Dear MM, PM
When i was a 13 year old boy, i bought the two books of your (Lee Kuan Yew¡¯s) speeches by Alex Josey. To me you were a hero, you led Singapore from colonialism to independence. Your speeches were complex and had carried a lot of detail. Though i did not understand them fully, i had great respect for them.
In 1988 when i was fifteen, i witnessed what was shown on TV and the news of the marxist ISD arrests detentions. I thought Lawyer Peter Cuthbert Low was doing a damn good and brave job. Subsequent to the televised confessions to the marxist conspiracy, i was a misleadingly convinced of what the government had to do. Nevertheless, the behaviour and high handedness of your administration disgusted me.
In those years, with the exception of the 1985 economic recession, Singapore did well, so in the thought that there was still overall good in the administration, my political inclinations still remained with the then prevailing administration.
1988 General Election, Workers¡¯ Party¡¯s JB Jeyaretnam, Jufrie Mahmood, Francis Seow and i think Wee Han Kim all make close runs into parliament but fail to enter it by small margins. Having been misled by the PAP that Jufrie was playing communal politics i guess many in the middle ground gave their vote to the PAP.
WP¡¯s Dr Tan Bin Seng contested my ward in Changi against Teo Chong Tee. I remembered waving to Dr. Tan.
I also saw the Tiananmen Massacre in 1989, i wondered if indeed it was necessary to do so. If staying in power justified the means of anything, then anything goes is it not? But staying in power had many facets and motives, though violence was used, i did not see the highest echelons of the Chinese government thereafter seek to enrich itself.
In 1990 or so, you then spoke crap to the people about pegging political and administrative position (public service) salaries to the to earners in the private sector. I wondered what shit was beginning to show. In 1991 was the year when a number of my classmates had danced with a huge inflatable hammer during swing singapore. I recalled that they were manhandled to the police post and the inflatable hammer balloon burst. The Police did not take action after establishing that they were not linked to the Workers¡¯ Party. I heard the recollection of the events by my classmates in Victoria Junior College with disgust.
In 1991, PM Goh Chok Tong loses 3 seats to the SDP and 1 seat to WP. I then saw further steps taken to broaden the grip using GRCs.
I had entered military national service in 1992, i met Teo Chee Hean once when he was the Chief of Navy, I had a favourable impression on him afterall he was our CNV. His departure from the Navy and entry into politics was expected as by then you develop a sense of where the press will try to open the road for the PAP, that prepares the way for the political steps to be taken.
In 1992, SDP contests Marine Parade by-election introducing Commodore Teo Chee Hean. SDP loses quite dismally. Subsequent to that are mistakes made by SDP and dramatic responses by the PAP and its admininstration towards Dr. Chee Soon Juan and the SDP.
In 1994, i entered law school. I read about the defamation cases in first year of law school. I saw the number of political cases which smeared the legal landscape.
In the January 1997 General Election, I was feverishly preparing for my 2nd semester in 3rd year. I saw the close fight in Cheng San GRC degenerate into threats and almost gangsterism. According to PAPpy reports, We now have a chinese chauvinist and so on. Subsequent to a victory in Cheng San, your PAP then continued to lay waste to the personal estates of opposition candidates. WP¡¯s Tang Liang Hong and JB Jeyaretnam.
I forgot to add, i was in a clinic in Bedok when JB Jeyaretnam did his decoy rounds. I shook his hand.
Year 2000, I was insidiously recruited into the PAP fold shortly after being called to the Bar. The induction to MPS under Chng Hee Kok opened my eyes. Chng Hee Kok was a good MP but what the PAP had created negated the good work. I also met Tan Cheng Bock once, i was impressed by the way he treated his men and his constituents, i also witnessed the loyalty and dedication of the party members at his branch. The PAP had its deep failings in creating a system that no longer served the nation but more to serving itself. GE2001, i began to distance myself from the PAP.
General Election 2001, the elections department disqualifies the WP¡¯s Ajunied attempt at nomination. I remember James Gomez leading the rest of the team walking down the staircase.
Dismayed by the strength of the opposition and the uneven playing field. I entered WP in 2004. I contested the GE2006 election. I lost the fight at East Coast GRC.
7th November 2006, I quit the Workers¡¯ Party over a ban placed on me from engaging and criticising the PAP in internet forums using very harsh words under my real name. I left the party because i saw no reason why an opposition party should seek to silence its members from engaging in debates on political issues.
This is totally different from the application of party whip or party discipline unlike what was described by Assoc Prof Ho Khai Leong in the Today Newspaper following the fallout. There is no party position to contradict at all. When the party refuses to take a stand or is too slow to do so, is it right to gag your members?
I entered the citizen activist fold in 2007. My paths crossed with the much demonised SDP. I begin to see the truly valiant hard fighters that remained in the opposition. I was arrested with members of the SDP on 15th March 2008 World Consumers¡¯ Day Parliament House Protest.
In the police station, i witnessed in person the courage and the strength of SDP members in standing up to the Regime. My phone and beloved digital camera is still being kept by the prosecution. I am keeping this in mind all the time. Your boys think that this will intimidate me. The longer it drags, the more disgusted i become.
I know on Monday 12th May 2008, the two of you Excellencies were going all out to crush the SDP. This is all well and fine. It just unfortunate that i like to side the underdog. The harder you hit the SDP, the harder i will fight you.
The fight was adjourned seemingly because your missus and mommy had a 2nd stroke. I pray for her speedy recovery. I bear no ill feelings towards her. She is not the one who has to go, if you get what i mean
With Mrs. Lee Kuan Yew is down with her 2nd stroke, the mortality of life must be pretty clear to your two Excellencies by now. Even if the PAP retains its grip on Singapore - by all means necessary - can you take Singapore with you wherever you go? Is it not time to be a little more realistic? Is it too late to salvage a good name for posterity?
Now i really I cannot recall where i left those two books by Alex Josey, to me they are now utter rubbish. I am ashamed of saying what i will do to your Lee Kuan Yew memoirs Third World to First when i lay my hands on them.
I will now do anything to unseat the PAP from power. Whether or not their MPs are good men and whether or not they give the oft-quoted excuse that their hands are tied. This is my promise to you. Mark my words.
funny, he pleaded guilty just like that and sitll ranting vainly. such pretty words from the ex-prettier wp's poster boy.
