Recently Gopalan nair in his blog, Singapore Dissident called Lee Kuan Yew’s victims chickens. To this I consider it an insulting remark and I feel I must write something about it and because Gopalan Nair wouldn’t approve my comment so I’m going to write them here in my blog instead.
The people who stood up to Lee Kuan Yew are certainly not to be called the chickens. Those who stood up to Lee Kuan Yew did so out of their principle and conscience. They knew the consequences yet they stood up still nevertheless. For their lofty aspirations they deserve to be called the eagles for their aspirations fly high for themselves. Even when Lee Kuan Yew’s regime(the wolves) pinned these people to the ground an eagle is still an eagle.
On the contrary the chickens are those who chose to willingly be subjected to Lee Kuan Yew’s repressive rule and remain silent or even worse supporting it. These are the chickens with their low aspirations and their inability to think for themselves. These chickens do not want to fly and they are happy being a chicken for all they are. They live under the mercy of their master.
That is all. Be an eagle, whereever you are.
The real issue is not about democracy or dictatorship. The real issue is about man’s fallibility. I have no objection to dictatorship if the dictator can rule fairly, respect the laws of the country(real laws instead perverted ones to help the ruler) and serve his people with a passion more than serving himself. But that would be like asking God to rule a country. The nature of man is that every one of us is fallible. Thus you can guarantee that a dictator will grow complacent, emboldened, arrogant, corrupt and excessive with time. This is so simply because the nonexistence of checks and balances to his power.
Thus democracy is much preferrable than dictatorship because in democracy the people really have a say. Singapore is not a democracy because over time the laws have been perverted to favor the ruling party and making Singapore effectively a one party state run without accountability whatsoever since almost every institution and every social control platform are controlled directly or indirectly by the ruling elite. In Singapore the state has been reduced to a group of elite. The same old people. Never mind about the people as they have nothing to say. Thus democracy is much preferrable because however bad the head of government is, he or she would get replaced in a re-election or even impeached if he or she was found to have breached the laws. This way the state is not reduced to a group of small number of people who over time potentially become corrupt and becoming even more corrupt. Of course there’s the congress in US who can get re-elected without terms limit. But even then they must win re-election. A fair election that is. The bottom line is as long as man remains fallible by nature, dictatorship will always be that slow descend to elite anarchism.
In respect with the situation in Singapore I must say China has a better political system as China is not reduced to certain family line or dynasty. China has a political system. Singapore has only Lee Kuan Yew dynasty. In fact Singapore is Lee Kuan Yew family’s.
Recently in Indonesia a female artist came forward that she had been receiving death threats through her cellphone from her former lover who was a Police general. The general was enraged that her ex lover brought the issue out to the public and demanded public apology for smearing his name and thus indirectly the police institution as well. He claimed he never knew the woman. The interesting part is the issue now has been settled and the general wrote an official apology to the woman with condition that she needed to ask for his permission in her future love affairs.
Now that’s just absurd. Obviously the general did what he did out of sheer lover’s jealousy. I brought this real story because the more I think about what happened to me back in 2002 in Singapore the more I’m convinced it was more or less the same issue, a lover’s jealousy case. I had a crush with a girl I see regularly at the church I attended then in Bukit Batok. My suspicion is she might be a mistress of a powerful figure in Singapore. So powerful they decided to play with my life out of sheer impulse of enjoyment and not necessity. I never knew the girl’s name nor have I ever talked to her which made my ordeal completely unwarranted, an excessive response from the now familiar face of Singapore corrupt regime. But I guess like the general, the man must have felt insecure and out of sheer jealousy decided to take it out on me. My only mistake was being in Singapore in the first place, a place which gives no respect to human rights even lives. I knew no better then about SIngapore and believed it was a nation based on rule of law. I was in my early 20s and a very naive person understandably but my study pursuit in Singapore has now left me a broken man and I’m now considered the enemy of Singapore state and I have suffered periodic abuses and torment because I refuse to kow tow to this object of worship called the Lee Kuan Yew dynasty as if the first attempt on my life was not enough. Even then in the hospital they starved me for 4 days and 3 nights until I was straving and was bone and flesh. Couple nurses also came with small UV-torchlight and lit the UV light into both my eyes from close distance. Exposure of UV lights to the eyes are extremely harmful and may cause cataract. My academic pursuit back in Indonesia too was sabotaged and cheated out among other things like betrayal from friends and family members. But do not misunderstand me, I have no regrets at all. I consider myself to have done the right thing and that is all what matter in the end of the day when you give account of yourself before the all knowing and powerful God. As to this regime, they have a lot to answer to.
