TR EMERITUS

作者：Natalie Koh (27-5-2010) 译者：新加坡文献馆 我是一名普普通通的新加坡学生，直到最近，我就象许许多多的其他人一样被洗脑了。现在我知道了丑陋的真相。我要和你分享我的经验，有关如何奋力的拿开多年来被人民行动党用来蒙眼的绷带。 我相信许多年轻的新加坡人都和我一样。洗脑是在中学时候开始，这时许多学生都不具备成熟的思考能力去分辨所读到的东西里，那些是真那些是假。在这个年龄时，大家都不会对政治有兴趣。 和你们之中的一些人一样。我也认为社会与公民教育是政府的政治宣传。然而，为了拿到好成绩，大家都死背人民行动党的新加坡历史观，在必要时依样复述。 深刻在我们的脑海里，人民行动党是好人，所有反对人民行动党的都是坏人，越来越多的新加坡人在不经思考的情况下接纳了这个被扭曲的观点。 我的觉醒来自我在就读的国立大学选修了政治科学课程。这科目是有关新加坡的政治和政府管理。这导致我思考新加坡的历史，人民行动党，公务员，以及职工会所扮演的角色。我也开始探讨有关人民行动党的政治霸权主义课题。 当我选修这科目时，我的首要目的是期待得知个中真相。我以为在大学里可以享有更多的自由去审核和批判政府以及其政治。但是，我最终发现事实并非如此。 派发给学生的讲议高度颂扬人民行动党，抨击反对党。这名讲师本身，Dr Bilveer Singh并没有采用一个不偏不倚的立场。 每当他提到反对党时，他总是在批判并且强调反对党和人民行动党相比之下是微不足道的。 我记得Dr Singh说徐顺全博士是鲁莽的象征。我心里想：好的，那么你有什么证据？但是，他根本就不去证实他的观点，他把他所说的当成是事实。 许多学生在没有追究真相的情况下，接受了这种教育。 在他撰写的教科书里（这是我们必读的课本），这名讲师记载了徐博士把詹时中开除出新加坡民主党。这件事当然并不真实，有读过徐博士对这事件的清楚解释，都知道事情的真相究竟是什么一回事。 不过，我这篇文章是有关如何发现新加坡历史与政治的真相，我不要离题。 使我对真相觉醒的是徐博士撰写的几本书，《一个被欺瞒的国家》和《勇气的力量》。我在阅读后感到震撼。我多次重复的阅读以确保我的阅读没有差错。 这些具震撼性的真相都被小心翼翼地搁置在新加坡人看不到的地方。我相信许多新加坡人完金不知道李光耀并非那位为新加坡争取独立的英雄。事实上，真正的英雄是林清祥，他之所以没有成为新加坡的首任总理是因为来自李光耀和英国人的不断阻挠。 书内根据解密的文献指出：林清祥坚持新加坡人的‘自由和独立是不可以妥协的’。这亦是为何英国当局认定他威胁了英殖民的统治，所以千方百计去挫败他。请参阅《一个被欺瞒的国家》的详情。 每个人都知道在新加坡历史里有过多起暴乱事故，政府把这些暴乱解释为，由共产党控制的林清祥是这些事故的主谋，林有福（首席部长）解决了这些制造麻烦的共产党人。 但是，我从这些书中得知“是当年的林有福首席部长刻意挑起事端以借故逮捕林清祥”。殖民政府和李光耀对这种挑唆手段并没有感到有所不安，并且更从其结果中牟取“所要达致的政治成果”。 《一个被欺瞒的国家》也揭露了另一个令人震撼的事，那就是“李在私底下说他把内安局当成代罪羔羊来行使不得人心的政策去对付颠覆行为”。 另一个具争议性的课题是英国人制定了阻止受拘留人士参选的条款。书中揭露了“李光耀秘密的和林有福一道向殖民大臣进言要求加入这条‘限止令’”。 然而，在李光耀回忆录里，他写道：“我反对（加入这条款），我说‘这条件令人不安因为这不仅背离了民主的做法，同时亦没有办法保证掌权的政府不会利用来阻止除共产党之外的其他民主派反对党人士去参加选举’”。 李先生假冒好人把一切过失推给英国人。书中是这么写的：“李告诉英外务大臣，‘我必须谴责（这条款），你有必要为其承担责任’”。 当我开始读这本书时，我想着，“不会的，不可能的，这并非真实的，每个人都知道李光耀是新加坡的建国之父。 但在我重复再读后，我最终接受了这些确实的证据。在起始的否认后是惊骇的震撼。我们一直以来都在仿效与颂扬这个人。 我告诉我的母亲我从书中读到的事情，她极为愤怒并且严厉的训斥我。她告诉我不应该涉及政治，和暗示说（每个要顾及自身安危的人）应该对真相视而不见。 我在想，“这并非正义！”我的母亲为此而气愤了一整天，我好害怕她会把我手上几本徐博士撰写的书拿去丢掉。 我现在已经知道了真相，我感觉到这是一个重担。我不可以欺瞒自已去宣扬李光耀和人民行动党的观点是正确的。我也感到害怕因为我所要告诉别人的事，会被视为是亵渎神明的言行，以及是一种异端邪说。 我想到一些如徐博士的人，他们在这一课题上有着比我更深得认知，他们含冤莫辩因为其他人都不相信这些事，并且会做出指责说是在进行颠覆和在对政府散播不实谎言，而且有关当局是会尽其所能去隐瞒真相以愚弄人民。 直到现在，每当我和我家人谈论政治和李光耀，我还得注意选词用字的适应性。年青人都被迫自我审核和避免在公开场所高谈阔论因为我们不享有言论自由（除非是在对政府歌功颂德）。 我们的“民主”国家变成了一个什么模样？我吁请你们，为了自已的荣誉和正义，请去阅读和去探索真相。 作者在新加坡国立大学的化学系就读  Read More →

The MRT graffiti saga which rocked the entire nation took another twist yesterday when it was revealed that SMRT took more than 48 hours to lodge a police report. A Swiss FT was hauled up to Court yesterday for trepassing into a MRT depot at Changi and vandalizing one of the trains by spraying graffiti on one side of the carriage. It also transpired that he had an accomplice with him Briton McKoy Banos who has since left Singapore. The security breach allegedly took place on 16 May 2010, but a police report was made only on 19 May 2010 which contradicts an official statement by SMRT that it "reported the breach to the police immediately when it was discovered." When queried by the Straits Times, SMRT Head of Security Mr Choy Kin Chong declined to comment on the time lapse, saying that "more security staff had been deployed to increase patrol at its depots." Singapore's