It was a memorable and bold moment in Singapore journalism. Earlier this week, a dogged reporter's patience and persistence combined with a brave editor's decision to throw caution to the wind ended in an exclusive that brought back memories of the good old days of old-fashioned reporting — and put the government in an embarrassing spot.
The Chinese evening newspaper, Lianhe Wanbao, went ahead with a report on the corruption investigations into the activities of two top public service officers — Singapore Civil Defence Force chief Peter Lim Sin Pang and Central Narcotics Bureau chief Ng Boon Gay — without a government confirmation. It named names and gave details, like the involvement of a woman in the scandal, knowing fully well that there was a chance — a very small chance, maybe — that it could get some important details wrong.
When the government statement came — on the same day but after the paper had published the report — the news had already caught fire with the on-line world hammering out posts and reports and raising pointed issues that ranged from transparency to arrogance.
The most damaging statement, unintended though it was, came from the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau. In response to media queries, it said that the narcotics man was arrested on Dec 19 and the civil defence boss on Jan 4, many days before the government put out its statement on Jan 24.
It was too long a lapse and was made worse by the rapid-fire news cycle punishing even those who take a couple of hours to come out with its side of the story.
Why this long delay?
In response to a query by The Straits Times, the government said the investigations are continuing and "it is only fair that we accord the officers assisting with investigations a fair hearing in accordance with the civil service disciplinary process and the law."
It is understandable that you want to give those involved, especially when the investigations are still on-going, a good shot at fair play. That occasion passed when the two were arrested. That was the moment when officialdom should have bitten the bullet and said: The tipping point has been reached. And we have to go public with the story.
But it remained silent until the unlikeliest of sources — the traditional media, fed by a regular diet of press releases and official speeches — put the story in the public domain.
The end result: A government caught with its back against the wall and in a reactive mode.
High pay and low corruption
When the Parliamentary debate on political salaries took place from Jan 16 to 18, the one critical point that never came up was that of a clean Cabinet and civil service. The silence on this issue was understandable because corruption in high places in government is extremely rare. But this new development, where two very senior public service officials were under investigation for "serious personal misconduct", could have been brought up and could have added a new dimension to the debate.
The salary-corruption link is important. High pay was one way to discourage officials from wanting to have their palms greased. Lee Kuan Yew highlighted
that point when he pushed vigorously for top salaries. No reasonable-minded Singaporean would have expected a corrupt-free public service, even with high pay; those who want to get round the laws will always find loopholes to exploit.
But you can make sure that corruption cases are as rare as possible. And that corrupt officials, once exposed, will face the full brunt of the law.
Even ministers have not been spared. Former National Development Minister Teh Cheang Wan, who was praised by Lee Kuan Yew a number of times, chose to end his life when he faced the heat of an unyielding group of anti-corruption officers way back in the 1980s.
Making the CPIB report directly to the PMO gives them the latitude and freedom to investigate even the high and mighty without too many encumbrances.
All these could have made the Parliamentary debate more meaningful and relevant. But an opportunity to explain the historical backdrop and context to Singapore's war on corruption was lost.
The ruling party kept silent; so did the Opposition. I am more inclined to sympathise with the members of the Opposition because there was no way for them to have information on the latest investigations.
Lessons not learnt
Since GE 2011, the government seems to be on its backfoot with communication blunders becoming a regular occurrence. From the Mas Selamat case (official statement was issued four hours after the terrorist escaped from the Internal Security Department's detention centre) to the wrong signatures on YOG appreciation certificates (Minister Vivian Balakrishnan said that it was an embarrassment but not a disaster) to the PAP's electoral defeat in Aljunied (Lee Kuan Yew warned residents that they will repent if Opposition won), it is clear that the government has yet to get a handle on how to communicate effectively in a new world.
That is really strange. This is not a stupid government, it has done a lot of good things for its people, it is respected overseas and its model of governance is highly sought after.
Yet, one of the basic attributes of a smart government -- squaring with its citizens and carrying them along -- seems to be missing.
P N Balji
[UPDATED 28 Jan, 9am, with reax from DPM Teo, PSC probe details]
No one is above the law.
PM Lee on CPIB probe: We’ll pursue and settle matter one way or another
By Jeanette Tan
That was the clear message that rang out from Davos, Switzerland, where Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong is attending a meeting of the G20-countries.
Speaking to local media there, PM Lee said in no uncertain terms on Friday morning that his government will follow through on Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) investigations into the alleged misconduct by top public officials Peter Lim and Ng Boon Gay. Lim is ex-Singapore Civil Defence Force Commissioner while Ng used to lead the Central Narcotics Bureau.
“Whoever he is, whichever position he occupies, we will pursue the matter and settle it one way or another,” PM Lee was quoted as saying in The Straits Times.
“If he did wrong, he must be punished,” he continued. “If he did nothing wrong, he must be exonerated.”
It was the Singapore leader's first comments on the high-profile CPIB probe which has gripped the nation.
Separately, Deputy PM Teo Chee Hean also said he was "quite disappointed these two cases had arisen."
Speaking on the sidelines of a Chinese New Year event in Singapore late on Friday, DPM Teo was quoted in The Straits Times that "nevertheless, it does demonstrate the strength of our system, which is that any such allegations will be fully and thoroughly investigated."
It has since also emerged that the two former chiefs of the CPIB and CNB -- both high-flying public service officers and former government scholarship holders -- are also facing disciplinary action by the Public Service Commission (PSC), reported ST.
Earlier on Friday, the Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) also said there was “no delay” in releasing news of the CPIB probe to the public.
The MHA has been under scrutiny for why news of the probe was only made public after Chinese daily Lianhe Wanbao broke the story earlier this week on 24 Jan.
But in a statement issued Friday afternoon, the MHA said that it is “normal procedure” for people to be arrested if the CPIB suspected they had committed an offence. The arrested individual can also be released on bail, although he or she will be required to return for further investigation, it added.
“At that point in time (when Ng and Lim were arrested, released on bail and placed on leave), it was premature to make any announcement as CPIB investigations had just started and the outcome was not known,” the statement said. “Furthermore, a public announcement at that point could compromise CPIB investigations,” it added.
The MHA explained it was only on 20 January that the CPIB informed them that they had found sufficient basis for the ministry to consider civil service disciplinary action for misconduct.
They then relieved them of their duties and started disciplinary action five days later, appointing replacements Eric Yap and Ng Ser Song to Lim’s and Ng’s respective posts.
MHA said it had planned to make news of the probe public on 25 January, but ended up advancing its media release a day earlier after the Chinese daily broke the story on Tuesday.
“Due process has to be followed to facilitate investigations, to be fair to officers accused, and to avoid prejudicing any legal or disciplinary proceedings,” the MHA said.
Meanwhile, more information has emerged about the still-unidentified female IT executive who is believed to be involved with Ng and Lim.
