Sometimes I worry more about the people of Singapore rather than what the government itself is doing. When I read letters like this, I actually start to think that eugenics is a good idea. Or maybe I am missing the whole point, and this is the best piece of satire I've ever read.
At least, I hope that's what it is.
Gomez case shows justice is very much alive
I REFER to the article, 'Gomez let off with a stern warning' (ST, May 13).
When news broke that Mr James Gomez had been hauled up by the police as he was checking in at Changi Airport to fly back to Sweden on May 7, coffee-shop gossip was abuzz with wild rumours that the People's Action Party (PAP) was once again using scare tactics against the opposition.
Fuelled by rumour-mongering, the saga soon became a game of chance. People betted heavily that Mr Gomez would eventually be charged in court and slapped with a hefty term of imprisonment. This, the gamblers believed, was because the judiciary was under the control of the executive.
So, when it was reported that he was let off with a stern warning, many punters were left poorer by a couple of hundred dollars. However, the losses incurred by punters are not relevant to the saga.
What is relevant and significant is this: it is crystal clear that, in Singapore, the executive has no clout in influencing the judiciary (Attorney-General's Chambers) to 'dance to its tune' and prosecute its opponents.
It appears to be the notion of the man in the street that justice is blind to anyone who is deemed to be an adversary of the PAP.
I trust that the knuckle-rapping meted out to Mr Gomez will change the mindsets of those who believe the PAP is authoritarian and it must always be its 'way or the highway'.
The laws of Singapore dictate that the public prosecutor is vested with absolute discretion in recommending the course of action to be taken in criminal cases.
In the Gomez case, he was certainly not absolved of any wrongdoing.
The learned public prosecutor, after reviewing the evidence in the case and taking into consideration the mitigating factors, recommended to the police that a stern warning be administered to Mr Gomez.
It is therefore pertinent for local rumour-mongers, as well as foreign adversaries of Singapore, to take note that justice in Singapore is very much alive, and that Singapore's judiciary is definitely independent of the executive.
Majulah Singapura!
Lionel De Souza
27 comments:
Lionel De Souza is a former cop who sucks on the PAP's b*lls. He is a regular contributor to the Straits Times Forum pages. The media prostitutes are more than happy to print his letter.
> Sometimes I worry more about the people of Singapore rather than what the government itself is doing.<
Spot on.
"The People Get The Government They Deserve".
Which is why I believe trying to fix the govt or the politics is good only for sport, but shouldn't not be taken too seriously.
A form of eugenics is already practiced in Singapore. Degree holders are encouraged to fuck and pump out kids, so that Singapore can remain "competitive".
Lee Kuan Yew's wish is to have the "smart" women become broodmares for the state, and surrender their vaginas and wombs for the production of "better" Singaporeans.
Adolf would have been proud of the vernerable Mentor Minister.
Lionel will have his one fine day.
When I see the letter writer is named Lional de Souza, I do not have read to know it would be another bootlicking piece.
Remember the last time he wrote about LHL visting his son in Tekong camp
If Lionel's view is representative of the majority, then the ST and Mediacorp has done a wonderful job in putting its point across.
if Mr De Souza saw a suckling pig being thrown past his window, i wonder if he'd think it's "crystal clear" that pigs can fly.
These are the people that will entrenched the PAP forever to absolute power. He is in the same league as that permanent retard Ace Kindred Cheong
Lionel probably took the blue pill in the Paptrix... :-P
He must be a X-men with mutant powers - powers to pronounce, based on the failed pathetic attempt by PAP to "fix" Gomez using state apparatus (Elections Dept and Police), that by this single case, "...Singapore's judiciary is definitely independent of the executive.".
And he throws in "Majulah Singapura" for added dramatic effect!?
May I puke now, I'm somewhat affected by this overbearing obsequiousness.
irene ng also from sph; same camp
irene ng's comments before the elections were even dumber and less rational than this one.
