Non-Stop Lynching of Gopalan Nair by PAPee!

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>Lawyer Nair now accused of contempt of court
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->The Singapore Government is going to take former Singaporean lawyer Gopalan Nair to court again. It is accusing him of contempt of court.
The move by the Attorney-General (A-G) comes less than two months after Nair, who is now an American citizen, was jailed for insulting a High Court judge.
This time, the 58-year-old is alleged to have said, among other things, 'that the courts were being abused for political ends'.
He made the statements on his blog and during his recent trial for using abusive words on police officers and disorderly behaviour, said the Attorney-General's Chambers (AGC) in an online statement.
It added that the A-G has applied to the court to start contempt proceedings against Nair.
The statement noted that Nair was tried before District Judge James Leong Kui Yiu in a subordinate court for offences under the Miscellaneous Offences (Public Order and Nuisance) Act.
During the trial, held on various dates between July 24 and Sept 5, Nair 'attacked the independence and impartiality of the Singapore Judiciary and District Judge Leong by stating, inter alia, that the courts were being abused for political ends', said the AGC.
He also 'attacked the independence and impartiality of the Singapore Judiciary and District Judge Leong in his blog Singapore Dissident', it added.
These were allegedly made in two postings: the first was dated Sept 1 and the other, Sept 6.
The earlier posting was titled 'Another classic case of trying to use the courts to silence dissent' and the other, 'Convicted'.
Said the AGC: 'Through such conduct, (Nair) has engaged in a deliberate and calculated course of action to impugn the reputation of and undermine public confidence in the Singapore Judiciary, and to lower its authority in the administration of justice in Singapore.'
Nair had been fined $3,000 by District Judge Leong and later, in a separate case, was given a three-month jail term for insulting High Court judge Belinda Ang in his blog posting on May 29.
It was written shortly after he attended a hearing in Singapore over which she had presided.
The hearing was to assess damages in a defamation suit Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew won against the Singapore Democratic Party, its chief Chee Soon Juan and his sister Chee Siok Chin. Nair went to jail on Sept 20.

 

[makapaaa]

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=0 width="100%" border=0><TBODY><TR>S'pore will see more political openness: PM
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<!-- START OF : div id="storytext"--><!-- more than 4 paragraphs -->In quick succession, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was peppered with questions on the local political scene by youth. They related mainly to leadership renewal, opening up of political space and whether Singapore needs a stronger opposition.
Their interest appeared to surprise Mr Lee who noted that most Singaporeans tend to focus more on landing a job after their studies.
<TABLE width=200 align=left valign="top"><TBODY><TR><TD class=padr8><!-- Vodcast --><!-- Background Story --><STYLE type=text/css> #related .quote {background-color:#E7F7FF; padding:8px;margin:0px 0px 5px 0px;} #related .quote .headline {font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size:10px;font-weight:bold; border-bottom:3px double #007BFF; color:#036; text-transform:uppercase; padding-bottom:5px;} #related .quote .text {font-size:11px;color:#036;padding:5px 0px;} </STYLE>Two different approaches

'If MM Lee has his druthers, when it comes to the COEs and ERP and so on, he will say 'Forget about the ERP. Just squeeze on the COEs, don't let them buy cars, then they can't complain. Have the unhappiness once, done with it'.

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</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>However, when probed later, only a few among the 17- to 35-year-olds appeared to take an active interest in current political issues. This was found when Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan, who was moderating the 80-minute dialogue, carried out a little test.
He asked the 150 youth to give a show of hands on whether they watch the parliamentary debates or TV news regularly. Fewer than 10 hands went up.
The outcome led Dr Balakrishnanto wonder why the youth were asking for more political plurality, like more platforms for them to hear views from both the opposition and the ruling People's Action Party (PAP).
'What's missing now and why is it missing?' he asked.
Undergraduate Andrew Wong felt he had the answer.
The final-year student at Singapore Management University and president of the Students Association said if youth have a greater sense of political ownership, it could spark more interest among them on political issues, instead of being concerned only about examinations, scholarships or jobs.
But there is a stumbling block because he felt there is a social stigma associated with the opposition. So, is there a need for a credible opposition in Singapore, he asked Mr Lee.
Yes, said the Prime Minister, in order to keep the PAP on its toes and prevent it from going 'soft'.
He also said the Government is on the constant lookout for people with minds of their own, who may not necessarily agree with the ministers but are prepared to argue their case 'doggedly'.
The reason is Singapore is a pragmatic country that prides good ideas over ideologies, he added.
He also assured the youth that Singapore will see more political openness.
'It's necessary as society evolves and environment changes that we adjust our rules and allow a greater degree of expression and flexibility without having a totally chaotic and uncontrollable situation.'
That means doing it in a stable way, he added.
Raffles Junior College student Zhou Penghui, 17, said he has one big worry: How can Singapore unearth its future political leaders? The search is unending and unrelenting, Mr Lee said, which means combing all segments of Singapore society for people with diverse skills and talents.