The two top-ranking public officials currently being investigated by the CPIB are believed to have on separate occasions had sex with the 36-year-old woman, reported The Straits Times (ST). All three, the paper stated, are married, and Ng and Lim are believed to have both admitted during questioning to having improper relationships with a woman.
The broadsheet reported that the woman was a sales director at a Japanese multinational company that provides business-scale IT storage systems, but moved to an American software firm about six months ago. The woman’s friends and contacts also told the paper that she is “tall, slim, long-haired and vivacious”.
However, Lianhe Wanbao reported that she is in her 40s, and had been divorced from her husband, a Mr Yong, since 10 years ago. According to the tabloid, she also has two children, and apparently has the nickname “pretty woman”.
The evening daily also reported that in her previous position at the Japanese company, the woman entertained clients and accompanied them on golf and overseas trips.
Ng has known the woman in question for more than three years, and is believed to have been close to her since the start of 2009, ST said. CPIB’s investigations were said to be around two IT-related procurement contracts, valued at approximately $350,000, that Ng signed, and which underwent the regular process of awarding tenders.
The broadsheet also reported that the Japanese company the woman worked for was subcontracted by the two firms which were awarded the tenders.
In the meantime, Lim and Ng are said to be seeking legal assistance, and another six senior Singapore Civil Defence Force officers, together with employees from the IT sector are assisting with the CPIB investigation, reported the paper
Saturday, January 28, 2012
Sunday, January 22, 2012
Social mobility - Singapore
Today online
Mobility in S'pore 'higher than previously thought'
by Neo Chai Chin 04:46 AM Jan 13, 2012
SINGAPORE - Having poor or less-educated fathers does not necessarily mean their sons will fare similarly, according to a study by a Ministry of Finance economist.
Using the income records of about 39,500 father-son pairs from the Department of Statistics, the study has found inter-generational mobility in incomes and educational attainment to be "moderate to high", and higher than levels in the United States.
The correlation between measures of fathers' incomes and those of their sons is 0.22 to 0.30, depending on whether annual or monthly incomes were used. The number typically varies between 0 and 1, with a higher value implying lower mobility.
A 1992 US study found a correlation score of 0.4 and concluded inter-generational mobility there to be "relatively low".
The Singapore study tried to measure the incomes of fathers and sons as close to the middle of the life cycle as possible: Cohorts of eldest sons born from 1969 to 1978 and their mean employment income in 2008, and their fathers' mean employment incomes between 1996 and 2000.
Daughters and younger sons were left out, in line with comparable studies to avoid gender or birth-order biases in child investments, and also because daughters' incomes may be complicated by events such as childbirth and marriage.
Despite recording relatively high levels of mobility, the study by Ministry of Finance economist Yip Chun Seng noted "some evidence, though not strong, of lower mobility among the poor".
The report found mobility levels here higher than that found in two previous studies here using smaller sample sizes. Titled Intergenerational Income Mobility In Singapore and available on the MOF's website, it cited increased educational opportunities in the 1960s to 1980s as a possible reason for the relative mobility. NEO CHAI CHIN
Time to rethink social compact: Economists
by Ng Jing Yng 07:06 AM Jan 17, 2012
SINGAPORE - The Government needs to rethink its social compact as the income gap widens and social mobility slows down, some prominent economists here have argued in a paper.
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) paper, Inequality and the Need for a New Social Compact, was written by six economists, including Mr Manu Bhaskaran, an adjunct senior research fellow at IPS, Mr Donald Low, a former senior civil servant at the Ministry of Finance, and Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, who was formerly a managing director and chief economist at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
The paper, which was shared yesterday at IPS' annual Singapore Perspectives conference, noted that "the fruits of growth are distributed more unevenly than before".
The authors said that key policies - in the areas of social security, healthcare, housing, education and infrastructure - had been designed for a "youthful population and steady economic growth".
Against such a backdrop, emphasis was placed on several tenets, including individual responsibility, and public housing was seen as an instrument of redistribution - all of which had worked out well. "(But) this benign context is now changing profoundly," the authors said.
With a maturing economy, an ageing population and erratic economic growth, it has become more difficult for Singapore to achieve equitable growth, and gaps in accessing primary needs are emerging.
The current social compact would not be sufficient "in the face of the changes unleashed by globalisation, rapid technological change, and our own policies", said the study.
There is a need for a social compact that strikes a better balance between growth and equity and between individual responsibility and social insurance, which will also reflect changes in the domestic political landscape, said the authors.
Such a compact would "foster a more cohesive, less polarised society where citizens have an interest in pursuing the common good even if it means near-term sacrifices".
The previous economic crisis has resulted in the need for an "activist government" to correct market failures in key policies. This might mean questioning long-standing policy beliefs like whether stronger social safety nets would undermine competitiveness, and having a small government and low income taxes.
It would also require the Government to think creatively and pragmatically on its policy outcomes and processes. The authors recommended a national conversation between the Government and its citizens to decide how Singapore's social compact should evolve.
Pointing to the Scandinavian countries which have broader social programmes that have proven to be sustainable, the authors also noted that Singapore is in a much stronger economical position to invest in long-term measures to ensure more inclusive growth for Singaporeans
03 Mar 2011
The Straits Times (Singapore)
'Significant' degree of social mobility
Today's students continue to do better than their parents and there is data to back that up.
Half of today's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) pupils from the bottom one-third of families by parents' education and the type of flat they live in, emerge among the top two-thirds of PSLE scorers.
So there is still "significant mobility working through the system", Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday, addressing MPs' concerns that social mobility has slowed.
But with each successive cohort, it will become more difficult for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds to make their way up the education ladder, he acknowledged. That was "precisely because we achieved a very high degree of mobility in the past".
Since the 1960s, Singapore has achieved "phenomenal mobility".
Pointing to his fellow members in the House, Mr Tharman said many of them were the children of parents who "started off with little". They had however done well through a meritocratic system and so have their children.
Citing census data, the minister said that in 1980, less than 10 per cent of young adults aged 25 to 39 had diplomas and university degrees.
By last year, that figure had shot up to 64 per cent – a "very significant shift", that came after the first wave of mobility in the 1960s and 1970s.
"We have to put much more effort into our mobility efforts as we go forward, to prevent a cycle of disadvantage for those from lower-income backgrounds," Mr Tharman said.
The Government will continue to invest heavily in education, especially at the early stages, to reduce the disadvantages faced by children from low-income backgrounds, he pledged.
Since 2006, spending on childcare and primary education has grown much faster than spending on secondary and tertiary education. Spending on childcare has gone up by 150 per cent per child while spending on primary school has increased by 60 per cent per pupil.
"The more we do early on to help children discover their strengths, the more likely they will be able to move up and do better than their parents," he said.
