|
|
|
Chee
replies to PAP supporters: Is the life of a Singaporean that
cheap compared to a foreigner's?
25
Nov 05
Below
is the letter Dr Chee Soon Juan sent to Today
and Straits Times
in reply to letters published in the newspapers' forum pages on
24 Nov 05.
I
am not surprised that the Government-controlled media has again
portrayed me as a “traitor” out to “undermine”
Singapore. This is exactly the tactic the press is adopting with
the flurry of letters published. (24 Nov 2005)
It merely
confirms my suspicion that the Government cannot answer the
questions and arguments that I and other Singaporeans have raised
about the execution of small-time drug couriers. As a result, it
resorts to labeling me as a traitor in the belief that if you
smear the messenger, you don’t have to address the message.
It’s an age-old tactic.
Singapore
is reported to be the biggest business partner of Burma with
US$1.5 billion worth of investments. Former US Assistant
Secretary of State Robert Gelbard stated that “since 1998
over half of [the investments from] Singapore have been
tied to the family of narco-trafficker Lo Hsing Han.''
There
are reports that Lo Hsing Han now operates a deepwater
port in Rangoon and a highway from the center of Burma's
poppy–growing region to the China border, facilities
well-suited for exporting drugs.
Remember, the drugs that
flow from Burma are ones that our youth consume. If the PAP is
really concerned about the scourge of drug abuse, why did it do
business with a notorious drug lord and, hypocritically, take the
moral high ground by executing drug couriers many of whom are
Singaporeans.
Let me ask the questions that I have been
asking since 1997: Will the Government open its books so that we
can verify if our GIC funds are still invested in projects linked
with Lo Hsing Han? What steps has the Government taken to
pressure the Burmese regime to crackdown on drug kingpins like
Lo? Why does our Government continue to trade with the Burmese
junta when it has been shown that the military has close ties
with narco-producers like Lo?
In
addition, Singapore has been fingered in the laundering of
Burma’s drug money. Bruce Hawke, an expert on
narco-trafficking in Burma, wrote: “The entry [of drug
money] to the legitimate global banking system is not Burma but
Singapore.” Is this true?
I have been raising these
questions since 1997 but each time the local media assiduously
blacks them out. Other arguments against the mandatory death
penalty for drug peddlers raised by people like Dr Anthony Yeo,
Mr J B Jeyaretnam, Mr M Ravi, Mr Alex Au, Mr Sinapan Samydorai,
and Brother Michael Broughton have similarly been censored.
The
same arguments were raised when a Singaporean, Mr Shanmugam s/o
Murugesu, was executed in May this year. I brought up the
Singapore-Burma affair then when we were fighting to save Mr
Shanmugam as I am doing now for Mr Nguyen Van Tuong.
The
only reason why this issue has gained more prominence now is
because the Australian media, which unlike its Singapore
counterpart are not controlled by the state, have seen it
necessary to highlight it.
Criticising our government for
killing small-time drug peddlers while doing business with drug
lords is necessary. Whether it is a Singaporean or an Australian
who is going to dangle at the end of the rope is immaterial. A
life is a life and if we are going to take it, let us be
absolutely clear of the excruciating hypocrisy that currently
exists.
Ms Siow Jia Rui argues that Singapore’s laws
must be allowed to “run their course” and that “no
other country has a right to interfere.” If that is the
case then why was the charge for Ms Julia Bohl reduced after the
German ambassador and government had mounted a diplomatic
campaign on her behalf, meeting several senior Singaporean
ministers in the process. Within months several of the charges
were dropped and the amount of drugs she was accused of carrying
was reduced from 687g to 281g. She escaped the gallows and served
about three years for her crime. Is this not outside interference
in Singapore’s justice system?
Ms
Siow continues that laws in Singapore are “applied fairly
across the board to Singaporeans and foreigners alike.” The
life of Julia Bohl, a German, was spared because of pressure from
the German Government. What about the life of Mr Shanmugam, a
Singaporean who served in the army and did Singapore proud by
winning medals in ski competitions? Ms Bohl served three years in
prison but Mr Shanmugam was hanged. Is a Singaporean’s life
so cheap compared to a foreigner’s?
I have no doubt
that when Singaporeans come to hear both sides of the debate, a
debate that the media is determined to quash, they will reject
the hypocrisy and discrimination of the PAP Government.
CHEE SOON
JUAN
Secretary-General
Singapore Democratic Party
|
|
