, a plastic cup and a
soft plastic toothbrush which could be bent any way and a plastic
container for holding water.
The warden ordered me to carry the
floor mat and the box 4 flights of stairs to the 4th floor. My cell was
to be cell 422 on the 4th floor A block. I entered the cell. There were
2 other men in that cell, Mr. Pham, a Vietnamese national who was given
50 days in jail for being a cashier for a roadside gambling operation
in Lorong 14, Geylang and Mr. Chu, also Vietnamese, who was given 20
days for selling duty unpaid cigarettes at Lorong 23 Geylang. Pham was
26 years old and Chu was 36. Pham could speak a little English but Chu
nothing at all.
The cell is about 10 feet wide and about 25 feet
long. The ceiling was very high. There are no windows. From an opening
covered by a mesh of about 1 foot in breath at the ceiling on the
opposite end of the door, you could tell whether it was day or night
because of the light from outside. There was also a similar opening
above the door.
On the 4th floor just as in the other floors, there are a long row of cells like mine on both sides of a walkway.
The
door of my cell occupies half the front of the cell. On the other half
of it is an open squat down toilet. This means there is no privacy when
you relieve yourself. You sleep on the hard cement floor on your thin
mat. There is no bed or cushions. The sleeping was in cramped
conditions as the floor space was small for 3 people.
The first day was hard for me. There was 8 weeks to go, and this was my first day.
Thereafter
there was the daily routine. As you have no watch, you cannot tell the
time. But it was roughly like this. You get up before sun up when it is
still dark. No one wakes you up but you get into that routine. At about
7.30 am, you hear a bell ringing five times. This means you have to
stand up with your cell mates with your hands behind you. An officer
passes your cell and slides open the peep hole. You then say "Good
Morning Sir" all together.
After that you go back to sleep if
you want. About an hour later your cell is opened by a warden. Outside
there is another prisoner who brings a large vessel with either tea or
coffee with bread spread thinly with either butter or jam. This
alternates daily each day. One day, coffee with bread and jam and the
next day, tea with bread and butter. Breakfast is the same routine day
after day. You also take fresh water in your container that you have.
Then your cell is locked. You eat your breakfast in your cell.
After
your breakfast, you and your cell mates arrange each of our boxes in a
row, one against the other, waiting for the cell to be opened again for
you to go to the yard. Each day, we are allowed 45 minutes in a yard
outside the cell. I was kept away from the other prisoners at all
times. The other prisoners in the building were taken to a large yard
where they could play games and interact with others. In my case, they
made sure that I had no contact with the prison population. I together
with my cell mates were taken to a special rooftop yard where there was
no one else other than the three of us. They did not want me to speak
to the other prisoners. They did not want the other prisoners to know
why I was in prison.
Before we could go to the yard, we were
subjected to an unpleasant procedure. We were required to strip naked,
hold the T shirt in one hand and the shorts in the other, squat down
and open your mouth while a warden watched. There was also a camera
watching you. The reason given for this procedure was to ensure that we
did not have any hidden contraband in any orifice or in the mouth. But
this was demeaning. There is no way we could have any contraband since
we were locked up 23 hours of the day and the rest of 45 minutes we
were under guard. It is quite clear that the reason for this demeaning
procedure was to belittle the prisoner. To humiliate him and humble him.
The
small rooftop yard was one flight of stairs above my cell floor. After
the 45 minutes in the yard, we were brought back to our cell. We then
took our soap and towels and accompanied the warden to a shower. Again,
they made sure that even my shower was separate from the other
prisoners. We were led to a small shower room where only myself and my
2 other cell mates had our shower.
The shower was about 15
minutes. At the shower the warden will ask you if you need a shave. If
so, another prisoner will bring your shaver, specially marked with your
number. You are required to use the same razor throughout your prison
term. Being Indian I had more facial hair than my cell mates, they
being Vietnamese. But I never got a new razor throughout my 8 weeks in
prison. Maybe if I asked for a new razor, I would have been given one,
but it was not necessary.
While you shower and shave a warden will be watching you. You get used to nakedness and being constantly watched.
After
your shower you are taken back to your cell and locked up. After about
an hour or so, your cell door opens again and outside you find another
prisoner with 3 trays of food and a water bucket. You take fresh water
in your small water container and each of us bends to the ground to
pick up our food tray. The demeaning thing about it is that a warden
stands next to your food tray and you have to bend down to pick it up
from his feet. As if you are bowing to him. I have no doubt they do it
intentionally. Sometimes to avoid the humiliation of this, I used to
pick up the food tray from the floor with my back facing the warden. I
was not challenged for doing it that way.
Lunch was again
routine. Sometimes you had a piece of fried fish with rice and
vegetables which I liked the most. Other days the food was a fish cake
or sausage or sometimes just noodles and vegetables. On occasion we had
Nasi Lemak which was small pilchards fried and peanuts and curry paste.
The food was all right but it wasn't good. For lunch you also had a
fruit which was invariably an apple, an orange or a small banana.
Almost everyday, the best thing I enjoyed was that single fruit.
About
an hour later you hear the bells again. And you stand in a row with
your hands behind you back to say "Good Afternoon Sir" when the peep
hole opens on your door and the warden passes.
After about 2
hours later the door opens again, this time for dinner. The same
routine with changing your water bucket for fresh water and taking your
food tray. About an hour later, you hear the bells again and you stand
up in a row and say "Good Morning Sir" when the officer opens your peep
hole on your door.