Unlike in many other countries, there are also no huge disparities in facilities and teaching standards between schools in poor and wealthy neighbourhoods.
Singapore's neighbourhood schools have "principals and teachers who are passionate about what they do, and try to make learning interesting for each student".
Mobility in S'pore 'higher than previously thought'
by Neo Chai Chin 04:46 AM Jan 13, 2012
SINGAPORE - Having poor or less-educated fathers does not necessarily mean their sons will fare similarly, according to a study by a Ministry of Finance economist.
Using the income records of about 39,500 father-son pairs from the Department of Statistics, the study has found inter-generational mobility in incomes and educational attainment to be "moderate to high", and higher than levels in the United States.
The correlation between measures of fathers' incomes and those of their sons is 0.22 to 0.30, depending on whether annual or monthly incomes were used. The number typically varies between 0 and 1, with a higher value implying lower mobility.
A 1992 US study found a correlation score of 0.4 and concluded inter-generational mobility there to be "relatively low".
The Singapore study tried to measure the incomes of fathers and sons as close to the middle of the life cycle as possible: Cohorts of eldest sons born from 1969 to 1978 and their mean employment income in 2008, and their fathers' mean employment incomes between 1996 and 2000.
Daughters and younger sons were left out, in line with comparable studies to avoid gender or birth-order biases in child investments, and also because daughters' incomes may be complicated by events such as childbirth and marriage.
Despite recording relatively high levels of mobility, the study by Ministry of Finance economist Yip Chun Seng noted "some evidence, though not strong, of lower mobility among the poor".
The report found mobility levels here higher than that found in two previous studies here using smaller sample sizes. Titled Intergenerational Income Mobility In Singapore and available on the MOF's website, it cited increased educational opportunities in the 1960s to 1980s as a possible reason for the relative mobility. NEO CHAI CHIN
Time to rethink social compact: Economists
by Ng Jing Yng 07:06 AM Jan 17, 2012
SINGAPORE - The Government needs to rethink its social compact as the income gap widens and social mobility slows down, some prominent economists here have argued in a paper.
The Institute of Policy Studies (IPS) paper, Inequality and the Need for a New Social Compact, was written by six economists, including Mr Manu Bhaskaran, an adjunct senior research fellow at IPS, Mr Donald Low, a former senior civil servant at the Ministry of Finance, and Mr Yeoh Lam Keong, who was formerly a managing director and chief economist at the Government of Singapore Investment Corporation.
The paper, which was shared yesterday at IPS' annual Singapore Perspectives conference, noted that "the fruits of growth are distributed more unevenly than before".
The authors said that key policies - in the areas of social security, healthcare, housing, education and infrastructure - had been designed for a "youthful population and steady economic growth".
Against such a backdrop, emphasis was placed on several tenets, including individual responsibility, and public housing was seen as an instrument of redistribution - all of which had worked out well. "(But) this benign context is now changing profoundly," the authors said.
With a maturing economy, an ageing population and erratic economic growth, it has become more difficult for Singapore to achieve equitable growth, and gaps in accessing primary needs are emerging.
The current social compact would not be sufficient "in the face of the changes unleashed by globalisation, rapid technological change, and our own policies", said the study.
There is a need for a social compact that strikes a better balance between growth and equity and between individual responsibility and social insurance, which will also reflect changes in the domestic political landscape, said the authors.
Such a compact would "foster a more cohesive, less polarised society where citizens have an interest in pursuing the common good even if it means near-term sacrifices".
The previous economic crisis has resulted in the need for an "activist government" to correct market failures in key policies. This might mean questioning long-standing policy beliefs like whether stronger social safety nets would undermine competitiveness, and having a small government and low income taxes.
It would also require the Government to think creatively and pragmatically on its policy outcomes and processes. The authors recommended a national conversation between the Government and its citizens to decide how Singapore's social compact should evolve.
Pointing to the Scandinavian countries which have broader social programmes that have proven to be sustainable, the authors also noted that Singapore is in a much stronger economical position to invest in long-term measures to ensure more inclusive growth for Singaporeans
03 Mar 2011
The Straits Times (Singapore)
'Significant' degree of social mobility
Today's students continue to do better than their parents and there is data to back that up.
Half of today's Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) pupils from the bottom one-third of families by parents' education and the type of flat they live in, emerge among the top two-thirds of PSLE scorers.
So there is still "significant mobility working through the system", Finance Minister Tharman Shanmugaratnam said yesterday, addressing MPs' concerns that social mobility has slowed.
But with each successive cohort, it will become more difficult for children from lower socio-economic backgrounds to make their way up the education ladder, he acknowledged. That was "precisely because we achieved a very high degree of mobility in the past".
Since the 1960s, Singapore has achieved "phenomenal mobility".
Pointing to his fellow members in the House, Mr Tharman said many of them were the children of parents who "started off with little". They had however done well through a meritocratic system and so have their children.
Citing census data, the minister said that in 1980, less than 10 per cent of young adults aged 25 to 39 had diplomas and university degrees.
By last year, that figure had shot up to 64 per cent – a "very significant shift", that came after the first wave of mobility in the 1960s and 1970s.
"We have to put much more effort into our mobility efforts as we go forward, to prevent a cycle of disadvantage for those from lower-income backgrounds," Mr Tharman said.
The Government will continue to invest heavily in education, especially at the early stages, to reduce the disadvantages faced by children from low-income backgrounds, he pledged.
Since 2006, spending on childcare and primary education has grown much faster than spending on secondary and tertiary education. Spending on childcare has gone up by 150 per cent per child while spending on primary school has increased by 60 per cent per pupil.
"The more we do early on to help children discover their strengths, the more likely they will be able to move up and do better than their parents," he said.
Unlike in many other countries, there are also no huge disparities in facilities and teaching standards between schools in poor and wealthy neighbourhoods.
Singapore's neighbourhood schools have "principals and teachers who are passionate about what they do, and try to make learning interesting for each student".
Monday, January 16, 2012
India and China to begin border talks
BBC 16 Jan 2011
India and China have begun a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over their Himalayan border.
A number of areas along the border between the two countries are in dispute and the nations fought a brief war in 1962.
Numerous rounds of border talks have been held to try to resolve the issues.
China protested when Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh during his 2009 election campaign.
Last November China's ambassador to India became involved in a heated exchange over a map that showed parts of India within China's border.
State Councillor Dai Bing-guo, who is leading the Chinese delegation at the two-day talks, said the two countries must put aside their differences and seize "a golden period to grow China-India relations".
"There does not exist such a thing as China's attempt to attack India or suppress India's development," he wrote in an article which appeared in The Hindu newspaper.
"The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together," he wrote.
The Indian delegation at the talks is being led by the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.
India's external affairs ministry said in a statement that the two sides will also hold talks on a "a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest".
Both sides have previously claimed the other is occupying parts of its land.