Ahh... The Straits Times and sundry politicians can convince themselves they are "world-class" or whatever denotes Western-style sophistication but when swooning PAP love letters start cluttering the Forum page, as they do every other day, all they'll get is a 140th ranking on press freedom and a collective snigger from readers the world over.
Wait... Is Lionel De Souza is real person? Maybe he's one of many ficticious characters invented by the government (complete with phoney email, IC no. etc) to write such letters to the Straits Times.
I don't know which is scarier - that the government might be engaging in such a program, or that Mr De Souza could actually exist.
he exists all right, as do other politcally correct people; they have to make a living
remember that sph and mediacorp are the PR dept of Singapore Inc
>> I don't know which is scarier - that the government might be engaging in such a program, or that Mr De Souza could actually exist.<<
WOW! What happened to "diversity". This guy may be a <---fill in your favourite epithet--->, but he still has the right to express his opinion, and a right to exist.
Yes, there are people like him - and worse - around.
That's why life on this planet is so interesting. Individual diversity!
Imagine a world without Hitler, Stalin, Mao and Lee Kuan Yew.
Comedians would have nothing much to joke about, the news would be boring, and people like me would be starved of ENTERTAINMENT!
Humankind with its imperfections, foibles and hangups make for a very colourful world indeed!
Mr De Souza needs to be applauded for having balls - the balls to display his stupidity, for our entertainment, and remove all doubt in our minds that he's a moron and a tosser.
Read this: Fundamental Inaccuracy in ST Forum Letter..
http://www.newsintercom.org/index.php?itemid=448#nucleus_cf
Wow. Just wow. He completely tossed out all of Singaporean history to come to that conclusion. Suddenly NKF didn't happen. CHJ wasn't born. The 4 protesters weren't arrested. Martyn See, white elephants and other meaningless police investigations had no political agenda. Pigs can fly indeed. Seriously, your intelligence is borderline offensive.
Mr De Souza, why do you inflict such mental anguish on me. Are you some ploy to get people behind LKY's philosophy of eugenics? Because seriously now, I think you should have been swallowed at birth. Alas, free speech for the dumb gets the better of me. But I shall take some comfort in knowing I'm not the only one who is going to take pity on your offspring.
Yes, Lionel De Souza is real... He's some former bigshot policeman who gangsters and criminals supposedly know as "lou teng" (lamp-post) because he gives them a headstart of 2 lamp-posts and still invariably manages to catch up and apprehend the crooks. *ahem* Whatever.
And yes, he is retired, and should just stay that way instead of adding his 2 cents worth every so often. Perhaps he's prolonging his fame... perhaps he's following in the footsteps of a famous minister, not too far up north, who invariably pokes his nose where it does not belong anymore... or perhaps he is genuinely concerned (read: kay poh).
Whichever the case, after so long in the police force, was there ever a doubt he would say nothing but good of the powers that be?
I believe however, JG was let off with a "stern warning" only because zapping him with the full force of lightning would not do the powers much good.
Remember: this Zeus has to keep restraint its excessive use of force, and maintain at least an illusion of fairness. Otherwise the people will start to get tired of constant lightning and rain, and start worshipping some other gods instead.
Some lamp-posts are just lacking light bulbs.
Lionel de Sussy, Ephraim Loy, Ace kindred Chong, Jeffrey Law Lee Beng.
anymore bootlickers to add to the list?
Let's hope bootlickers are a dying breed and that they do not multiply at every election.
First of all, the PAP did not file a civil defamation suit against Gomez... they merely lodged a complaint with the police. The history of "influencing the judiciary" pertains to unnecessary civil defamation suits (where boundaries of criticism/personal attacks are unclear) that would have been a non-issue in democratic countries.
I'm pretty sure that the judiciary would have put Gomez behind bars if they had enough evidence. Sadly for them, video footage is not inconclusive evidence of criminal intimidation for which he was under investigation. Therefore, there is no logical reason to prosecute, or to influence the prosecution of Gomez in this case where boundaries of conclusive/inconclusive are very clear-cut.
