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An embarrassment to Singapore and sidekick K Shanmugam
The following is an article in The Global Mail, an Australian paper debunking the myth put out by Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore government that everything is nice in clean in squeaky clean Singapore. Not so says Eric Ellis the author, there is a lot of smokescreen business in the haze, pun intended, from Indonesia recently and even more government criminality in siphoning off millions in taxpayers money into the coffers of these multi millionaire politicians, K Shanmugam, the Tamil sidekick of Lee being one. Good reading. Although this millionaire politician with a mouthful of a name, Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam has threatened to sue all and sundry if they ever posted this article in Singapore, I don't think he is even remotely contemplating suing me. Why? Because he is not so certain to win as he would in his Singaporean Kangaroo Courts. I don't live in Singapore anymore. In fact if I ever set foot in that island, it is straight to their notorious Changi Prison, conveniently located beside their Changi Airport. Please see this article here http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/out-of-the-haze-a-singapore-spring/646/
Out Of The Haze, A Singapore Spring?
By Eric Ellis June 25, 2013
The haze sweeping Asia is a hazard to your health — and for members of Singapore's ruling elite such as the mercurial K. Shanmugam, a threat to your tight grip on power, too.
When you are Singapore's Lee family, and your clan has exercised absolute and uninterrupted control over its swanky specklet of Asia for 54 years, fellows like Kasiviswanathan Shanmugam are handy to have within your power court.
K. Shanmugam, as he's less tongue-twistingly known, may have escaped the attention of those unfamiliar with the cosy connections that hold Singapore's power elite together — a warm, clubby embrace that has kept them very wealthy.
But 54-year-old Shanmugam is a bigwig on the tiny island, which is currently being suffocated by pollution from the periodic burning of millions of hectares of palm oil plantations that have trashed the equatorial habitat of neighbouring Indonesia. That pollution from the illegal fire-clearing of these plantations has swept on eastward winds from Sumatra in massive clouds of smoke and ash to shroud and choke Singapore, southern Malaysia and large tracts of western Indonesia.
Call it blowback. Many of these plantations are owned by people with intimate connections to that same power court in Singapore, who helpfully provide them all manner of metropolitan usefulness, banking their billions and domiciling their empires while discreetly looking past, er, indiscretions that may have been perpetrated elsewhere.
Many of these plantations are owned by people with intimate connections to that same power court in Singapore, who helpfully provide them all manner of metropolitan usefulness, banking their billions and domiciling their empires.
Singapore has 101,000 millionaires officially resident on the island, their assets tucked safely away in the nation's banks, property and share markets. Plenty of these plutocrats are normal Singaporeans who've done well in business. But many are not, like corrupt Indonesians on the run, or Burmese generals seeking safe haven. Singapore's plutocratic ranks have been swelled in recent years by Europeans and Russians seeking relief from tax and the prying regulators of home, these exiles spending just enough time and money in Singapore to qualify for residency.
This, to many, is the useful point of Singapore, where Shanmugam – born in 1959, the very year Lee family patriarch Lee Kuan Yew began his three decades as ruler – has been an MP since 1988 for the Lees' ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
Shanmugam's story, and there are many like it in Singapore's political circles, neatly illustrates how power flows in Singapore, via an apparatus ironically made more visible by the haze crisis.
There have been five parliamentary elections since then in Singapore's almost-democracy, three of them relatively leisurely affairs for Shanmugam; he and his PAP friends were untroubled by any other candidates in their constituency, Sembawang, an area perhaps best known for its US naval facility.
But Shanmugam's selfless devotion to public service – Singapore MPs receive a basic annual allowance of around US$200,000 – hasn't hindered an even more lucrative career, in law and business. He's one of Singapore's most formidable litigators, a leader of the army of Lee-loyalist lawyers who've helped win their legal system a contentious reputation as a jurisdiction, most notably in defamation.
Singapore is one of the world's libel capitals, and its litigants – many have been colleagues of Shanmugam, leaders of the ruling PAP – have won record-setting damages for defamation by their political rivals and the international media.
What would pass as the normal buffeting of election debate in most genuinely pluralist democracies has been, in Singapore, a device of oppression. Here, sensitive politicians and officials, famously led by the Lees themselves, have shown an enthusiastic inclination to sue opponents into penurious legal submission. Singaporean officials, it's often said, can imagine libel and slander in a harsh glare.
All of which helps explain why MPs like Shanmugam don't always encounter combatants when they run for election. Indeed, this absence of opposition has meant that there's only been three parliamentary elections in Singapore in the five since 1988 in which the PAP wasn't returned to office on nomination day – the actual poll being largely irrelevant as to decide who runs the country.
SURYO WIBOWO/AFP/Getty Images
K. Shanmugam meeting with Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa last year. Singapore's respiratory crisis has shone a spotlight on some local companies with interests in the controversial Indonesian palm-oil sector.
Shanmugam doesn't mind highlighting such powerful connections in his sparkling official CV, now for the Nee Soon electorate in Singapore. This biography describes a storied student who became a 'star litigator' for Singapore's biggest law firm, a lawyer who has represented prime ministers past and present.
And, busy man, Shanmugam has also served on some illustrious boards while being MP and lawyer-at-large, his biography reveals. For example, he's held a long and lucrative directorship at one of Singapore's state-controlled blue chips, Sembcorp (a post he shared with strongman Lee Kuan Yew's daughter-in-law Lee Suet Fern, whose husband ran Singapore Telecommunications for 12 years), and another on Singapore's state media regulator, among other establishment posts.
Now Shanmugam has been Singapore's Foreign Minister since 2011, and Minister for Law since 2008, his official salary now somewhere north of $US1 million. He's the senior official entrusted by his Prime Minister, Lee Kuan Yew's son Lee Hsien Loong, to go after the polluters they believe are responsible for the life-threatening haze, now too thick to ignore, which has engulfed their region.
"If any Singapore companies are involved," thundered PM Lee last week, "or companies which are present in Singapore are involved, we will take it up with them."
Indeed, Jakarta has helpfully identified as many as 14 companies it believes responsible for the muck, while reminding Singapore that many more Indonesians are suffering its effects than inhabitants of the look-at-me island nation.
Two of the companies fingered by Indonesia are its Widjaja family's Sinar Mas Agro Resources and Technology (SMART), which has long been a target of environmentalists, and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL), controlled by the Indonesian-born Singaporean tycoon Sukanto Tanoto. Both are based in Singapore, where SMART's parent company is the locally listed Golden Agri-Resources.
And this is where Lee's Foreign and Law Minister K. Shanmugam comes in again.
Two of the directorships that don't appear in Shanmugam's glittering CV are his former stints as a director of Golden Agri-Resources and Asia Food and Property Ltd.
APP's debts were effectively written off and, like so many dodgy Indonesians and Singaporeans of that era, the Widjajas regrouped to do business another day – to pollute again.
Both are Singaporean companies controlled by Indonesia's controversial Widjaja family. In the early 2000s, while Shanmugam was on these boards, the Widjajas had the dubious honour of owning the notorious Asia Pulp and Paper, which would come to be responsible for the biggest bond default in corporate Asian history.
What transpired at APP was a US$13 billion fiasco, a scandal largely unearthed by the pesky foreign media, and which exposed Singapore as something other than the squeaky-clean financial centre its government likes to internationally promote itself as. Transferring public company funds through a murky family-controlled bank in the tax haven of the Cook Islands was a sleight of hand much favoured by the Widjajas.
No-one involved with the APP scandal was ever prosecuted or brought to legal book anywhere. Those foolish enough to have invested with the Widjajas absorbed huge hits. Most of APP's debts were effectively written off and, like so many dodgy Indonesians and Singaporeans of that era, the Widjajas regrouped to do business another day – to pollute again.
As for Shanmugam, after firing off a few threatening legal salvos at the time to anyone who too publicly mentioned his connection to the Widjajas, he later resigned his directorships and resumed his legal and political career.
The Global Mail isn't suggesting that Shanmugam was in any way party to the financial scandal that then engulfed the Widjaja empire. Indeed, all reports at the time suggested he was embarrassed by his links to the Widjajas. Nor are we saying that he is involved in the haze outrage that now engulfs them. And, despite being identified by Jakarta as a polluter, Golden Agri insists "there are no hotspots or fires" at its Sumatran plantations.
Should this assertion of innocence be proved wrong, Shanmugam, now as a minister, would at least know who to call when asked to bring miscreants to book; that is, if he doesn't first recuse himself from official involvement given his one-time close links to the controversial Widjajas.
But that doesn't seem likely. Last weekend, Shanmugam reportedly joined his PM and other government colleagues in handing out some of the million-odd facemasks Singapore has bought to distribute to low-income Singaporeans affected by the haze.
Chris McGrath/Getty Images
Face masks sold out in Singapore's stores, and the government handed out more — along with advice to wear them even indoors.
TGM emailed Mr Shanmugam a series of questions about his former links to the Widjaja's Golden Agri but did not receive a response.
Singapore's respiratory crisis has also shone a spotlight on some other local companies with interests in the controversial palm oil sector. One of them is particularly close to PM Lee, at the core Singapore's politics-meets-business power apparatus: Temasek Holdings, Singapore's influential state-owned investment company, which controls companies such as Singapore Telecom, Singapore Airlines and Australia's Optus, also holds big stakes in myriad international businesses.
One of those investments is in CTP Holdings, Temasek's Singapore-based joint venture with the US agricultural group Cargill. CTP operates oil-palm plantations in Indonesia. Last week, CTP was quick to say its holdings are well away from the current hotspots that have so polluted the Singapore environs. In any event, CTP's backers claim their plantations operate a strict no-burn policy, and Temasek and Cargill have been keen to distance CTP and themselves from any environmental outrage.
Which is not how the US environmental lobby Rain Forest Network sees CTP's operations in Indonesia's Kalimantan region, to Singapore's east; the group accuses CTP of clearing rainforest without permits, destroying watersheds and burning forests.
That Temasek was moved to publish a press release on the palm oil crisis at this time is itself instructive. It speaks to the rising opposition to Singapore's Lee-led establishment, which revealed itself most eloquently in the last parliamentary and presidential elections, in 2011, in which the opposition not only fielded a record complement of candidates but made genuine gains against the PAP-dominated system.
Amidst the tumult from Tahrir Square and the tragedy of Syria, this 'Singapore Spring' hasn't registered internationally with quite the impact of the Arab prototype that inspired it. But to the 5.3 million Singaporeans now coughing through yet another haze outrage blown in from Indonesia, their spring has arrived in the increasing accountability they demand of Singapore's once impervious courtiers in running national affairs.
In a town where 'normal' political activity is deemed off limits, Temasek's management has been a proxy political tool the opposition can fulminate about – Temasek as the symbolic vehicle of PAP patronage and performance.
Amidst the tumult from Tahrir Square and the tragedy of Syria, this 'Singapore Spring' hasn't registered internationally with quite the impact of the Arab prototype that inspired it.
Temasek and its likewise state-owned sister fund, the Singapore Government Investment Corporation, officially invest Singaporeans' money. Like the more transparent sovereign wealth funds of democratic Norway and East Timor, and those more opaque in the Gulf monarchies, these two companies are national nest eggs owned by all Singaporeans, and in which every Singaporean notionally has a say.
Temasek, which by some measures has an interest in as much as 60 per cent of the Singaporean economy, has been run by PM Lee's wife, Ho Ching, since 2003. And her patchy investment record would likely have seen her removed, had she performed similarly in any Western company. That record has increasingly been the subject of rational analysis, by academics and aspiring Singaporean politicians such as Kenneth Jeyaretnam, who would like to see these funds broken up and privatised.
Such transparency has been refreshing for Singaporeans, but other things don't change. It remains out of bounds in Singapore to debate if Madame Ho got – and kept – her job because she's a member of the Lee family. The last voice to publicly do this was a well-followed local blog, the Temasek Review Emeritus, which was swiftly threatened by one of the Lees' notorious legal onslaughts en route to being forced into a grovelling apology. Today, it's a rare Western media outlet – those with corporate interests or circulation in Singapore are particularly reticent – that will examine the Temasek record as they might similarly influential corporations elsewhere, such as Apple, Shell or BHP Billiton.
For media reporting on Temasek's activities, official Singapore has insisted that it be accurate in its facts, and that it refer to Temasek as an "Asian investment company". For good measure, Temasek would also prefer that any reference to Madame Ho as the PM's wife be expunged. Singapore's pliant media does what its told but foreign press is less observant of local sensitivities.
But the media, indeed anyone with cause to analyses Temasek, such as credit rating agencies and banks, can't fulfill the latter requirements without noting the former.
Accuracy and investment decisions demand that Temasek be properly identified as being owned by the Singapore government. And there's no avoiding the fact that Madame Ho, who often very publicly travels with her husband on state tours abroad, is Mrs Lee, a very powerful and wealthy Mrs
Lee, if not always a particularly astute investor of her compatriots' nest egg.
For all the putridness that the clouds now defiling Singapore and beyond are depositing, they may yet come with a silver lining, of more transparency for one Asia's most rigid societies.
Singapore's denial of democracy stunts progress
A look at the advanced countries of the world, USA, Canada, Australia, or Finland has one common quality. They are all democracies. Their people are respected, they have free speech and they have the rule of law. For prosperity, it does not matter how much gold you have under the ground; what matters is whether the people are treated with respect and they are given full opportunity to participate in government. Nigeria has more oil than you can imagine. Yet Nigerians are poor because of corruption, mismanagement and disrespect for their citizens.