While India has accused China of occupying territory in Kashmir, Beijing has laid claim to territory in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
India and China, the new Great GameBy Andrew North
BBC South Asia correspondentBBC - 13 Dec 2011
"Beware India!" shouts the headline in one Indian paper.
"China to open first military base in Indian Ocean."
Nothing to worry about, says the defence ministry in Beijing. The base - in the Seychelles - is just for supplying passing Chinese navy ships.
But seen from Delhi, it is another move in what a former Indian defence minister has called China's policy of "strategic encirclement".
Even as Indian diplomats insist they want "cordial ties", tensions are rising everywhere between the two giant Asian neighbours, in what looks increasingly like a new "great game" - with the US and other powers upping their stakes.
Willliam Burns, America's number two diplomat, is in Delhi this week to try to rekindle relations after a period of stagnation, and a stalled deal on nuclear co-operation.
Next week, Washington hosts diplomats from India and Japan for a first ever "trilateral dialogue" of the "three leading Pacific democracies".
An increasingly assertive China is clearly their main focus.
The Great Game was a term coined for the shadowy battle for influence and control in central Asia between Russia and the British empire.
Yet even as the latest round plays out in Afghanistan, this new and less-noticed Asian great game could be of far greater global importance - and pose more dangers.
'Perception deficit'
It is already provoking regular media hostilities, the Chinese papers lashing out at India as "jealous" of China's success, after the former Indian defence minister's broadside.
While playing down the chances of real conflict, a senior Indian diplomat admits: "There is a trust and a perception deficit" between the two.
Nearly 50 years after they fought a brief border war, Delhi and Beijing still cannot agree on much of their nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) of frontier, with an arms race happening on both sides.
A regular border meeting was recently cancelled because of disagreements over another frequent irritant in the relationship - the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives under Indian protection.
This is bound to be an "adversarial" relationship, says Shyam Saran, India's foreign secretary until last year.
But what he calls China's "hierarchical' outlook" makes it more difficult.
"It wants to be on top, maybe not to dominate territory, but to have veto power over any of its neighbours' policies it doesn't like."
'Cheque-book diplomacy'
Just like the original great game, this is a battle on many fronts, being fought with aid, investment, politics and culture - from Pakistan (a long-time Chinese ally) to Nepal, and across South East Asia.
But paradoxically, part of the reason for relations "getting more complicated" is "because they are getting closer", says Jonathan Holslag, a China expert at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Studies.
Trade between India and China is expanding, but it is imbalanced in China's favour.
And with its greater economic weight, it is going "all out in its cheque-book diplomacy", says Mr Holslag, with India struggling to compete.
But while it could not stop the Seychelles hosting China's new base, India drew the line earlier this year when Nepal - landlocked between the two giants - contemplated accepting $3bn (£2bn) worth of Chinese investment.
But China already has firm foundations there, recently upgrading the Friendship Highway across the Himalayas between Kathmandu and Lhasa in Tibet.
Work is now under way on a railway link, with nothing comparable from the Indian side.
“
The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned.”
Senior Indian diplomat
China is years ahead of India in building up transport links along their disputed frontier, giving it a head start in moving troops if there is another war.
US factor
Yet from Beijing's point of view, India is helping in what it perceives as an emerging US policy of containment.
Next week's meeting will only heighten these suspicions, coming soon after US President Barack Obama's announced plans to send US marines to Australia's northern coast - facing China.
Beijing chafes at Indian oil companies encroaching on what it regards as its backyard in the South China sea.
Indian officials though play down an incident in the summer when a Chinese ship is reported to have warned an Indian ship to leave the area.
There is no question of India being used as "a cat's paw" by the US, according to the senior Indian diplomat.
And despite better ties, India remains cautious about how close it gets to Washington, says Mr Saran, because of a perception that it is still not willing to share enough.
"The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned," he says.
Watering down nationalism
That both India and China are now nuclear-armed helps concentrate minds against war.
Along their border, the most likely flashpoint, things have been quiet for more than 30 years - despite or perhaps because of the military build-up
"Not a bullet has been fired, not a soldier lost," says Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash.
Yet some see dangers in the continuing war of words in the Indian and Chinese media.
Jonathan Holslag says that although it is only "25% real, it plays up nationalist sentiment and reduces the scope for making compromises".
If economic growth slows much more in either India or China - and there are already signs - that could spell trouble, encouraging nationalism that could turn "nasty".
India and China have begun a fresh round of talks aimed at resolving a long-running dispute over their Himalayan border.
A number of areas along the border between the two countries are in dispute and the nations fought a brief war in 1962.
Numerous rounds of border talks have been held to try to resolve the issues.
China protested when Indian PM Manmohan Singh visited Arunachal Pradesh during his 2009 election campaign.
Last November China's ambassador to India became involved in a heated exchange over a map that showed parts of India within China's border.
State Councillor Dai Bing-guo, who is leading the Chinese delegation at the two-day talks, said the two countries must put aside their differences and seize "a golden period to grow China-India relations".
"There does not exist such a thing as China's attempt to attack India or suppress India's development," he wrote in an article which appeared in The Hindu newspaper.
"The world has enough space for China and India to achieve common development, as there are so many areas for us to work together," he wrote.
The Indian delegation at the talks is being led by the National Security Advisor Shivshankar Menon.
India's external affairs ministry said in a statement that the two sides will also hold talks on a "a wide range of bilateral, regional and global issues of mutual interest".
Both sides have previously claimed the other is occupying parts of its land.
While India has accused China of occupying territory in Kashmir, Beijing has laid claim to territory in the north-east Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh.
India and China, the new Great GameBy Andrew North
BBC South Asia correspondentBBC - 13 Dec 2011
"Beware India!" shouts the headline in one Indian paper.
"China to open first military base in Indian Ocean."
Nothing to worry about, says the defence ministry in Beijing. The base - in the Seychelles - is just for supplying passing Chinese navy ships.
But seen from Delhi, it is another move in what a former Indian defence minister has called China's policy of "strategic encirclement".
Even as Indian diplomats insist they want "cordial ties", tensions are rising everywhere between the two giant Asian neighbours, in what looks increasingly like a new "great game" - with the US and other powers upping their stakes.
Willliam Burns, America's number two diplomat, is in Delhi this week to try to rekindle relations after a period of stagnation, and a stalled deal on nuclear co-operation.
Next week, Washington hosts diplomats from India and Japan for a first ever "trilateral dialogue" of the "three leading Pacific democracies".
An increasingly assertive China is clearly their main focus.
The Great Game was a term coined for the shadowy battle for influence and control in central Asia between Russia and the British empire.
Yet even as the latest round plays out in Afghanistan, this new and less-noticed Asian great game could be of far greater global importance - and pose more dangers.