Ever since I heard James Gomez had his passport and boarding pass impounded, and his sorry ass prevented from leaving for Sweden, I have been staring at the ceiling, the words 'what the fuck' pounding through my brain. And it is Section 506 & 507 of the penal code that had got me near berserk. I had to write this.
I was slapped with 8 email harassment charges back in 2000. Because 8 email harassment charges couldn't have kept me locked up, Investigating Officer Oem Prakash Singh of Clementi Police Division (hereafter referred to as 'the modern singh') slapped an additional charge of criminal intimidation on me so as to raise the bail amount the judge then pegged at $50K (the same amount which, may I remind you, TT Durai is presently running around loose on). Of course the modern singh counted on me not having a bailer with $50K, so I spent 5 months inside awaiting trial.
The excuse for the criminal intimidation charge was a phone call I made to Koh Chong Huat (a cousin of mine) telling him in exact words 'You are 50+, sooner or later, you have to die'. I thought it was a given, nothing being more certain than death and taxes, that reminding somebody, anybody, of his age couldn't possibly constitute a criminal offense, especially since the guy was actually 50+ (I'd admit Lee Kuan Yew may be offended to be reminded of his age, and that death was likely to be knocking on his door anytime, but not enough to constitute a criminal offense, especially when he's going to be continuing to be having birthday parties, and his cronies are going to be showing up not trying to pretend, I hope, that it is something other than birthdays that they are going to be celebrating.)
But not to digress. The reason why I was locked up was because I had finally found something I was looking for on and off since 1995. And I was showing up at all the awkward places, the CPIB, the Law Society of Singapore, and the Legal Aid. They all found excuses of one sort or another. Sooner or later I was going to latch on to a lawyer, yes?
I latched onto the wrong lawyer, however. Someone by the name of Chiam See Tong. He suggested leaving Hoo Sheau Farn out of the lawsuit, and sue principally Koh Thong (Koh Chong Huat's old man), and Lim Swee Ying (my late father's old hag), and he also told me that he didn't want to figure in the case, and therefore would be helping me sue my relatives in my own name. Who's to know Chiam See Tong would be colluding with Yik Tze Kong, the lawyer representing the respondents to the suit.
Time was of essence. If I wasn't latching onto Chaim See Tong, I would've to latch onto some other lawyer pretty quick. The plan was to have this Chiam See Tong set up a case for me, I land in jail, and the case applied to be struck out by the respondents, the lawyers acting for the parties being in collusion.
So Koh Chong Huat made a complaint against me. That made me a 'wanted' person. And I was supposed to know that (not that I did). Then Yik Tze Kong applied to have the case that Chiam See Tong set up for me struck off by the civil court expecting me not to show up to defend.
But I got arrested at Changi cargo complex going through the check-point reporting to my first day of temporary work. And I was held for 5 months awaiting trial. I made calls to Chiam See Tong then at the police lockup, wrote to Chiam See Tong whilst I was remanded, met Chiam See Tong whilst I was at the Subordinate Court, and Chiam See Tong visited me whilst I was held at Buangkok Chalet, but he wouldn't help me with these fresh charges I was up against, and resisted suggestions that the civil case he was helping me with and the criminal case I was facing were connected.
Topmost in the mind of the modern singh must've been whether I had knowledge of the application by Yik Tze Kong to have the case set up for me by Chiam See Tong struck off. If so, and I apprised the court of the fact, the judge would likely find that I have no case to answer. So was it a coincidence then, that when I was finally released, my laptop and papers pertaining to my civil suit were missing from my rented room, and I had to cough up $50 to get them back, and later, when I thought it wise to ask for a receipt for the $50, was refused, and the $50 returned instead?
Because I was arrested in the wrong sequence, and the all important letter was left undiscovered in my post office mailbox, Yik Tze Kong didn't show up at the civil court to have the civil case set up for me by Chiam See Tong struck out (references to it at my blog).
