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“In particular, I was
going to highlight the undemocratic nature of elections in
Singapore at the WMD conference in Istanbul and draw attention to
the corruption of vote-buying of the PAP under the guise of
giving out 'Progress' bonuses. I also wanted the international
democratic forces to know how the PAP is intimidating voters by
linking upgrading of housing estates to the elections.
In
addition, I was also going to seek support for an international
team to come to Singapore to observe the elections.
The PAP is obviously afraid of
adverse international opinion and has thus played dirty again by
impounding my passport and effectively placing me under city
arrest.”
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Chee
prevented from leaving for conference, passport seized
2
Apr 06
On 1
April 2006 at about 10:30 pm, I was at the airport preparing to
leave for Istanbul, Turkey to attend the 4th
Assembly of the World Movement for Democracy (WMD).
However, the Government prevented me from boarding my flight and
impounded my passport. The
immigrations officials informed me that the Official Assignee
(OA) had instructed them to stop my departure.
This is a
violation of my human rights.
Earlier in the week, the
OA’s office had said that I needed to propose a payment
plan to Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok Tong for the $500,000 in
damages that the courts have awarded them in their defamation
suits against me.
I have indicated that from the little
income that I make from selling my books, I need it to support my
family. It doesn’t make sense for me to deprive my children
of their needs in order to pay the two former prime ministers,
who are both multi-millionaires (Mr Lee Kuan Yew could even be a
billionaire), money that they obviously do not need.
After
I said that I had insufficient income to make a proposal to pay
Messrs Lee and Goh, the OA's office then asked me to submit a
breakdown of my monthly income and expenditure so that it could
determine how much I had to pay the two men. It promised that if
I undertook to do so, the OA would consider my travel
application.
I complied and submitted my Income and
Expenditure Statement. But instead of fulfilling its promise, the
OA then shifted its position and again asked me to make a
proposal to pay Lee and Goh before it would consider my travel
application (see exchange of emails below).
It seems clear
that the Mentor Minister Lee and Senior Minister Goh are using
the excuse that I cannot pay them to stop me from traveling.
Effectively, I have become
their captive.
The authorities have little
reason to stop me from traveling. First, I have shown that all
the expenses of my attending the conference in Turkey are borne
by the organizers. I am not using my own money to pay for the
trip.
Second, I have absolutely no intention of leaving
Singapore and not returning. I assure Messrs Lee and Goh that I
will always return to my country to continue fighting for my
fellow citizens.
Hence, there can be only one reason why
the Government is stopping my overseas travel: It is nervous
about my continuing action to garner international support for
the democracy movement in Singapore and to tell the world about
the repressive habits of the PAP.
In particular, I was
going to highlight the undemocratic nature of elections in
Singapore at the WMD conference in Istanbul and draw attention to
the corruption of vote-buying of the PAP under the guise of
giving out “Progress” bonuses. I also wanted the
international democratic forces to know how the PAP is
intimidating voters by linking upgrading of housing estates to
the elections.
In addition, I was also going to seek
support for an international team to come to Singapore to observe
the elections.
The PAP is obviously afraid of adverse
international opinion and has thus played dirty again by
impounding my passport and effectively placing me under city
arrest.
The PAP may have the power to prevent me from
leaving Singapore for the time being, but it will ultimately pay
the price for its continued repression and lack of respect fro
democratic principles and human rights.
CHEE SOON
JUAN
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
1.
Email from OA to Dr Chee on 28 Mar 06
Dear
Dr Chee,
BANKRUPTCY NO.38 OF 2006
We refer
to your application to travel submitted on 20/3/06 and to
your
attendance at our office this morning.
2 When we queried
you on your average monthly income, you informed us
that we
cannot ask you about your income over the counter as you need
time
to recall how much you earned and that you wanted us to
write to you
requesting the said information. You also told us
not to "act cute" when we
explained to you that as
your trustee in bankruptcy, the Official Assignee
has the
right to query you on your affairs as and when necessary.
However,
you told us that every request for information that
the Official Assignee
makes regarding your affairs has to be
written down in "black and white".
3 Enclosed
herewith is the Income & Expenditure Statement for the
period
10/2/06 -28/3/06 for your completion. Please let us have
the
completed Statement by 30/3/06. We will examine your
Income & Expenditure
Statement and thereafter determine
the monthly instalment you are required
to contribute for the
benefit of your creditors. Once you undertake to do
so, the
Official Assignee will consider your application to
travel.
Yours faithfully
MS KALASELVI
RENGASAMY
MANAGER, INDIVIDUAL INSOLVENCY DIVISION
For
OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE
2. Dr Chee submits the Income &
Expenditure Statement on 30 Mar 06
3. Email from OA
to Dr Chee on 31 Mar 06
Dear Dr
Chee,
BANKRUPTCY NO. 38 OF 2006
We refer to your
Income & Expenditure Statement which you submitted
on
30/3/06.
2 We note that you have disclosed that your
present income is
insufficient to pay for your expenses. We
would strongly advise you to be
gainfully employed so that you
can contribute monthly instalment payments
for the benefit of
your creditors.
3 We would also like you to clarify what
you mean by "savings" which
you have disclosed in
Part (II) of your Income & Expenditure Statement.
4 We
note that you have not made any proposal on your
monthly
instalment payments for the benefit of your creditors.
Please let us know
how much you will contribute monthly. As we
mentioned in our earlier
e-mail, only after you undertake to
do so, we will consider your
application to travel.
Yours
faithfully
MS KALASELVI RENGASAMY
MANAGER, INDIVIDUAL
INSOLVENCY DIVISION
For OFFICIAL ASSIGNEE
4.
Email from Dr Chee to OA on 31 Mar 06
Dear Ms
Kalaselvi Rengasamy,
This is what you stated in your
previous email: "Enclosed herewith is the
Income &
Expenditure Statement for the period 10/2/06-28/3/06 for your
completion. Please let us have the completed Statement by
30/3/06. We will
examine your Income & Expenditure
Statement and thereafter determine the
monthly instalment you
are required to contribute for the benefit of your
creditors.
Once you undertake to do so, the Official Assignee will consider
your application to travel."
I have complied with
your request and submitted the Income & Expenditure
Statement. Now you say: "We note that you have not made
any proposal on your
monthly instalment payments for the
benefit of your creditors. Please let us
know how much you
will contribute monthly. As we mentioned in our earlier
e-mail,
only after you undertake to do so, we will consider your
application
to travel."
I have given the
breakdowwn of my expenses and my income in my statement.
You
can see clearly from the figures that I do not have enough funds
to make
monthly payments to Mr Lee Kuan Yew and Mr Goh Chok
Tong. This is why I am
unable, as I have stated repeatedly,
to make any proposal for monthly
payments.
Sincerely,
CHEE
SOON JUAN
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