Report: Pipeline pumps billions in Myanmar junta's pockets - Summary
Posted : Thu, 10 Sep 2009 11:59:32 GMT
Author : DPA
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Bangkok - Myanmar's ruling junta is hiding billions of dollars in revenue from natural gas sales in two Singapore banks, a Washington-based human rights group claimed Thursday. EarthRights International (ERI) said international pressure would not work against the military government as long as it has vast sums of easily funds and the world community needs to put pressure on the banks in question.
ERI claims in a report released in Bangkok, "confidential and reliable" sources said Singapore's Overseas Chinese Development Banking Corporation (OCBC) and DBS Group are "offshore repositories of Yadana gas pipeline revenues."
Since commercial production started on the Yadana gas pipeline in 2000, Myanmar's government has earned about 4.83 billion dollars from the sale of natural gas to Thailand, ERI said.
Through using an old exchange rate of 6 kyat to the dollar, instead of the current value for Myanmar's currency of nearly 1,000 kyat to the dollar, only 28 million dollars of that revenue made it into Myanmar's national budget. The remaining roughly 4.8 billion dollars has been deposited in accounts in the two Singapore banks, the 110-page report said.
The two banks in question have so far declined to comment. A DBS spokesman told the German Press Agency
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Myanmar junta siphons gas revenue offshore-report
Thu Sep 10, 2009 7:01am EDT
BANGKOK, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Myanmar's military has transferred billions of dollars from a gas project into two banks operating in Singapore, contributing to "high-level corruption", a U.S.-based environmental group said on Thursday.
A report by non-profit Earth Rights International (ERI) said the junta had transferred $4.83 billion since 2000 from a gas pipeline, money that was kept off the national budget and stored in the banks operating in the city-state.
"Rather than contribute to Burma's economic development, the billion dollar revenues from the project have instead contributed to high-level corruption," the report said. The money, it said, came from the controversial Yadana gas project involving energy companies Chevron Corp (CVX.N) of the United States, France's Total (TOTF.PA) and Thailand's PTTEP (PTTE.BK).
The two banks and the Singaporean government were informed of the group's findings last week, ERI said. All had yet to respond.
"As long as Myanmar's regime has easy access to these funds we feel it will have little incentive to change," Matthew Smith, one of the report's authors, told a news conference.
"We urge the international community to use this as leverage to help the people of (Myanmar). We fully expect the Singapore government and the banks to do the right thing."
Despite a broad range of sanctions placed on Myanmar by the United States and the European Union because of political repression, its vast reserves of natural gas have been a financial lifeline for the regime. (For a factbox on sanctions on Myanmar click on [ID:nLD673386] )
ERI estimated the military government had received 75 percent of the revenue generated by the Yadana pipeline, which runs from the Andaman Sea to western Thailand.
ERI said the junta managed to keep the $4.83 billion off its national budget accounts by using a 30-year-old exchange rate from dollars to the local kyat currency, which produced a sum in kyat far smaller than the real amount generated.
"Singapore has very tight laws regarding corruption and misappropriation of public funds," Smith said. "These accounts should be red-flagged until the banks have the opportunity to cooperate with the authorities."
China's largest oil and gas producer, the China National Petroleum Corporation, is due to start construction of nearly 4,000 km (2,485 miles) of dual pipelines from Myanmar's western Arakan State to China's Yunnan province next month. [ID:nBKK40759] .
The deal is expected to provide the government, which has ruled the country since a 1962 coup, with at least $29 billion over 30 years. (Reporting by Bangkok Newsroom; Editing by Alan Raybould and Nick Macfie)
© Thomson Reuters 2009 All rights reserved http://www.reuters. com/article/ fundsFundsNews/ idUSBKK356607200 90910?rpc= 401 &
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China tip-off 'sparked' fighting
Myanmar said information about the arms cache came during a meeting on transnational crime [Reuters]
A senior Myanmar official has said that last month's clashes in the northeast of the country were sparked after a Beijing tipped them off about the location of an illegal arms factory.
Up to 30,000 people fled across the border from Kokang into northern China during the fighting which followed the raid on the arms factory in the mainly ethnic Chinese region.
An estimated 37,000 refugees streamed across the border from Myanmar into China's Yunnan province, but many of them have reportedly returned home in recent days.
Myanmar officials showed a number of diplomats and journalists around the site of the purported factory, which was raided by troops on August 8.
