TR EMERITUS

OPINION Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda of Nazi Germany once said: "The most brilliant propagandist technique will yield no success unless one fundamental principle is borne in mind constantly - it must confine itself to a few points and repeat them over and over." Goebbels must be proud that his propagandist technique is not only studied, but meticulously implemented by the ruling party of a supposedly "democratic" state to keep its citizenry politically ignorant, apathetic and feeble. This is only possible under a one-party totalitarian system in which the media has been turned into a mouthpiece of the regime, much like in Nazi Germany, Stalin's U.S.S.R and Kim's North Korea. All the newspapers in Singapore are printed by one single company which is chaired by a former PAP minister. The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act (CAP 206) further restricts the ownership of the print media in Singapore and publication of foreign papers. As such, it is hardly surprising that the Singapore media is ranked a pathetic 133th position in terms of press freedom by respected international media watchdog Reporters without Borders in 2009. The propagandist tactic employed by the PAP via the state media over the last few days has the mark of Goebbels stamped all over it - repeating the same few points over and over again until they become ingrained in the minds of unsuspecting readers. 1. Flooding the press with good news, whether real or not: If you haven't noticed, the state media is flooded by a deluge of positive news about Singapore over the last few weeks. The Straits Times even boasted rather unshamedly that a "wave of optimism" has swept across Singapore. Singapore's "impressive" growth figures in the first quarter of the year has been repeated ad nauseum by the papers; the number of unemployed fell to an all-time low and new jobs are created daily for Singaporeans; wages are going up; consumer confidence is returning and home buyers are flocking back to purchase properties at astronomical prices. The ordinary man in the street will not be able to differentiate the truth from the propaganda and is likely to believe what was published especially when most readers will simply glance through the headlines without analyzing the news articles in depth. 2. Ministers claiming credit for everything: After the idea that Singapore's economy has "rebounded" has been sold successfully to Singaporeans, the PAP ministers will now step in to claim credit either overtly or covertly. During his May Day Rally, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong painted an exceedingly rosy picture for Singapore in the near future and hinted that its continued success depends on a "strong and stable" leadership. Three weeks later, Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean claimed that Singapore's economic recovery is due to the combined efforts of the country's political leadership and public service. While there may be some element of truth in his claims, it was not mentioned that the turnaround is contributed partly by the end of the global financial crisis. At the same time, negative news such as unhappiness over the increasing number of foreigners in the country and rising prices of HDB flats are being swept quietly under the carpet to keep them out of the minds of Singaporeans. Expect more such self-praise from the ministers in the next few months ahead. 3. Announcing the pay hike of ministers: At the beginning of the year, it was reported that PAP ministers will receive a 8.8 percent pay rise this year due to the improving economy. With the economy performing better than expected, their pay hikes are likely to increase. However, with Singaporeans already been "primed" to accept the "fact" that the ministers deserve a pay rise for their "efforts" in turning the economy around, the controversial topic is unlikely to cause a massive public furore this time. Furthermore the state media can always be entrusted to make the announcement in a less than conspicuous manner so as not to attract public attention and with no political pressure exerted on the PAP whatsoever from any other groups, they will get away with their pay rise without paying any political price again. The state media is full of such subtle propaganda to brainwash Singaporeans into believing that they have the most capable and competent leaders in the world who are incapable of making a single mistake and therefore they are deserving of the obscene salaries they are getting. In order to maintain their grip over the minds of Singaporeans, it is imperative that repressive laws are put in place to curtail the civil and political rights of Singaporeans. To quote from Joseph Goebbels again: “If you tell a lie big enough and keep repeating it, people will eventually come to believe it. The lie can be maintained only for such time as the State can shield the people from the political, economic and/or military consequences of the lie. It thus becomes vitally important for the State to use all of its powers to repress dissent, for the truth is the mortal enemy of the lie, and thus by extension, the truth is the greatest enemy of the State.”  Read More →