Singapore suffers because it is not a democracy. Despite government claims, the Lee family which has been in power since 1959 rig the elections. Capable opposition candidates are sued for defamation and removed from politics.
The only way to succeed is to support the Lee government, which any honest person would find hard to do. How do you support a government whose ministers pay themselves $3.7 million a year while the rest of the population have to make do with $2,000 a month or less? How do you support a government that has controlled all news media in the country. How do you respect a government where the judges are all Kangaroo judges who do just what the government wants? How do you support a government which openly discriminates their own Malay and Indian citizens and favors only the Chinese. And if you protest against any of this, they put you in jail.
What happens then is that a large section of the population is simply put off by this nonsense. Malays and Indians, although equal citizens feel the resentment for Chinese preference. Even educated Chinese with a conscience are put off by this sort of blatant injustice.
The end result, the island fails to advance.
Just as in the Soviet Union, the unscrupulous men like Minister K Shanmugam who has the broad grin on his face, standing beside his ethnic Chinese minister colleagues, while they deny jobs to his fellow Indians before his very eyes, and Teo Chee Hean who has only praise for all that his master does, will certainly result in the collapse of such an administration. A government such as this does not support men and women who will say what is good for society. It only supports yes-men just as the ones who surrounded Stalin and the Communist dictators resulting on the certain collapse of their country.
A small tiny island like Singapore, especially so, would need every single person to support and contribute to their country. But if contribution means only parrot like support of government policies and punishment for anyone who prefers to use his head, many capable Singaporeans would want no part of it. As a result the government is starved of real talent which prefers to take their money and their skills to clear out for the West.
Especially for young children, Singapore is a very bad society. Children have to grow up not only being able to do maths and science but more importantly, to be able to think independently without fear. This is not possible in Singapore. The teachers themselves are afraid of their government making sure their children don't get out of line. After their education, they end up capable of doing maths and science but are incapable of realizing that it is better to die a free man than to live like a coolie in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore.
It is independent thinking that produces the great nations of the world. A brainwashed citizenry only produced the Soviet Unions and North Koreas. Today far too many Russians are trying to leave their country for the West, while far too many Singaporeans are leaving for settlement in the West. No smart person from anywhere, if he had something in his head would choose Singapore.
The real difference between the successful countries like those in Western Europe and the weaker ones like Singapore is this. the former realize that the more freedom and respect they give to their citizens, the better the countries perform, while corrupt nations such as Singapore which steal millions of their taxpayers money to enrich themselves and have courts which has no respect whatsoever for the law, decline.
All Singapore's claim to be one of the richest countries is plain nonsense. What they have is a bunch of embezzlers from China who have stolen millions from state owned companies and parked their money in the island, while the rest of Singaporeans earn no more than $2,000.00 per month. Of course the per capita GDP goes up because of these handful of millionaires but Singaporeans can be hardly called rich by what they get. This sort of deception backfires and hurts the island because the average citizen feels deep resentment at the poor life they lead while these foreign thieves are driving around in Ferraris. With deep bitterness and resentment across the island, it is hard to imagine how a small island such as this, with no more than perhaps 2.5 millions locals can head very far.
The people resent the hypocrisy of the ministers. While they ask Singaporeans to stay behind and not leave, they themselves almost to the last man, have all sent their children abroad for education, after which not a single one returns. I suppose they too know that Singapore education system is not conducive to educating anyone in the true sense.
Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's obedience trained citizens
If you want to train a dog, you reward him with food when he obeys and punish him if he does not. Lee Kuan Yew has been using the same technique on his people throughout his one party rule since he came to power in 1959. His unwavering purpose was to achieve total submission throughout his island as it is easier to govern an obedient submissive population than a questioning thinking one.
There can be no doubt whatsoever that he has achieved total and compete success, a feat even more remarkable given the fact that in this day and age, he had to contend with the Internet,
Today he has the dubious distinction of being able to say unequivocally that even in the 21 century, even in the day of the Internet, at a time when such a feat is almost impossible to achieve; he alone, unlike all the other dictators of the world, has managed to train an entire island of people, like well trained dogs, to jump when told without question. There is no living Singaporean today in that island who would dare to publicly disobey him.
In Singapore, there is no real constitution. The guarantees in that document of free speech and expression, assembly and protest are all made illegal. Yet in spite of the islanders having had an education, there has not been a single person who has had the courage to stand up to question this. An outsider unaccustomed to Lee Kuan Yew's rule might find such total submission unbelievable but it is true. Lee Kuan Yew's obedience training over his people has been so sustained and thorough over the decades which continue up to this day, the brainwashing of his people has been a complete success.
This is how it is done. The principle applied is always the same. Reward for obedience, punishment for disobedience. Like a dog, a bone for obedience, a stick for disobedience.
The victims in the past were such people as JB Jeyaretnam, an opposition politician. He not only refused to obey Lee Kuan Yew, he made it known that he intends to topple him. So out comes the dog training. He was repeatedly sued for defamation of character in Lees' Kangaroo Courts ordered to pay millions of dollars in damages, bankrupted and jailed. These facts were daily publicized in headlines in Lees' state controlled press. The effect of this naturally was to frighten every single person in his island from ever disobeying Lee Kuan Yew his family and friends.
The same well tuned and well tested procedure of reward for obedience and punishment for disobedience goes on even today. After JB Jeyaretnam, there was Chee Soon Juan, another citizen who refused to jump when told. He too went through the same obedience training. He too was repeatedly sued, impoverished bankrupted and jailed. His punishment too was prominently displayed each day in Lee's newspapers. And the people reading of the punishment naturally decided that the best way to live in Lee's island is to shut up or better still, join him.
Fearing the Internet may embolden the islanders, Lee has accelerated the obedience training. In the last few months we have seen increasing well publicized incidents of the Attorney General threatening bloggers, graffiti artists and cartoonists with jail and contempt of court actions if they continued to criticize. Naturally it sends a chill down the spine of every citizen even remotely contemplating challenging Lee Kuan Yew reminding them that they better think twice.
In my last blog post yesterday, I wrote of a Singaporean woman Lee Seng Lynn who prefers to be called Lynn Lee (although Lee Seng Lynn seems pretty all right too) who was threatened by the Attorney General with contempt of court for publishing 2 videos she made of Chinese national bus drivers who were arrested for going on strike.
The bus drivers claimed in the videos they were beaten and threatened in custody to plead guilty to the charges. On getting wind of these videos, the Attorney General claimed that because there was an ongoing investigation, the videos were sub judice and she is liable for contempt, which by the way was a completely baseless excuse, without any grounding either in law or fact.
The Attorney Generals purpose was very plain. He was not prepared to allow anyone, not even a person who claimed to have been beaten while in custody to complain. In Lee's Singapore, these victims of assault and battery are expected to take the beatings without more and Lynn Lee is not supposed to report it either.
Lynn Lee was subjected to several hours of interrogation at police headquaters, her government owned apartment was raided and her computers seized and investigated and she was finally only released after stern warnings that she is not to mess with Lee Kuan Yew's government and that next time was not going to be as easy as this one.
Lynn Lee's predicament was naturally widely and prominently published in the state controlled newspapers and also carried over the state run TV and radio, giving the message that if you try to expose the wrong doings of Lee's government, you will be punished.
The Attorney General had made it known that in this case, he is not going charge Lynn Lee with contempt of court as in his view, a warning is sufficient. As for Lynn Lee, I suppose she will count herself lucky to have escaped the jaws of the tiger this time and would very probably go away making sure she never again crosses the mighty and all powerful Lee Kuan Yew and his Attorney General. As for the rest of the Singaporeans, I suppose they count themselves lucky not to be in Lynn Lees' shoes and would I suppose be even more careful not to offend Lee Kuan Yew and his powerful friends.
But then there is another side to this story. This total submission to Lee Kuan Yew must be unpleasant to anyone who knows that he has any human rights. Many such people have the means to leave the island for settlement abroad. So as Lee Kuan Yew continues on his obedience training of his people, many simply emigrate to the West. These who do are the best qualified, people who have confidence in themselves and the belief that they can succeed abroad.
This emigration, which continues to increase over the years is hurting Lee Kuan Yew very badly. He needs highly qualified people but they simply refuse to live in his island of mindless conformism. With each passing day, he finds those remaining in his island to be a weak spirited society lacking in passion about anything. All his Singaporeans are capable of doing is to simply to follow orders, as any independent thinking can land them in serious trouble before his Attorney General and his attack dogs, the island police.
I am not sure how successful Singapore can ever be if all their capable people are leaving Lee Kuan Yew's island in disgust at this brainwashing, while the only ones remaining are a spiritless weak minded dull bunch of sheep, lacking in imagination or spontaneity. It is one thing for a country the size of Russia to face a brain drain. It is quite another for a tiny island which only has about 2.5 million locally born citizens. At the rate the educated are leaving Lee Kuan Yew's Alice in Wonderland, there would only be dummies left there waiting to be told to how high to jump.
I certainly would not have been able to live a single day in Lee Kuan Yew's paradise, that much I am sure. Given my refusal to obey any dictator's orders, I suppose I would be spending most of my time in his jails while every instance of my disobedience would have been carefully reported in his state controlled media with a stern warning to all that they should never ever try to be like Gopalan Nair.
Singapore threatens filmmaker with contempt of court charge
In the latest case of the very intolerant (or should we say very nervous) Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore city state silencing criticism and free speech; it's state controlled newspaper Straits Times of June 14, 2013 has the story "Warning for contempt of court issued against indie filmmaker Lynn Yee" See http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/warning-contempt-court-issued-against-indie-filmmaker-lynn-lee-2013061
Lynn Yee had posted 2 videos she made of Chinese national foreign bus drivers in Singapore who were recently arrested for going on strike. They have all since pleaded guilty and deported as is the usual practice of this island which does not respect any human rights.
In the videos according to the report "The two bus drivers (while in custody) had alleged in the videos that they were assaulted by police officers for the purpose of extracting confessions."
According to the report
"The AGC (Attorney General of Singapore) in a statement said that Ms Lee was aware, at the time of publication, that criminal proceedings against He and Liu were ongoing, and thus her conduct had created "a real risk of prejudice" to the proceedings through sub judice.
This may lead to parties connected with the trial "would be improperly influenced" by the publication, in their making of findings of fact, the AGC said. It added: "These are matters that should be determined at a trial and not by publications that are made outside the court."
In other words, what the Attorney General is saying is this. Just because there is an ongoing investigation, no one should report anything about the case including making any videos because if they did, every one who is investigating the case and judging it would all be prejudiced and damage the proceedings.
You can see how nonsensical this argument is. There is no such rule of sub judice whatsoever. This is another case of the Kangaroo courts and their corrupt legal system making up rules as they go along in order to silence any criticism.
The sub judice rule only applies in cases where there are jury trials where there is an imminent danger that jurymen who are laymen, may likely be prejudiced by massive misinformation put out by the parties while the case is still in progress. This restriction is understandable in certain cases where there is a real likelihood of prejudice to the prosecution of the case. In any case it is sparingly used.
In Singapore on the other hand, you don't have juries (laymen), only judges. So it is impossible for any lay jury to be influenced by the videos one way or the other. And judges and government officials are supposed to be robust enough to be able to decide the matter independently despite any information on the Internet.
This is simply not a case to apply the sub judice rule since it simply has no application to this case. Once again Singapore law is conveniently abused for the single purpose, not only to make Singaporeans look as if they were just ignorant fools with no knowledge at all, but principally to silence even the slightest dissent and to intimidate every single pathetic individual that lives in that island that he should simply accept whatever Lee Kuan Yew and his son throws at them without any protest at all!
Another perfect example of Singapore's Kangaroo legal system in action.
Singapore Lee Kuan Yew's Peoples Action Party. Membership has its' privileges
Updated 06/13/2013/ Firstly, it helps to be ethnic Chinese, like Lee Kuan Yew himself. Naturally he believes that his fellow ethnic Chinese would support him.
In Singapore island, it pays to be connected to Lee Kuan Yew's Peoples Action Party which has been continuously ruling the island since 1959. On the other hand being an open critic of the government means untold misery for life. This is why.