During the visit, Brigadier Phone Swe, Myanmar's deputy home affairs minister, said that Chinese officials informed them about the factory during a ministerial meeting on combating transnational crime.
Phone Swe's comments appeared to be an attempt to show that relations with close China remained on a steady keel, after a rare public request from Beijing that Myanmar calm the situation which had led to the influx of refugees.
Economic ties
China has maintained close economic and diplomatic ties with Myanmar's military government, largely estranged from the West, ensuring China's access to its mineral wealth.
Michael Vatikiotis, the regional director for the centre of humanitarian dialogue, said that the area had become a strategic concerns for China.
"They [China] have made it very clear to the Myanmar authorities that the want to see stability"
Michael Vatikiotis, regional analyst
"One of the reasons for their concern is that they have just signed and prepared for the construction of oil pipelines that run from the coast of Myanmar up to the border and across to Yunnan," he told Al Jazeera from Singapore.
"They have made it very clear to the Myanmar authorities that the want to see stability."
However, Vatikiotis said that Beijing was unlikely to throw its weight behind the ethnic Chinese over the border in Myanmar.
"I think that is not very much in character with China which is a great respecter of sovereignty, I think what they have been supporting until now is the status quo."
Earlier, the Myanmar government had said that the fighting had begun after ethnic Chinese raided a police checkpoint and took 39 police officers hostage.
Full-scale fighting broke out after 15 of the hostages were killed, and according to state media in Myanmar the clash left 11 soldiers and eight ethnic Chinese rebels dead.
Myanmar officials have claimed that calm has been restored in Kokang but many refugees remain unconvinced.
Election agreement
Meanwhile, the new leader of an ethnic Chinese political group said he would participate in general elections next year, the first in nearly two decades.
The issue of whether to take part in elections has been a point of contention among ethnic groups, which are being asked to put down their weapons and join the government-controll ed border guards.
Fighting has forced some 30,000 refugees to flee across the border into China [AFP]
Phe Sauk Chen, the head of the new Kokang Region Provisional Leading Committee, which was formed after other local leaders fled, told reporters during Tuesday's trip that his group also agreed to join the government's border security guards.
So far the larger ethnic groups, including the Kachin and the Wa, which has a militia estimated at more than 20,000 fighters, have refused to take part in elections.
But the issue caused division and led to the resignation of five senior leaders from the Kachin Independence Organisation earlier this month.
Aung Din, executive director of the US Campaign for Burma [the country's former name], said the leaders planned to take part in the polls.
Critics have called the scheduled elections a sham designed to cement the military's grip on power. The Kokang were the first among 17 armed ethnic groups to reach a peace agreement with the government in March 1989. http://english. aljazeera. net/news/ asia-pacific/ 2009/09/20099106 237748444. html
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Junta Gas Profits Stashed in Singapore Banks: ERI
By SIMON ROUGHNEEN Thursday, September 10, 2009
At a Bangkok press conference on Thursday, Earthrights International (ERI) launched two reports alleging that oil giants Total and Chevron are linked to “forced labor, killings, high-level corruption and authoritarianism” in Burma.
The reports, titled “Total Impact” and “Getting it Wrong,” examine how revenue from the Yadana gas project sustains military rule in Burma and undermines Western sanctions.
The NGO also said that two Singapore-based banks—Overseas Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) and DBS Group—function as “offshore repositories” for junta revenues accruing from the Yadana gas project.
Security guards gesture to photographers to stop taking photos of the DBS Group bank in Singapore in April. The bank is accused of laundering the Burmese junta’s siphoned gas profits. (Photo: Reuters)
The report said that Burma’s ruling State Peace and Development Council has earned almost US $5 billion from the gas pipeline project.
By using an outdated exchange rate, the junta declares a fraction of the revenues to the State budget, enabling it to siphon the rest off. The junta calculates revenue at just 6 kyat to the dollar when the de facto rate is closer to 1,000.
According to a confidential International Monetary Fund (IMF) report obtained by ERI, revenue "contributed less than 1 percent of total budget revenue in 2007/08, but would have contributed about 57 percent if valued at the market exchange rate."
The report says these rates allow the regime to list a mere $29 million of the Yadana earnings, leaving around $4.8 billion unaccounted for, which ERI believes to be lodged in the Singapore banks.
