TR EMERITUS

Written by Our Correspondent Singapore's Speakers' Corner will be more boisterous in the next few months not because there will be more Singaporeans speaking there, but due to the relocation of the nearby Hong Lim Food Centre in Upper Cross Street which will be closed for a facelift in March next year. NEA said that "activities" at Speakers' Corner will not be affected by the market's move. Its boundaries will be "redrawn" next month. Modeled after London's Hyde Park, the Speakers' Corner is the only place in Singapore where citizens can lawfully gather, speak and protest. The ruling party decided to "relax" the rules last year to counter the civil disobedience movement launched by opposition groups such as the Singapore Democratic Party. However, police installed CCTVs a few months ago at its premises purportedly for reasons of "public safety and security". Since then, the number of events at Hong Lim Park had dwindled as well as the participants. A minibond rally called by former NTUC INCOME Mr Tan Kin Lian drew a paltry crowd of less than 200 while the usual attendance is twice the number. Mr Tan still holds the record for the most number of rallies held at Hong Lim Park by a single person and number of participants with one rally attracting more than a thousand people. Despite much fanfare, the authorities had ignored the hustlings at the rallies which have since fizzled out with some minibond holders remain uncompensated by the financial institutions. The usefulness of Hong Lim Park to advance the political awareness and maturity of ordinary Singaporeans is very much limited by the general apathy pervailing the nation. While there is much resentment and disgruntlement on the ground over some of the government's policies such as its liberal immigration policy, the grousings are confined strictly to cyberspace. Nobody has dared to step forward to organize rallies at Hong Lim Park to protest against the government openly in public. The park is almost always deserted during the weekdays while it is used by the nearby Kreta Ayer Community Club for its activities on the weekends. The three opposition MPs in parliament have been most reluctant to use the park to further their political agenda, preferring to make token speeches with little or no impact in parliament. Speeches made there by some leaders like the Reform Party's Kenneth Jeyaretnam during National Day attracted a small crowd of less than hundred people and usually the same familiar faces. Ironically, Speakers' Corner will see an increase in the crowd now with the relocation of a Food Centre there. For most Singaporeans, food is still their primary obsession and interest rather than their civil and political rights if they are even aware of their existence in the first place.  Read More →