Lee Kuan Yew and his family have been running the government ever since partial independence from the British in 1959. He does not want to give up control to anyone else. So he sets up a one party state. He dismantles all democracy institutions replacing it with a total dictatorship. Peoples Action Party has an overwhelming majority in parliament. He achieved this through rigging elections, by intimidating disqualifying jailing and bankrupting real opposition candidates.
The only opposition allowed is like the Workers Party today. They don't really oppose. In fact they are in essence supporting Lee's government. They are no threat to the Peoples Action Party (PAP). At the same time all human rights are denied. No freedom of speech, expression, assembly, Kangaroo courts with no rule of law, no free press and opposition crushed.
Since he has no intention of being overthrown, he realizes that the more people support him, the safer he is in power. So he makes it very clear that if you show support he is going to reward you.
This is how to succeed in the island. Firstly, it helps to be ethnic Chinese, like Lee Kuan Yew himself. Naturally he believes that his fellow ethnic Chinese would support him. Although the island has other races such as Malays and Indian (mainly Tamil) the Chinese are preferred. Not to say that Malays and Indians cannot succeed, but it takes much more ability and support (by this I mean groveling) in their case.
Of course any country would prefer smarter educated skilled people over stupid lazy ones. Therefore you have to excel in school and college. At the same time you have to show open support for his party. This is done by joining numerous grassroots organizations and openly showing support. It is very important to parrot the government line, which is, that it bad to have democracy like in the West because it is disruptive. Independence of the press is a bad thing because it is disruptive. Too much freedom is bad because it is disruptive. His judiciary is the best in the world and should never be criticized and also on and so forth. I think you get the message.
Once you have done well in school and have shown undivided support for Lee Kuan Yew and the teachings of his Peoples Action Party, you stand to be selected to high office with unimaginably high rewards; million dollar salaries perks for yourself and your children and a permanent passport for a good life. The trick lies in making sure you never deviate from your loyalty to his teachings and his way of thinking.
This means of course that you end up in an almost Orwellian sort of a society. For instance, if you want to continue in success, you have to maintain that Lee is right however much you may disagree within yourself. You may think that freedom of speech or freedom of the press are good things, not only for the society but the future of the island but you should never say it because if you did, you stand to lose everything. That line of thinking does not comport with the Lee philosophy.
The model citizens of Singapore are men like Lee's law minister, the Tamil K Shanmugam, who believes that there should be no right to protest at all; a person who totally subscribes to Lee's total control over his island. On the other hand, what Lee considers criminals are men such as myself, who had the temerity to criticize one of his judges; JB Jeyaretnam who was a thorn on his side and Chee Soon Juan, another arch critic whom he also jailed and bankrupted.
As Lee publicly shows the rewards of support for him, by giving high office to his supporters and making sure that in public and private life, his critics are punished and victimized, it makes no sense to oppose Lee in Lee's island. Anyone can see which side of the bread is buttered and it makes no sense to stick your neck out at the chopping block.
Of course to many with some pride, self respect and a conscience, it may be distasteful to be Lee's toady, a minion and a bootlicker but at the end, it is a choice one makes in that island. Is it worthwhile to court hardship and punishment to maintain your integrity and your beliefs or do you play along and submit for the good life.
The vast majority remaining in Singapore island have submitted themselves to Lee Kuan Yew's political party. You find them in his grassroots organizations such as the Peoples Association, the Residents Committees, the Citizens Consultative Committees and a slew of other government organizations where they are allowed to show their loyalty and co-operation through volunteering their time, while government informers and supervisors report to Lee on who deserves the goodies and how much.
Of course not every one is willing to live a life such as this. Men, who find a life such as this distasteful, leave the island in increasing numbers for settlement in the West. At the same time those remaining become increasingly of one mind, the mind of Lee Kuan Yew and his PAP. This way, as more and more show undivided support for Lee's Peoples' Action Party, the island effectively becomes more and more a one party state, where the Lee Kuan Yew government, now run by his son, can and do anything he wants anytime, because there is no opposition whatsoever. Parliament is merely a rubber stamp.
It is like training a sea lion. If you do the trick as told, you get a fish. If not you get the stick. Most Singaporeans are doing exactly as they are told and getting the fish. While Lee Kuan Yew and his Peoples Action Party sit ever more comfortably in their seats. This is Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore island.
What Lee does not realize that an island made up of circus trained sea lions are not enough to advance in the 21st Century. Very soon, he will realize that a society of conforming circus animals will drive the island into the bog.
Singaporeans lives, a state-controlled existence
The government of Singapore run by the 92 year old Lee Kuan Yew, his son, and select handpicked minions have a different idea of government than what was historically intended. People thought in 1965, when Singapore became independent that it was to be a parliamentary democracy replete with a constitutional parliamentary system of government. Not true. Lee Kuan Yew's felt that he knew better than anyone else. He wanted to govern the island and he wasn't going to allow any Constitution or democracy theories come in his way.
But if he was to openly declare this intention and officially dismantle all the trappings of democracy such as a free press and human rights, he may not get the help he needed from the West. So he does the next best thing. He leaves such things as the Constitution on paper, but he removes all power that it had, leaving in place a dictatorship run by himself and his son and a few handpicked minions while outwardly claiming that it has the rule of law and a parliamentary democracy. Very clever indeed.
Today Singapore is a total dictatorship. The judiciary is directly under the control of his government with Kangaroo court judges delivering judgments exactly according to his wishes. On a rare occasion, when they do not, the judge is instantly removed. He does this not just to punish the judge but more importantly to send the message to all judges to conform or else. Recall Judge Michael Khoo who had acquitted the late opposition politician JB Jeyaretnam of 2 out of 3 criminal charges. He was instantly removed from his judgeship. Since then not a single judge has used his independent judgment.
The island does not have a single human right. Rights of speech, assembly, expression and association are all curtailed. You are simply not allowed to openly criticize the government. If you do you will be punished. Recall some months ago, a cartoonist Leslie Chew arrested for a drawing Lee's government did not like. Recall the numerous bloggers warned or threatened with court action and arrest for criticism.
The Civil Service only employs government supporters who daily discriminate and punish Malays and Indians, although citizens, in favor of the preferred ethnic Chinese population. Indians and Malays are segregated in housing and may live only in designated areas of the island, not anywhere they want. Occasionally the state controlled press report of an award to a bright Malay or Indian student. This is purely misinformation, intended to appease their ethnicities, while the reality is that they are daily discriminated.
Newspapers are all state owned and controlled. They never report on any wrongdoing on the part of the government. On rare occasions they do report such things but only to avoid being seen as complete propaganda. Investigative journalism is non existent so far as state actions are concerned.
There are 2 types of people that inhabit the island. The first are the government lackeys and minions who, although fully aware of the Kangaroo courts and the dictatorship that goes on there under the pretext of a democracy, continue to reside in Lee's island because they are paid millions of dollars to prop up the regime. The second are the ordinary man, by and large a dull, ignorant human being who is not aware of his rights nor has any confidence in himself. Even if he knew that he is being taken for a ride, he is either incapable of doing anything about it, or he is totally ignorant that he has any rights in the first place.
No one who is aware that he is living under this make believe, Lee's Alice in Wonderland, where he has no rights at all, but yet is required to believe that he has, under pain of punishment, would willingly live in Lee's island. It is natural for him to leave the island for settlement aboard. As a result ever increasing numbers of educated, capable and thinking Singaporeans simply leave. Imagine George Orwell's 1984 where you are required to believe that 2 plus 2 is 5, even though you could swear it is 4!
I remember distinctly my own experience in Lee's island. In 2008 while waiting for my trial for writing a blog against Lee's judges, I was arrested for knocking a police car with my finger on 4th of July in Little India Singapore. During that trial which I represented myself (afterall I am a lawyer) I told the judge that I had no confidence in the impartiality of the court, that it was nothing more than a Stalinist show trial and the whole thing was nothing more than Alice in Wonderland, whereupon the government counsel told the court that even though that is what I believed, I am not allowed to say it in that court!
Who are these Singaporeans who stay behind in Lee's dictatorship anyway? By and large they are ignorant. They are not aware that they don't have to live like this. They believe that government is none of their business. Their business is only to find a job, earn a living and educate their children. The fact that they pay taxes appears irrelevant. And as for an education, their understanding of it is to be able to read and write, after which you study for a profession and work on it for the rest of your life, and not making any waves .
As for the Lee Family ruling over them, they are either under the belief that the Lees have a right to rule or even if they have suspicions otherwise, they don't want to even contemplate such things as questioning authority, as such things can be very dangerous in that island.
Any attempt to describe the average Singaporean without insulting them at the same time becomes impossible. What sort of a person would willingly live under this regime, without any rights? They have to be a bunch of dull ignorant morons to put up with this nonsense. Any person with some self respect would have done one of two things. He would either risen up in revolt against the regime or he would have packed his bags and bought that one way ticket to the West. Unless he is either ignorant or a dull ignorant incapable individual.
The future of Singapore is being drastically impeded not only by the present lot of second rate brainless human beings, which Lee Kuan Yew prefers; the sad truth is that numbers in this class is bound to increase. As educated right minded islanders leave in increasing numbers for the West, the island continues to attract only equally ignorant characters from China and the other impoverished Asian countries to replace them; ones who are willing to put up with the dictatorial rule, not because they are fascists in their philosophy but because you can earn a few more dollars in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore than you can earn in Bangladesh.
These foreigners have no interest in the island, no care for its future or development. In fact as far as they are concerned Singapore can go to the dogs. If it did they would go home back to Bangladesh and perhaps find another job in Saudi Arabia.
If Lee Kuan Yew and his son are hoping to build his miracle paradise island on the backs of these handful of highly educated unprincipled opportunists and a horde of ignorant coolies who will do as they are told, I hate to disappoint him. It will not work.
To build his miracle paradise, you first need a government that people can respect, not an island run by Kangaroo courts with no human rights. Second you need a population who do not have to live in fear of the government, a population who feel that they are human beings and entitled to have independent opinions, not necessarily those of Lee Kuan Yew and his friends. Unless these 2 conditions exist, he will have to be content with his opportunists on million dollar salaries and a horde of ignorant coolies. And such a population unfortunately cannot work his miracle.
Singapore's brainwashed infants
Singapore's state controlled newspaper Straits Times of June 06, 2013 has the story "United World College halts intake of Singaporeans" See http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/united-world-college-halts-intake-singaporeans-20130606
United World College Singapore is a school run on the comprehensive school system in Britian staffed by expatriate teachers from Britian. Attending this school will facilitate entry to UK tertiary education, not to forget to mention the fact that the philosophy behind a British edcuation is to produce students capable of thinking independently and analytically. Such as producing more Gopalan Nairs. For instance a British schoolboy would be willing to say openly (and why not) that men should have freedom to speak and criticize, not something a Singaporean schoolboy would dare to do, after going through Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore schools.
It says
"The United World College of South East Asia (UWCSEA) has told parents that it is no longer accepting applications from locals, as the number of Singaporeans in the college had "reached a significant level"."
Day by day ever more Singaporeans are trying to avoid sending their children to schools staffed by Singapore teachers of the Singapore government preferring Europeans and American.
In any case, a Singapore parent does not have a right to send his child to an expatriate school in the island. To do so, they have to get permission from the Singapore government which is always denied for locals; unless you happen to be Lee Kuan Yew's grandson.
In this way every single Singaporean child is forced to go through Singapore government schools where their brains are subjected to a sort of bleaching, schools where they are taught to obey their teachers, do as they are told; stand up when you are told, sit down when you are told; and in effect simply be a robot to serve the Lee Kuan Yew government when they have finished with you. You then become a model Singapore citizen, one who does not go on strike, does not write blogs which Lee does not like and someone who does not end up as another troublemaker like Gopalan Nair, writing this.
Why is the Singapore government so determined to prevent parents from sending their children to schools of their choice, in this case, schools run by European or Americans. The answer is obvious.
Singapore teachers just like their parents have already been sufficiently brainwashed to comport to the Singapore way of thinking (quite obvious, because otherwise they would have been fired long ago) which is, just do as you're told, obey the Lee Kuan Yew government, or otherwise Lee will get you.
So a pathetic miserable helpless child going through school taught by a bunch of these intimidated castrated, horse in blinkers souls, is not going to be any better than them when they have completed the program. In the end, at the other end of the assembly line, having drummed a mindless sense of conformism into their heads, the product you get is a robot; a human walking robot; exactly what Lee Kuan Yew and his government wants. The human product you get at the end is the average Singaporean you see today; a very bad specimen indeed; someone who is unable to realize that there is no need to live under any dictatorship least of all that of Lee Kuan Yew and son.