You may be asking me why the modern singh would have me arrested in the wrong sequence. The modern singh didn't have me arrested. I was arrested by the police division (Bedok) in charge of the Changi cargo complex. I cannot be 'wanted' unless there was an APB out for me. With an APB out on me, it was always possible for me to be arrested in the wrong sequence.
There is a lesson in all this for James Gomez.
Even though I was remanded without having visitors (except for the one-time visit by Chiam See Tong at Buangkok Chalet - now upgraded to Buangkok Recreational Club - where I was also warned by Dr George Fernandez to be careful of what I say in Court or face institutionalization on Christmas Day, 2000 - bloody arse hole showed up just to warn me), and therefore could not otherwise seek representation, had the criminal intimidation charge struck off by the kangaroo of a judge in half a day of deliberation.
The trial was scheduled for a 2 day hearing. There was a lot of shenanigan going on in Remand. I was being threatened (and the irony was that I was in there for Section 506 & 507) such that I was disinclined to drag proceedings beyond the day. All that seemed to be coming out of the mouth of Koh Chong Huat was that he was felt 'very harassed'. For nearly half the morning I was standing in the dock with my hands cuffed behind my back (and who said our legal system was just? and there is no kangaroo jumping around in Court?) until the judge noticed.
The judge was screwing me left and right for everything that was coming out of my mouth until Koh Chong Huat said that he had a pretty good idea who was at the other end of the phone (that being me). The judge made certain he heard right what Koh Chong Huat said, then struck out the criminal intimidation charge. As I'm no lawyer, I don't actually know what the fuck happened. But I will try to figure it out here. Section 506 & 507 cannot be liberally applied or else a Pandora’s Box would be opened, and total anarchy will ensue. There must be a threshold above which genuine fear can reasonably be deemed to be inculcated in the criminally intimidated, such as where the victim doesn't know who is victimizing him. A fear transformed into terror by some unknown quantity.
After that the DPP started to sweat like a pig, and Koh Chong Huat started to need a microphone to be heard, and the judge started turning on me. It was as if a big concession had been made to me, and the kangaroo had begun jumping all over the Court again. The biggest problem going for the trial was Koh Chong Huat needed a microphone, I complained to the judge I couldn't hear him without a microphone, and the judge sitting practically next to Koh Chong Huat couldn't understand what the fuck I was unhappy about (and who said our legal system was just? and there is no kangaroo jumping around in Court?). I was practically forced to abdicate my defense.
The judge offered, before his lunch break, to lynch me on 4 charges of email harassment, if I capitulated, or on all 8, if I continued with my defense. What troubled me was my cousin needing a microphone, the DPP needing a towel, and the kangaroo jumping all over the court room. Something just wasn't right. I wondered what was in my post office box (which had rental renewal coming up), and I didn't want to go back to Remand where I was being threatened. So I capitulated, and the judge fined me $6000, and stretched me for more than 30+ days in lieu (which Dr Chee Soon Juan, may I remind you, got off for just a week).
Out of jail, Chiam See Tong was a little scared to meet me along North Bridge Road outside his law office. Until I had a talk with Chan Fook Meng, I wasn't too clear why. Then there was the 2001 general election. But Chiam See Tong was dragging his feet with the case he was 'helping' me with even after that. So I had to start writing my own letters.
A letter I wrote to Standard Chartered Bank caused Ow Koon Thiam to threaten to sue me for defamation through his lawyer Hoh & Partners (now Hoh Law Corp). So I went along to Chiam See Tong to consult (until I had a talk with Chan Fook Meng, I didn't see why not), and he offered to help me with the defamation suit. Even though I hadn't had my talk with Chan Fook Meng yet, I saw a problem. Chiam See Tong was dragging his feet with my civil suit, did not defend me in my criminal case, and now was offering to represent me in this defamation suit.
