Apr 3, 2009
Philip, your dad just slapped me
Dear Mr Philip Jeyaretnam
We forward you an email from one of us at Civic Advocator. Thank you.
Dear Philip
I have just finished reading from cover to cover the book, Make It Right for Singapore, written by your father.
I now feel as if he had risen from the grave and gave me a couple of good slaps on my face. I thought you should know this.
Mr J B Jeyaretnam is not someone that I do not recognise. I saw him a couple of times outside MRT stations, waving perhaps the book that I have just finished reading, and screaming at the top of his voice things that I could not remember.
Naturally, I scurried hastily away from him. Having fed all these years with stuff from The Straits Times, I thought it was smart of me not to go near this man or risk being associated with the guy who was trying to hold on to his dear pant as he contested one defamation suit after another (I am writing this as a figure of speech, and I do not mean Mr Jeyaretnam was not properly attired. I am being extra careful here since I am dealing with a Senior Counsel).
I have now read his book of speeches. I thought it would have been better that he pulled me aside then and told me, “Look punk, read my damn book.” I could have then read the book and perhaps found a way to offer him some kind of help. On the other hand, I could have been a coward and just scoot off faster. But Mr Jeyaretnam might not have cornered me in the first place, because perhaps he belonged to a certain breed of gentlemen who would never want to stuff things down others’ throats, unlike the way things are done by some others that we know. Anyway, there is no merit for speculation. It is all water under the bridge now.
Back to you dad’s book. As I said, I finally have the chance to read it, thanks to a friend who gave the book to me. And this is what is going on in my mind right now.
Mr Jeyaretnam must have felt terribly lonely all those times, as he spoke one man against the rest in Singapore Parliament, to advocate for more transparency and accountability on the part of the government, and justice and fairness for the people. He argued for the dismantling of structures, institutions and electoral rules and systems which appeared, in his view, to serve the interest of the dominant political party PAP rather than the interest of Singapore and its people. He asked our government to remove obsolete laws such as the ISA to free people from their fear, so that people are able to participate in discussions, debates and constructive criticism, for the sake of the progress of Singapore.
Whether Mr Jeyaretnam was doing this because he loved the country or because he was getting back at a somebody, I would not know and I do not care. All I can see is that, as he raged and ranted about issues (and some of them made a heck lot of sense to me), some of the other guys in Parliament either ignored him, looked the other way, jeered at him, or held back their opinion because maybe they cared more about their personal vested interest (read: multi-million dollar salary) than what is good for Singapore.
That is why, as I read his lonesome speeches through the pages of his book, I felt that I was repeatedly slapped by this remarkable man, who persisted in fighting for his cause, something that he thought was the right thing for him to do, even though he was financially destroyed during the process.
I felt ashamed. If only I had just stopped to at least listen to what he had to say as he yelled at us outside the MRT. Why did I not give him my ear for 10 precious minute of my life, when the man gave almost his entire life for the cause that he believed in? The fact is, I have seen him several times and I did not bother to stop once to listen. I am feeling ****ing remorseful now.
I learned many other things from the book. Mr Jeyaretnam cited many quotes from all over the world on democracy, freedom and the rule of the law. One of the most instructive segment of the book was on page 142:
And so the Barons gathered to put an end to this rule by the Monarch without any law and they passed a number of declarations. These declarations were later accepted by the Monarch, Henry III, I think and came to be known as the Magna Carta, the great Charter.
Wikipedia has this to say about Magna Carta:
Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights (pertaining to nobles and barons), respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King’s subjects, whether free or fettered—most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.
Philip, I am a practical guy. I am not good at banter or inspirational speeches. I just try to get things done. I notice that Henry III (if your Dad was correct) stopped his nonsense after a group of Barons stood up and effectively asked the King to back off. See? The King listened only after the Barons, the rich and powerful guys spoke, not the small potatoes. Therefore, to me, to stop some of the nonsense that I am seeing in Singapore, one hope for the rest of us is when some of the rich guys in town decide that they are done with just making money for now, and they want to focus on doing something to stop some of the nonsense in Singapore.
Philip, you are a big lawyer working in a big law firm. I am sure you come across some high net worth individuals. I am sure they know who you are. Maybe some of these guys want to do the right thing, but they need just a little nudge from you? Perhaps you could start by giving them a present, a copy of your father’s book, and hopefully some of them will eventually read the book, like how I eventually did? If you are already doing that, I say, “continue the good work.”. If not, then I say “if you never try, you will never know. Don’t be shy.” Unless, of course, you are actually in the process of working out a migration plan. Then there is really nothing else that I want to say.