With more and more parents realizing that their minds and thought process has already been permanently damaged as a result of Lee Kuan Yew's brainwashing regimen of you listen to me or else style of life; they don't want the same to happen to their kids. An American or European teacher is unlike the Singaporean human robots. Being expatriates they are not afraid to speak their mind and naturally would encourage such confidence in their children too. And the end result, independent thinking human beings capable of deciding between good and bad without fearing for their lives.
If too many people have the ability to think independently with confidence, Lee is afraid his position will be threatened. Dictators around the world prefer unquestioning robots like Singaporeans are. More and more Singaporean parents are realizing the harm being done to their children's brains and are trying to opt out.
The situation has reached a dangerous point for the Singaporean dictatorship. This case tells us that Singaporean parents simply do not want to educate their children through Singapore teachers. Since the government is denying them a right to choose the school of their choice for their children, it will only mean that even more families would send their children abroad and if this not no possible, they would simply emigrate with their children.
This is a moment when this government which does not appear to have their heads squarely on their shoulders to read the message on the wall. The repressive measures; denying free speech and expression, denying the right to assembly, clamping down on the Internet, preventing speeches in public, dismissing judges who are not compliant, are all causing increasing numbers of families to simply leave the island, and if that is not possible, to educate them in foreign schools.
Singapore parents are desperately trying to keep their children from being brainwashed. Day by day it gets worse for the Singapore government. A good looking newspaper such as the Straits times does not impress anyone if all it has in its pages is just propaganda.
Singapore reels under the onslaught of its own people yearning freedom. Bringing in more Mandarin speaking Chinese nationals will not solve the problem,
Desperate Singapore Minister lies to justify Internet clampdown
Singapore's Minister for Communication finding himself in a bind over his government's, (a one party police state) recent decision to silence the Internet to silence Singapore's critics, now resorts to bald lies by claiming that, of all countries, the UK and New Zealand are doing the same!
Please see Singapore state controlled newspaper Straits Times article of June 05, 2013 "Singapore not alone in tweaking media laws: Yaacob Ibrahim". http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/singapore/story/singapore-not-alone-tweaking-media-laws-yaacob-ibrahim-20130605 (In desperation they have also tried to mislead the reader through language. What Singapore is doing is not "tweaking", it is "denying" freedom of expression)
This week, the Singapore government, realizing that the increasing resentment of their citizens, would, unless they took some drastic action, destroy them completely, have decided that Internet blogs who report primarily on Singapore and who receive hits not less than 50 a month will henceforth be required to be licensed and pay a bond of $50,000.00. Under this law, if the government or more accurately described as Orwell's Big Brother, tells the author to remove any blogs that Big Brother does not like he will have to do it instantly, not later than 24 hours or risk going to jail and losing $50,000.00!
And you will also see, in that truncated version of that article that, according to Ibrahim, New Zealand has recommended something or other and so have the UK on similar lines like Singapore. This is a shameless lie. The UK and New Zealand pride itself in being democracies whose right to freedom of speech and expression is an inherent and important part of their culture and ethos, a pillar of their country which they will protect with their lives.
Perhaps in Ibrahim's desperation, he may have got the countries wrong. Perhaps he wanted to say the Peoples Republic of Communist China have similar laws, not the UK and New Zealand. Better try next time, Ibrahim.
But one thing they forget to mention that the UK and New Zealand are not one party police state as his government. And neither do they have Constitutions which are totally ignored such as that of Singapore. And he also conveniently fails to mention that Englishmen and New Zealanders have some balls, unlike him and his Singaporean friends and they will not tolerate the slightest restriction on the right to free speech because they are simply proud of it and so is every single red blooded human being who cherishes freedom around the world.
Mr. Yaacob Ibrahim, a Malay Muslim and a very valuable lackey for his ethnic Chinese masters in the Singapore government should realize that Singaporeans are not as stupid as you think. They may not be prepared to do another Arab Spring on the Streets of Singapore but believe you me, they don't like the way you are treating them. And they can smell a lie when it happens as what you trying to do in this instance.
And the hypocrisy of this man is simply unbelievable. Here he is serving his master in Singapore the ethnic Chinese Lee Kuan Yew, who by the way has no respect whatsoever for his fellow Malays, coming up with this nonsense that both UK and New Zealand are now going to restrict freedom of speech, when his own wife and his children are all American citizen who living in America, a country which will protect their right to freedom of speech and expression with their last drop of blood.
It appears for Ibrahim that what is good for his wife and children is not necessarily good for Singaporeans who have to be content with something less. According to him, it appears that Americans, like his wife and children, are entitled to live like free men and women but his fellow Singaporeans have to accept something less. They have to be satisfied to live as coolies. They have to be stopped from speaking their minds.
His wife and his children want nothing to do with Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, their state controlled propaganda and the drivel put out by this man and his master. Yet this man stays behind, leaving his American wife and his American citizen children behind in the USA, naturally because the several million dollars a year he earns in salaries (corruption to be more accurate) as Lee's sidekick is sufficient for him to stay behind and look like a fool spouting these lies about the UK and New Zealand!
Increasing numbers of educated Singaporeans are already leaving for the West, parents are sending their children to the West for education with express instructions not to return, the women are not getting married and no children are being born. As for national service, the barracks are all empty and national servicemen are avoiding service by going abroad or they are all leaving the island after their 2 year stint.
Use your head, Yaacob Ibrahim. You are looking very stupid. These actions are hurting you and your million dollar salary as well as hurting your ethnic Chinese master whom you are serving. This lie, which Singaporeans are well aware of has only one consequence, it will alienate your people even more than they already are. And thank you for that.
Singapore. The Peter Lim sex for contract case. Judge Hamidah Ibrahim's questionable moral character.
Edited June 2, 2013, George Pereira's address should read 141 Middle Road, #04-02/03, GSM Building, Singapore 188976
Yesterday Singapore's state controlled newspaper Straits Times reports of the conviction of Peter Lim, senior government officer who ran the state security agency, Singapore Civil Defense Force, for corruption because a woman named Phang who worked in Nimrod, a company, which stood to profit from his contracts had given him a blow job. He will be sentenced next week.
Lee Kuan Yew government having engaged in this total waste of time of reporting on this seemingly insignificant matter of one woman having given a single instance of a blow job to this man, for weeks and months in their state controlled media, in great detail, describing who was it that unzipped his pants, how the blow job was executed and so on and so forth ad nasuem makes one wonder, are Singaporeans a bunch of perverts with nothing else to think about other than sex and blow jobs in parked cars?
Surely, with Lee Kuan Yew's worry that Singapore is not producing enough ethnic Chinese babies (Lee does not want any Malay or Indian babies), since these two are ethnic Chinese, should they not be encouraged to have sex instead at government expense, hotel rooms at government expense.
Indeed, why not have a line of ethnic Chinese women all lined up in a row, lying on their backs and ordered to produce the desired number of babies with men such as Lim who I am sure would willingly come forward and provide the necessary exercise with or without pay.
This case was an utter waste of time not only because it was about a blow job, which natural men would usually like unless you are gay, and something which happens every day all over the world but also significantly because it was never proven that he had given her any contract after he got the blow job.
And it would be silly to assume that Lim would have given her a government contract for such an insignificant thing like a blow job which he could have had a thousand times over elsewhere for almost nothing.
But I digress too much. What I wanted to say was the judge in this case Hamidah Ibrahim should look in the mirror herself before castigating this man for such high minded stuff as immoral conduct, unethical conduct as a government servant and conflict of interest. Her own conduct, which you will see, leaves much to be desired.
I know Judge Hamidah Ibrahim in so far as I was a practicing lawyer in Singapore from 1981 to 1991. I had just returned from studying law in England and started practicing law in the island. At this time this woman, an unmarried Malay Muslim was a judge as she is now in courts where Lim was convicted.
I don't ever recall ever appearing in any case in her court although I appeared in the other courts there. My ex-wife, Elizabeth Veronica Charmaine Cardoza, who had returned to Singapore from California after our divorce, in 1999 or so, had then worked in the Singapore Legal Service as a government employee. At this time, she told me that she and Judge Hamidah Ibrahim were friends. My ex-wife works now in Singapore as an Adjunct Professor at Singapore National University and I believe the Management University. (Adjunct is a fancy word for temporary. It means sometimes you have work and sometimes you don't). This information about her is available on the Internet by Google.
What she also informed me is that this unmarried Judge Hamidah Ibrahim had a boyfriend, a Singaporean Indian lawyer called George Pereira. Pereira was an insignificant little known lawyer who worked for some small Singaporean Chinese law firm. Today he similarly is in a small law firm with himself and a Singaporean Chinese called Pereira and Tan, GSM Building #04-02/03, 141 Middle Road, Singapore 188976. His telephone number is 63390359. In this street you see small sized law firms working their trade.
At this time, I was already an open critic of the Lee Kuan Yew establishment and had already contested one or two elections as an opposition Workers Party member. As in any fascist state like Singapore, political opponents to the regime are shunned and as Pereira was seen either as a person with no political views whatsoever or a government sympathizer, he as well as almost the entire legal profession kept a distance from me. Therefore I did not know him personally but I knew who he was. In appearance he was nothing to speak of, just an ordinarily looking fellow, short and brown in appearance with a poke marked face. His distinguishing mark is his squint eyes. One eye looks at you and the other looks at a slant.
Any way my question to Judge Hamidah Ibrahim and her presumably highly moral stand, a tone of indignation and outrage, chastising Lim for the reprobate and dissolute character that she claims he is with unzipped pants and blow jobs is this; what were you doing with your boyfriend George Pereira for all those years while you were an unmarried Malay Muslim woman and a Singapore judge on top of that?
Were you, Judge Hamidah Ibrahim also unzipping the lawyer George Pereira's trousers and giving him blow jobs too? What else were you doing with George Pereira? Were you also doing somersaults in bed with him?
And if you were sleeping with George Pereira, is it not a conflict of interest for a Singapore judge to be having sex with a practicing lawyer in the same jurisdiction? Is it not an ethical violation? Were you also not guilty of corruption and should you also not be sent to jail as you are about to do to Lim?
Furthermore beside the fact that you are a judge, you are also a Singaporean Malay Muslim. Is it not a violation of your religion for an unmarried Malay Muslim woman to be sleeping with a man, let alone an unmarried Singaporean Indian Christian lawyer? Is it not wrong for an unmarried woman to have sex and worse to have it with a non Muslim?
Let me be very clear. The words of my ex-wife to me were that he was her "boyfriend". She did not at any time say that they were having sex. She also said that they were in a long term relationship. They could still be in that relationship now, I do not know. I remember distinctly asking her why she was not marrying Pereira to which she said she did not know. I am assuming that if a couple were in a long term relationship, they would probably be having sex. Most normal people would not be content to just sing folk songs to each other.
Additionally, sometime either in 1990 or 1991, by chance I met Judge Hamidah Ibrahim and George Pereira in the Johor Bahru Railway station coffee shop. There was another person with them; I cannot remember a man or a woman. They were seated in a table and recognized me and called me. I said hello and a couple of words and that was that. I remember it to be either 1990 or 1991 because my son was with me. Since he was born in 1987, he had to be either 3 or 4 years old because he could walk with me. It couldn't be after 1991 because I left Singapore for the last time in 1991 December permanently to settle in California.
I do not know what Pereira was doing with Judge Hamidah Ibrahim with one another person in Johor Bahru Railway station. There could have been a completely reasonable explanation since there was one other person with them. Even if the judge and Pereira had not gone to a Johore Bahru hotel for hot sex, the fact that they were together away from Singapore does corroborate the fact that they were friends, and according to my ex-wife, boyfriend and girl friend.
Should not the Singapore police investigate Judge Hamidah Ibrahim? Should not the authorities be calling my ex-wife for an account of what she knew? Should not the entire career of Judge Hamidah Ibrahim be looked into, how many cases did George Pereira have with his girlfriend judge, was there corruption and who should now go to jail.
Judge Hamidah Ibrahim has egg on her face now. That is for sure. As for me, if the Singapore authorities want me to swear an affidavit under oath that all this is true, I am prepared to do it, knowing that under California law, there are severe penalties for lying under oath. I do not have to remind you that California and the USA is a law abiding country that prides itself in the rule of law. Furthermore I am also prepared to testify to the veracity of what I say over Skipe or other electronic means. However I am not prepared to step foot in Singapore as I do not trust the legal system and the Kangaroo courts of Singapore.
I have so far refrained from making any reference to my ex-wife all these years. She is 60 now and best to let her live out the rest of her years in peace. But in this case I had an obligation to name her since the information came from her and the need to identity her as the source of my information.
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Singapore. The Peter Lim sex for contract case. Ju...