I told Chiam See Tong I was getting the hang of it with this Court thing, fresh from my victory against the modern singh and his Section 506 & 507 and all that, and since a defamation suit is something somebody else set up for me, and all I have to do is show up and get fucked by the judge, I'd handle it myself, thank you very much. And I was pressing him to carry on with the original civil suit. I wrote to Ow Koon Thiam's lawyer, a Ms Petula Wong, that I would've been most pleased to see them in Court (and you should read the reply I got at my blog). And you can understand why Chiam See Tong decided to be a full time member of parliament after that. And you can understand why I have a price on my head.
Can you understand why Lee Kuan Yew and Wong Kan Seng are such mother fucking idiots? (and those people who voted for them as well?) If you can gerrymander the laws just to keep yourself in power (for whatever honorable or dishonorable intentions), you cannot then call to account those certainly more dishonorable persons from using the same laws to their own personal advantage.
If Lee Kuan Yew is going to be troubled by James Gomez not suing for being called a liar, the mother fucker is going to have a hard time going to sleep every night. The Cantonment Complex, even if it is re-built into the Cantonment Catacomb, is not going to be able to handle half the lying population asked to show up every day justifying themselves. And would he then be going to be going after Ow Koon Thiam because he didn't after all sue me and SOMETHING HERE IS GENUINELY NOT RIGHT.
And worse still, which fucking moron came up with the idea that Section 506 & 507 would stick on James Gomez when it didn't even glue on me for half a day in Court? And me not even being represented? And should Section 506 & 507 be bounced around all over the place from now on when somebody tells a lie such as when a student is late for school and fib to his principal?
Is James Gomez and his 'lie' such a big issue to the MIW that they have to scrape barrel bottom for something as inappropriate as Section 506 & 507. Or is Lee Kuan Yew trying to cover up for his one, ever, and only election strategy gone berserk (which even the UMNO deceased would be sick of by now). From my own personal affront at the wrong end of Section 506 & 507, I can assure you that everybody in the know, including Dr Chee Soon Juan, just have to be uncontrollably laughing their socks off. And the courtroom is caught between a pit bull and a lapping dog. How is the court ever going to placate Lee Kuan Yew and Wong Kan Seng over the James Gomez non-event without losing its dignity?
I do not pretend to not to know that should Lee Kuan Yew, if he were to read all this, whether he'd pin me up together with Dr Chee and his sister. It would've been my privilege, my honor. Go tell him. I need political asylum to live beyond of next month. There is after all a price on my head, whether I keep my trap shut or not. So I'm not worse off by it.
If James Gomez had no bailer, and no party connections, the public prosecutor might have taken the risk to try lynching him like they did all the way with me. Just because he didn't, imputes nothing as to his independence. He knew he had no chance. The surveillance cameras footages would have blown his arse wide open. Even if it wasn't James Gomez, but James Bond (licence to kill) walking in there (unarmed, of course).
It is safe to cross the road now.
The fact that you weren't knocked down by a powerful machine this time means that there are no such things as powerful machines on the road.
There is both logic and rationale that there is no such thing as a manipulator behind the PAP tractor.
If you choose to ignore the statistics showing that many brave souls have been mowed down time and time again then Singapore is still a lovely garden paradise. As it always was. And gold dust rains out of LKY's old arse too.
Every so often, the local press lives up to its 140th ranking by publishing these letters praising LKY, govt ministers and policies to high heaven contrary to the feeling on the ground.
Just make me wonder are they there to test the readers' intelligence or is it stupidity?
In the first place, the AG Chambers is an arm of the executive and not the "judiciary".
Secondly, the press (as far as can recall) say that the AG Chambers came to the concluded that there was sufficient evidence to make out the offence of criminal intimidation, but nonetheless decided to let him off with a fine.
If people can't even get their facts right, then I'm really worried for Singapore.
Apologies. Let him off with a "stern warning" and not a fine.
And "concluded" should read "conclusion". Pardon the dyslexia (which ironically could have plagued the writer of that article quoted).
Really stupid.. clearly nothing in the criminal code can be used to proscute gomez.. the AG is just making life hard for gomez because they are cronies for the Lees.
no. they just had to placate the old man. but lhl was clever. scheduled his dad for a trip to china while he cleaned the mess old lee created.
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