ERI’s Matthew Smith said that the information about offshore accounts in Singapore comes “from confidential and reliable sources,” but could not go into more detail.
“We expect the Singapore government and banks to do the right thing based on Singaporean law relating to money laundering, which prohibits any such transactions and requires banks to report these,” he added.
According to Smith, the two banks were informed in writing during the past week about the content of the reports, but ERI has yet to receive a response.
ERI is an environmental NGO based in the US, but was founded by Ka Hsaw Wa, an ethnic Karen and former Burmese student activist in exile since his involvement in the 1988 demonstrations against military rule.
ERI says that Total, Chevron and the Petroleum Authority of Thailand Export and Production (PTTEP)—the other non-Burmese company involved in Yadana—have earned a combined $1.3 billion since commercial production started in 2000.
The gas is piped into Thailand where it generates electricity for the Bangkok area, and in total makes up 60 percent of Burma's gas exports to Thailand. Total has been a major investor in the Yadana project since 1992, holding a 31.24 percent stake, with Chevron on 28 percent.
In a recent Newsweek interview, Total CEO Christophe de Margerie said that critics of the company's operations in Burma can “go to hell,” adding that the gas imports into Thailand have helped reduce air pollution in Bangkok.
In a June 26 letter to ERI published in the “Total Impact” report, Vice-President Jean-Francois Lasalle refused to answer a number of questions sent to Total by ERI. According to the letter, this was because ERI “presents allegations as facts,” and is “more interested in harassing our companies, in line with a divestment agenda, than in a real dialogue about how to improve people's lives.”
Total has cited its socioeconomic work in the pipeline area, and the “overall improvement in living conditions for the 50,000 people” who live in the pipeline area. Total refers ERI to a report by US-based CDA Collaborative Learning Projects, which gave the findings of a 20-day impact assessment of the oil company's operations related to the Yadana project.
However, the positive CDA report was dismissed as a whitewash by ERI, with report author Naing Htoo saying CDA’s methodology was deeply flawed, given that CDA lacked autonomy after being hired by Total to do the impact assessment.
ERI accuses Total and Chevron of complicity in human rights abuses throughout the history of the project. While the oil companies claim abuses have ceased, Naing Htoo says that this is “simply untrue.”
The authors quote locals living in the pipeline area, and the report’s authors say that “forced labor, killings and other abuses are being committed by Total and Chevron's security forces while the companies mislead and lie to the international community about their impacts.”
ERI said it believes that the impact of the CDA assessments is troubling, as these could be taken at face value by other oil companies and policymakers, in turn potentially having an impact on the issue of sanctions and engagement with the Burmese junta, based on false or flawed premises.
ERI said that the gas revenue windfall insulates the country's military rulers from the impact of international sanctions, which were tightened after the August 11 verdict returning Aung San Suu Kyi to house arrest.
Total and Chevron have operations in Burma that pre-date the introduction of US and EU sanctions, so are not bound by those. In any case, EU sanctions against Burma currently only cover arms exports, wood, minerals, gems and metals, thereby exempting Total.
Elf, a former French oil company now part of Total, was complicit in numerous corruption scandals involving shady deals with African petro-states, before three senior Elf executives were jailed and the company merged with Total.
“As long as the regime has access to such vast revenue it has little incentive to reform or change,” Smith said. “The elites are hiding billions of dollars of the people's revenue in Singapore, while the country needlessly suffers under the lowest social spending in Asia.”
As well as long-standing rumors about Burma’s resource revenue being stashed in Singapore, the ill-gotten gains of elites in North Korea and Zimbabwe are also thought to be held in the city-state.
US financial giant Merrill Lynch estimates a third of Singapore's 60,000-odd millionaires are Indonesian, whereby Jakarta's wealthy beneficiaries of corruption and cronyism have moved their holdings away from the anti-corruption efforts undertaken by President Yudhoyono.
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy. org
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Junta Media Highlights North Korean Anniversary
By WAI MOE Thursday, September 10, 2009
Burma’s state-controlled media reported on North Korea’s 61st anniversary celebration on the front page of The New Light of Myanmar on Thursday, reflecting the junta’s close relationship with Pyongyang.
The paper reported that Lt-Gen Tin Aye, the chief of Military Ordnance and head of the Union of Myanmar Economic Holding Ltd, attended the anniversary celebration of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea held in a hotel in Rangoon on Wednesday.