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Transportation Companies Navigate Challenges on the Road Ahead
By Diane Sacra, Director of Marketing, Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc.
Diane Sacra, Director of Marketing, Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc.
When your business is commercial trucking, you get used to climbing some hills along the way. With increased and demanding changes in both the transportation industry and the B2B marketplace overall, companies like Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc., know firsthand how important it is to navigate the challenging road ahead. Among the many issues Universal is facing are a national labor shortage, government regulatory changes, and an impending election year, just to name a few.
"Because Universal has been a transportation expert for more than 85 years and we are no strangers to a fluctuating environment, we are continually monitoring the marketplace not only for opportunities but also potential obstacles. Our experience has taught us this: there is always more change to come," said TimPhillips, Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Universal's Transportation Division.
In an industry that is facing a national labor shortage that shows no sign of slowing down, and with an average driver age in the late forties, Universal, like all transportation companies, is working harder than ever to continue to attract skilled driving talent. "Getting the Universal message out, offering attractive sign-on bonuses and other key benefits, and building a company culture that puts people first, are among the many things we are doing to recruit the best drivers on the road," said Phillips.
In addition to a labor shortage, Phillips said that political and regulatory changes are top on list of challenges Universal faces, now and in the future, as the company provides its transportation and logistics solutions across many industries. One such change that has created some definite challenges within the transportation industry and for companies like Universal is continued developments with Electronic Logging Devices (ELDs). These Hours of Service (HOS) tracking devices, which are intended to keep the roads and its travelers safer,were first mandated in late 2015 and have caused some definite transitions for drivers, transportation companies, and shippers alike.
"Whenever you have widespread, mandated changes such as the use of ELDs, it's certainly reasonable to expect some growing pains along the way as the technology is adopted and integrated," Phillips said. "New processes typically create a learning curve as ELDs have for the transportation industry. Fortunately, at Universal, we have never been the kind of company to promote a, 'but we've always done it this way,' mentality. Rather, we have been using robust training and communication programs to accelerate adoption of these changes."
This year, further implementation continues with the ELD mandate requiring all AOBRDs to be transitioned to the new devices by mid-December. Universal anticipates some additional work to be done in getting the word out and also in helping drivers still using the AOBRD technology to make the move to ELDs.
Because transportation is an industry that is subject to regulation, Phillips said that the election year in 2020 could likely have some additional changes for Universal and other transportation companies to manage. "From potential new legislation, to possible changes in tariffs, and economic and foreign policies, either a second-term existing or brand new administration can certainly have much impact on our industry." Phillips added, "We continue to monitor all of our environments, including political and regulatory, so that we are proactive and not reactive to changes."
In addition to all of these current and anticipated future changes, Universal is experiencing other industry issues, including increased competition from digital brokers and large retailers becoming their own intermodal transportation providers. But according to Phillips, with increased challenges, come opportunities.
"Change can be a great thing, especially when you have built an organization that knows how to navigate it and can seek out new and better ways to be a resource to its customers. When you put people first, offer solid products and services, build the right technology-based infrastructure, and truly listen to the needs of the marketplace, then you are in a great position to manage whatever new challenges come your way. That is what we continue to do at Universal as we bring transportation and logistics to our customer partners… we adapt and keep moving ahead."
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text:
HomeSCHOOLSouth School
The South School of the British School of Gran Canaria is situated in Maspalomas in the south of the island. The school provides a high quality; English medium education for children between the ages of 3-11 and feeds directly into the Secondary section of the school, with the vast majority of the South student's completing their education within The British School at the Tafira site.
South School is a new, purpose built school with spacious, airy classrooms. Facilities include a large playground, library with computer suite, dining room and covered indoor area. The school is also very well equipped with numerous resources; all aim at supporting the learning of the students through play or structured class activities.
The physical structure of the school is impressive but the most striking feature is the day-to-day ambience of the school, with the interactions of all members of the community being an important and strong feature. The students are happy, polite and industrious and the staff actively support students to participate in all aspects of school life with the aim of producing confident, responsible young people by the time that they move to the secondary school. This aim is in part achieved through the curriculum and focused teaching but also through close contact with parents, with staff constantly being available to discuss a child's progress. The motto 'a happy child learns' guides the daily workings of the school.
The school curriculum throughout the whole school is firmly based upon the British National Curriculum. The students of the South School pass through the Foundation and Early Years stage (Nursery-Reception), to Key Stage 1 (Years 1,2) and final to Key Stage 2 (Years 3,4,5,6). English is the medium of instruction and daily interactions. Spanish language is also taught by a native Spanish teacher, in order to comply with Spanish requirements. Additional support is provided for students whose English or Spanish is behind the required level. The curriculum and the high level of English within the school is supported by an extremely professional and dedicated staff made up, almost exclusively, of British nationals.
The South School is an important and integral part of the British School and emphasis is placed on aligning and uniting the Maspalomas and Tafira sites. The Senior Management Team, including the Head of the South School, guide school decisions,
There is frequent teacher interchange between the two sites, staff training and expertise are also shared and the students have regular interactions through sport's activities and excursions and residential trips.