'Perception deficit'
It is already provoking regular media hostilities, the Chinese papers lashing out at India as "jealous" of China's success, after the former Indian defence minister's broadside.
While playing down the chances of real conflict, a senior Indian diplomat admits: "There is a trust and a perception deficit" between the two.
Nearly 50 years after they fought a brief border war, Delhi and Beijing still cannot agree on much of their nearly 4,000km (2,500 miles) of frontier, with an arms race happening on both sides.
A regular border meeting was recently cancelled because of disagreements over another frequent irritant in the relationship - the Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, who lives under Indian protection.
This is bound to be an "adversarial" relationship, says Shyam Saran, India's foreign secretary until last year.
But what he calls China's "hierarchical' outlook" makes it more difficult.
"It wants to be on top, maybe not to dominate territory, but to have veto power over any of its neighbours' policies it doesn't like."
'Cheque-book diplomacy'
Just like the original great game, this is a battle on many fronts, being fought with aid, investment, politics and culture - from Pakistan (a long-time Chinese ally) to Nepal, and across South East Asia.
But paradoxically, part of the reason for relations "getting more complicated" is "because they are getting closer", says Jonathan Holslag, a China expert at the Brussels Institute of Contemporary Studies.
Trade between India and China is expanding, but it is imbalanced in China's favour.
And with its greater economic weight, it is going "all out in its cheque-book diplomacy", says Mr Holslag, with India struggling to compete.
But while it could not stop the Seychelles hosting China's new base, India drew the line earlier this year when Nepal - landlocked between the two giants - contemplated accepting $3bn (£2bn) worth of Chinese investment.
But China already has firm foundations there, recently upgrading the Friendship Highway across the Himalayas between Kathmandu and Lhasa in Tibet.
Work is now under way on a railway link, with nothing comparable from the Indian side.
“
The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned.”
Senior Indian diplomat
China is years ahead of India in building up transport links along their disputed frontier, giving it a head start in moving troops if there is another war.
US factor
Yet from Beijing's point of view, India is helping in what it perceives as an emerging US policy of containment.
Next week's meeting will only heighten these suspicions, coming soon after US President Barack Obama's announced plans to send US marines to Australia's northern coast - facing China.
Beijing chafes at Indian oil companies encroaching on what it regards as its backyard in the South China sea.
Indian officials though play down an incident in the summer when a Chinese ship is reported to have warned an Indian ship to leave the area.
There is no question of India being used as "a cat's paw" by the US, according to the senior Indian diplomat.
And despite better ties, India remains cautious about how close it gets to Washington, says Mr Saran, because of a perception that it is still not willing to share enough.
"The US still appears unable to decide whether to treat India as a partner… as far as technology matters are concerned," he says.
Watering down nationalism
That both India and China are now nuclear-armed helps concentrate minds against war.
Along their border, the most likely flashpoint, things have been quiet for more than 30 years - despite or perhaps because of the military build-up
"Not a bullet has been fired, not a soldier lost," says Indian foreign ministry spokesman Vishnu Prakash.
Yet some see dangers in the continuing war of words in the Indian and Chinese media.
Jonathan Holslag says that although it is only "25% real, it plays up nationalist sentiment and reduces the scope for making compromises".
If economic growth slows much more in either India or China - and there are already signs - that could spell trouble, encouraging nationalism that could turn "nasty".
Mail Online
Brazil overtakes UK as sixth biggest economy as Britain falls behind a South American nation for the first time
Figures show a dramatic illustration of changing global fortunes
China, Japan, Germany, France and the U.S. occupy the top five places
Brazil fast-becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy
By Nick Fagge
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 26th December 2011
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsO66Mz
Britain has been deposed by Brazil as the sixth largest economy in the world, latest figures show.
In a dramatic illustration of changing global economic fortunes, the UK has fallen behind a South American nation for the first time.
The figures, from the Centre for Economic and Business Research’s annual world economic league table, show Britain is now the seventh richest country in the world.
The U.S., China, Japan, Germany and France occupy the top five places.
More often associated with football and dirt-poor shanty towns known as favelas, Brazil is fast becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy.
The largest country in Latin America, its economy has surged because of vast reserves of natural resources and a rapidly growing, and cash-rich, middle class.
At the same time the UK languishes in the grip of a national debt crisis and lack of bank credit. Britons continue to be better off and enjoy a far higher standard of living than the vast majority of people in Brazil but the latter’s 203million population provides huge economic clout.
‘The punching power of Brazil as a whole has overtaken Britain because of the huge economic potential of people who live there,’ Peter Slowe, a former government economic policy advisor, told the Daily Mail.
‘Brazil has a variety of natural resources to rely on including gold and silver as well as oil off-shore and minerals in the Amazon.
‘By contrast the UK economy is affected by the problems of the eurozone.’
Brazil’s stable political situation also attracts investors.
Its hard-won democracy also provides foreign investors with the peace of mind that the status quo is unlikely to be overturned by a popular revolution. Brazil floundered under a number of military dictatorships throughout the 20th century until civilian control was established in 1985.
The rapid economic development in the huge South American state is likely to come at the expense of the Amazon – and its indigenous people, animals and extraordinary forests.
Dr Slowe said: ‘Brazil, unlike China, is a democracy which is much more attractive to investors.
‘This means the country is unlikely to undergo prolonged civil unrest which is likely to occur at some time in China.
‘The country has huge potential but the vast majority of their resources are in Amazon basin.
‘And the cost of exploiting this mineral wealth is the loss of the habitat and the traditions of indigenous tribes who have lived the same way since the Stone Age.’
The relegation to sixth spot is the latest blow to the British economy.
In the middle of a prolonged economic downturn and dragged into the euro crisis because of its trade relations with the Continent, the UK has also been involved in an unseemly spat with France.
London has come under sustained attack from French ministers over which country has the best economic prospects.
Although the latest figures from the CEBR would suggest the French are ahead, they also predict that Britain will leapfrog France by 2020. The CEBR says that by then the UK economy will be the eighth largest in the world, one ahead of France and two behind Brazil.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfskGrtH
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsTkI23
Figures show a dramatic illustration of changing global fortunes
China, Japan, Germany, France and the U.S. occupy the top five places
Brazil fast-becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy
By Nick Fagge
Last updated at 1:01 AM on 26th December 2011
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsO66Mz
Britain has been deposed by Brazil as the sixth largest economy in the world, latest figures show.
In a dramatic illustration of changing global economic fortunes, the UK has fallen behind a South American nation for the first time.
The figures, from the Centre for Economic and Business Research’s annual world economic league table, show Britain is now the seventh richest country in the world.
The U.S., China, Japan, Germany and France occupy the top five places.
More often associated with football and dirt-poor shanty towns known as favelas, Brazil is fast becoming one of the powerhouses of the global economy.