Rangoon Mayor Brig-Gen Aung Thein Lin also attended the North Korean party. Both Tin Aye and Aung Thein Lin have traveled to the Communist country for arms deals between two states.
North Korea and Burma officially reestablished diplomatic ties in April 2007. Burma cut relations with North Korea in 1983 following a bomb attack by North Korean agents on a visiting South Korean delegation led by then President Chun Doo Hwan. Chun Doo Hwan narrowly escaped death or injury, but four South Korean cabinet ministers and 13 other officials were killed by the blast.
Renewed North Korea-Burma ties have been highlighted in international media recently because of reports that said North Korea has provided arms and technology to the Burmese military.
The state-run newspaper ran the North Korean anniversary story on the front page. The Korean Central News Agency did not report on the Rangoon event.
Burma and North Korea both give priority to the role of the military in their country’s affairs.
Since 1994, the North Korean People’s Army was granted the “supreme repository of power.” Since 1962, the Burmese army has played the leading role in governing the Union of Burma.
http://www.irrawadd y.org/article. php?art_id= 16759
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Thursday, September 10, 2009
Report: Pipeline pumps billions in Myanmar junta's pockets
Friday, June 12, 2009
Goh’s Comments Significant
http://www.irrawaddy.org/article.php?art_id=15920
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By WAI MOE Wednesday, June 10, 2009
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Former Singaporean Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong told junta leader Snr-Gen Than Shwe that Suu Kyi’s trial had “an international dimension to the matter, which Myanmar [Burma] should not ignore.”
According to Channel News Asia, Goh’s comments came during a meeting with Than Shwe in Naypyidaw on Tuesday, adding to the diplomatic pressure on the Burmese junta over pro-democracy leader Aung San Suu Kyi’s trial.
Goh Chok Tong had a frank discussion with Snr-Gen Than Shwe at their meeting in the capital Naypyidaw. (Source: Straits Times)
Win Tin, one of the leaders of Burma’s main opposition party, the National League for Democracy (NLD), said he welcomed the Senior Minister of Singapore’s comments on Burma’s political crisis.
“I want to say that Mr Goh Chok Tong’s trip is a good diplomatic approach. I appreciate his trip and his comments on Burmese politics,” he told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday.
He said Goh’s trip is significant because Singapore is the country that has attempted to drag the isolated Burmese regime into the international community through its “constructive engagement policy.”
Singapore is also one of biggest investors in Burma and supported Burma’s membership with the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in 1997.
Win Tin said he hopes Goh noted the wrongdoings of the junta in Burma and suggested ways to alleviate the suffering in the country.
Commenting on the potential for an all-inclusive process in Burmese politics, Win Tin said he believes that the term “all-inclusive” should mean not only in respect of elections, but also an all-inclusive process in all political issues in Burma.
He also said that elections are important in the democratization process, but that the regime must review the constitution alongside opposition parties.
According to Channel News Asia, the Burmese leadership responded to Goh’s comments by noting that “the opposition [in Burma] needs to recognize that the military plays a pivotal role in the reconciliation process.”
Win Tin told The Irrawaddy that the junta’s comments were untrue, as the NLD has always stated that it recognizes the military’s role.
Goh, one of Asia’s most prominent statesmen and currently Senior Member of the Singaporean government, is in Burma at the invite of Burmese Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein who visited the city-state in March 2009.
However, Burma analysts said Goh would use Singapore’s strong position in Asean to push concerns about the political situation in Burma.
Larry Jagan, a British journalist in Bangkok who specializes in Burmese issues, told The Irrawaddy on Wednesday that although Goh visited Burma as the Singaporean Senior Minister, he could informally act as an envoy on behalf of Asean to tell Than Shwe face-to-face what Asean members think about the criminal trial of Suu Kyi and the Burmese political situation.
“Goh Chok Tong is a senior politician within Asean. He is someone that Than Shwe has high regard for. So, he has the kind of stature that is needed as someone who can go to talk with Than Shwe frankly,” Jagan said.
“What he told Than Shwe is more his personal view than Asean’s view,” he added. “But his concerns [about the trial and the political crisis in Burma] are shared by most Asean leaders.”
Singapore is one of the Burmese regime’s most important diplomatic relatives and trading partners. Burma experts suspect millions of dollars of the generals’ and their cronies’ money are in Singaporean banks.
