Sunday, November 30, 2008

Justice Judith Prakash. Another Kangaroo Judge.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

After my imprisonment in Singapore for 60 days, thanks to Singapore's Lee Kuan Yew, I was let off for 5 days so as to get my things in order before I was banished forever from Singapore on November 26, 2008. The 5 days enabled me to attend the case in the High Court, generally known as the Kangaroo Court T shirt case. On Monday 24, 2008, the Singapore judge Justice Judith Prakash found all 3 defendants guilty as expected. The sentence was to be delivered on Thursday November 27, 2008 which I could not observe, as I was deported on Wednesday the 26th. There was jail terms for all 3 Defendants, with Mr. Tan having to serve 15 days, and the other 2 Isrizal and Shafi, 7 days each. In addition they were each ordered to pay the government costs of $5,000.00 each.

The facts are that these 3 wore T shirts with the image of a kangaroo in judicial robes, (which means that the court is not impartial but corrupt), to the hearing before Justice Belinda Ang, (which by the way, was the same judge whom I was accused of insulting, resulting in my 3 month imprisonment), from May 26 to May 28 2008 at the Supreme Court Singapore. As you will recall, the case before Judge Ang was for assessment of damages that Dr. Chee and company have to pay Lee Kuan Yew in his successful defamation action brought by Lee against Dr. Chee. For wearing these T shirts to Judge Ang’s court, Justice Prakash found them all guilty and the resultant severe penalties.

None of the 3 deserved any punishment. The Singapore constitution allows every citizen the freedom of speech and expression. And wearing T shirts with the image of a Kangaroo is the exercise of that freedom which the Constitution guarantees. Secondly it cannot amount to a contempt to say something which is true.

Everyone knows that the Singapore judiciary is complaint to the wishes of Lee Kuan Yew and his government as can be seen from the series of politically motivated court cases from as early as the 1960s up till today against the late JB Jeyaretnam to Dr. Chee Soon Juan, Lee's victims, who have been imprisoned and impoverished. How then can saying something that is true, that the Singapore courts are kangaroo courts and Singapore judges’ kangaroo judges, amount to contempt of court?

Justice Judith Prakash just as all her fellow judges in Singapore has once again disgraced herself, her office as judge and let down Singapore by shamelessly doing the bidding of her master Lee Kuan Yew by convicting and punishing these brave young men, who are in fact the pride of Singapore. They unlike the masses who live in fear of Lee Kuan Yew, had the courage to speak the truth and do what had to be done, which is to stand up to their convictions and say what has to be said, come what may.

These politically motivated cases, intended to break the will of good upstanding men and women of Singapore is difficult to endure. The jail terms of 15 days and 7 days is bad enough but endurable. But what is crippling is not the jail terms. It is the court costs of $5,000.00 (about US$4,000.00) each that they have to pay. This is a huge crippling amount of money for an average wage earner in Singapore.

If they find the money to pay, it will be a lesson to them never to criticize Lee's courts again. On the other hand, if they cannot pay, they would be made bankrupt, which means they cannot travel outside Singapore and the requirement that they report each month to the Bankruptcy office to explain their financial standing. Either way it is a debilitating crippling punishment, intended to send a clear signal both to them and everyone else that they should not, ever, dare to criticize Lee Kuan Yew or his courts, regardless of whatever dishonesty he or his courts perpetrate.

And if they ever do what they did again, they will be sent to jail for longer periods as well as suffer even heavier financial burdens.

With Lee Kuan Yew abusing the law courts to stay in power, and with unprincipled shameless judges such as Judith Prakash, what then is the answer to make this fascist dictatorship of Lee Kuan Yew accountable to the people? It is easy for me to say from the safety of the United States that more and more Singaporeans should pick up the courage that these 3 admirable young patriots had, and do what is right.

But that is easier said than done. During my 6 months forced stay in Singapore, with my passport held by Singapore police, waiting for my trial 4 months later, I had ample time to meet many Singaporeans. Each time I told Singaporeans to stand up to this dictatorship by open protest, I have always been faced with the same expected answer.

They tell me that they are all ready to speak up against the dictatorship, but they cannot because they would lose their jobs and their children would suffer; they and their families would be ruined financially at the hands of these corrupt compliant judges. This, you would well see, is a hopeless situation, forcing them to suffer in silence in fear of Lee Kuan Yew and his courts.

I do not have an answer to this question. Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin have paid gravely to stand up to their convictions. Dr. Chee has lost everything and so has his sister. In history, there are only a handful of men like Dr. Chee, like Nelson Mandela and Gandhi. It is unreasonable to expect ordinary people to be martyrs like them.