So you have a new listing? Congrats! It's time to take a few minutes and create a postcard to advertise that fact (with the new photo, of course), and send it out to your entire list. Have a price drop? Tell everyone you know. Just sell a property? Shout about it! (On our full-color, heavy weight postcards, of course). Keep people posted on your recently sold properties, upcoming open houses or current inventory and do it quickly, easily and with style.
Direct mail campaigns have never been so easy! You can set up your campaign in minutes online, select one of our designs, or upload your own. Select your list options and your postage options and you are ready to go! We handle the rest. Depending on the postage options, your cards will reach your prospects in 2-10 business days after we deliver them to the post office (48-72 hours after you complete your order online).


The greatest share of working Vermonters are employed in mid-sized firms – those with 20-500 employees. These firms are considered small in terms of U.S. firm size, but that range represents Vermont's "sweet spot" in terms of growing and sustaining firms. The share of employees in Vermont's largest firms had been growing, but ticked down in recent years. Recent downsizing and relocations for some major companies mean this trend is likely to continue.
Wages generally rise with employer size and have seen increases in each category aside from businesses with 250-499 employees. In every employer size category VT has lagged behind US wages in recent years.


Support the arts… one artist at a time!
For over 79 years, Abington Art Center has strived to share the arts across our entire community.
For Giving Tuesday, we're asking you to donate what you can to our Scholarship Fund. By doing so, you will be making it possible for students in need to pursue their artistic passions at AAC. Your gift could contribute to a scholarship for an adult with disabilities or a child who would not otherwise have access to arts education at a vital age.
Thank you for supporting the arts… one artist at a time!
Any donations made on Facebook this Tuesday, Nov 27, will be matched by Facebook and PayPal.