The Burmese junta, who is under sanctions from the United States and the European Union, has attempted to trade with the world through Singapore, experts say.
The former British island colony also serves as a hospice and retreat for Burma’s ruling generals, including Than Shwe, the late Gen Soe Win and the late Lt-Gen Maung Bo.
Military affairs also play a role in the two countries’ relationship. Burmese military experts have claimed that the Burmese junta has bought warfare material from the Singaporean government in the past.
Analysts have said Goh’s trip is quite significant as a diplomatic approach, because he was able to meet with Than Shwe who earlier this year rebuffed Ibrahim Gambari, the UN special envoy to Burma.
Debbie Stothard of Alternative Asean Network on Burma said Asean leaders are now showing their concerns over the ongoing political process in the country.
“But just one trip is nothing as far as diplomatic efforts for change in Burma are concerned,” she said, adding, “Asean should push continuously. Burma issues are now a problem for Asean.”
Copyright © 2008 Irrawaddy Publishing Group | www.irrawaddy.org
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
How I took on the Burmese junta and won -by Ben Bland
http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/asia_file/blog/2009/05/11/how_i_took_on_the_burmese_junta_and_won
Posted By: The Asia File at May 11, 2009 at 13:41:04 [General]
Posted in: Business
The repressive Burmese junta may have to put plans for an extensive new airport in their secretive capital Naypyidaw on hold after one of Australia's largest engineering companies pulled out of the project in rather hasty fashion because I exposed their involvement in the questionable development.
Rather bizarrely, the company in question, Downer EDI, claimed that it was unaware that its wholly-owned Singapore-based consultancy arm CPG had been contracted to design the airport until I informed them of the fact last week (see the full story here).
CPG was working alongside some pretty shady characters on this project and it really doesn't reflect well on a sizable publicly-listed company such as Downer, which is a constituent of Australia's benchmark ASX 200 share index.
Downer has also been a big donor to Australia's ruling Labor party, which has spoken out strongly against the Burmese junta and last year increased the scope of sanctions against the regime and its cronies.
But the company has moved to rectify the situation pretty quickly, saying it will pull out of the airport contract as soon as it can regardless of the possible financial penalties involved.
Most companies opt for damage limitation when caught out but not many executives would put their hands up so quickly and perform such a rapid U-turn. It's either a sign of how transparent and contrite they are or how seriously they believe they have erred.
I doubt the generals or their henchmen at Asia World, the Burmese conglomerate charged with building the airport, will be too pleased to have lost their major design partner. Particularly as they have worked with CPG, which used to be the Singapore public works department before it was privatised, in the past on other projects such as the redevelopment of Yangon (Rangoon) airport.
No international company with an ounce of decency should be involved in Burmese projects such as this that only benefit the generals at the expense of their people.
But I don't believe that extensive sanctions are the best way to curb the excesses of the vile military government in Burma and to promote democracy. The only hope for the country lies in greater engagement with the outside world, not more isolation.
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Singapore’s Shame (Chapter 2 - A culture of fear)
http://wayangparty.com/?p=7491
April 7, 2009 by admin
Filed under James Gomez, Top Story
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By Dr James Gomez, Author, Self-Censorship: Singapore’s Shame
EDITORS’ NOTE:
(Self-Censorship: Singapore`s Shame written by Dr. James Gomez ten years ago focuses on the political behavior of citizens and foreigners living and working in Singapore. He is currently revising his book to consider the impact of the post-internet environment. Dr. Gomez invites readers and bloggers to post their reactions, suggestions and comments to his draft chapters which will be serialized here each week.You are invited to join his
Facebook Author’s Support Group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=59118927883 and check out his blog at http://www.jamesgomeznews.com/blog). His posting last week “Introduction” can be found here.)
When it comes to discussions of political culture, a commonly phrase used is the “culture of fear”. In Singapore, a culture of fear is seen as driving self-censorship. This culture of fear is something that has been constructed by the PAP government through its historical tightening of political controls in spite of its occasional rhetoric of openness.
This deliberately manufactured fear is aimed at securing social and political control over citizens and foreign residents in Singapore. It is the reason why people become anxious about political participation and justify self-censorship because a culture of fear exists. How has this fear been created in Singapore?
