In recent years, Singapore has acquired a reputation as a country where lawsuits are used against political opponents of the ruling party, in some cases leading to situations where the accused face bankruptcy due to the costs of the legal proceedings. To be as honest as i can be, such a reputation can be attributed to Dictator Kuan Yew
In the ongoing case, Singaporeans were preoccupied with a three-day court hearing in May for the Lees’ defamation suit against Chee, whose Singapore Democratic Party newsletter was charged with defaming them as key figures in the government. The publication had compared the furore over the disclosure of the huge sums of money that the executives of the non-profit National Kidney Foundation (NKF) were earning, with what it called unjustifiably high salaries of government officials. "It is impossible not to notice the striking resemblance between how the NKF operated and how the PAP [People’s Action Party] runs Singapore," the newsletter said in February 2006.
Despite its economic success, local and international civil rights groups have criticized the government for cracking down hard on dissenters and political activists. Street protests are rare and public gatherings of five people or more are banned without a police permit. Singapore represents itself as a democracy with the rule of law and a good place to live and do business. But Singapore is a bully and its strong-arm tactics against critics, domestic or foreign, is unrecognized by the rest of the world, thanks to its carefully crafted public relations strategy designed to show the city-state as a model of government, democracy, economic development and the rule of law.
In 2004, Martyn See directed a documentary on Dr. Chee called Singapore Rebel. It was supposed to be screened at the Singapore International Film Festival but was forced to be withdrawn from the festival and later banned by the Singapore government because of its political content. Singapore's Film Act forbids the production and distribution of "party political" films, which are defined as films "made by any person and directed towards any political ends in Singapore". Martyn See agreed to surrender the film on 29 August 2005 along with his video camera, though he still faces the threat of prosecution. Despite the Singapore government's efforts to stop the distribution of such a documentary, the documentary is available on the Internet
Lee Kuan Yew vs IslamThis is the same man who talk on democracy and forbid Muslim schoolgirls from wearing the hijab at school. This is not only a crime against religion but a crime against human rights. An ‘essence’ of what this man claim to advocate for. I guess he is to smart compared to our Opposition leaders. They are in need of him to enlighten them to be ‘proper’ human beings. How can Kuan yew claim that the Chinese here are being mistreated when the Malays in Singapore are treated like 2nd class citizens. Here, in Malaysia, all races are given their equal religious rights. And, this is vested in Article 11 of our Constitution.
Kuan Yew is full of cock and bull. For a person who believes and advocates for human rights and constantly criticizes Malaysia for being a ‘democracy bully’ , he had himself in his capacity as a Premier and a Senior Minister strip the very foundation of democracy in his country. On March 15, 2008, Chee Soon Juan and 17 others were arrested at a demonstration held outside Parliament and later charged with unlawful assembly. The trial began on October 23, 2008.Fortunately, a team of lawyers, led by Canadian law firm Amsterdam & Peroff in Toronto, has been set up in order to help Dr. Chee defend himself in court and to embarrass Singapore before the world for its failure to uphold the rule of law. The team is headed by Bob Amsterdam (who defended Mikhail Khodorovsky and other high-profile Russians against the oppressive Putin regime), UK defamation expert Anthony Julius (who represented Lady Di) and American law professor William Burke-White.
2006 bankruptcy and contempt of court
On 10 February 2006, Chee was declared a bankrupt by the High Court, after failing to pay S$500,000 in damages awarded to Goh and Lee in the 2001 defamation lawsuit. Upon this bankruptcy order, Chee will not be allowed to stand for elections until February 2011.
On 24 February 2006, Singapore attorney-general filed contempt of court charges against Chee for refusing to answer court's questions and criticising the Singapore judiciary during a bankruptcy petition hearing on February 10. Later, Chee was sentenced to a day in jail and a fine of $6,000, but he failed to pay the fine and was jailed for an additional seven days. He was released on 24 March 2006.
In April 2006, Chee was stopped at the airport as he was preparing to board a flight to Istanbul. He is currently facing a charge for attempting to leave the country without official approval, which he was required to seek as a bankrupt.
Dr Chee Soon Juan
But, it is crucial and thus of paramount importance to know Dr. Chee Soon Juan. And it is highly important for the Opposition Leaders to meet him too. If they can learn from he Tyrant Lee, they can be as humble to meet their counterpart, Dr. Chee , as he is, afterall, an opposition in Spore. Well, sometimes opposition Leaders do need enlightenment.
Dr. Chee Soon Juan is the Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).
Chee is a neuropsychologist and received his Ph.D. from the University of Georgia in 1990. He joined SDP in 1992 and became the Secretary-General of SDP, replacing founder Chiam See Tong who left to join the Singapore People's Party. Chee has been convicted and imprisoned several times. Chee lost a defamation lawsuit filed by PAP leaders in 2001. Chee was declared bankrupt in 2006 when he failed to pay the damages. He is in jail at present for contempt of court. He has since been released and will be contesting to be the next Prime Minister in Singapore.
Chee was Honorary Research Associate at the Monash Asia Institute in 1997 and at the University of Chicago in 2001. In 2004, he participated in the Reagan-Fascell Democracy Program at the National Endowment for Democracy in Washington, D.C.. He is the Chairman of the Alliance for Reform & Democracy in Asia, and was a Reagan-Fascell Democracy Fellow at the Washington-based National Endowment for Democracy (2004)[1]. He participated in many international organisations such as World Movement for Democracy and the Forum of Democratic Leaders in the Asia Pacific. He was the recipient of the Defender of Democracy Award 2003 given by the Parliamentarians for Global Action.(wiki, 2009)
NKF scandalOn 21 April 2006, Chee rejected an offer by Health Minister Khaw Boon Wan to call for a Commission of Inquiry to look into his ministry's handling of the NKF Scandal, instead he asked the government to stop all their 'wayang'. This came after the former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his son, the current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had demanded an apology from SDP (including Chee) for their slanderous remarks on the NKF in the latest issue of its party newspaper, The New Democrat. In it, SDP insinuated that the government was run like the NKF, and had covered up the infamous NKF Scandal that had rocked Singapore, suggesting corruption at the highest level.