Mr Jeyaretnam’s book also contains good legal advice for a layman like me. Chapter 19, titled “Presumption of innocence - The right of accused persons” supplies many useful tips on what to do when the police pays people a visit. At least I now know that the first thing I need to do is to ask “Friend, what are the charges against me?” followed by “Wait, I need my lawyer, and you better don’t ask me to blindly follow you back to police station, or else my lawyer can tell you and your boss a lot of things later.” I have also learnt that if I ever land myself in court (heaven forbids that, of course), I’d be better off engaging a lawyer to tell the Judge as many stories as possible, and not to assume that if I keep silent, I am presumed innocent. It is particularly scary to read the part on the possibility of how, in Singapore, other people who are being charged can save their own skin by implicating me and getting me in trouble before the law, even when there is no direct proof that I have done anything wrong. Solution: I better make friends with more lawyers in times of peace.
I believe that you father’s book deserved to be read by Singaporeans. I’d like to tell you that there is Internet which can make it very easy for people to get your dad’s book. Just a couple of mouse click and the entire book goes to your PC in the form of a PDF file. I hope someone could approach the publisher of your dad’s book, to check if such an electronic version of the book could be made available, for people to download it from websites such as Civic Advocator. Of course, if people wish to donate money during the process, I am sure arrangement could be made to share the proceeds with the publisher. The copyright mumbo jumbo relating to internet distribution of books could get quite messy. But I believe you could help, if you want to.
Philip, I also want you to know that I am glad your dad slapped me. In fact, the slapping has just sharpened my vision and I can see things much clearer now. For that, I wish to thank your dad, albeit belatedly, for all the speeches that he made in Parliament for the people of Singapore.
Finally, I wish you and your family the best of spirits and health. Like how your brother Kenneth described in his eulogy for Mr JBJ, I am sure that you feel lucky and proud to carry the name of a man like JBJ.
I write you this email to let you know that there are people like us around. I hope you could choose to help people like us, because, in your own words, no matter who we are, we can do something, we must do something, to make the world a better place. Please consider my ebook idea.
Yours truly
Arthur
Philip, your dad just slapped me
Dear Mr Philip Jeyaretnam
We forward you an email from one of us at Civic Advocator. Thank you.
Dear Philip
I have just finished reading from cover to cover the book, Make It Right for Singapore, written by your father.
I now feel as if he had risen from the grave and gave me a couple of good slaps on my face. I thought you should know this.
Mr J B Jeyaretnam is not someone that I do not recognise. I saw him a couple of times outside MRT stations, waving perhaps the book that I have just finished reading, and screaming at the top of his voice things that I could not remember.
Naturally, I scurried hastily away from him. Having fed all these years with stuff from The Straits Times, I thought it was smart of me not to go near this man or risk being associated with the guy who was trying to hold on to his dear pant as he contested one defamation suit after another (I am writing this as a figure of speech, and I do not mean Mr Jeyaretnam was not properly attired. I am being extra careful here since I am dealing with a Senior Counsel).
I have now read his book of speeches. I thought it would have been better that he pulled me aside then and told me, “Look punk, read my damn book.” I could have then read the book and perhaps found a way to offer him some kind of help. On the other hand, I could have been a coward and just scoot off faster. But Mr Jeyaretnam might not have cornered me in the first place, because perhaps he belonged to a certain breed of gentlemen who would never want to stuff things down others’ throats, unlike the way things are done by some others that we know. Anyway, there is no merit for speculation. It is all water under the bridge now.
Back to you dad’s book. As I said, I finally have the chance to read it, thanks to a friend who gave the book to me. And this is what is going on in my mind right now.
Mr Jeyaretnam must have felt terribly lonely all those times, as he spoke one man against the rest in Singapore Parliament, to advocate for more transparency and accountability on the part of the government, and justice and fairness for the people. He argued for the dismantling of structures, institutions and electoral rules and systems which appeared, in his view, to serve the interest of the dominant political party PAP rather than the interest of Singapore and its people. He asked our government to remove obsolete laws such as the ISA to free people from their fear, so that people are able to participate in discussions, debates and constructive criticism, for the sake of the progress of Singapore.
Whether Mr Jeyaretnam was doing this because he loved the country or because he was getting back at a somebody, I would not know and I do not care. All I can see is that, as he raged and ranted about issues (and some of them made a heck lot of sense to me), some of the other guys in Parliament either ignored him, looked the other way, jeered at him, or held back their opinion because maybe they cared more about their personal vested interest (read: multi-million dollar salary) than what is good for Singapore.