And then it gets dark and you go to sleep for another day of the same routine tomorrow.
You
get a pen and paper every 14 days to write a letter to someone. After
you have written the letter your paper and pen is taken away. The same
happens 2 weeks later. Once I had some cancellations made in my letter
and it was rejected and I was told to write again without erasures.
Since I had all the time in the world with nothing to do, I read. But
the books are not given to you immediately. You only get the books
about 2 days after you had requested them. The reason for the 2 day
delay is because the books have to be cleared by a censor, whatever
that means. I read about 6 books while in jail. Had I anymore more
books, I would have read more, but that was all I had. You see, in
prison, there is absolutely nothing to do, being locked up 23 hours a
day. In fact, you wouldn’t be entirely wrong if you would call it, a
full room service hotel with no stars.
During my time there, US
Consul Learned Dees visited me and provided consular assistance. Just
before my release, Jamie Revitz took over from Learned Dees and met me
twice.
On one occasion, I had told Rehabilitation Officer
Mohammed Fahim that I was unhappy to be forced to suffer the indignity
every day of having to strip naked before a prison warden before going
to the yard and opening my mouth. I told him that I was contemplating
disobeying that rule since it was totally unnecessary and demeaning of
a human being. A little while later this officer came to see me and
asked me to sign a disciplinary warning that I had threatened to
disobey a prison regulation and that I was being warned for a
violation. I refused. I said that the way the report was written did
not reflect what actually happened.
A little while later the
Officer Commanding of Block A, my cell block, Assistant Superintendent
of Prisons G Savier came to see me. He is an Indian Tamil. He appeared
to relish the fact that I was in prison because I criticized a judge. I
told him that I refused to sign something that was inaccurate. After
some discussion, another warden came to see me. He asked me to take my
box from my room and follow him. He took me to another cell, where I
was to be all alone. This cell had a camera inside. This was solitary
confinement. He locked me inside. As I knew that I cannot win in an
argument in prison, regardless of how right I was, I asked G. Savier if
I could now sign whatever he wanted. I then signed the document that he
prepared even though it was not what had actually happened. I was
prepared to sign anything he wanted. I knew that in prison, they are
always right. I signed it, and I was returned to my own cell with my
cell mates. I escaped solitary.
What they are trying to do in
prison is to humiliate you. To humble you. To make you submit. For
instance each time an officer speaks to you, you are ordered to squat
down on the floor. You are not allowed to speak to him standing up. I
tried to avoid squatting on the floor as much as I can by saying that
my foot hurt.
While in prison, I was not allowed a single
visitor other than the US Consul, even though I gave the wardens
several names of people that I would like a visit from. I wrote to them
in prison stationary asking them to visit. But I was told that no one
applied to visit me. After I was released, I found out from Singapore
Democratic Party activists that as many as 15 people applied to visit
me. The prison did not allow a single one. I also did not receive a
single letter. I do not know whether it was because no one wrote to me,
or because the prison did not give me any of the letters.
Throughout
my time in prison of 8 weeks, I kept my spirits up. To give myself
comfort, I thought of Nelson Mandela who had to spend 26 years in
prison. Of Gandhi who spent many years in it. Of Dr. Chee Soon Juan. Of
Marwan Bargouti, the Palestinian who is serving a life sentence in an
Israeli Jail. Of Ahmed Kathrada in Robbin Island, South Africa. Of
Steven Biko who was murdered in custody. And not forgetting Chia Thye
Poh and Lim Chin Siong who languished for a long time in Lee Kuan Yew’s
jails. Compared to them what was 8 weeks. Cheer up, Gopalan Nair, you
are stronger than that, I would say.
Finally the day came for my
release. On Nov 20, 2008 I was taken in handcuffs in a prison van to
Immigration and Checkpoints Authority next to Lavender MRT. I was
processed again, fingerprints taken, my pictures taken and given a
warning by Mr. Hughes Tan who works there that I was deported from
Singapore. I was allowed 5 days to remain in Singapore to arrange my
affairs and to leave Singapore permanently on November 26, 2008 from
Changi Airport. I arranged my ticket in the meantime, and then it was
Goodbye Singapore forever. I boarded flight SQ2 enroute to Hong Kong
and San Francisco.
I had lost a lot of weight. That was one good
thing that came out of it. Of course, it was a great adventure. Also a
great honor to have been in Lee Kuan Yew’s prison for a cause that I am
proud of.
Gopalan Nair
Originally posted by Chin Eng:
the principle of the matter is still the same.....many singapore lawyers are spineless....
gopalan nair is also spinless.... if he feels strongly about his conviction, don't apologise. he is afraid of being jailed. another ball-less opposition.
by flip flopping he has lost all his credibility!
gopalan nair is also spinless.... if he feels strongly about his conviction, don't apologise. he is afraid of being jailed. another ball-less opposition.
Then who is not spinless?
Chin Eng, you are more brave than Gopalan Nair?
Talk about the law in Singapore, must look at LKY.
Originally posted by Poh Ah Pak:
Then who is not spinless?
Chin Eng, you are more brave than Gopalan Nair?
we are NOT talking about me.....
we are talking about Gopalan Nair - and whether he is a man of principle or not?
and if he is not a man of principle, then he should refrain calling others the same.