1/27/2015

When your friends are really your enemies

The suing of Roy Ngerng and the letter to Huffington Post were two incidents that I could not believe that they happened that way. I know that Hsien Loong and Chan Chun Sing would be very angry if I were to say that they were politically unsound or stupid things to do. Both must know that they are national leaders and would have to go to the people for votes to endorse them in the next GE. Why would they do such darn things that would cost them dearly in votes and putting themselves in the limelight under public scrutiny?

In the case of suing Roy, it should not have happened in the first place. And when it did happen, there was a golden opportunity to unwind and step away from the fiasco. When the court found Roy guilty of defamation, Hsien Loong has won and his reputation was reinstated. And Roy also apologised. It would have done Hsien Loong so much good, gained credits and raised his stature as a national leader if he would to call Roy to the Istana for tea. He could even waive the damages or accept a token to make a point, and close the case.

Why did Hsien Loong insist on pursuing further and allowed the case to explode, and now it is heading straight into the gutters? How many wise men and women must have had their input in this case, discussed and shared their views. There must be opposing views with some asking Hsien Loong to let go and some egging him to push it to the limits. I think his ‘friends’ with inverted commas won the argument and Hsien Loong would now have to face the consequences.

What have Hsien Loong gained in this? The victory in the courts, even unbearable damages to be paid, would all be hollow as the price for this victory would probably cost Hsien Loong and the PAP a lot of votes. No one knows how bad this would be until the result of the GE is announced. This would be a hot topic in the GE or in private discussions. As the saying goes, you don’t need enemies if you have ‘friends’ who are leading you to the slaughter.

As for the letter to Huffington Post, writing to the Post for publishing articles by Dr Chee is simply amateurish without adding more adjectives. What did they think they could achieve? Huffington Post to stop publishing Dr Chee’s articles? Is there any reasonable man who believed this would be the outcome? Or would Huffington Post turn around and show the middle finger? It is just unbelieveable.

My guess, the ‘friends’, the ‘good friends’, must all be egging him to do it and making him look anything but funny. I am being very polite. Only ‘friends’ could get such an idea going with the ‘victim’ still believing that their advice was good and sound, and it was the right thing to do. What was the result? Who gained and who lost more?

And of course the text of the letter. The ‘friends’ must have all ‘kee chiu’ or showed thumbs up, that it was a brilliantly written letter. How could anyone believe that was a brilliant letter? I have stronger words and funny words to describe the letter but best not to put in print.

Beware of your ‘friends’, especially those with good intentions.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why would they do such darn things that would cost them dearly in votes...?
RB

Alamak, have u forgotten what kaki lang WP Teochew Ah Hia already said, and it is worth repeating, that majority (aka 60%) Sinkies are very scared to accidentally vote PAP out in a GE because WP is not ready to be govt?

And I think u have forgotten, or else u would not have written this post this way. But Mai Hum and Kee Chiu did not, that's why they kar kar(not scared) sue Roy and wrote to Huffington Post about Aung Juan Soon Chee the way they did.

Anonymous said...

I think by writing to Huffington Post, this will not cost Kee Chiu any votes, let alone dearly.

And it will also not make Aung Juan Soon Chee get any more votes than those he got in previous elections.

And also ask yourself. Under SDP, if even Presidential material Hainan Ah Ko could not win, how can Aung Juan Soon Chee win? And Soon Chee also better reflect on this question.

And there must be good reasons why Hainan Ah Ko left SDP to form his own party.

Anonymous said...

So what if the WP is not ready to be govt?

Singaporeans only want them to be in Parliament to do the slapping in case the ruling party veered off course or fall asleep.

Singaporeans really do not want them to take over the Government. Voters in opposition wards are smarter than you think. They buy one and got one free and I think the PAP would not have resorted to make token changes to policies had the WP not won Hougang, Aljunied GRC and Punggol East.

Anonymous said...

Mr Chan excelled as a student at the US Army Command and General Staff College in 1998, and was the first foreign student to be conferred the "Distinguished Master Strategist Award" in the same year.
The Straits Times Monday, Nov 11, 2013 headlined Chan Chun Sing enters US Army college's hall of fame

So don't play play with Master Strategist, OK?

Anonymous said...

Guess LHL forgot that dealing with Huffinton Post is not like dealing with opponents in the Singapore courts where the outcome is obvious.

Still, I say, the PAP vindictive attitude, passed down from the father, to the holy ghost, to the son, will never change and that I think is going to cost them dearly in the long run.

Dynasties fall because they refused to change their ways, thinking it will always work the same way and produce the same results.

The saying that humans never learn from history has many examples over the centuries.

Anonymous said...


anonymous 9.00am pls note.....

don't fall behind time where the
clock had stopped.....

you are quoting what WP had said
many many moons ago.......

why......

how do you know they are not
ready NOW NOW NOW......

quietly, without going public,
they may be ready NOW NOW NOW to
form the next govt......

building teams and keeping quite
can also be a good strategy......

please give all parties including
pap fair fighting chances....

we shall see in coming months...

will be rather interesting....

cheers........

Anonymous said...

"Still, I say, the PAP vindictive attitude, passed down from the father, to the holy ghost, to the son, will never change and that I think is going to cost them dearly in the long run."
Anon 9:23 am

Not really lah.

Because it is precisely due to the PAP vindictive attitude passed down from the father's days, that the strongest opposition party now is still not ready to be govt. And I think they will also not be ready even in the long run.

And if they are not ready even in the long run, how will this cost PAP dearly in the long run, u tell me lah?

Anonymous said...

how do you know they are not
ready NOW NOW NOW......
Anon 9:28 am

Hahahahahaha.

U mean they can be ready in 5 years when they were not even ready at all after 50 years?

Anonymous said...

Actually many Sinkie opposition politicians were never sued by PAP when they did not defame or slander anyone. Notable ones are veterans Chiam SeeTong, Low Thia Keng and Sylvia Lim. They just put forth their case for the intelligent Singaporeans. Some voted for them and their Parties, and many do not.
Chee and Roy broke the law and have to answer their actions in court. Roy's fate is unknown. NO need to speculate on Roy's future - if he's innocent, the court will clear him. Roy's statistics for his CPF case have been discredited already in RB Blog here (actually by MIKOspace Blogger). We are a nation of law. Politics should be civilised and non-offensive.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 9.41am pls note....

since nobody is ready as you said.....
so every party can be the govt...
please give everyone a chance leh.......
Cheers....

Anonymous said...

Anonymous 9.41am pls note....

since nobody is ready as you said.....
so every party can be the govt...
please give everyone a chance leh.......
Cheers....

Anonymous said...


The "大事化小事 小事化無事" strategy will rule today's already very cruel world.

Ⓜatilah $ingapura⚠️ said...

@ Socratic enquirer, RB:

>> Why would they do such darn things that would cost them dearly in votes and putting in the limelight under public scrutiny?

Haha...Why? Because the government fuckers come from the same cultural stock as the rest of the sheeple.

In this culture of our beloved Singapore is a very dark aspect: no one can tahan criticism, hate speech, or accusations ---i.e. in short: Culturally speaking, there is no wide latitude Freedom Of Speech.

Remember that fella who does the Demon-cracy cartoons? Fuck lah, that's satire, just a joke -- a humorous slant on the govt and politics. He too was hauled over hot coals for portraying LHL slapping a judge. WTF?

Just like the Charlie Hebdo murderers, The Benign Dictatorship (aka TBD) cannot even take a joke lah. The only difference is that TBD won't kill you---they'll tekan you with lawsuits and then assassinate your character in public.

Oh the fucking irony....you criticise them---not ok. However when they sue and besmirch you---that's OK.

Singapore and it's present culture is simply NOT READY for FREEDOM OF SPEECH, and thus NOT EVEN CLOSE TO READY FOR DEMOCRACY. Because real robust democracy EVOLVES from INDIVIDUAL freedom, and there is no freedom until the culture DEFENDS freedom of speech.

America with all its faults and unpayable debt still rules supreme as the freest nation on earth, because they're clinging onto a tenuous thread of their 1st Constitutional Amendment (essentially free speech guaranteed under law), which itself is shakily supported by the 2nd Amendment (essentially an armed citizenry guaranteed under law).

1st Amendment cases are daily occurrences in the USA---because people generally get fucking angry when they are made fun of and criticised, or have their feelings hurt. Motherfuckers: no one has a right to have their feelings protected. So the Americans, bless their enlarged hearts and obese physiques, can scream, write, publish, sing songs about, for e.g. Obama the African nigger Anti Christ socialist is sabotaging America as a pawn of Satan, pawn of the communists, lover of Islam, corrupt enabler of Wall Street....and nobody gives a flying fuck---least of all the so-called "victim" Barrack Obama himself. Same deal with Bush: wah lan, how he kena tekan on the internet, in the media, on stage by musicians, actors and comedians...and he didn't give a shit lah!

You cannot do or say such things here. So Singapore, you uptight motherfuckers, you have a long long long long...way to go! In Singapore you can still sue if your feelings get hurt. WTF?!?

This is the BEST PART: when Mr Chan and Mr Lee responded to their "criticisms" walloping their "accusers" NO ONE CAME OUT (with a few exceptions) to defend the right of the so-called accusers to speak their mind regardless of truth of their assertions. i.e. the concept here: under the idea of REAL freedom of speech, you don't have to speak the truth or give evidence for your claim. You have the right to be wrong, belligerent, uncooperative and hateful and whatever---as long as you keep your activities in the realm of speech, and not take it into the physical reality in the form of physical violence.

For Singapore, The Benign Dictatorship is the "best choice" until the culture changes to embrace more individualistic and humanitarian values.

That won't happen for sometime, as culture changes slowly....how will you know? You will know when people start DEFENDING the right to freedom of speech.

Which people? Most noticeably the people who DISAGREE with the claims made...i.e. the "victims" of the joke/ accusation/ satire/ unsubstantiated claim.

Voltaire: "I do not agree with what you have to say, but I'll defend to the death your right to say it."

Hey cheebye kam lan Singapore, got Voltaire?

Anonymous said...

we must give kee chiu more rope to hang himself.
please don't criticize kee chiu too harshly.

kee chiu ... okay?

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b said...

"Why did Hsien Loong insist on pursuing further "

- because they are like moles who never go above ground to realise that this world has changed a lot for the past 50 years. they still like to use the same hardcore tactics that the old man had used to deal with sinkies with different opinions.

b said...

but many sinkies are also moles - thats why they still voting for the same party again and again. the internet has yet to open them. perhaps they do not have access to internet because they have to wash toilets and drive taxis whole day.

b said...

if the people do not support those parties that try to give the people a choice, one day, the people will realise that this choice will also be taken away from them. thats what happened in china and russia, happening in eu, and soon asean.