OPINION: "PAP's Lame Racial Politcs Justification", by Goh Meng Seng, 30 September 2017.

PAP's Lame Racial Politics Justification, by Goh Meng Seng, 30 September 2017.

ARTICLE: PAP's Supreme Leader PM Lee tried to explain and justify his (or his party's?) decision to amend the Constitution on the Reserved Elected Presidency amidst the big Hoohaa of whole Nation over this racially divisive end result.

Basically his logic is, if PAP ddin't carry out the Reserved Elected Presidency amendment, Singapore may not have a Malay President at all for the rest of Singapore's History.

Now, this is the most unconvincing and insulting reasoning for every Singaporean. He is basically implying that Singaporeans, especially the Majority Chinese, are RACIST when it comes to voting. Historical Empirical evidence has shown that Singaporeans, regardless of race, are NOT racist at all. JBJ was elected TWICE as MP as far back as 1981 until PAP used all means to keep him out of parliament. Michael Palmer was elected in the hotly contested GE 2011. Murali was elected in the 2016 BY-ELECTION in spite of the fact that PAP is supposed to suffer a handicap in by-elections! All these politicians, regardless of whether they are from opposition or PAP, had won against their Chinese opponents! Yet, PAP's Supreme Leader PM Lee wants to convince us that Singaporeans are incapable to vote independently of race?

The Truth is that PAP has NEVER felt race is a problem when they fielded Nathan, an Indian, as the candidate for TWO terms, not ONE, of Elected Presidency! In fact, if PAP really bothers about racial representation in our Nation's Presidency, then why didn't the Reserved Elected Presidency apply to Indians, Eurasians and even Chinese as well?

And the Blatant Truth is, PAP has selectively chosen to raise the entry barrier for candidates from Private sector while making candidates from their controlled field, aka civil service and political appointees, as easy as ever!

Well, before you think that PAP is racist, I must say I don't think so at all. They are just playing the race card as well as upping the stringent criteria to bar potential challengers from contesting against their PREFERRED candidate. This is a shameless move against Democracy and this is precisely the reason why Singaporeans are angry at them!

To insinuate Salleh Marican and Farid Khan as "opportunists" who didn't offer themselves as candidates in PE 2011 but only contest in this Reserved Elected Presidency, is the lamest reasoning ever. Did PAP ever offer their Malay Ministers as candidates for PE 2011? They didn't field any Malay Minister as PE candidate not because Singaporeans would vote according to race but basically it is because PAP doesn't have GOOD and STRONG Malay candidates for the Presidential contest in the very first place! And PAP knows that in a Presidential Elections, it is practically a NATION WIDE By-Election in which PAP's endorsed candidate will be heavily handicapped! Tony Tan's narrow win of 35% in PE 2011 was the warning shot to PAP.

In fact, I would think that if it is a one-to-one contest, an independent Malay or Indian or Eurasian Presidential Candidate would have better chance of winning against a PAP-endorsed Chinese candidate!

Such Kelong Politics is totally outdated and they shouldn't take Singaporeans as naive fools to believe in their lame excuses. Just admit it. PAP is just being Kiasu so much so that they have to Kelong the Presidential Elections by making use of the Race card.

[Goh Meng Seng is the former Secretary-General of National Solidarity Party (NSP) and the current Secretary-General of People's Power Party (PPP). This post is shared here with his kind permission.]

OPINION: "Sympathy to Kelong President", by Goh Meng Seng, 11 September 2017.

Thought of the Day - Sympathy to Kelong President, by Goh Meng Seng, 11 September 2017

My deepest Sympathy to the Madam Kelong President to be. No matter how you try to prove yourself capable of being independent of PAP, you will always be FOOT-noted in the History of Singapore as the Kelong President who is beholden to PAP for getting this disgraceful position of Presidency.

Mr Goh Meng Seng

It may not be your fault but you are the one who made the choice to play right into the hands of PAP and thus, rightfully so, you will have be responsible for your decision to play the puppet of power.

