Dr. Chee Soon Juan was declared a bankrupt after failing to pay $500,000 in libel damages awarded to Lee Kuan Yew and Goh Chok Tong. In Feb 2006, Dr. CSJ was charged with contempt of court for a statement he made at the above bankruptcy hearing in which he stated that the judiciary is not independent and fair, especially in cases involving opposition politicians. On 17 Mar 2006, he was sentenced to jail for 8 days after refusing to pay his fines of $6,000. Dr CSJ should not be in jail at all.
From Dr Chee's personal/family blog.
Listen to the podcast made an hour before Dr Chee was sent to prison - again!
http://www.sgdemocrat.org/radioSDP/judiciary1.MP3
How old is that old lee now?
ReplyDeleteFor an objective academic analysis of Singapore's judiciary, see "Ross Worthington, Hermes and Themis: An Empirical Study of the Contemporary Judiciary in Singapore".
ReplyDeleteAvailable for download at:
http://www.freefileupload.net/file.php?file=files/170306/1142621174/Hermes+and+Themis+Worthington.pdf
Read it and then draw your own conclusion.
^link dont work.
ReplyDeleteWhat a sad day for singapore, yet nobody knows.
ReplyDeletelink works for me!
ReplyDeletetry copying and pasting the full length.
http://www.freefileupload.net/file.php?file=files/
170306/1142621174/Hermes+and+Themis+Worthington.pdf
This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.
ReplyDeleteThe judiciary is very objective and independent. It treats the Opposition and PAP members fairly and strictly applies the law in a neutral fashion. The judiciary has never been used to repress members of the Opposition. The judges who form the judicary selected by the PAP govt are chosen and promoted for their independence and not for their association to the ruling party. CJ Yong Pang How is chosen for his vast experience in the legal profession and his total independence.
ReplyDeleteSingaporeans should feel proud of their judiciary. They are so lucky to have a govt that chooses and employs members of the judiciary based on their independence and ability to be fair to all including the opposition members.
The jailing of CSJ, an opposition member, for contempt confirms that our judiciary is independent.
http://happycitizen.blogspot.com
Really? CJ Yong Pung How is chosen for his vast experience in the legal profession and his total independence?
ReplyDeleteLet me state a few facts:
1)no Supreme Court judge was appointed directly from the private sector except for Yong Pung How
2) CJ Yong was formerly CEO of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation and personal friend of Lee Kuan Yew
3)in 1984, seven years prior to his appointment as chief justice, CJ Yong made this self-assessment
of his suitability for a judicial position:
"Far from being distinguished in the law, I can only describe myself now as a
working member of the business community, who had merely the good fortune
to have a background in legal training, and some practical experience in this
honourable profession before descending into the depths of the business world.
. . . My acquaintance with the law ceased as long ago as 1970, and before then
had been confined almost entirely to Malaysia. . . . I never actually practiced in
Singapore . . . My final departure then from the profession in 1970 must be
sufficient to allow judicial notice to be taken that I had neither the ability nor
the inclination to continue to persevere in the law."
Taken from Ross Worthington, Hermes and Themis: An Empirical Study of the Contemporary Judiciary in Singapore
We just need to look at the CJ's track record and the Straits Times articles highlighting his accomplishments to conclude that he is a capable CJ worthy of the post.
ReplyDeleteCSJ must be nuts to make wild unfounded accusations against our highly respected judiciary. Whatever gave him the idea?! That our Opposition members are bankrupted by massive damages awarded to members of the PAP, is due to damage their reputations suffered as a result of defamatory remarks. Remember our leaders' reputations have been carefully cultivated by their accomplishments being highlighted in the Straits Times all year round. Thus it is only fair they are award massive crippling damages because no other leader in the world has been able to build up such fantastic reputations except for Kim of North Korea. As for George Bush, I can call him a liar, moron, and incompetent fool ....and because he cannot cultivate a flawless reputation like our PAP leaders through the media, ...no damages will be award to him if he sues me. In conclusion our judiciary is completely fair in awarding massive record damages because our leaders have been able to cultivate the best reputation in the world in the eyes of Singaporeans reading the Straits Times.
http://happycitizen.blogspot.com
"personal friend of Lee Kuan Yew"
ReplyDeleteThat goes without say, CJ Yong will help LYK in whatever way he can.
To have only one judge in a jury as implemented by CJ Yong for the sake of speeding up the case isn't a brilliant idea, as argued by Jeyaratnam. Supposedly, to be at least ONE! If the judge overlooks any pertinent evidence of a case is detrimental to the victim.
"formerly CEO of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation"
No wonder he set the law to execute all drug mules when the sg govt invested billions of dollars with the int'l druglords.
How could "Singaporeans should feel proud of such judiciary? Afraid that CJ Yong may not be
Justice Pao chin tien - fair and justice (der mian wu xi)
previous anon,
ReplyDeleteA more nuanced view is that judicial independence is a matter of degree.
Merely being a personal friend of LKY does not necessarily mean CJ Yong cannot act 'without fear or favour'. This is a reality of small size in SG, most of the talented and successful are directly or indirectly affliated with the government.
One must look at the actual decisions handed down by CJ Yong to see whether in reality, he is independent.
Regardless, his appointment as CJ can not be justified on his legal qualifications. He did not practise law in SG and was not a lawyer between 1970-1990. He did not even have a trial period as a judge to guage his judicial performance.
The facts speak for themselves.
Z
Agree with the above. CJ Yong being a personal friend of LKY has nothing to do with him being appointed CJ or being independent. Those are separate issues.
ReplyDeleteAlso, Ho Ching being appointed head of Temasek, and Lee Hsien Yang the CEO of SingTel ...has nothing to do with links to the Lee family. They are put in the job because of their competence and principles of meritocracy is applied.
The numerous ex-SAF generals appointed to head various organisations is because of they are the people with the highest competence....not because there is collusion among the power elite to take care of their own people and interest ahead of that of ordinary citizens.
But to have only one judge in a jury isn't a brilliant idea, as argued by Jeyaratnam. Supposedly, to be at least ONE! Efficiency cannot rule out ethical conduct.
ReplyDeleteIf the judge overlooks any pertinent evidence of a case it is detrimental to the victim, esp so when it concerns life and death.
He was formerly the CEO of the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation. The the huge investment in billions of dollars with the international druglords was handled by GIC, which we have to ascertain was the deal made during his time there.
IF SO (have to be very sure on this), and later he became the CJ and set the law to execute all drug mules for trafficking with minimal weightage of drugs, then this is an explicit cover up mistake made and an implicit false concern and care for the masses.