Referendum. It meets to seek support, and in political terms, it means to conduct a public vote to determine whether or not to implement a particular policy. This because highly controversial policy proposals may not be supported by the people and may even have unforeseen negative consequences by the ministers proposing them. While conducting referendums are par for the course in most other nations, it has never been done in Singapore. The rationale given by the government is that they have to act in the best interests of the country, and that sometimes bitter medicine is necessary. Of course, everybody knows that belt-tightening is necessary when a country is faced with a spiraling debt crisis, and that in times like these, unpopular but necessary policies are have to be implemented, but then again, that is not the real issue here. The real issue is this: are the proposed policies really necessary and in the best interests of the country? And for that matter, have the policies themselves been thought through carefully before being proposed? The government would argue that yes, their policies are well thought through by the best and brightest minds in the country. They would argue that Singapore is a meritocracy, and that the people they employ to come up with these policies are the best and brightest they can find. Meritocracy itself is a good thing. The problems are nobody possesses a monopoly on wisdom, and that the present generation of national leaders & their elite scholar pets are anything but talented. Even such true geniuses as Dr. Albert Einstein and Dr. Nikola Tesla have admitted to making mistakes. As such, a truly effective feedback mechanism such as a referendum becomes necessary to check on and minimize the possibility of making such mistakes. It's bad enough that the elites don't stop to think through the consequences of their policies: it's even worse when they don't listen to critics who notice the potential problems their policies can cause. Just witness how the entire Finance Ministry claimed they never expected inflation to shoot up by 50% from 4.4% to 6.6% after pm lee approved the simultaneous increase in GST, public transport, energy, fuel, food etc despite protests from the public. How on Earth can these elite scholars become economists when they don't even know that a sudden massive across the board price hike will fuel inflation? It's basic economics: too much money chasing too few goods. Just look at the potential consequences of the present government's policies. Mr. Lim Swee Say is a self-proclaimed “deaf frog” who refuses to listen to criticisms; so too was Capt E. E. Smith of the Titanic who ignored repeated iceberg warnings, and everyone knows how that ended. M.M. Lee wants to entrench the power of the elites and their relatives; one need only look at Thailand over the last few months to know exactly how this will eventually play out one day. P.M. Lee says that foreigners will strengthen the country; fat lot of good that a huge population of foreign talent did to Kuwait when Saddam Hussein & company came a-visiting and decided to stay as unwelcome guests. They all abandoned the country in its time of need. Nor are their underlings any better. Why is it the elite scholar commander of the Whitley Road Detention Center did not realize that someone could escape from the badly-designed toilet when his "lesser mortal" subordinates could and warned him about it? Is it because he never studied such a possibility in school? And why did the head of the PUB’s Drainage Department not realize that the large number of condominiums being constructed in the Bukit Timah area would reduce ground absorption, increasing the outflow into the Bukit Timah Canal and thus greatly increasing flood potential in the area? This is actually even worse in a way, because he definitely did study about it in school; it’s part of a standard civil engineering curriculum. Don't these debacles prove that Singapore-style "meritocracy" is no longer adequate for the country’s needs, assuming that it ever was? That being the case, shouldn’t there be radical changes in the way things are done here? At least a referendum may have prevented some of these problems. Do we approve of P.M. Lee’s plans to flood the country with semi-skilled foreigners? A “NO” vote, and it’s back to the drawing table for him, thus preventing many of the infrastructural problems that the country is now experiencing due to its sudden massive population explosion. No one claims that a referendum will solve all of Singapore’s problems. After all, it is possible that the public may vote to reject a necessary policy or accept a wrong one. However, should this happen and the negative consequences start showing up, at least public pressure can force the government to backtrack and do what is right. This is certainly not the case at present: presently, the government can simply do whatever it wants to even if they are the only ones to gain from such policies while ordinary Singaporeans have to suffer for them. A good case in point is the reappointment of Mdm Ho Ching as the CEO of Temasek Holdings after the resignation of former CEO Chip Goodyear, who was himself appointed as her successor after she resigned from the post. Finance Minister Mr. Tharman Shanmuguratnam reappointed her because “she is the best person for the job” in his own words. But if this was true, then why did he accept her resignation in the very first place? And for that matter, if she truly was as