The largest country in Latin America, its economy has surged because of vast reserves of natural resources and a rapidly growing, and cash-rich, middle class.
At the same time the UK languishes in the grip of a national debt crisis and lack of bank credit. Britons continue to be better off and enjoy a far higher standard of living than the vast majority of people in Brazil but the latter’s 203million population provides huge economic clout.
‘The punching power of Brazil as a whole has overtaken Britain because of the huge economic potential of people who live there,’ Peter Slowe, a former government economic policy advisor, told the Daily Mail.
‘Brazil has a variety of natural resources to rely on including gold and silver as well as oil off-shore and minerals in the Amazon.
‘By contrast the UK economy is affected by the problems of the eurozone.’
Brazil’s stable political situation also attracts investors.
Its hard-won democracy also provides foreign investors with the peace of mind that the status quo is unlikely to be overturned by a popular revolution. Brazil floundered under a number of military dictatorships throughout the 20th century until civilian control was established in 1985.
The rapid economic development in the huge South American state is likely to come at the expense of the Amazon – and its indigenous people, animals and extraordinary forests.
Dr Slowe said: ‘Brazil, unlike China, is a democracy which is much more attractive to investors.
‘This means the country is unlikely to undergo prolonged civil unrest which is likely to occur at some time in China.
‘The country has huge potential but the vast majority of their resources are in Amazon basin.
‘And the cost of exploiting this mineral wealth is the loss of the habitat and the traditions of indigenous tribes who have lived the same way since the Stone Age.’
The relegation to sixth spot is the latest blow to the British economy.
In the middle of a prolonged economic downturn and dragged into the euro crisis because of its trade relations with the Continent, the UK has also been involved in an unseemly spat with France.
London has come under sustained attack from French ministers over which country has the best economic prospects.
Although the latest figures from the CEBR would suggest the French are ahead, they also predict that Britain will leapfrog France by 2020. The CEBR says that by then the UK economy will be the eighth largest in the world, one ahead of France and two behind Brazil.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfskGrtH
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2078596/Brazil-overtakes-UK-sixth-biggest-economy-Britain-falls-South-American-nation-time.html#ixzz1jfsTkI23
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Why Irish soldiers who fought Hitler hide their medalsBy John Waite - BBC News 28 Dec 2011
Five thousand Irish soldiers who swapped uniforms to fight for the British against Hitler went on to suffer years of persecution.
One of them, 92-year-old Phil Farrington, took part in the D-Day landings and helped liberate the German death camp at Bergen-Belsen - but he wears his medals in secret.
Even to this day, he has nightmares that he will be arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for his wartime service.
"They would come and get me, yes they would," he said in a frail voice at his home in the docks area of Dublin.
And his 25-year-old grandson, Patrick, confirmed: "I see the fear in him even today, even after 65 years."
Mr Farrington's fears are not groundless.
He was one of about 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted their own neutral army to join the war against fascism and who were brutally punished on their return home as a result.
They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being banned for seven years from any employment paid for by state or government funds.
A special "list" was drawn up containing their names and addresses, and circulated to every government department, town hall and railway station - anywhere the men might look for a job.
It was referred to in the Irish parliament - the Dail - at the time as a "starvation order", and for many of their families the phrase became painfully close to the truth.
Treated as outcasts
Paddy Reid - whose father and uncle both fought the Japanese at the battle of Kohima Ridge - recalls a post-war childhood in Dublin spent "moving from one slum to another".
Maybe one slice of bread a day and that would be it - no proper clothing, no proper heating.
"My father was blacklisted and away all the time, picking turnips or whatever work he could get. It's still painful to remember. We were treated as outcasts."
John Stout, now 80, served with the Irish Guards armoured division which raced to Arnhem to capture a key bridge.
He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war as a commando.
On his return home to Cork, however, he was treated as a pariah. "What they did to us was wrong. I know that in my heart. They cold-shouldered you. They didn't speak to you.
"They didn't understand why we did what we did. A lot of Irish people wanted Germany to win the war - they were dead up against the British."
It was only 20 years since Ireland had won its independence after many centuries of rule from London, and the Irish list of grievances against Britain was long - as Gerald Morgan, long-time professor of history at Trinity College, Dublin, explains.
"The uprisings, the civil war, all sorts of reneged promises - I'd estimate that 60% of the population expected or indeed hoped the Germans would win.
"To prevent civil unrest, Eamon de Valera had to do something. Hence the starvation order and the list."
Ireland adopted a policy of strict neutrality which may have been necessary politically or even popular, but a significant minority strongly backed Britain, including tens of thousands of Irish civilians who signed up to fight alongside the 5,000 Irish servicemen who switched uniforms.
Confidential list
Until I showed him the list - the size of a slim phone directory and marked "confidential" - John Stout had not realised his name was included.
But after the war it quickly became apparent that he could not get work and was not welcome in Ireland - so he returned to Britain.
"I feel very betrayed about how we were treated, it was wrong and even today they should say sorry for the problems we had to endure. We never even got to put our case or argue why it was unjust," said Mr Stout.
And the list itself is far from accurate, according to Robert Widders, who has written a book about the deserters' treatment called Spitting on a Soldier's Grave.
"It contains the names of men who were to be punished but who'd already been killed in action, but not the names of men who deserted the Irish army to spend their war years as burglars or thieves," he said.
In recent months, a number of Irish parliamentarians have begun pressing their government to issue a pardon to the few deserters who remain alive.
"What happened to them was vindictive and not only a stain on their honour but on the honour of Ireland," TD Gerald Nash said.
But for those nonagenarians who helped win the war but lost so much by doing so, time is of the essence, and it is running out fast.
One of them, 92-year-old Phil Farrington, took part in the D-Day landings and helped liberate the German death camp at Bergen-Belsen - but he wears his medals in secret.
Even to this day, he has nightmares that he will be arrested by the authorities and imprisoned for his wartime service.
"They would come and get me, yes they would," he said in a frail voice at his home in the docks area of Dublin.
And his 25-year-old grandson, Patrick, confirmed: "I see the fear in him even today, even after 65 years."
Mr Farrington's fears are not groundless.
He was one of about 5,000 Irish soldiers who deserted their own neutral army to join the war against fascism and who were brutally punished on their return home as a result.
They were formally dismissed from the Irish army, stripped of all pay and pension rights, and prevented from finding work by being banned for seven years from any employment paid for by state or government funds.
A special "list" was drawn up containing their names and addresses, and circulated to every government department, town hall and railway station - anywhere the men might look for a job.
It was referred to in the Irish parliament - the Dail - at the time as a "starvation order", and for many of their families the phrase became painfully close to the truth.
Treated as outcasts
Paddy Reid - whose father and uncle both fought the Japanese at the battle of Kohima Ridge - recalls a post-war childhood in Dublin spent "moving from one slum to another".
Maybe one slice of bread a day and that would be it - no proper clothing, no proper heating.
"My father was blacklisted and away all the time, picking turnips or whatever work he could get. It's still painful to remember. We were treated as outcasts."
John Stout, now 80, served with the Irish Guards armoured division which raced to Arnhem to capture a key bridge.
He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge, ending the war as a commando.
On his return home to Cork, however, he was treated as a pariah. "What they did to us was wrong. I know that in my heart. They cold-shouldered you. They didn't speak to you.
"They didn't understand why we did what we did. A lot of Irish people wanted Germany to win the war - they were dead up against the British."
It was only 20 years since Ireland had won its independence after many centuries of rule from London, and the Irish list of grievances against Britain was long - as Gerald Morgan, long-time professor of history at Trinity College, Dublin, explains.
"The uprisings, the civil war, all sorts of reneged promises - I'd estimate that 60% of the population expected or indeed hoped the Germans would win.
"To prevent civil unrest, Eamon de Valera had to do something. Hence the starvation order and the list."
Ireland adopted a policy of strict neutrality which may have been necessary politically or even popular, but a significant minority strongly backed Britain, including tens of thousands of Irish civilians who signed up to fight alongside the 5,000 Irish servicemen who switched uniforms.
Confidential list
Until I showed him the list - the size of a slim phone directory and marked "confidential" - John Stout had not realised his name was included.
But after the war it quickly became apparent that he could not get work and was not welcome in Ireland - so he returned to Britain.
"I feel very betrayed about how we were treated, it was wrong and even today they should say sorry for the problems we had to endure. We never even got to put our case or argue why it was unjust," said Mr Stout.
And the list itself is far from accurate, according to Robert Widders, who has written a book about the deserters' treatment called Spitting on a Soldier's Grave.
"It contains the names of men who were to be punished but who'd already been killed in action, but not the names of men who deserted the Irish army to spend their war years as burglars or thieves," he said.
In recent months, a number of Irish parliamentarians have begun pressing their government to issue a pardon to the few deserters who remain alive.
"What happened to them was vindictive and not only a stain on their honour but on the honour of Ireland," TD Gerald Nash said.
But for those nonagenarians who helped win the war but lost so much by doing so, time is of the essence, and it is running out fast.
Thursday, December 1, 2011
Nepal Biogas
Nepal pipes biogas expertise abroadBy Navin Singh Khadka
Environment reporter, BBC News, Nepal
Having emerged as one of the pioneers in producing biogas from cow dung, the Himalayan nation of Nepal is now successfully transferring its technical expertise to other countries.
Several Nepalese experts have been travelling to countries in South East Asia and Africa to introduce the "clean", homegrown technology that helps reduce carbon emissions from fossil fuels and saves forests.
Biogas from cow dung is mainly used for cooking in rural areas and also for lighting houses.
Renowned for displacing choking smoky ovens with clean cooking stoves, the Nepalese model of biogas has won the prestigious Ashden award.
The Biogas Partnership Project Nepal, a collaboration between the government, donors and non-governmental organisations, has already installed plants for nearly 300,000 households across the country.
The project says it helps reduce 7.4 tonnes of greenhouse gases per household per year and protects 250,000 trees during the same period of time.
And the expertise gained over the years has benefited many communities in different developing and least developed countries including Cambodia, Laos, Vietnam, Indonesia, Bangladesh, Bhutan, among others in Asia and around 10 countries in Africa.
"Nepal was the pioneer in the development of this technology and now it has also been successful in sharing its technical expertise to many countries," says Rem Neefjes, the country director of SNV, the Netherlands government's development agency, a major donor in biogas projects in many countries.
"The success in Vietnam in particular has been outstanding; more than 100,000 biogas plants have been installed there."
Installations are growing in Indonesia too and the technology there has even been named "the Nepal model".
"They call it so because they know that it has been tested and proven in Nepal all these years," says Sundar Bajgain, a Nepali biogas expert now based in Jakarta to help Indonesians with the technical expertise.
In several African countries, Nepalese experts are not only helping the communities install biogas plants but are also conducting training in schools.
Theoneste Kaneruka was a simple mason in the northern province of Rwanda until three years ago.
"Then I heard about the biogas business, and after sessions of trainings and certification with the National biogas program, the SNV Rwanda team and the expert from Nepal, Prakash Ghimire, I started my own company.
"We now build 20 to 25 biogas plants in a month."
But transferring their expertise to foreign countries has not always been easy for Nepalese experts.
"It becomes more challenging when you are working in a country that is quite familiar with Nepal and its socio-political situation," says Mr Bajgain.
"In Bangladesh, for instance, it was a bit difficult in the beginning because many in that country know about the unstable political situation in Nepal and the setbacks in development works.
"So naturally it was hard for them to readily trust our capability, but in due course of time we proved that we were worth it."
Wim J van Nes, renewable energy network leader of SNV, is well aware of the differing local circumstances.
"It is important to stress that every country has its own context and the success of the programme is dependent on different technical, financial, organisational, institutional, political and socio-cultural factors," he said.
"Despite this, the BSP [of Nepal] was regarded as an inspirational example and many stakeholders from other countries made a visit to Nepal not only to witness biogas households but also to learn from key stakeholders how the sector had been developed."
One of BSP Nepal's biogas experts, Indira Shakya, says: "On one occasion, we had just arrived in Ethiopia and locals there were already complaining that the biogas plant they had installed was not working.
"They were asking how come the technology worked in a 'cold' country like Nepal while it was not working in their country that was so warm.
"So we went to the site to investigate and found that they had been using dry cow dung that cannot produce the gas. When we successfully demonstrated the technology with fresh dung, their faces lit up."
The technology is quite simple and natural: bacteria that comes with the dung from a cow's stomach break down the waste in an underground air-tight digester.
In the absence of oxygen, the mixing of cow dung with water leads to a reaction that produces a gas comprising up to 70% methane with the remainder being carbon dioxide.
The digested slurry flows to an outlet tank and ends up in the compost pit, while the gas is tapped from the top of the dome with a pipe that ends in the burner of the kitchen stove.
Until the last decade, the technology was largely confined to the rural areas of Nepal. Now it has travelled with Nepalese experts far and wide.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Teo Soh Lung on ISD (facebook)
Teo Soh Lung on Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 11:23am
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After more than 4 decades, we are informed by the Minister for Home Affairs, Mr Teo Chee Hean that more than 800 people were arrested in the 1970s. This number is not small and I dread to speculate the number arrested in the preceding decade. We are aware that more than 120 people were arrested on 2 February 1963 in Operation Cold Store. Almost the entire central committee of the Barisan Sosialis including Dr Lim Hock Siew and Dr Poh Soo Kai were detained. Inche Said Zahari and trade unionists, the Late Mr Ho Piao and Mr Jamit Singh were also not spared.
In October that year Operation Pecah followed and elected opposition members of parliament, Ms Loh Meow Gong and Messrs Lee Tee Tong and S T Bani were detained. In 1963 alone, the number imprisoned must have exceeded 200. It would not be wrong to say that the arrests of the leaders of the opposition and trade unions in 1963 ensured monopoly of power for the PAP till today. Almost every year after 1963, there were arrests. Arrests continues to this day. No evidence of weapons or bombs was ever been produced by the government. All we are told is that we have to trust the judgement of the government.
In arguing for the retention of the ISA, the minister reiterated the “nipped in the bud” theory expounded by his predecessors. He said: “…The ISA thus allows the government to act quickly to prevent a threat from developing into something very serious such as a bombing; or to stem an organised pattern of subversion which promotes civil disturbances and disorder…”
Every citizen who is arrested is deprived of his constitutional right to life or personal liberty, freedom of speech and expression, peaceful assembly and association which are guaranteed by Articles 9 and 14 of our Constitution. Families are often deprived of sole breadwinners. But perhaps the PAP have reasons for doing what they did. They know that periodic arrests instil fear amongst citizens. Fear ensures the survival of the PAP.
It is time we question the retention of the ISA, a law that permits the ministers or prime minister to imprison citizens for as long as they wish. We are told that ministers rely on the Internal Security Department which have made thorough investigation before ordering the detention of citizens or renewing their detention orders. Is this true? Dr Lim Hock Siew’s public statement issued through his legal adviser, the Late Mr T T Rajah and released by his wife, Dr Beatrice Chen on 18 March 1972 exposed this lie. I reproduce part of the statement [1] below:
“… A week after my transfer to the special branch headquarters, the same two high-ranking employees spelt out the conditions of my release. They demanded from me two things. They are as follows:
(1) That I make an oral statement of my past political activities, that is to say, `A security statement’. This was meant for the special branch records only and not meant for publication.
(2) That I must issue a public statement consisting of two points: (a) That I am prepared to give up politics and devote to medical practice thereafter. (b) That I must express support for the parliamentary democratic system.
I shall now recall and recapitulate the conversation that took place between me and the same two high-ranking special branch agents during my detention at the special branch headquarters.
Special Branch: You need not have to condemn the Barisan Sosialis or any person. We admit that it is unjust to detain you so long. Nine years is a long time in a person’s life; we are anxious to settle your case.
Dr Lim Hock Siew: My case will be settled immediately if I am released unconditionally. I was not asked at the time of my arrest whether I ought to be arrested. Release me unconditionally and my case is settled.
Special Branch: The key is in your hands. It is for you to open the door.
Dr Lim Hock Siew: To say that the key is in my hands is the inverted logic of gangsters in which white is black and black is white. The victim is painted as the culprit and the culprit is made to look innocent. Four Gurkha soldiers were brought to my house to arrest me. I did not ask or seek arrest or the prolonged detention for over nine years in prison without trial.
Special Branch: You must concede something so that Lee Kuan Yew would be in a position to explain to the public why you had been detained so long. Mr Lee Kuan Yew must also preserve his face. If you were to be released unconditionally, he will lose face.
Dr Lim Hock Siew: I am not interested in saving Lee Kuan Yew’s face. This is not a question of pride but one of principle. My detention is completely unjustifiable and I will not lift a single finger to help Lee Kuan Yew to justify the unjustifiable. In the light of what you say, is it not very clear that I have lost my freedom all these long and bitter years just to save Lee Kuan Yew’s face? Therefore the PAP regime’s allegation that I am a security risk is a sham cover and a façade to detain me unjustifiably for over nine years. “
Dr Lim was 31 years old when he was arrested on 2 February 1963. His son was then 5 months’ old. He and Dr Poh Soo Kai had two years earlier, set up a medical clinic, Rakyat Clinic along Balestier Road which provided and still provides medical care for the poor. Both were also founder members of Barisan Sosialis.
The PAP kept Dr Lim in jail for 20 years. They freed him unconditionally at the age of 51. He had missed the prime of his life and the growing up years of his son. The PAP had ensured for themselves that Dr Lim no longer posed a political threat to them. Only a person of courage and determination can survive such a long period of imprisonment. And only people who have lost their conscience can imprison Dr Lim for 2 decades without trial.
Mr Chng Min Oh @ Chuang Men-Hu
While many of the people detained in the 1960s were imprisoned for decades, I did not expect the PAP government to continue that practice in the 1970s. I was therefore shocked to meet Mr Chng Min Oh @ Chuang Men-Hu recently.
Mr Chng was a humble construction worker and painter when he was arrested under the ISA on 3 August 1970. He was involved in trade union activities. Leaving his wife who was then three months’ pregnant and two young children aged 4 and 6 that dawn must have been painful for him. He was offered freedom by banishment i.e. if he agreed to being banished to China. He refused the offer.
Mr Chng remained in prison while his wife took on several jobs to raise the young family. She became a construction worker and a hawker whenever she had time. While she worked, her parents helped in looking after the children. Life was terribly hard for the family. They did not even have money for medical treatment. But the ministers did not care and renewed his detention order 7 times. He was finally released after 13 years, on 7 August 1983. He had served a life sentence though he was never judged guilty of any crime in a court of law.
The hardship of separation in indefinite detention is captured vividly in the poem Tears by Said Zahari. Zahari was imprisoned for 17 years.
Tears[2]
I saw tears down your cheeks
sparkling like diamonds,
beautiful like shining stars
in a clear night sky.
I saw sorrow
dancing in tune with your sobs.
My heart beats faster, my lips tremble.
Then I saw courage,
confidence and determination,
peering from behind the sorrow.
How cruel, how inhumane!
So high, so huge
This partition between us.
For so long!
But in spirit we are one,
as always,
bound by unbreakable bonds
of love and longing for justice.
Neither this prison wall
nor a hundred years of incarceration
shall diminish my love.
Hari Raya card to Sal
20th November 1969
How can we believe Minister Teo Chee Hean when he said “The Government has used the ISA as a last resort when there is a significant threat, and other laws are not adequate to deal with the situation...” when so many citizens were imprisoned for decades without trial. How can the PAP ministers take away the fundamental liberties of its citizens in the name of national security so freely and so frequently when Singapore was and is not at war? Have they all lost their conscience?
[1] Poh Soo Kai, Tan Jing Quee and Koh Kay Yew Eds. The Fajar Generation The University Socialist Club and the Politics of Postwar Malaya and Singapore Strategic Information and Research Development Centre, Malaysia pp 150 – 151.
[2] Tan Jing Quee Teo Soh Lung Koh Kay Yew Eds Our Thoughts Are Free Poems and Prose on Imprisonment and Exile Ethos Books 2009 Singapore p 47
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