biggest security lapse since the dramatic escape of famed terrorist Mas Selamat Kasteri two years ago drew widespread concerns from both law-makers and Singaporeans who wondered what the consequences might be had the vandals been terrorists instead. GPC chairman for Home Affairs and Law, Mr Alvin Yeo was quick to jump to the defence of the Swiss FT: "MRT trains are potential soft targets. I dare say that the suspects probably did it in the spirit of fun and adventure and not for something more sinister. But this could have been something more harmful than just graffiti," he was quoted as saying in the Straits Times. Netizens were equally flabbergasted at how SMRT could allow the security breach to go unnoticed for so long. Eddie Chin commented: "This is a real security concern. If someone can sneak into an MRT depot and spend a sizeable amount of time spraying the graffiti, he would have enough time to plant bombs on many different trains. I wonder what our Minister for Home Affairs going to say about this, that he's doing a harmless prank so it's ok?" Salihin added: "Worse of all is that SMRT actually deployed the vandalized train with the huge graffiti. Let's not ask how they actually secure their depots when their staff cant even notice a huge graffiti on their train." There are no immediate comments from the Home Affairs Ministry or its Minister Wong Kan Seng yet. Maybe they are keeping a distance as far as possible from the incident out of fears of re-igniting Singaporeans' memories of Mas Selamat.   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 →

By Oris Lewis from Reuters, 5 June 2010 Israel was prepared to intercept another ship bound for Gaza carrying aid and activists Saturday, increasing fears of more international tension over its blockade of the Hamas-run Gaza Strip. Israel faces an international outcry after its naval operation Monday in which nine Turkish activists were killed on a ship bound for Gaza. Israel says its blockade of the Gaza Strip, imposed after Hamas seized the territory from Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah faction, is meant to prevent arms and military supplies from reaching the territory's Hamas rulers. In Washington, the White House said Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip was unsustainable but urged the Gaza aid vessel to divert to an Israeli port to reduce the risk of violence. "We are working urgently with Israel, the Palestinian Authority, and other international partners to develop new procedures for delivering more goods and assistance to Gaza," Mike Hammer, spokesman for the White House National Security Council, said Friday. "The current arrangements are unsustainable and must be changed. For now, we call on all parties to join us in encouraging responsible decisions by all sides to avoid any unnecessary confrontations," Hammer said in a statement. The Irish-owned Rachel Corrie -- a converted merchant vessel bought by pro-Palestinian activists and named after an American woman killed by an Israeli bulldozer