good as he claims, that how did she manage to lose $48,000,000,000/- in failed investments in the very first place? If a referendum had been held over her reappointment, given her past track record of failure and monetary loss, it would very likely be rejected by an overwhelming majority. But then again, that is probably the whole point why referendums are never held here; it’s not so much because the powers-that-be fear that Singaporeans will make the wrong choices, but rather because they fear that their self-serving policies will be rejected. Referendums are not the cure-all for any country’s problems. The best way to prevent abuses is to have effective check and balance mechanisms in place i.e. a strong independent judiciary & civil service, a strong opposition and a truly independent media. Referendums are however another highly effective tool to check against such abuses, because they allow the public to reject self-serving policies that benefit only the elite. Given the mindset shown by many government ministers though, staging them will only remain a pipe dream as long as these ministers continue to hold office. Tan Keng Leng  Read More →

OPINION There was an active debate in Parliament last week on the proposed changes in the Criminal Procedure Code to allow more sentencing options by the court for minor offences other than just jail terms and fines. While the move is laudable, it does not address the inherent weaknesses in Singapore's criminal justice system in which the accused is presumed guilty unless proven otherwise the moment he/she is hauled up by the police for investigations. The Singapore police has overwhelming and far-reaching powers over the citizenry and it is frightening that there is very little we can do to check on it which gives rise to potential abuse of power and authority. A senior police officer (normally the HI) has the power to order an investigation into anybody based on just mere suspicion alone and there is nothing the suspect can do to question his/her decision. Such 'ongoing investigation' can carry on for months, even years and eventually even if the suspect is found to be innocent of the alleged offence, the police will normally not inform the suspect of the outcome and leave the suspect 'hanging' without a formal closure. Such 'hanging' practise of the police will definitely have a detrimental effect on the suspect's life as he will have to live his life being suspected of a crime he did not commit. One can be arrested and detained for up to 48 hours for a seizeable offence to be interrogated by the police in the absence of a legal counsel on prima facie evidence. How many Singaporeans have been wrongfully arrested or investigated by the police over the years? Should they be compensated for the emotional trauma and distress they have been put through? Shouldn't the police officers who mishandle these cases be punished? At the present moment, Singaporeans are able to provide "feedback" to the Singapore Police Customer Service or Ministry of Home Affairs which will often re-direct the complaint back to the police division which was in charge of the case. Can we trust the Singapore police to check on itself? There is an Internal Investigation Division under the Service Development & Inspectorate Department of the Singapore Police Headquarters which conduct internal investigations into alleged abuse of power by police officers, but its findings are never made public. Neither will victims of police negligence and abuse be entitled to any form of compensation unless they file a civil suit which is both costly and time-consuming. Law Minister Shanmugam said in Parliament that the Home Affairs Ministry is now reviewing its investigation practices and training, to raise the professionalism of investigating officers. If he is indeed serious about doing so, he should not be afraid of setting up an independent Police complaints and Misconduct Commission to scrutinize the decision and conduct of the investigation officers. The Commission should comprise of MPs from all political parties, civil servants, retired police officers and lawyers from the private sector. It should be vested with the powers to conduct investigations into alleged abuses of authority, acts of negligence and bias in investigations by police officers after which the findings are made public. If the police officer is indeed judged to have made a mistake, he/she should be reprimanded and punished accordingly. The Singapore police is not above the law. Police officers are mere public servants whose primary aim is to serve the interests of the public and not to become a nuisance, or worse a menance to law-abiding citizens whom they should be protecting. Without having such a watchdog to check on the police, miscarriages of justice will be inevitable and there will be no channels for the victims to seek redress. Many first world countries such as Hong Kong (IPCMC), Australia (Police Integrity Commission) and United Kingdom (Independent Police Complaints Commission) have independent bodies for the public to lodge their complaints about the police directly to. It is about time that Singapore follows suit.    Please join our Facebook page here and invite your friends to do so to create awareness of the current affairs affecting Singaporeans. Please use our online web form to contact us.  Read More →