For sure my favorite meal is breakfast. It's one of the greatest excuses to eat plenty of sugar. Fruit, baked goods, chocolate, it's all packed into breakfast.
So I had some leftover chia seeds from last weeks recipe, chia pudding, and I thought I would whip up another item using them. I did a quick Pinterest search to come up with these great breakfast muffins that would be perfect for any morning.
I used this recipe from Cook Republic, head over there to check it out.
For the recipe however, I used regular flour and regular sugar in place of spelt flour and coconut sugar, and it turned out amazing. I would recommend this method so you don't have to spend extra money on ingredient you probably won't have in your house.


Are we working with Christ?
It is beyond the power of man to please God apart from Christ. We may make resolutions and promises, but the carnal heart overpowers all our good intentions. We may control our outward conduct, but we cannot change the heart. The whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint, and yet the sinner will brace himself in pride, and set up his will against the will of God. Though Christ is working upon human hearts, men utterly annul the work the Lord would do. If they resist, question, and cavil, they will place themselves in a position where it will not be easy to yield to the persuasion of the Spirit of God. There is a bewitching power that holds them under deception; for the father of lies works with the unsanctified heart. Over these deceived souls the cry is raised, O that thou hadst known "in this thy day, the things which belong unto thy peace." And shall the irrevocable sentence be passed, "But now they are hid from thine eyes"?