in the Gaza Strip in 2003 -- pressed on despite the earlier ship's violent interception. One of the activists on board, Irishman Denis Halliday, a former U.N. assistant secretary-general, told Irish radio on Friday they expected to reach the Israeli-imposed exclusion zone overnight and aimed to continue toward Gaza in daylight. Friday, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said: "We will stop the ship, and also any other ship that will try to harm Israeli sovereignty. There is no chance the Rachel Corrie will reach the coast of Gaza." The Israeli military declined to give prior details of what it planned to do in the event the navy had to intervene. In Dublin, Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin said in a statement: "Those on board the Rachel Corrie have indicated that they are ready to accept inspection of their cargo at sea, prior to docking in Gaza." GUNSHOTS AT CLOSE RANGE Autopsy results on the nine dead Turkish activists from Monday's raid showed they had been shot a total of 30 times, many at close range, Britain's Guardian newspaper reported on Saturday. Five were killed by gunshots to the head, it said. Turkish-American activist Fulkan Dogan was shot five times from less than 45 cm (18 inches) away, in the face, the back of the head, twice in the leg and once in the back, the paper said. In addition to those killed, 48 others received gunshot wounds and six activists were still missing. In his angriest rhetoric yet, Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan accused the Jewish state Friday of violating its own biblical commandments. "I am speaking to them in their own language. The sixth commandment says 'thou shalt not kill'. Did you not understand?" Erdogan said in a televised speech to party supporters. "I'll say again. I say in English 'you shall not kill'. Did you still not understand?. So I'll say to you in your own language. I say in Hebrew 'Lo Tirtzakh'." Turkey, Israel's only Muslim ally, has threatened to rethink its entire relationship. Thousands of protesters sang Turkey's praises at demonstrations in Egypt and Lebanon Friday. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu convened a forum of senior ministers Friday to discuss the arrival of the Rachel Corrie and actions to be taken following the international criticism Israel faced after Monday's events. A foreign ministry statement said Israel wanted to avoid confrontation and invited the Rachel Corrie to dock in Israel's own port of Ashdod, where its cargo could be unloaded, inspected and transferred to Gaza if it contains no contraband. "We in Israel have no desire for confrontation ... If the ship decides to sail to the port of Ashdod in Israel then we will ensure its safe arrival and will not board it," foreign ministry official Yossi Gal said. "Israel is prepared to receive the ship and to offload its contents and after an inspection to ensure that no weapons and/or war materiel are on board, we are prepared to deliver all of the goods to Gaza." - Reuters  Read More →