The circumstances under which you became the President bring no glory or pride to you, your family or your clan but only insults, shame and anger to the Malay community.

You have already been addressed as "Madam President" by your powerful colleagues even before the race and now, being made the Madam President as "planned" through administrative means. We cannot help but feel that this is all Kelong or an elaborated set up of a wayang.

Your colleagues have helped to set up barriers to all competition by making Reserved Presidential Elected... yes, make no mistake about it, it is indeed RESERVED for you and nobody else. By doing so, your Malay community has suffered humiliation not only once but twice throughout the whole farcical process. One, they have set on record that any Malay Presidential candidate, including you Madam Kelong President, will not be able to win in a fair and open Presidential Election because you are a minority despite the fact that, not so long ago, an Indian PAP candidate just won a by-election against the Secretary General of the second largest opposition party in Singapore!

The Malay community is further insulted when their two very successful self-made millionaires were denied candidacy even though they have created their own business empire which are worth multiple hundreds of millions. Do they lack any business, economics or financial capabilities to perform the role of the Elected Presidency when they have basically built their own business empires through their own merits? Obviously not; and I believe they are better qualified in business, economics and financial capabilities than you are, Madam Kelong President!

You are only qualified on the technicality of being the PAP appointed Speaker of Parliament which position doesn't involve managing any big business, least of all a $500 million paid up capital entity!

These are the Business Elites of the Malay community but they were put down as not good enough to be the Elected President? Only people like you who are beholden to PAP by working for PAP could be qualified as Kelong President?

How hurtful could that be to your Malay Community, which you proclaim to belong to?

Madam Kelong President, you may think that you have brought glory to yourself and the Malay community but no, you have instead brought shame, hurt and anger to the Malay community.

I would have even more sympathy for you if you really think it is something great to become the Kelong President as you wish because you are living in a dream that lacks legacy and dignity. Even your predecessor Tony Tan has more dignity than you do despite the fact that he won only by less than 35% but at least he fought the battle till the end! But you? You will always been seen as appointed by the 16 persons and PAP and nobody else.

My thanks to the other two Malay candidates, Salleh and Khan, for stepping forward to offer yourselves to serve Singapore as President. Don't feel bad to be rejected by the political sophistry of PAP because it is not the people like us who have rejected you. Only 16 people plus the PAP have rejected you. All the best to both of you. Thank you.

[This post was posted here with the kind permission of Goh Meng Seng. Mr Goh Meng Seng was formerly Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP) and is presently Secretary-General of the People's Power Party (PPP).]

OPINION: "Straight Instant Karma or Black Irony in the Lee Family Feud?" By Goh Meng Seng, 27 June 2016

Who would expect The Black Irony? By Goh Meng Seng, 27 June 2016.

Some call it Straight Instant Karma, some would just call it Black Irony.

"The dead are at the mercy of the living" - Jean-Paul Sartre, French existentialist philosopher (1905-1980).

Once a powerful man on the island, feared even by his own political minions in the party, has eventually suffered great humiliation and disrespect, only to become a puppet political tool for his own son and party to milk to the fullest.

Patrick Lee Song Juan (SDA) celebrates Mr Lee's resignation from cabinet

Who would imagine that such a great shrewd politician of his time, who was exceptionally street smart to milk the political capital of his contemporaries like Lim Chin Siong, would end up nothing more than a "sacred political cow" to be milked eternally by his own party, against his own will after his death?

Who would imagine that a ruthless politician like him, who locked up thousands of his detractors and dissidents, breaking their families and soul in solitary confinement, forcing many others to run road as well, would end up with the very machinery, or rather the Monster he created, instilling that same fear in his own son, forcing him to consider the Run Road option?

Who would expect a man who had undaunted will-power that created Singapore after his will and preferences, couldn't even get that little respect from the very party he created, to grant him that simple wish to demolish his own house?

Who would expect a man who had used his expertise in law, to create draconian laws which were deemed necessary for forceful land acquisition for urban renewal, could possibly end up at the end of this huge stick, to have his own Minister openly declare that his own house and property could be forcefully acquired by the government against his will?

Who would expect the mantra "for the greater National good", which he created to justify all bad policies against the people, be used against his will eventually?

Who would expect that a man renowned as the First among equals, top lawyer graduated with top grades from Cambridge, could be so blatantly insulted to be a senile fool who couldn't even understand this own Will he signed?

Mr Goh Meng Seng

Who would expect a man with such great mastery of words, twisting and turning his words just to get what he wanted, could be subjected to such Third class wordy abuse of twisting himself?

Who would expect a man who had preached about Confucianism all his life ended up with the filial piety concept being treated as trash while his children fought among themselves under his name?

For all his life, he diligently worked hard and created his dream system of semi dictatorship and Asian authoritarian rule, but in the end, he was so helplessly turned into the victim of his own pet monster, under the control of his own son.

For those who are in the system enjoying every bit of that power of tyranny, don't be too happy yet. What can happen to him, could well befall upon you one day.

That is Black Irony of the Day

[This post is shared with the kind written permission of Goh Meng Seng. Mr Goh is Secretary-General of the People's Power Party (PPP) and a former Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP).]

OPINION: "Potential Defamation Unanswered", by Goh Meng Seng, 22 June 2017

Thought of the Day - Potential Defamation Unanswered, 22 June 2017, by Goh Meng Seng

It is really unusual for the PAP government, especially its Prime Minister and Ministers, to allow highly Defamatory allegations made without a hawkish response to sue the pants off of those who made it. This is especially so when such potentially Defamatory allegations are made by influential individuals in the society or its opponents in politics.

Mr Goh Meng Seng

Thus, many Singaporeans are puzzled why the current slate of Ministers and PM would allow LHY and LWL to continue their attacks, which are all potentially highly defamatory against PM Lee and his Ministers, to go unanswered.

Many PAP apologists may say that PM Lee didn't want to aggravate the situation by launching legal actions against his own siblings. But what about his Ministers? Does it mean that all along their reputation, which was valued by past defamation lawsuits to be worth hundreds of thousands and millions, has suddenly become valueless?

Of course, many Singaporeans were quickly reminded by some activists of what GCT and LKY had said: PAP Ministers must always defend their own reputation and integrity when they are defamed.

It is kind of ironic here to have LKY's own children break that mythical justification which was used against lots of past and present opposition members and activists.

Many people have asked: Why Why Why didn't PM Lee and his Ministers take legal actions against LWL and LHY?

Actually, LWL has unintentionally let the cat out of the bag. She mentioned that the very first joint statement with her brother LHY was supposed to be longer but was edited away by their LAWYERs. Why do they need lawyers to vet through their statement? Of course it is to make sure that the statement, when challenged, is defensible. This is especially so for the defamatory parts.

But yet, after their lawyers vetted their statement, it still carried a few explosive allegations which are potentially defamatory if found untrue.

It then means that their lawyers are satisfied that all the allegations made in that statement are fully backed up by solid evidence!

This is not the usual type of impromptu attacks we see on the internet. It is a carefully planned and executed attack launched by both LHY and LWL.

If you are observant enough, whenever PM Lee or his Ministers try to deny or rebut some of the allegations stated in the first joint statement, LHY will come up with rebuttal furnished and supported with "FACTS" and evidence, mostly from the huge archive of emails!

It really makes one wonder HOW MUCH EVIDENCE they have prepared before launching the joint statement!

Apparently, LHY and LWL are TAUNTING PM Lee or any of his Ministers to sue them by putting up very explosive allegations. They could provide evidence for rebuttal with such EASE each and everyday, putting PM Lee and his Ministers on a DRIP, literally speaking.

I believe they are prepared to throw the whole toilet bowl of evidence against any of them in court if they so decide to sue them. They might even have the ultimate NUKE in their arsenal of evidence which they reserve for the final assault if all else fails.

Thus, it is clear why PM Lee would choose to defend himself in Parliament, with the protection of immunity shield and a safe ground with his PAP MPs in dominance, rather than going to court to face his siblings.

But, as the Chinese saying goes, you can hide from the bad things for a short period of time, but you cannot hide from them forever.

Of course, there are people who think that LHL also has lots of incriminating evidence against his siblings which he may throw out during 3 July 2017. But it is unlikely that these are strong enough to withstand the scrutiny of the court of law, or else he would have challenged the validity of the Last Will straight away. Well, if that is so, a scorched earth battle will become inevitable in the end. There will be no winner, we will all be losers.

Afternote:

Just right after I posted this, LHY posted the EVIDENCE to substantiate his allegation of Ho Ching meddling in government!

[This post is shared with the kind written permission of Goh Meng Seng. Mr Goh is Secretary-General of the People's Power Party (PPP) and former Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP).]

OPINION: "Will I change my mind about believing LHY and LWL?" By Goh Meng Seng, 20 June 2017

Question of the Day by Goh Meng Seng (Facebook post, 20/6/2017)

Will I change my mind about believing LHY and LWL?

All beliefs and conclusions are made based on the best possible information available at the current moment. Nobody can profess to say she/he has FULL information at any point of time.

Goh Meng Seng in NSP days (c. 2011)

Just as a good judge would do, I look at all the information and information submitted by the respective parties and weigh between them. Do they contradict each other or themselves? Is the reasoning behind each statement, proposition or even mere speculation valid or sound? Is there any circumstantial evidence or justifications available for each proposition or argument?

For this FamiLee saga, I can only say one thing:

For anyone, even for a multi-million Ministerial Committee, to try and prove that Mr Lee had changed his mind or was "fickle minded" in his view about his stance on demolishing the Oxley house, is almost impossible to convince anyone, any layman, that LKY would agree to preserve the house as monument for himself.

The reason is very simple. Even if you could have all the ministers coming out to say LKY had told them he has changed his mind and would not want to demolish the house and would like to preserve the house as monument for himself, it would not be convincing at all because there is a glaring conflict of interests here.

And the point is simple. LKY had NEVER ONCE went public, be it written in his book, giving interview or even putting up passing remarks that he had changed his mind! All his public statements made while he was alive were very consistent that he wanted and wished to have his house demolished and no monument to be built for him.

He might have changed his will a couple of times, with the 6th Will leaving out the Demolition Clause but leaving that out doesn't mean he would agree to have a monument built from his own house. There might be other reasons why he left this demolition clause out but that is not important at all.

Most importantly, the Last Will has reinstated his wish that the house must be demolished, in no uncertain terms.

Thus, you can beat around the bushes and try to give all sorts of excuses to preserve the house, but no, you cannot convince anyone that LKY has changed his mind and would agree to these PAP people creating an altar out of his house and make him God sitting there to be worshipped by others. This is NEVER his wish at all.

Unless, of course, you can prove that the Last Will is invalid, for whatever reasons and does not represent his wish at all. And this could only be PROVEN IN COURT of Law, not in the Parliament circus.

There is nothing legally wrong for the current PAP government under his son PM Lee HL to use administrative force to gazette and acquire the house to build a monument for LKY, even if it is against his (LKY's) wish.

Lee Hsien Yang (sibling)

But you just cannot have the cake and eat it too. By doing so you are doing it AGAINST LKY's wish.

This will not be the last nor the first time PAP government has gone against a dead man's wish but the difference is it is against their own founder's wish.

As far as I am concerned, LKY was pretty consistent over this and his two children, LWL and LHY, have been pretty consistent over this as well.

I only believe in something consistent.

