Hi
Alex Au of Yawning Bread has written an excellent exposition about the Singapore Democratic Party.
Please read it. It very succinctly discusses both sides of the coin. That SDP is a trouble-maker or a change agent. A villain or a victim?
Let me say that my mind is still not made up about them. My brain-washed mind wishes that they are less confrontational but my heart says that maybe they are pushed to the wall and have few alternatives to what they are doing.
But don’t let anyone decide for you. Think it through yourself!
I had previously written something about the Politics of Retreat that Alex and Russel Heng ( a academic) had alluded to :
1.click here (Retreat from Power: Who will lead us?)
2. click here ( Havel,Walesa,Tutu: Living Proof that evil does not always triumph)
Happy reading.
Dr.Huang Shoou Chyuan
7 comments:
I feel that they should be less confrontational.
their current situation is due to their actions and the leadership of chee.
change will come eventually.
for the moment, i feel singaporeans are still capitalistic and too concerned on how to make ends meet to feel.
we are like rabbits in watership down by graham greene... the ones who are fed and killed eventually.
"Less confrontational" should rightly be attributed to the PAP/Lees, and not SDP. Look who is doing the harassing, the arresting, the sueing, and the jailing?
S'poreans need to get their heads round the fact that unjust laws are simply ... rubbish. Ask yourself what do you do when someone 'confronts' you with unjust laws?
Well you can do the obvious choice of emigrating to another place.
of course another option has happened through the course of history. which is conflict and violence.
Hi Shimure:
Watership down was by Richard Adam .I agree that Singaporeans have been trained ( or brainwashed) to think that economics/materialism is everything and that human rights are for the liberal-types.
However about your comment about migrating as a way out- I think anonymous has the right to complain that perhaps the govt should be more-inclusive and thereby less confrontational. My personal opinion is that both SDP/govt should try to be ore mature and agree to disagree instead of trying to destroy each other.
Trying to improve society involves uncomfortable change and sometimes even violence and conflict. Eg French Revolution/American War of Independence/Civil rights movements in US. I think all will agree that these movements/violence were necessary.
anonymous:I have still not decided what are our unjust laws and what to do about them. Thanks
Dear Dr Huang
You said, "I have still not decided what are our unjust laws and what to do about them."
Let me help you off with a slow start. When four persons cannot get together for a peaceful demonstration, the law is plainly wrong. When someone is jailed for selling a party newspaper, the law is again plainly wrong. Is it so difficult to see?
Or do you think it's a small matter, that it doesn't affect you anyway? Let's see here. When Dr Chee is jailed for selling his newspaper, I am unable to read his views. Me! Me! Me! -- Not Dr Chee. The law is being used against Me, not just against Dr Chee. And, in case you are still too slow to realise, the law is used against You! You! You! You!
I'm sure you are unable to read Dr Chee's newsletter. That proves that the law has been used against You. And you still did not realise it. I hope you realise it now.
Being unable to read Dr Chee's newsletter, your only source of information is the PAP media. If you still do not realise how twisted the official media here is, then you and I can never have a meaningful exchange - you might as well stop reading my post right now.
The law against peaceful demonstration and the law against selling of party newsletter have been used against ALL OF US, for we are all deprived of the knowledge that Dr Chee and those demonstrators are trying to tell us. Don't just imagine that the law has been used against those four people. In stopping those four people, the law has effectively been used against the 4 million of us.
And if you imagine you have alternative media in the internet, then you have misjudged how thoroughly the PAP internet brigade have muddied up the information in the internet. The proof of the pudding is in the eating. What you have written is proof to me that the PAP internet brigade has been successful in blocking the truth from you. That's my opinion, of course.
Take for example the current hot issue of Gopalan Nair. The actions of the authorities have been entirely wrong. And the media has been entirely untruthful in reporting. If you read the alternative accounts given in the blogs of Dr Chee and Gopalan Nair, then you will see the true picture.
But if you do not read the blogs of Dr Chee and Gopalan Nair, then please take a moment to contemplate why you have the foolishness to have made your unfounded comments on those two gentlemen.
Dear Dr Huang
To continue... coming back to topic.
I have suggested two laws which are clearly wrong. They look at first like small matters, but the reality is they are Huge. So what are we going to do about that?
Hi Robert,
It may surprise you that I do read the SDP’s blog as well as Gopalan Nair’s blog.
I reserve my judgement on Dr. Chee in spite of this.
As for Mr. Nair, I have already made up on mind on him. It might disappointment you ( and many other bloggers) if I were to publicly state my honest-to-goodness opinion about him. All I can say is that he is getting exactly what he wants now.
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