The culture of fear is related to political development in Singapore. Discussions on the political development in the city-state have been reviewed from a number of perspectives over the last three decades. One
writer attributed this political conservatism to the ideological hegemony of the ruling party and to Asian values (Chua, 1996).
While another argued that the economy of Singapore was used to as tool of social control and to nurture political conservatism in the republic (Tremewan, 1994), others have suggested that the character of the middle class has something to do with this state of affairs (Rodan, 1992; Jones and Brown, 1994). The tactics of the PAP and its authoritarian character have also been identified as having explanatory potential (Rodan, 1993). Much earlier, local political scientist Chan Heng Chee had explained conservatism as a result of “politics” being absorbed into the state bureaucracy (Chan, 1975).
Former prime minister Lee Kuan Yew’s political style, together with his use of legal action at the courts, have also been proffered as contributing to the state of political conservatism here (Haas, 1999; Seow, 1994 and 1998;
Selvam, 1991; Minchin, 1986). However, the centrality of Lee’s role in Singapore politics is now being challenged on several fronts. For instance, one book that tries to map the contributions of his other colleagues (Lam
and Tan, 1999) while others include political autobiographies such as that of Said Zahari (2001 and 2007) which collectively challenge the centrality of Lee Kuan Yew in Singapore`s political history.
The contemporary structures of changes in Singapore have also been identified as shaping political conservatism in Singapore. Analyses have focused on the strategies of the PAP, the institutional restrictions against independent political expression and the reforms that have taken place to “accommodate” the demand for greater political participation (Heng, 1997; Rodan, 1997; and Lam, 1997) as well as restrictions place over the internet,
political films and public protests.
Issues concerning elections have also been considered relevant to the local political culture. One writer has provided an overall description of the Singapore electoral system and the accompanying changes over the years
(Thio, 1997) while another has focused on the failure of the electoral system in representing alternative voices (Rodan, 1996). There are also several local academics have sought to explain the general and other
elections in Singapore (Mutalib, 1992 and 1993; Singh, 1992; da Cunha, 1997). In my own PhD thesis on the impact of the internet on the electoral system, I concluded that political culture contributed in part to upholding
the electoral system in Singapore that continuously returns the PAP into power (Gomez 2008).
Some works on civil society, mainly emanating from PAP government think-tanks, seek to make a distinction between civil and political society (Ooi and Goh, 1999). Others claim that civil society will be the site of future political contestation (Tay, 1998). Implicit in local discussions on civil society is that “neutral” or “non-partisan” political culture of such groups is the preferred choice.
There are only a few studies that have directly commented on political culture and behaviour in Singapore. Most works on the Republic’s political development, if they refer to political behaviour, use the term “political
culture” (Soin Tan, 1993; Khong, 1995; Jeyaretnam, 1997), though it is not adequately explained, described or gauged. Often, it is mentioned in passing, without any depth of deliberation.
Most discussions on self-censorship have often been used in relation to the media and local media in particular. The application of the concept self-censorship has only been used in a limited way to explain Singaporean political culture. Almost none discuss its role in a post-internet environment in Singapore.
Discussion on domestic political culture often go back to the features of traditional heritage, religion, political history of the region and ethnic origins of the migrant population in Singapore. Conventional explanations often state that the nature of political conservatism on the island can be attributed to ethnic culture. Understood in rigid ethnic categories, Singapore is made up of 75% Chinese, 14% Malay, 6% Indians and 5% Others. However, such categories are increasingly becoming irrelevant as more foreigners from non-traditional sources of immigration countries such as the Burma, Nepal, Philippines, Vietnam and elsewhere settle and work in Singapore.
One piece of work that attempted an ethnic explanation was an early study, which focused on the Chinese community (Clammer, 1985). The writer argued that their large numbers in Singapore sinicised the political culture of the
Republic. Hence, the disdain that the Chinese hold for politics is reflected across the board in Singapore, he said. The writer pointed out that the majority Chinese, as opposed to the minorities, are politically conservative. He believed that this was one reason why political development in Singapore has largely mirrored the cultural conservatism of the ethnic majority. He offered as reasons, the social structure and attitudes of the Chinese community towards politics.
The PAP government has been able to manipulate and stretch this cultural argument to all ethnic communities in Singapore, in the 1990s, to sell the idea of an “Asian values” system, which tries to render democracy as a culturally Western-style alien concept. Modeled after Confucianism, Asian values instead are said to entail a belief in good government by honest men and includes a reverence for authority. As such, direct opposition is not to be encouraged; instead, consensus building is to be supported.