text:
Evenimentul zilei... și altele este un album lansat de Valeriu Sterian și Compania de Sunet în anul 1994. Acest material discografic marchează un punct de cotitură în cariera cantautorului român. Astfel, este ultimul dintr-o serie de trei albume cu mesaje protestatare la adresa societății românești post-revoluționare și a regimului politic din perioada în care președinte era Ion Iliescu. De asemenea, după acest disc Sterian va abandona sunetele electrice ale rockului și va reveni treptat către folk. Exceptând primul cântec, "Reportaj", care este de stil folk, Evenimentul zilei... și altele reprezintă momentul în care artistul se apropie cel mai mult de sound-ul hard rock. Este ultimul album din cele trei la care își aduce aportul chitaristul solo Dan Cimpoeru. De menționat că este primul material produs în întregime de Compania de Sunet și primul album semnat Vali Sterian înregistrat în propriul studio, "B'Inișor". Discul include balade precum "Ploaia" și "În al nouălea cer", dar și o reorchestrare rock a succesului din anii '70, "Amintire cu haiduci", aceasta fiind varianta cea mai cunoscută a melodiei. Varianta de album editată în format casetă audio include o versiune diferită a piesei "Reportaj" și câteva piese suplimentare, încheindu-se cu un potpuriu format din trei interludii ("Mambo - regele negrilor", "Pupăza-surpriză" și "Repar butoaie"), intitulat "...și altele".

Piese

 Reportaj
 În al nouălea cer
 Măi...
 Amintire cu haiduci
 Ploaia
 Constatare (un viol cât o viață)
 În loc de horoscop
 Altă scrisoare deschisă
 Corespondență din provincie (bonus casetă audio)
 Mama-i numai una (bonus casetă audio)
 Mica publicitate (bonus casetă audio)
 Om ca oricare (bonus casetă audio)
 ...și altele (bonus casetă audio)

Muzică și versuri: Valeriu Sterian

Personal

 Valeriu Sterian - voce, chitară, muzicuță
 Dan Cimpoeru - chitară
 Mihai Petrescu - bas
 Radu Gheorghe - tobe
 Lucian Bucătaru - claviaturi

Înregistrări muzicale și mixaje realizate în studioul "B'Inișor", București, 1994.

Procesare computerizată: Lucian Costiuc. Grafică: Sorin Minghiat. Foto: M. Hanciarec. Producător: Compania de Sunet S.R.L., București.

Albumul a fost reeditat în anul 1999 în format casetă audio de Compania de Sunet & Metropol Music.

Bibliografie

 Discografie Valeriu Sterian publicată pe site-ul Lumea lui Sterian
 Informații editate pe coperta spate a discului de vinil și a casetei audio Evenimentul zilei... și altele (Compania de Sunet, 1994)
 Caraman Fotea, Daniela și Nicolau, Cristian. Dicționar rock, pop, folk... remix (ediția a II-a), Editura Humanitas Educațional, București, 2003. ISBN 973-50-0355-4
 Ionescu, Doru. Timpul chitarelor electrice. Jurnal de călătorie în arhiva TVR (Vol. 1, ediția I), Editura Humanitas Educațional, București, 2006. ISBN 973-689-063-5
 Ionescu, Doru. Club A - 42 de ani. Muzica tinereții tale (ediția I), Editura Casa de pariuri literare, București, 2011. ISBN 978-606-8342-02-3

Albume Valeriu Sterian
Albume din 1994
Albume rock

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaWikipedia