A random thought to re-invigorate a moribund aspiration

 We have inherited a political system from the British. Instead of British Masters we now have our own politicians  to govern the country under a so-called democratic system. The Prime Minister and his Cabinet set out the policies and the civil servants who are supposed to be politically neutral carry them out without question. In any case where there is a dispute the Prime Minister is the final arbiter which is his constitutional right. These are intricacies which may not be known by some members of the public, especially the so-called freedom fighters who blamed the civil servants for so-called undemocratic actions like what they described as unjust and prolonged detentions under the ISA. As Director of ISD I used to receive not so infrequent broadsides from so-called freedom fighters but I took them in my stride as this was part of the jeopardy of my occupation. The British Masters had similar arbitrary power under British rule but rarely if ever to my knowledge excercised. Singapore civil servants are not short of compassion and conscience.

Communist countries like China are ruled by the Party Chairman who sets the policies never if ever disputed by other members of his cohort and carry out by party cadres. They have no civil servants in the democratic sense and political neutrality is never heard of.The late Chairman Mao ZeDong of China is a notable example.

The status quo in Singapore is going to stay irrespective of whether Singaporeans believe that this is an egalitarian society. Sixty-one percent of the electorate are so paralysed in their mind  that not voting for the PAP in any general election would mean the disintegration of their livelihood is something of such a monumental nature that no credible or formidable opposition will be able to overcome. This is going to be the reality of the situation for a possibly long time and with the exception of the emergence of a super politician who could command the confidence and trust of the the majority of the electorate it will be a mammoth if not unattainable task to try to dislodge the PAP.

The 4G sucessors of Lee Hsien Loong are a comical disparate group but then the Party had from time immemorial monopolised the field of so-called talented electorial candidates with their affluent enticements that leaves oppositon parties with almost nothing of a fighting chance to counter them. By now the 4G have shown that they are really the run-of- the-mill  quality but still formidable enough to mortify the oppostion.

So what is the solution? It seems that there has to be some kind mysticism for divinity to bestow some savour of  the blessing of a Darling of Fate (天之骄子) on the opposition to be able to make a breakthrough the invincible barrier of the PAP. To make things worse the Workers' Party has found itself in a rut now over the Raeesah Khan scandle. The Progress Singapore Party is till nascent. So however you look at it, it's so daunting to the opposition. Therefore it needs divine intervention.

The CIA Adventure 1961

 I have just turned 95 and living on borrowed time waiting to be called home by the Lord. There are some misrepresentations about me that I have to resolve before I go. I was a victim of a very grave injustice by the late Lee Kuan Yew  when he was prime minister. In his iniquitous way he created a vicious myth about my lack of loyalty and integrity as a civil servant. It is very important that I clear away such myths before my departure.

The CIA adventure in 1961 to recruit me as their intelligence agent is well documented by now.  The break up of the operation with the arrest of the three CIA officers involved in the recruitment was world shattering at that time which boomeranged right up to the White House and severely shocked the American President. Lee Kuan Yew portrayed it to  group of world newspaper leaders who were interviewing him as a James Bond style adventure with few parallel. He had no compunction in capitalising the incident  to such a great extent that it dazzled the American President John Kennedy and his aides with the President almost succumbing to his inordinate blustering although he was a toughie himself. Eventually the Americans were able to recompose themselves to parry off Lee Kuan Yew with their ingenuity.

Francis Seow was a top class formidable Deputy Public Prosecutor whose court performance struck fear on criminals and other like individuals. Lee Kuan Yew saw his talent and used him to good effect to demolish the artificial facades of security risk Chinese merchants who clandestinely financially aided  Chinese High School student activists in their violent agitation against the government. Lee was so impressed by his performance that he awarded Seow with a Gold Administration Medal. But then he was  also in fear of Francis Seow when he left the service to set up his private practice. His biggest fear was for Francis Seow to win an election to join the opposition in Parliament.

However to make the story short he was livid that I was closely associated with Francis Seow as were many other senior administrative and police officers but why he targeted me was enigmatic. This may have been one of the reasons that he used me to denigrate Francis Seow who was being examined by him in Parliament House in a Committee of Inquiry appointed by him to dislodge Francis  from  his post of President of the Law Society. How that had crossed his sickly mind was beyond comprehension. But he denounced me by concocting a blatant lie that I had been used by Francis Seow to  dismiss five detectives who had been accused of pilfering Francis' property while investigating a case of house breaking. He said I was dismissed from service as a result of this.This was telecast live to Singapore and the world from Parliament.House.

It was a blatant lie because it needed no proof to show that it was a lie. The case was investigated by CPIB helmed by me but the investigation paper after completion of investigation was forwarded to the Deputy Commissioner of Police for him to decide. Of course he studied the paper and decided to dismiss the detectives. After my stint as Head of CPIB I was appointed by Lee Kuan Yew as Director of ISD. His mind must have been deranged to say that I was dismissed. I was shocked by his denunciation and consulted a lawyer with a view to suing Lee Kuan Yew in court for defamation. But after what the lawyer advised me I had no choice but to desist from taking him to court. The lawyer was not keen to take the case because no Singapore judge had the courage to convict Lee and there was a high cost to pay. Why wasn't his prodigal son be asked to make a public apology?  You think it's possible to detect any humility in these million-dollar charlatans?

My tenure as Director ISD was tarnished by a plethora of intrigues by Tay Seow Huah who was my permanent secretary superior.who had the ear of Lee Luan Yew to his underhand falsehoods against me. There was a personal grudge between us arising out of a favour he asked of me to advance the position of one of his sidekicks. Anyway my positon, despite strong support from George Bogaars behind me, had gradually become untenable and I had to leave. I was posted to the Singapore Commission in Hongkong for one year and on my return I retired from service on a poverty-level pension.

I started a website later which I named Singapore Recalcitrant to do a public service by updating the public on political issues affecting them from my official experience. Whether we think that we are an egalitarian society the status quo will stay and may not see any improvement without divine intervention.