Lee Kuan Yew as you can see has a grip on power. And his principle instrument to stay in power is his law courts with his compliant judges which he uses to destroy and demolish his opponents, by bending and breaking the law outright when necessary.

But I know certain truths painful about the country. One is that it is imposable to change this government through parliamentary elections. The Singapore Parliament is nothing more than a rubber stamp. As Christopher Lingle, the NUS professor who was charged with contempt of court and managed to flee the country had written, "Singapore is a one party Leninist state".

Although outwardly Lee Kuan Yew portrays Singapore as a Parliamentary democracy, nothing is further from the truth. It is Lee Kuan Yew, the 86 year old dictator who controls everything, the courts, the trade unions, the media, everything. Parliament has no powers at all. Members of Parliament are mere stooges who would be quite prepared to say 2 plus 2 is 27 or any number Lee Kuan Yew wishes, to take the example of Orwell's 1984.

Therefore the only way to change this government and to make it accountable is for people to be able to say that 2 and 2 are 4 and not any other number of Lee's choosing. And the way to do this is not through the elections of 2010, the next general elections in Singapore, but through peaceful protest on the street.

But peaceful protest means unbearable hardship to the protestors. It would mean 15 days jail and $5,000.00 court costs liability, if not more, to take the recent example of the Kangaroo T shirt case.

With the crippling and terminal nature of these punishments, who among Singaporeans will be prepared to embark on this dangerous adventure? George Orwell in 1984, said correctly that the proletariat will not be the ones with the daring to do it; because they do not understand the need for such abstract values such as freedom and democracy, being content with the hope of getting a an extra $1,000.00 in pay or a better TV set. Neither will members of the elite with the knowledge of such values as freedom; the Inner or Outer Party in his novel 1984, be prepared for that sacrifice, as they would have too much to lose financially.

The answer lies with the young men and women with a tertiary education, citizens who are armed with a good English education, who know that they can succeed anywhere in the world, who would care 2 hoots to what Lee Kuan Yew can do to them. If they protest and get arrested, so what? They can take the next flight out to Australia where they will be welcomed with open arms, where they and their families can live as free men and women, able to speak their minds without fear of Lee Kuan Yew or anyone else.

It is these young men and women who should take courage and join Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his noble fight to seek freedom for his people. And I call upon them not to remain silent and do what is right and noble. Stand up for Singapore and stand up for the truth. You have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

Leaving Singapore for a life overseas is itself the greatest form of protest against Lee Kuan Yew and his politically motivated courts. In effect, by leaving, you are telling Lee Kuan Yew that you are not prepared to live as a slave in his island and the ability to live a free man is worth more than any amount of riches that corrupt judges such as Judge Judith Prakash can earn in her entire lifetime by playing second fiddle to Lee Kuan Yew, her master.

At present, I understand that as many as 1000 Singaporeans emigrate from Singapore’s shores annually for countries such as Australia. I have read that Lee Kuan Yew himself has gone to cities such as Melbourne begging overseas Singaporeans to return with no success whatsoever. Why should they return to a fear infested island where the slightest criticism of Lee or his courts will result in crippling financial ruin! By the way, I understand that the numbers of those leaving has been steadily increasing above 1000 each year!

As for the likes of Justice Judith Prakash, she will continue to live her life in luxury for the dirty work she does to please her master Lee Kuan Yew. Her income for being an agent for Lee Kuan Yew to silence and destroy his critics, I understand is several millions of dollars a year.

But I am sure that she loathes each time that she has to look at herself in the mirror, because what she sees is the face of a dishonorable unconscionable and unprincipled human being who lives by prostituting her position as a judge to please her master Lee Kuan Yew, who finds no other way to stay in power other than abusing the law to silence his critics.

May I say the same thing that I said about her fellow Singapore judge, Judge Belinda Ang, which landed me in prison for 2 months? Judge Judith Prakash of the Supreme Court Singapore has prostituted herself in her capacity as a judge hearing the Kangaroo T shirt case on November 24, 2008 by being nothing more than an employee of Lee Kuan Yew and his son, whom he appointed Prime Minister. By her actions in sending these young men to prison and making them pay crippling court costs of $5,000.00 each, she has shamelessly disgraced herself, her office of a judge, disgraced the Singapore Constitution and disgraced Singapore.

Shame on you, woman.

Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914 Email:



Jimmy said...

All the best Gopalan. Despite the few idiotic comments left on this blog, anyone with half a brain knows what you say to be true, they are just too afraid of speaking out publicly, so major kudos to you for having the balls to do so. Singapore is full of people who do nothing but complain about Lee Kuan Yew and the PAP, but they do nothing about it as long as they still have whatever scraps the PAP throws to them. it is true what they say, you get the government you deserve.

Anonymous said...

Please show some care to make california and america more democratic before you throw filth on Singapore you turn coat

Anonymous said...

What BALLS yhou talking about, Jim boy?!!!

This Indian had gone to Singapore looking for trouble and hopefully a face-to-face confrontation with Lee Kuan Yew
- although I doubt very much he would even have the balls to look the old man in the eye, the very reason he fled here in the first place -
for reasons best known to himself, eg. floundering legal career, needed something to spice up resume, etc, etc.

He had BALLS because he had on him a piece of document we Americans gave him - yes, the US passport!

And with that, he thought no one dared lay a finger on him! Wohahahaha, what juvenile naivette.

He forgets he is only as American as his passport, that is, so long as you aren't white, Anglo-Saxon, don't dream of even calling yourself AMERICAN anywhere you go you'll be laughed off the land!

Certainly, don't even dream of the US government coming to your rescue.

Just as South Asian British passportholders shouldn't think they're safe anywhere on the Indian subcontinent - those guys gonna just fry you for lunch!

Sad, huh, Goppie? made you think if that great escape to the USA was such a wonderful move after all, eh? Hee hee hee

Rey said...

Great to have you back, Gopalan. Looking forward to more entries from you.


Anonymous said...

Kudos to you! How brave you are. My wife is a S'pore ex-pat, who left because of the over-controlling mind numbing atmosphere. I'm a US citizen.

I agree that the masses there are not going to do anything. They are too well taken care of. We visit every year or so and her family is very much used to the way the place is. I know a former colleague of Chee. He agrees with Chee, but doesn't want to lose everything for a principle.

Lee is clever. The rights abuses are not as big as the neighboring countries. Most people in S'pore are well treated, provided they follow the law.

How do you get public opinion world-wide to change? This is not SA. There is "racial equality." My fear is that S'pore is going to survive the way it is, just as Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, etc. do what they do.

Again, kudos to you. But what are we supposed to do? Amnesty International? UN? What??

a beautiful lie said...

Bravo uncle nair! You're back! :D

Anonymous said...

I love seeing the posts by the people in S'pore who are stupid, typing a message like its an SMS. You folks-- are IDIOTs. Go back to your HDB flats and piss away your money to the Lee family. No wonder you need a huge foreign talent pool as well as foreign labor to get anything done.

Nair, you really deserve extra credit for dealing with the proles.

Anonymous said...






Anonymous said...

So Mr Nair. You have proven not to be a man of your words. You tell the judges that you are sorry when you are not.

We Singaporeans are not what you think and say. Those you spoke too but are very few. CSJ, CSC, SP, the ex-lecturer, that lawyer who invested small money, etc etc are all in more pathetic state.

Used to sail with you in Changi. You are a changed man.

Becareful, Uncle Sam may withdraw your citizenship.

Gopalan Nair said...

To Anonymous who started with "So Mr. Nair"

You are right. I never intended to keep my word given to judges who are stooges of Lee Kuan Yew.

Second, the United States unlike Singapore is a country of laws. A citizenship cannot be taken away, unless it is shown that it was obtained by fraud. Unlike Singapore where Lee Kuan Yew can withdraw anyone's citizenship at his whim.

I suggest it is you who should worry about Lee revoking your citizenship, which in your case is unlikely to happen since you are all praisae for him.

As long as you remain that way, you should not have to fear. Here in the US I call call Bush or Obama anything I want without fear.

I think you don't understand that.

Gopalan Nair

Gopalan Nair said...

To Anonymous who started with "So Mr. Nair"

And another thing. When you call men and women such as Dr. Chee and Siok Chin pathetic, perhaps you should look yourself in the mirror first. They are men and women of conscience and conviction. What are you?

Gopalan Nair

Anonymous said...

You said "they protest and get arrested, so what? They can take the next flight out to Australia where they will be welcomed with open arms"

really??? so what made you lie your way out of the prison?? you are no better than the supposed evils you preach against....

Gopalan Nair said...

Calm down. Relax. Have a glass of soda.

Agagooga said...

Maybe you can prepare a guide for other Singaporeans who want to follow in your footsteps and relinquish Singapore citizenship, since leaving seems to be the best course of action for the dissatisfied.

monkeysee said...

Dear Mr. Nair,

While I share many of your views on aspects of Singapore, I now find myself really in two minds about you.

On the one hand, I applaud your efforts in objecting to the Lee regime, but on the other hand, I find my opinion of you greatly diminished by your apology and subsequent recanting of the same.

While I fully understand that the apology was given under duress, it undermines your message and highlights your lack of conviction. I do feel that you would have gained far more respect is you stood by your words regardless of the consequences.

After all, it was you who issued the challenge in Singapore, to do their worst. And when they came after you, you caved in under the slightest of pressure.

Yes, your choice to concede and apologise was certainly pragmatic. And no doubt you hold on to the adage of “he who fights and runs away, lives to fight another day”. But it also speaks of shallowness and a lack of conviction. Most certainly your subsequent actions to thumb your nose and repeat your charge of “prostitution” against another Singapore judge is just crass and poor showmanship. You could have at least found a different adjective than the one you had so publically recanted.

You issued a challenge. Your bluff was called. You played your hand. You lost against a stacked deck.
That is fine. It is understandable. It speaks of a spirited and spunky defiance.

But to concede and then subsequently to sulk and pout when you are a safe distance away? That is weak, and borders on the cowardly.

I do not begrudge your right to freedom of expression. However I do feel that your actions are not so much those of a great freedom fighter, but have in fact tarnished your credibility and character.

And yet, talk is cheap, and who is to say we wouldn't all have done the same had we been in your shoes? Hence, my 2-mindedness about you.

Anonymous said...

To anon who started with " So Mr. Nair"

I am very glad that Gopalan told a white lie to leave Singapore.Tourists in Sinapore who commit crimes are given a hearing a week or two for their cases to be heard and you can guess why his hearing took a long time. Actually Gopalan you should sue the Singapore Government through their embassy for your losses.

Anonymous said...

I dare you to call Bush something. if a 14 year old can be questioned by the secret service over anti Bush comments how free is your America?

Please prove your point and write Anti Bush comments Nair. Then see if the secret service will visit you. the PRCs will after your racist comment.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...

Dear Nair,

Glad you have left the sickening place called Singapore, where the Lee family is defacto King. Tell me which family in the world has amassed wealth and power like the Lee family? You can judge easily. The courts are just the family's protector.

Ignore all those idiotic Anonymous posts - they might be the lackeys of Lee family themselves! Shoo! Shoo!

SC said...

It is with tremendous relief that you now call yourself American, because I would be deeply ashamed if you were still Singaporean.

Don't you feel that it is such a terribly sad thing that you are scorned and despised by the citizens of your country of birth?

If your answer is 'no' then I ask if you truly have any identity at all.

Anonymous said...

America is where you can get shot at because of its stupid freedom to own gusn. You want freedom so much that you can be shot at in school?

And I ask again, if America is the beacon of light that Nair makes it to be, why is gay marriage banned in California? Why are there reservation camps for native American Indians? Why was the government allowed to troture people? If Nair is so agains the ISA, would he care to tell his President Bush to stop torture first?

Double Standards. Freedom Figher my foot.

Anonymous said...

Most Singaporeans who are educated appreciate the effort you made. They totally understand the need you had to apologize so you could survive. You lost the battle, but not the war. Those who scorn you and despise you are the many Heartlanders who are just too ignorant to know better. It sure is easy for them to criticise you, but not to take any stand whatsoever. They are too busy buying their motorcycles, taking their trips to Bintan, etc. They are materialistic cowards, too interested on finding the best chicken rice.

Why are the so proud of Singapore? It's only been around since the 1960s. It is an autocracy. They have no sense of the melting pot traditions of the US.

Anonymous said...

If we engage in peaceful protest and then get arrested then made bankrupt and get our passport impounded how do you expect us to leave singapore and go to another country?
Remember, when applying for citiizenship in other countries police certificates are required from singapore and previous arrests will surely jeopardise this.
Singaporenas are in a lose-lose situation.Only something in the scale of the recent Bangkok protests can save us.

Gopalan Nair said...

Previous arrests for peaceful arrests will not jeopardize your ability to emigrate to the west. Only crimes of moral turpitude will do so.

As for passport, you can alwyas get the permission of the Bankruptcy office. If they don't let you do so, you can seek the asistance of the foreign government. Singapore cannot stop you from leaving because this will mean too much political baggage. It will be tantamount to being Cuba which does this.

Arrests for non violent peaceful protest will also enable you to obtain asylum in those countries.

Good luck.

AnnA said...

To anon that starts with "If we engage"

~~"Remember, when applying for citiizenship in other countries police certificates are required from singapore and previous arrests will surely jeopardise this" ~~

Now I see the point. I was wondering why the hell with the ever increasing and too many juvenile cases including teeny weeny things such as caught smoking.....