The SDP, its 12 members and its printer, Sum Kwai Lum trading as Melodies Press Company, had until 10am April 25, to respond to the demands for an apology. This apology, according to the text set out in the letters of demand, was to be published in two local dailies on April 27, failing which both leaders would sue all parties involved. But the SDP announced ahead of time they would not be apologising. However, currently all members of the SDP and the printer have apologised except Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin.
The defamation lawsuit by the PAP leaders Lee Kuan Yew, Lee Hsien Loong and Goh Chok Tong, against Chee, his sister and the SDP for insinuating that the government was run like the NKF is ongoing.
In July 2005, a scandal involving the charity broke out following the collapse of a defamation trial which it brought against Susan Long and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH). This caused a massive backlash and fallout of donors to the charity, and subsequently resulted in the resignation of Chief Executive Officer T.T Durai and its board of directors.
Allegations surrounding the scandal included the false declarations on how long NKF's reserves could last, its number of patients, installation of a golden tap in Durai's private office suite, his salary, use of company cars and first-class air travel. Former NKF patron Tan Choo Leng, wife of Senior Minister Goh Chok Tong, sparked further outrage when she remarked that T.T Durai's pay of "S$600,000 a year is peanuts".
President of the National Council of Social Services, Gerard Ee, has since been appointed as interim chairman of the organisation. A full independent audit on its finances was conducted by KPMG, and a 442-page report released on 19 December 2005 revealed several malpractices by the former NKF board and management. This led to an investigations into the affairs of the charity by the Commercial Affairs Department of the Singapore Police Force . On 17 April 2006, Durai was arrested and charged under the Prevention of Corruption Act by the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau.
Dr Chee “I survive financially by selling books. I peddle them on the street. I was trained in academia but after I joined the opposition in 1992 I was sacked and since then nobody will want to work with me. They are frightened of guilt by association,” he said.
He was fired by a person who was a Member of Parliament with the ruling party.
“When I said my sacking was politically motivated, he sued me for defamation. I went to court, lost and the court awarded damages of US$350,000. My wife and I sold our house, car and everything to pay this fine,” he said.
Another two defamation lawsuits resulted in US$400,000 in fines after Dr. Chee raised questions about Singapore’s secret financial support for the corrupt Suharto regime in Indonesia.
“The significance of those cases was we didn’t even go to trial. It was a summary judgment, decided by the judge in chambers without any right to cross examine,” he said.
“A third case in 2006 was a defamation lawsuit by former Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew and his son, the current Prime Minister, over an article written in our party’s newspaper. Fines were huge [US$610,000] and the judgment was delivered in the judge’s chambers again.”
When Dr. Chee criticized this, the judge said this constituted contempt of court and jailed him this June for 12 days. And his failure to pay fines will also result in more contempt convictions and imprisonment.
Dr. Chee being released from prison.
We can see here clearly, Kuan Yew, had not a single right to criticized Malaysia, when there is blatant clear-cut case where he intefered the Singaporean Judiciary.
Dr. Chee did apply permit to hold peaceful demonstration but this was denied. At least here in Malaysia, there are times where peaceful demos are allowed. The Senior Minister should be learning from us shouldnt he. Bearing in our mind the violation of democracy committed upon learned and respected Singaporeans.
Kuan yew Dictator who run Spore prisonThere is still detention witout trial in Singapore, all thanks to Kuan Yew. He had in fact used his ‘fist’ to enforced tyranny in Singapore.
On December 3, 2006, after the doctor at the Queenstown Remand Prison had found traces of blood in Dr Chee's urine, he was admitted to Changi General Hospital. On 10 December 2006, about a dozen of Chee's supporters, including Chee's family and his sister Chee Siok Chin, held a protest march starting at the Speakers' Corner in Singapore and ending at Queenstown Remand Prison where Chee was incarcerated.Several foreign non-government organisations released statements expressing concerns about Chee's health and treatment in prison.
Tun on Kuan Yew-recentlyLee Kuan Yew has much experience. Our politicians know nothing. That is why we have to learn from Singapore. Singapore is a great country, they invest so much money," Tun said. On the third bridge issue, Dr Mahathir said: "If we give sand, then we can get the bridge
Well, nothing more could be added to such well-put and perfected view. Kuan yew, i do hope you read Tun's comment. A person who had read law at Cambridge could at least comprehend Tun's cynic words if the Opposition could not. Well, why not put the brains to good use, for just this one moment, dear Opposition Leaders.
I on Kuan YewHe is a profound man who leads with his fist in the most classic style. He dictates Spore and hids his atrocities. I give him credits not only for being cunning and a master of vices, but to convince our opposition leaders to craze for him. He had negatived the idiom where a blind cannot lead a blind. Well, such followers are inadequate of knowledge ; we cannot but help feel sorry for them.
I am not here to advocate for Democracy, but I do believe that if a country is going to declare itself a Democracy they should at least offer the basic freedoms it necessitates. There can be no fair election when the opposition cannot be heard. There can be no free people when their voices are silenced. I wish Dr. Chee great success in his movement and hope that those in powerful positions will hear his cry.
