Sunday, February 9, 2014

Singapore. The dangers of a politically uninterested apathetic population

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In Singapore, it is impossible not to notice, that everyone knows his place.

You are not going to find anyone engaged in any serious political discussion along the streets of Orchard Road, like you may find in the streets of Tel Aviv, Israel. There is a saying about the Israelis, if you meet 5 of them, they would probably have 6 different opinions!

In Singapore the maximum you get if you are lucky will be one, one that is supportive of the government, or none at all! One thing Lee Kuan Yew, the only leader Singaporeans knew for the entire history of the island from independence, did to perfection was to educate the population on how to think or rather how not to think.

And the way to behave, indeed the one fundamental rule that  every single Singaporean has thoroughly learnt is this. If you want to survive with peace for yourself and your family, indeed to succeed, and in many cases acquire immense wealth is to show allegiance to Lee Kuan Yew and his ruling party the PAP. One should not ever, not on your life, ever show any disaffection to Lee Kuan Yew and his policies. If you do, you will be persecuted. And no one in his right mind wants to be persecuted.

There are no leaders in Singapore island in a real sense, only followers. Lee Kuan Yew's definition of "leaders" are those opportunists who have been handpicked by him for Ministerial positions, whom the citizens are required to obey. Once selected, they are instantly transformed into "leaders" and paid astronomical salaries, or put bluntly, they become corrupt.

The way Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP accomplished this enviable result is by the time tested, fool proof, guaranteed method of the carrot and the stick.

For those who support and praise him the carrot, meaning promotion in careers, job opportunities and benefits both seen and unseen. Every single government officer is a PAP supporter, every single businessman is a PAP supporter and every single working person in the island is a PAP supporter. Even if some are not seen outwardly proclaiming their allegiance, none would dare to openly suggest anything derogatory about them.

This results, as you can see, in an entire nation of blind obedient followers. There is not a single independent thinking human being in that entire island, simply because you will be shooting yourself in the foot if you are. It is an island of mass island wide uniform obedience and acceptance, dog training. An island comprised of mindless conformism.

The reason for this is because the Singaporean has no other choice. There is no independent press. You are unable to publicize your personal opinion other than through blogs and that too only anonymously for fear of being found out and arrested. There is no right to freedom of speech or expression. If you say something they do not like, you could be sued for defamation or sent to jail under criminal defamation laws. With a large network of secret police, which ever Singaporean is fully aware of, you are under constant surveillance and every move you make is recorded and reported.

Can you imagine under these circumstances what happens when the leader, presently Lee Kuan Yew dies and his son is left to continue his one man rule?

We can hope of course that the people would simply obey him in their apathetic indifferent permanent state of stupor, but what if he is challenged by others jockeying for power? Are they simply going to accept any new ruler who comes along ?.

They probably would since they are incapable of any thinking, thanks to Lee Kuan Yew's successful island-wide brainwashing of 50 years, turning an entire island to nothing better than ignorant sheep.

And I suppose you can see the dangers in this. As the ordinary Singaporean is incapable of forming any opinion about anything himself, he would be completely at the mercy of any scrupulous or unscrupulous  dictator who comes along resulting in total instability and chaos.

For Lee Kuan Yew, creating this society of people whose minds are politically blank, worked very well. He could push through any law and any policy that he wished without even the slightest resistance, since the average Singaporean does not know how to resist.

One manifestation of island-wide inertia is his paying himself and his son and every single Minister $3.7 million a year in salaries. This is 5 times or more the salary of Obama! This sort of corruption would be unthinkable in any other place other than Singapore with its island wide blind obedience.

Although yesterday, the state controlled newspaper Straits Times published a report showing Lee Kuan Yew attending a Chinese New Year dinner at his palace, presumably to allay rumors that he was either already dead or that the bucket was already in place for him to kick and the funeral band ordered to commence practicing the 1950s tune "One way ticket to the Moon", anyone can see the imminent passing of the 90 year old gravely ill old man.

Very soon the people of Singapore are going to have a rough ride, once the old man kicks the bucket. With the very probable leadership vacuum with all sorts politicians, crooked and otherwise vying for the big prize, and with an entire clueless population not knowing how to think or what to think, and what to make of it all, since all they know is just how to follow the leader, Singapore island is probably not going to be around much longer.

Lee Kuan Yew has successfully brainwashed an entire island population with the continued practice of the carrot and the stick. Carrot for obedience and submission. Stick for any opposition and resistance. I know one other leader who successfully practiced this policy. His name was Adolf Hitler.

If you are wondering how I can write this and avoid the wrath of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, it is only because I am physically in the United States. Otherwise this would not be possible. I would be arrested.

Here below are the faces of Lee Kuan Yew's Singaporeans.

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


John Chan said...

The faces of LKYs Singapore have one thing in common.
They all look very "blank"

Anonymous said...

A couple of Singaporean girls with opinions on NS.


Gopalan Nair said...

Don't be fooled by the claim in the state controlled video above that 98% of Singaporeans support national service. In fact nearly all young men are against national service and perhaps a small minority of adults may support it. In fact except for Israel which is unique for having to fight a war, peoples of nearly every country in the world are against national service. 98%, my foot.

They had to limit the support to 98% because to say 100% would make the lie obvious.

This is the advantage of dictatorships like Singapore with a state owned media. They can say anything they want. Question is, would anyone believe it?

Anonymous said...

To be born a male in Singapore is to be condemned to a lifetime of slavery starting with NS and the in-camp training for several decades more.

For males, Singapore is a prison.

Unless off course you are one of the White Horses, i.e. children of LKY and his friends.

The current President's son was given exception from serving NS for 12 years so that he can attend universities in the USA. When it came time for him to 'serve' his NS, he was posted to a air-conditioned scientific laboratory.

President Tony Tan should be ashamed.

Anonymous said...

I thought the photos showed Singaporeans in mourning, over what, they do not know, because they do not know freedom.

Their life is in the PAP hands from Day One.

Anonymous said...

Ashamed? You mean shameless.

Anonymous said...

Execellent photos. Do these look like the kind of people who might wake up and attempt to rescue singapore back from the bad guys' hands? Or will they continue to feign ignorance and live in their own make-belief world...

Anonymous said...

I was trying to look for photos of blank Singaporean faces; it wasn't easy, and I stumbled upon yours; you must be good at looking for such pictures and hosting them.

I think being a Singaporean in exile overseas makes you more sensitive to the lives of those of us living in Singapore! Thank you for the insight!.