After having a good run digesting the Select Committee’s politically-motivated report, it has become evident that the sole objective since day one is to reinforce existing censorship legislation and give the dictatorship government unrestricted power to intimidate critics without intervention from the judiciary.
Nothing surprising from the fork-tongued Law Minister K Shanmugam who shamelessly sat himself in the sham committee.
Like fake news itself, the Select Committee is peppered with false notions and misleading statements, making no attempt to mask Minister K Shanmugam’s true intent to hammer his critics. The report primarily criminalise all forms of criticisms, and aims to empower the Law Minister with greater dictatorial powers.
At the core of the report, the Select Committee confounded negative content with criminal acts and wrongly define what is not desirable as illegal. For example, the distrust of the mainstream media, government and public institutions is associated with treason, foreign intervention and financial greed. This could not be further away from the truth as a healthy dose of distrust is necessary as a safeguard against a rogue government like the PAP dictatorship.
Singaporeans need to learn how to debase their trust and stop placing blind faith in the government. The HDB lease issue is a golden example, and a painful lesson for Singaporean homeowners who believed in the perpetual government lie that their HDB flats will appreciate forever. Then there is the CPF retirement issue, Singaporeans were indoctrinated that they will be guaranteed a comfortable lifestyle after three decades of hard work. The elderly retirees did not expect to see themselves continue slaving in the workforce, in demeaning low wage jobs as cleaners and security guards. Time tells no lie, their present plight today half-begging on the streets and living off the sympathy of others is a consequence of decades of trust in the government.
Then there is the criminalising of changing election outcomes. Since when is galvanising support to change the incumbent government made illegal? The Select Committee is only a step away from turning Singapore into North Korea, making it illegal to change the ruling party. In Singapore, it would be suicidal to demand accountability or simply point out the obvious legal corruptions passed in Parliament. Million dollar ministerial salaries is in essence a corruption, building a new airport terminal with no budget costing is corruption, Halimah Yacob – an Indian ethnic – turning into a Malay is election fixing, letting Minister K Shanmugam running his foul mouth disparaging his critics is a bloody disgrace of a minister, the appointment of a new army general at SMRT is just cronyism, denying Lee Kuan Yew’s last will is illegal, and there are many more cases where the government is severely lacking in the platinum standards they claim to hold themselves to. There are many good reasons to overthrow the utterly-corrupted PAP dictatorship, so why should publishing factual content with the sole aim to changing the incumbent government be made illegal?
There is only one thing that States Times Review agree on in the Select Committee report and that is having an educated population. It is long overdue that Singaporeans be educated about the lies of the illegitimacy of the ruling party dictatorship. Singaporeans need access to independent news content and analysis, and question every article they are reading. States Times Review never once asked for readers to believe every article published, the Facebook forum actively encourages questioning. If any STR article can be reasonably proven to be fake, it would be taken down within minutes.
On the contrary, you have the 153rd-ranking Singapore Press Holdings and the self-styled “corrupt-free” government saying that every single content they publish is the truth. “Everything we write is true” is exactly what they are saying. Embarking on this dangerous path will lead to everyone’s demise, the economy will eventually collapse and Singaporeans will become poorer by the days as what is happening already.
The Select Committee is however only but a precursor to new censorship laws banning criticisms. Knowing their time is up, the PAP dictatorship will struggle for power and come out with new election laws to ensure their incumbency. This is a transition period for Singaporeans, moving away from Lee Hsien Loong’s incompetent dictatorship. There would be casualties: many will go to jail, many will be fined and many more will be arrested. Singaporeans need only set their sight for a free Singapore, and a new government where there will be no millionaire ministers making absurd policies to worsen living standards.
Ministers like K Shanmugam is deluded, he believe he will be in power forever. Whatever he does now will be used as prosecution evidence against him when the PAP falls. Lee Hsien Loong will be jailed, so will K Shanmugam. Every single million they legally corrupted will be clawed back, the present PAP politicians will pay.
Alex Tan
States Times Review Editor