That is why, as I read his lonesome speeches through the pages of his book, I felt that I was repeatedly slapped by this remarkable man, who persisted in fighting for his cause, something that he thought was the right thing for him to do, even though he was financially destroyed during the process.
I felt ashamed. If only I had just stopped to at least listen to what he had to say as he yelled at us outside the MRT. Why did I not give him my ear for 10 precious minute of my life, when the man gave almost his entire life for the cause that he believed in? The fact is, I have seen him several times and I did not bother to stop once to listen. I am feeling ****ing remorseful now.
I learned many other things from the book. Mr Jeyaretnam cited many quotes from all over the world on democracy, freedom and the rule of the law. One of the most instructive segment of the book was on page 142:
And so the Barons gathered to put an end to this rule by the Monarch without any law and they passed a number of declarations. These declarations were later accepted by the Monarch, Henry III, I think and came to be known as the Magna Carta, the great Charter.
Wikipedia has this to say about Magna Carta:
Magna Carta required King John of England to proclaim certain rights (pertaining to nobles and barons), respect certain legal procedures, and accept that his will could be bound by the law. It explicitly protected certain rights of the King’s subjects, whether free or fettered—most notably the writ of habeas corpus, allowing appeal against unlawful imprisonment.
Philip, I am a practical guy. I am not good at banter or inspirational speeches. I just try to get things done. I notice that Henry III (if your Dad was correct) stopped his nonsense after a group of Barons stood up and effectively asked the King to back off. See? The King listened only after the Barons, the rich and powerful guys spoke, not the small potatoes. Therefore, to me, to stop some of the nonsense that I am seeing in Singapore, one hope for the rest of us is when some of the rich guys in town decide that they are done with just making money for now, and they want to focus on doing something to stop some of the nonsense in Singapore.
Philip, you are a big lawyer working in a big law firm. I am sure you come across some high net worth individuals. I am sure they know who you are. Maybe some of these guys want to do the right thing, but they need just a little nudge from you? Perhaps you could start by giving them a present, a copy of your father’s book, and hopefully some of them will eventually read the book, like how I eventually did? If you are already doing that, I say, “continue the good work.”. If not, then I say “if you never try, you will never know. Don’t be shy.” Unless, of course, you are actually in the process of working out a migration plan. Then there is really nothing else that I want to say.
Mr Jeyaretnam’s book also contains good legal advice for a layman like me. Chapter 19, titled “Presumption of innocence - The right of accused persons” supplies many useful tips on what to do when the police pays people a visit. At least I now know that the first thing I need to do is to ask “Friend, what are the charges against me?” followed by “Wait, I need my lawyer, and you better don’t ask me to blindly follow you back to police station, or else my lawyer can tell you and your boss a lot of things later.” I have also learnt that if I ever land myself in court (heaven forbids that, of course), I’d be better off engaging a lawyer to tell the Judge as many stories as possible, and not to assume that if I keep silent, I am presumed innocent. It is particularly scary to read the part on the possibility of how, in Singapore, other people who are being charged can save their own skin by implicating me and getting me in trouble before the law, even when there is no direct proof that I have done anything wrong. Solution: I better make friends with more lawyers in times of peace.
I believe that you father’s book deserved to be read by Singaporeans. I’d like to tell you that there is Internet which can make it very easy for people to get your dad’s book. Just a couple of mouse click and the entire book goes to your PC in the form of a PDF file. I hope someone could approach the publisher of your dad’s book, to check if such an electronic version of the book could be made available, for people to download it from websites such as Civic Advocator. Of course, if people wish to donate money during the process, I am sure arrangement could be made to share the proceeds with the publisher. The copyright mumbo jumbo relating to internet distribution of books could get quite messy. But I believe you could help, if you want to.
Philip, I also want you to know that I am glad your dad slapped me. In fact, the slapping has just sharpened my vision and I can see things much clearer now. For that, I wish to thank your dad, albeit belatedly, for all the speeches that he made in Parliament for the people of Singapore.
Finally, I wish you and your family the best of spirits and health. Like how your brother Kenneth described in his eulogy for Mr JBJ, I am sure that you feel lucky and proud to carry the name of a man like JBJ.
I write you this email to let you know that there are people like us around. I hope you could choose to help people like us, because, in your own words, no matter who we are, we can do something, we must do something, to make the world a better place. Please consider my ebook idea.
Yours truly
Arthur
