Roy Ngerng – More than $70,000 raised in 4 days

This episode started out as a defamation suit by Hsien Loong against blogger Roy Ngerng. To Hsien Loong and his legal counsel, Davinder Singh, it was just a simple case of one person claimed to be wrong and seeking recourse in the courts of law.

Roy Ngerng knew he could not afford the hefty legal fees and sought help from the people. The ferocity and speed that Singaporeans rushed forward to stuff money into Roy’s hands to pay for his legal fees are telling a different story. It is no longer a legal tussle between the Prime Minister and a young blogger. This is looking like the Prime Minister taking on a blogger who is backed by people that did not like what was happening and what they saw. They knew that Roy would not stand a chance against Hsien Loong in this case. They knew that Roy would lose but that did not deter them from throwing their money behind Roy. They knew the money would not win Roy the case. But this is not about winning or losing in the courts of law.

This is no longer about David and Goliath. This is about social justice and more. This is about the CPF money of the people and the ever increasing minimum sums and when they are able to get their money back. It could also be about a people losing faith in the PAP Govt and its style of politics.

Hsien Loong would win the defamation suit hands down and could claim all the monetary compensation he wants. But there is a very heavy price to pay for it. The people are going to bankroll Roy and would pay for his legal fees as well as the damages demanded. There are enough people with Roy, and you can even say against the Govt. A legal victory for Hsien Loong could result in irreparable political damages to him and the PAP that would not be easily undone. It could deal a fatal blow to him and the PAP’s chances of winning the next GE. As a political observer, I think this development is very serious, like a spontaneous uprising, and would affect the fate and viability of the PAP as the next Govt. The lid of oppression has been lifted.

Can anyone feel the ground shaken, like the shift of the tectonic plate? Never in Singapore’s political history since independence had the people been so united, so committed to a cause, to close rank behind a single citizen on the wrong side of the political equation. In the past, such individuals were left to fend for themselves, all alone, and the people watched on the sideline like uninterested spectators. None of their business.

The people supporting Roy are no longer the usually meek and daft Sinkies, apathetic and disinterested, that the Govt was familiar with. There is conviction, there is purpose and there is passion, to pick up the cudgel to see it through in defence of not only a young man but for a bigger cause. Not only they want their money in the CPF back, but more.

Could Hsien Loong and the PAP see what is coming, or would they think this is just another flash in the pan incident that can be ignored? It is only a matter of good communications and everything will be back to normal! Any wrong move on the part of Hsien Loong is going to lead to a road of no return, and PAP may not regain the trust and support of the people for good. This could be PAP’s final act before the next GE. It could be an act that would seal the fate of the PAP.

Is there still time for Hsien Loong to pull back and recoup the losses, change the course and to do some damage control, and hopefully still have the majority of the voters behind him and the PAP? Or is my assessment of this episode too overly pessimistic, too dramatic and there is really nothing to it, nothing political? And there will be no harm to the PAP and to Hsien Loong’s political fortune at all.

Am I reading too much into this? What do you think?

Kopi Level - Green