Lessons from Singapore
Posted on February 6th, 2010
Ananda De Costa
The following is an extract from some recent news article written by a critic of Singapore.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Dr Chee Soon Juan,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Singapore’s most prominentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ opposition leader and human rights defender, is again in prison, along with his colleague Gandhi Ambalam.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ In December 2009, they were found guilty under the Miscellaneous Offences ActƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ of distributing pamphlets during the 2006 election that wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ critical of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ruling People’s Action Party, an action for which they had no permit.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They were sentenced to a fine of S$1000 or one week in jail.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Deputy Public Prosecutor stated that it was not the distributionƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ per se that was illegal, but rather the fact that the contentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ was critical of the government.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚
Dr.Chee was a university lecturer and a much more decent man than our average politician.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Unfortunately he got caught claiming taxi fare of $20 which he did really not spend, some 10 years ago. That time he was (rightly) ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ critical of the Singapore government.
From late seventies Sri Lankan and Sri Lankan politicians have been considering Singapore as a role model. Our stupid head politician even asked advice from this economical competitor (according to Lie Kuan Yew- may not be true).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It was the time Singapore Government wanted to emulate Israel. Realising the danger, (sensitivity of Muslims and surrounding countries) they quickly changes the mentor country to Switzerland. They set up goals to catch up economically and socially with the richest country of the world.
SingaporeƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Lie Kuan Yew wrote a book explaining what happened to the countries in South Asia, including Sri Lanka, because of the racial politics. There are a lot of lies in these stories (at least on Sri Lanka)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and it is not a lie to say that Singapore itself reverted to racially biased polices and succeeded. This is possibly one of the few counties where loud speakers cannot be used for morning Muslim prayers. They simply passed laws that no religious places should make noises early morning. Singapore is not the country to follow as far as Sri Lanka is concerned. Nevertheless there are lessons we can learn from Singapore. There is law and order in Singapore, not second to any other country.
Let us revert back to Sri Lanka now.
ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-PeopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ (reject) Fonseka is howling loud to get attention from international community. He considers himself as ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-PeopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s PresidentƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚. Who are the ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-peopleƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ ? Eelamists , RanilƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s good old friends ( Ranil won 4 million votes is 2001 election) and a very few innocent childish Lankans( out of ignorance)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ who thought they could help stop corruption and voted for a change are the people.
The bourn again Prabhakaran uses the same tactics as the original smuggler turned killer. He cannot even see that the votes he won were not his, but belong to Ranil and Sampanthan. ( Somawansa is not even worth a single vote.) He has no original ideas but all his words are borrowed from his mentors web site, Tamil Net. He cannot talk without the words ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-international communityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚.
He is not going to earn any votes hiding behind the big looser. He is the deputy to the pimp who sold mother Lanka. He has no guts to contest under his own NDF (Non Democratic Front), fearing loss of deposit. His only God is ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-International CommunityƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ or International Corruption Bureau.
What we need is proper laws now. We cannot allow worldƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s worst thugs to disturb the peace. Lie Kuan Yew once said ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-what will they do ? They riot ? Riots will be put down.ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ As Gota rightly said, the law is the answer.
Poor Dr. Chee was caught for $20 taxi fare. Why cannot Sri Lanka catch and jail thieves who claimed much bigger taxi fares ?
Which country with a democratically elected government allows few unruly citizens to demand foreign invasion? Which country allows Jungle New Papers and unqualified news paper hooligans fashionably called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-journalistƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ to publish fabricated and exaggerated stories to create unrest?ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Which country allows foreign missionaries to convert citizens from their 2500 years old religion?
We need laws and we need a judiciary system which acts fast to stop this nonsense.
Before it is too late.
February 7th, 2010 at 12:38 am
Thank you for the article content. Knowing how these developed or rich countries make money is as important as trying to emulate them for those who admire rise of Singapore, a tiny part of Malaysia, consisting of migrants mostly from Chinese – European mixed origin. It is a tragedy to see some desperadoes who lost their way trying to change the destiny by just copying someone else (also a core value of Hinduism that left them stuck in the same life cycle for seven thousand years). Singapore, an ordinary outpost of English Empire had its days and is now getting closer to the next phase of their success, the downward spiral, like many others including US and EU. In a way, we are lucky not to be like them. What made Singapore rich was its role as the supply agent of American, European, Chinese and Japanese products to the neighbourhood. It is more like what happens in Pitakotuwa Vegetable Market. Just because it sells vegetables, it does not mean that it produces any vegetables to maintain its independence. The moment someone else comes up with their own products, that market is lost. So, it is a very grim future for Singapore as shown by recent downward trend in true earnings.
Refer your comments on maintaining Law and Order, there are two distinct ways applied globally. Widely used method is Enforced Law & Order through the barrel of gun with Draconian partition judicial action pioneered by English and their wannabes. The end result is the virtual terror imposed by both the state and the opponents (Singapore has a deadly underworld). What we forget is how Sinhala people maintain Law & Order, a very different approach, which is ignored though widely benefited by many of us who had a life in Sinhale’. I wonder how many of us know this approach. Since it is paramount for anyone promoting anything related to the country, I like to tell that it is the Self-control (Sinhala law and order), something unfamiliar to many western subjects including migrants settled down by English living with us today who know only Enforcement. For them enforcement is the only answer and lack of it is an opportunity to engage in anarchy. The best example is the conduct of JVP and LTTE. If we get confused and choose English approach to discipline Sinhala people, we may be poking fingers in the eyes of the giants who watch over our every move. Such events will contribute to the total collapse of the dysfunctional colonial left-over government.
There is a bit of confusion in our conscience about what is right and what is wrong or criminal. Our conscience is built on ancient Sinhala values, which was manipulated by English leadership, the curse of humanity, to create a wide range of crimes, which makes us to generate the same feelings within our conscience. As an example, you all think that tax avoidance is a crime. Non-payment of water bill is a crime. Licensed distillation of liquor is legal. Stealing food is criminal. Profiteering from food through business monopoly is legal. Are these correct? Check with your conscience. A poor man who has no opportunity to earn money has no means to buy food as food is sold only for money. So, we want him to die because stealing is a crime. By the way, none of us could have been alive today if one or more of our ancestors failed to commit these so-called crimes while surviving in the wild. Is it hypocrisy? I leave the rest to readers to analyse. If we start with what is right and what is wrong with the same that mattered when we lived in the wild, there is a clear indication how and why the notion of crime was created by various interest groups. So maintaining Law and order by enforcement is nice on paper, but reality is much more complex. When we see the death, it is the law of the jungle that takes precedence. Having said that, we have come across an option where we do not have to worry about law and order aspect at all as the way we did in the wild. Why we bother about venomous snakes all the time if they are living far away in the wild. This has become a problem because we have put all the types of threats to live alongside us though we have moved away from the life in the wild.
We have a serious problem in our way to progress due to continuing presence of the dysfunctional English system of governance interfering in every aspect of our life. But it is also a challenge that we should overcome to seek further development to suit our needs in a way compatible with our values. It is true that we choose MR over SF if we are asked. But, is there anything else to suggest that we have people capable of doing extra-ordinary things who are holding onto our assets to deliver the goods for us as it happened in all other countries that dominate the world today? Every one that we know, who champion development, progress or whatever is a second grade person crawling on four legs to others, especially their western masters who contributed to our downfall and continuous stagnation to some extent. This is another challenge that we have to face. Here again, we must go back to our roots to find the answer. It is common knowledge that every nation that made their presence felt to the world has gone back to their roots to inspire them. I feel very confident as we already have people who can do things that no other human could do, the best sign that we will lead the world again soon.