I have mentioned for the umpteenth times that in 20 to 30 years time, 85% Singaporean born will be known as ex-convicts or ex-criminals. There will be no more respect to Singaporean abroad due to our law that has always been convicting even the minors.

This is one of the answers then, to make sure that we will have a hard time to emigrate. Pathetic.

Anonymous said...

While nobody sympathizes with dictators, I think Mister Nair's just a wee bit optimistic to think the boys and girls in JC will make a difference in Singapore politically. Their parents didn't, nor did their parents' parents. And the same lessons are passed down, by example, from one generation to the next. No, there are no martyrs in Singapore. Quitting is the only way: the Government says it, and your own journey testifies to it. So quit, and move on.

Gopalan Nair said...

Beg to differ with anonymous. It is true that the parents of young Singaporeans are afraid to confront the government. Just like my parents who came from India who were only concerned to make a living away from poverty in India. But the young today are different. They have an English education. And exposed to the world through the Internet and travel. They find themselves in a position to question authority. They are unlikely to be content to merely play second fiddle.

And let us not underestimate Asians. I am told even in China, protests are almost a daily occurence althouh the government there comes down hard on them.

The fact that young people in Singapore are becoming a threat to Lee Kuan Yew is evident from his deliberatley keeping them away from any political education. Also evident is the present harsh punishments meted out to recent political activists who dared question authority.

Although many are taking the option of quitting, there can be no doubt that the young are a real threat to Lee's grip on power.

Furthermore you can see the determined and great effort that Lee's agents are taking by the numerous attacks against me in this blog. An orchestrated and planned effort to discredit me. But I put all these posts up because the people can see that it is the goverment that is engaging in theis smear campaign. Which actually hurts them more than me. If I was not a threat to them, they would not be spending time effort and expense to do this.

No, I am more optimistic than that. This government is hurting and hurting badly by their dismissive government.

The horizon looks good. Have faith.

Anonymous said...

Britain and other western countries are closing their broders you racist indian

Anonymous said...

Don't worry, what goes around comes around!

Must say I relish every single one of your blog post.

Agagooga said...

If the horizon looks so good, why did you give up citizenship?

Anonymous said...

Don;t ever brand him racist.. it is the Chinese who is very racist in singapore.. it is very evident....

Anonymous said...

i come in to clear the air this time. I do not beg to differ with my learned dissident friend.

he is right in whatever he has stated with regards to the judiciary of singapore. there is no freedom of expression in any form nor event.

wearing a kangaroo t-shirt donning a wig over its head does not constitute contempt of court. i dont understand how could contempt of court be constituted when even the legal profession in england have artists whom are good in drawing pictures, caricaturing justice salmon, lord denning, lord atkin, lord hailsham and so forth. to the englishmen, its not even contempt. it was purely simple. humour. thats it! humour! and how did the said judge managed to justify that judgment in the first place, failing to go beyond by seeing the essence of natural rules of justice and so forth in the essence of punishing these three men??

i placed my 10 fingers on my keyboard and was looking for caricatures of judges and artist whom were very good in depicting pictures of the courtroom scenes and also pictures of the daily life at the bar. my dear friends, kindly google for FELIKS TOPOLSKI R.A. a famous artist in the earlier days of the previous century. see these pictures. do these pictures hold the artist in contempt? what about cartoons of law lords and justices in the appeals framed on the walls of plenty of the legal firms around? coming to think about it, i dont think this is even direct contempt of court nor its contempt in the cognizance of the court. there is not even a scent of contempt in the first place. this is to say that the courts are not baffled and willingly accepting parties from both the adversarial and inquisitorial legal system throughout the world that they are laughing at the laughing stock which was founded by their legal forefathers in the fraternity, founded in 1786 and thereafter transcended down till 1819 down at the straits of pulau ujong.....

one may understand this, that the legal jurisprudence in plenty of ways does not permit that albeit, there are conflicts of laws around that says either or by way of wearing those t-shirts, one is guilty of contempt.

looking at natural justice, if i am seated at the bench, i would find the trio not guilty at all. i may be prudent in saying this but i rather say it out than keeping this.

in this matter, the myopic obfuscation qua judgment by itself is not even a judgment. its purely essential politics infiltrating the courts of law which was built some 200 years ago now being destroyed by a single master ruling the city state.

i do not respect that judge. she is a guardian and servant of the law. she doomed justice as it its. shame on her. i will never use her judgment so to speak and i dissent her willful judgment