Unless, if and only if, LHL could prove it in court that the Last Will does not represent LKY's wish, then I shall reconsider my position.

[This post is shared here with the kind written permission of Mr Goh Meng Seng. Goh Meng Seng is Secretary-General of the People's Power Party (PPP) and former Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP).]

OPINION: "Question of the Day- To Demolish or Not To Demolish?" By Goh Meng Seng, 19 June 2017

Question of the Day- To Demolish or Not To Demolish? By Goh Meng Seng (Facebook post, 19 June 2017)

In one of the interviews LKY gave with regards to how he witnessed the sorry state of the "historical residence" of famous people (including Shakespeare).

Mr. Goh Meng Seng in NSP days (2011)

I have personally visited some of the "historical houses" of some "great historical individuals" and I have to agree with LKY's observation. Most of these places have succumbed to age and poor maintenance due to lack of funds, subsequently becoming just a dilapidated house.

As time passes and generations of people come and go, nobody is really interested in such "monuments" anymore. Not even foreign tourists would be interested in these places which claim to be an important part of history.

There are a few which were renovated or "rebuilt" a couple of times in the past decades and still stand well but the amount of interest from both local residents and foreign tourists is still pathetic.

Time moves on while these houses look on. Nothing significant can be said about them now and definitely nothing significant is worthy of interest for the majority of people living now.

For example, a relatively well kept memorial house in Singapore would be the "Sun Yat Sen Nanyang Memorial Hall"; but wait, how many of you know where it is or what it is all about? Have you visited it before? How many times have you visited it in your life, on your own (yeah, not that school organized excursion)? In more specific terms, what percentage of Singaporeans have visited this place? Or have any interest in it at all?

You know how expensive will it cost to upkeep such places? Look nowhere beyond the recent saga of over $800K Rubbish Bin of the old Victoria Theatre and Victoria Concert Hall!

The War Memorial Park at the centre of the CBD is more significant than any individual house but yet, not many people visited it, except for the annual delegation of representatives commemorating the deaths in WWII on 15 Feb War Memorial Day, which isn't even a public holiday in Singapore.

Of course for LKY's Oxley house, for the foreseeable future, if it is preserved as a memorial monument for LKY, will have throngs of children visiting it as a deliberate effort of PCF kindergartens bringing their students there just like they did during LKY's death. But what if, 50 or 100 years down the road, PAP loses power? What will become of this place?

Besides, as someone has unwittingly put it blatantly, this house is an important part of PAP's history. Hey, that is PAP's history we are talking about, not particularly about the Whole Singapore's history!

We didn't preserve David Marshall's house as part of important monument for the FIRST Chief Minister of self rule, did we?

In fact under more than five decades of PAP's ruthless rule, many important and significant landmarks have been destroyed, which meant a lot more to many generations of Singaporeans like mine e.g. The old National Central Library: several generations of Singaporeans have visited and studied hard in this library for their subsequent successes in life. And for many, this is also a place of romance in their lives. This is truly a place of great collective memories which was bulldozed without a wink from PAP government.

38 Oxley House? None of us except the Lee family members and their relatives cum friends have visited that place, let alone have any emotional attachment to this house. This is such an insignificant place as compared to the old National Central Library which a lot of Singaporeans have sentimental attachment to and memories of.

Thus, I do not see the rationale nor significance of this Oxley house to be preserved as a monument for LKY. If it is just for story telling of the History of PAP's formation, then a replica of the basement dining area, which was said to have held a lot of political meetings of the pioneers, could be constructed in the National Museum or at Fort Siloso Museum (just like what they did for the Surrender of Singapore to the Japanese). This would be more appropriate than preserving the whole house which will inevitably restrict the urban renewal development of the surrounding areas in Oxley Rise!

[This post is shared here with the kind written permission of Goh Meng Seng. Mr. Goh is Secretary-General of the People's Power Party (PPP) and former Secretary-General of the National Solidarity Party (NSP).]