OPINION The recent appointment of Mr Philip Jeyaretnam as a member of the Public Service Commission was announced amid much fanfare by the state media with the Straits Times highlighting the fact that he is the "son of the late opposition leader Joshua Benjamin Jeyaretnam" in its opening paragraph. It was not revealed who the other members of the Commission are and neither have these routine appointments receive such extensive publicity in the press before. As a member of the PSC, Mr Jeyaretnam will be involved in its task of appointing and promoting top civil servants and in picking students for its scholarships, the most prestigious of which is the President's Scholarship. What makes the appointment of Mr Jeyaretnam special is that he is the son of a nemesis of Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew whose acquiescence is probably necessary for the appointment to go ahead. Lee himself has come to blows with several times with the late JBJ, as he was fondly known by. He once remarked to former President Devan Nair that he would make JBJ "beg for mercy on bended knees." With the demise of the Barisan Sosialist as an effective opposition in the 1970s, JBJ had emerged as the sole opposition figure who dared to take on the PAP juggernaut which he had paid a dear price for. The appointment of JBJ's son as a member of the PSC is tantamount to "co-opting" him into the establishment which will go a long way towards softening Lee's image as a dictatorial and ruthless leader with little tolerance for political opposition or dissent and demonstrate his "generosity" towards a son of an erstwhile adversary. The intended mistake is unmistakable: the ruling party treasures talents and are willing to co-opt former critics and dissenters into its ranks so long they do not oppose them openly in public as exemplified by Dr Vivian Balakrishnan and Raymond Lim who are now cabinet ministers. Though the PSC is not a political organization, it is closely linked to the ruling party and Philip's appointment may pave the way for him to assume more prominent roles in the near future. Nobody who is deemed a potential threat to the regime will ever be appointed to fill such an important position in the PSC. It will interesting to see if Philip will be persuaded to stand for the elections on a PAP ticket which will see him at odds with his elder brother, Kenneth, who is currently the Secretary-General of the Reform Party. The name "Jeyaretnam" is a brand name in Singapore politics. Despite the best efforts of the regime and the state media to demonize JBJ, his unflinching dedication to his cause have won him widespread admiration and respect from Singaporeans even among the young who do not know him well. When he passed away in October last year from heart failure, hundreds of Singaporeans from all walks of life turned up at his funeral to mourn his passing. A candle-light vigil was held at Hong Lim Park a week later, attended mostly by Singaporeans in their 20s and 30s. In contrast, there was no public outpouring of sorrow for PAP MP Ong Chit Chung who died a few months earlier or sympathy for MP Seng Han Tong who was torched by a disgruntled resident of his constituency. The Jeyaretnams will be a potent political force to reckon with if the two brothers had joined hands together to take on the PAP, especially with Philip's manifold connections in the legal fraternity. Being founded by a lawyer, the PAP is well aware that the greatest danger posed to their rule comes from the legal profession which explains why that a bill was passed in the 1980s to prevent lawyers from speaking up on matters pertaining to legislation unless their opinion is specifically sought after by the government. JBJ was a lawyer as is Potong Pasir MP Chiam See Tong. The two greatest adversaries of Lee in recent years barring Chee Soon Juan are lawyers too - Francis Seow and Tang Liang Hong. The appointment of Philip Jeyaretnam as a member of the PSC is a masterstroke to neuter any lingering influence of the Jeyaretnams on the electorate. While Kenneth will still be able to draw in considerable support on his own, his appeal as the inheritor of JBJ's legacy will inevitably be demolished by his brother's rendezvous with the "Men in White". Such "divide and conquer" tactics are commonly employed by the PAP to weaken and split potential opposition to its rule. The Barisan Sosialist is decimated as a political force when some of its leaders succumbed under pressure from their captors to renounce politics like Lim Chin Siong, Sydney Woodhull and James Puthucheary while the rest like Chia Thye Poh and Poh Soo Kai continued to be detained without trial. The two opposition MPs Chiam See Tong and Low Thia Kiang are praised as "moderates" and "credible" opposition leaders to drive a wedge between those who favors a more radical approach and those who chooses to play according to the rules set by the PAP within the opposition camp. As a result of the divide between the two groups, the opposition remains impotent to mount a credible challenge to the regime. With his brother now "crossing" over to the other side, Kenneth Jeyaretnam will encounter difficulties in galvanizing the former supporters of his father. Being a small and new political party, the Reform Party faces an uphill task to stay relevant in Singapore's tough and unforgiving political landscape. The name "Jeyaretnam" is fast losing its appeal and it is a masterstroke of the PAP to neutralize it once and for all by winning over Philip Jeyaretnam to its side.  Read More →

Written by Our Correspondent The Singapore Democratic Party has made an appeal on its website to Singaporeans to do their part for the opposition. It said that "without the active involvement of Singaporeans, political change will always be something we talk about, not experience." SDP has long advocated for a change in the Singapore's political system to level the playing field for all parties. Unfortunately, the two other opposition parties with representatives in parliament are coy about its idea and prefer to within the boundaries. SDP's Secretary-General Dr Chee Soon Juan had given a series of interviews on radio talk shows in the United States where he called on U.S. investors to exercise their corporate responsibility when doing business in Singapore. Few Singaporeans are aware of his efforts to fight for their rights as his message was not reported by the Singapore media. He is also not allowed to speak to them in public without a permit which is never granted in any case by the authorities. SDP said a key reason for the opposition's dismal performance at the polls in the past is because "those who know and care have not come forward to help." It claimed it is confident of overcoming the odds by "fighting hard and fighting smart" and asked for funds to "help print flyers, to rent equipment, to purchase supplies and so on." Dr Chee is one of the most misunderstood and maligned opposition leader in Singapore. Though his dogged fighting spirit has won grudging respect from some quarters, his political future remains grim and uncertain. In the first place, he is banned from participating in future elections as a bankrupt. The SDP may also face the threat of being de-registered following its failure to pay the Lees in an earlier defamation lawsuit regarding an article on the NKF fiasco published in its newsletter during the 2006 elections. In a separate note, SDP Chairman Gandhi Ambalam had written to the deputy director of HDB to call on him to stop the sale of wet markets to Sheng Shiong supermarket chain on the ground that "stallholders will lose their livelihoods and independence, and become employees of the new landlord." Mr Gandhi wrote that he would be keen to meet with officials from HDB to hear first hand the status of the proposed takeover and to present the concerns of those affected by such a takeover. It is highly unlikely that HDB will agree to a meeting with SDP or even give Mr Gandhi a reply.  Read More →