While arguments from ethnicity can hold some explanatory relevance, the uncritical use of ethnic explanations for political behaviour, needs to be guarded against. For instance, it is important to recognise that Singapore`s
minority communities in the broad sense of the word are generally not involved in politics. In political parties, especially opposition parties, ethnic minority community participation is small, token or non-existent. Minority communities in Singapore have essentially abandoned politics and live their daily lives as a community unto themselves.
Often the plural ethno-religious make up of the city-state is used to pre-empt political change. Pictures of ethnic strife drawn from two early riots in the Republic’s history have been well utilised in government discourse to help the citizens and foreign residents to internalise risk aversive behaviour when it comes to politics. On the basis of frailties of statehood and a narrow range of policy instruments available for ethno-centered policies, the use of culture in this way aids the retention of the existing system.
The argument from ethnic culture attempts to paint alternative views as dangerous, anti-establishment, unreflective of aspirations of the majority and as “fringe” interests. In this way, it perpetuates popular attempts to endanger and marginalise alternative views. For instance, demands for political space are often represented as the wants
of minorities. The demand for political space is frequently depicted as a concern only of ethnic minorities, the English-educated, sexual minorities, academics and eccentric elements of society. Additionally, the push for
liberal values and democracy is portrayed as the demand by a small group of people who use such ‘romantic’ notions as a strategy to gain political attention.
But the explanation via ethnicity does not clarify why political participation in other East Asian countries such as South Korea and Taiwan is large and highly impassioned. Further, it does not explain why a very
disparately constituted group of Chinese-educated, blue-collared workers and the man in the street elbowed for political space some 40 years ago in the Republic.
There is nothing inherent in Asian cultures that make self-censoring a necessary feature. Instead, much of the promotion of group solidarity and the rejection of self-assertion and individual rights are systemic of Asian one-party dominated regimes or military dictatorships such as in Burma, China, Laos, Vietnam and even Japan. Thus, there is a need to go beyond ethnic culture to look at structures to explain the political culture that is uniquely Singaporean, cutting across ethnic lines and affecting even those of other nationalities residing in the Republic. There is something deeper than ethnicity that explains the state of political culture and fear in Singapore.
Economics has also been used to explain local political behaviour. Linked to the presence of a patron-client relationship between the PAP and the majority of the voters, the economic success of the republic is said to have
created gratitude, loyalty and dependency among citizens and foreigners residing in Singapore for the ruling party. The fact is the PAP government is literally the largest employer in terms of percentage of total jobs in
the economy. This position as the lead employer includes the number of government jobs (not just civil service, but includes all quasi-government and non-government entities that receive government funds or come under some
form of government control). Add to this the percentage of total value of the stock market under state control (through Temasek, Government Investment Corporation, etc) versus that which is in truly private hands (bearing in
mind that a lot of ‘private’ owners are active participants in the patronage system).
Work in also the size of small and medium enterprises versus the size of MNCs and PAP government controlled businesses (Singapore Airlines, SingTel, etc) and this shows the link between the level of self-censorshiphow much the PAP government controls the livelihood of its citizens and foreign workers. Most people are not willing to do something to jeopardize their career or livelihood. The connection of the Republic’s economic
success to the PAP is manifested in the way individuals and groups preface remarks about politics, especially their desire for greater political participation, with accolades for the ruling party and its leaders that is
at the same time coupled with expressions of gratitude and loyalty. It is a ritual that is clearly observable at local conferences, meetings and speeches at events.
The political behaviour of the middle-class is highly relevant in any study of the nation’s economic culture. Based on it; size, some commentators note that middle-class behaviour represents the political culture of Singaporean
society. They argue that the republic’s large middle-class, whose material consumption is linked to the state, does not want to upset the status quo. This special dependency is in part supported by the people’s obsession with
material gain.
Since citizens and foreign workers alike in Singapore are motivated by the need to constantly gather material advantage and get ahead, a national trait referred to locally as kiasuism is seen as an intrinsic character of this middle class. The ruling party taps this deep-seated desire of the people for materialism and therefore continually plays the economic card for its political ends. Feelings of anxiety and uncertainty displayed by the economically dependent middle class’ whenever the ruling party raises the spectre of economic downfall have been linked to the slow rate of the democratisation process in Singapore (Jones and Brown, 1994).
Even though some have endeavoured to show that the middle class itself is complex (Chua and Tan, 1995), economic dependency has been accepted as one explanation why the Singapore middle-class does not initiate political
change. One writer speaks in terms of an ideological consensus between the PAP government and the electorate that has been based on a shared interest in economic growth (Chua, 1998). In 2008 when the mini-bond issues broke out
in Singapore following the collapse of the Lehman Brothers, the initial crowds that gathered at the Speakers Corner eventually dissipated without building on the momentum for mass political action.
But the similarity between the political culture of the elite class and the masses, arising out of a centralised and punitive political system, goes beyond economics and the citizenry. This phenomenon has also affected the
behaviour of foreign residents in the Republic and other foreigners who have dealings with the country. Those who do not publicly subscribe to this larger political culture or have actively taken part in what is seen as
antagonistic political activity have been deported or their resident, work or student permits terminated or not renewed. This larger impact of political culture reveals lacunae in theories of democratisation that
expected a course of political action from the middle-class.
Another account of political conservatism in the Republic focuses on the popular fear that the PAP will persecute any independent political expression. This fear originates from the perception that the government takes punitive action against its political opponents. In Singapore, there have been numerous examples of individuals who have challenged the political leaders of the country and suffered from detention without trial or have had defamation, bankruptcy and tax evasion suits filed against them. The challengers’ names and characters have been subjected to negative
campaigning through a compliant local press. Such examples of negative campaigning of civil society activists and various opposition politicians in the past and present stay vivid in the minds of the people and perpetuate
the fear. Memories lead opposition figures subjected to negative campaigning include Chia Thye Poh, Tan Wah Piow, JB Jeyaretnam, Francis Seow, Chee Soon Juan, and in 2006 when I contested the general elections against the PAP, I
joined the ranks of these figures as PAP objects of negative campaigning.
Fear is also due to the presence of the Internal Security Department (ISD) and its surveillance of political activities. The ISD makes its surveillance activities fairly visible, especially during opposition party activities or when political figures meet members of foreign embassies, overseas opposition politicians and civil society actors. The surveillance also covers religious activities, academic, social and theatre gatherings. Tertiary institutions such as polytechnics and universities are also monitored by handlers through student and academic informers. The public can
get a fairly detailed account of the workings of the ISD, and its detention and interrogation techniques from Francis Seow’s book To Catch a Tartor: Dissident in Lee Kuan Yew’s Prison (Seow, 1994), supplementary information
can also be found in (Tan, Gomez, 1999) and ( Hong 2009; Tan, Teo and Koh 2009).
There is also an informal culture of curiosity over each others` perceived political activity and the accompanying rumour mongering that acts as a mass surveillance device that feeds the formal surveillance network. The fear
against surveillance is so widespread that presence of the ISD is evoked even when lay people speak of politics, make telephone calls or send messages via the Internet or post articles on blogs. With the arrival of the
internet, there is a perception and acceptance that internet content is constantly being monitored by the authorities.
Further, online anonymity that features prominently in internet chat rooms and in the comment sections
of blogs is accepted as non-existent. The belief is that the PAP government and its agents have the technical and financial means to track every single anonymous online entity and that “radical” bloggers are invited out for a
chat by government agents and persuaded to moderate their stance! Adding to this, are revelations that a Singapore-based company has supplied sophisticated intelligence gathering equipment to Burma’s military-rulers that is capable of intercepting all sorts of telephone and fax messages as well as e-mail and radio communications aggravates the situation even further (2nd September, Far Eastern Economic Review 1999).
Fear has also been attributed to an underlying apprehension that the vote is not secret, that voting against the ruling party could have a negative impact on voters’ livelihood, or that any alternative political views that individuals may have might be held against them. This mind-set is prevalent among many civil servants, employees in government-linked companies, and those who see themselves as being in one way or another connected to the state for their livelihood in Singapore. Being the largest employer and financial patron on the island, the PAP government has a psychological influence over the way a significant number of the people vote during elections. In 1997, the direct threats to withhold funding for precincts voting against the PAP had an immediate influence on voter behaviour (da
Cuhna, 1997). In the last two general elections in 2001 and 2006, the PAP has turned to giving cash incentives such as Singapore Shares and other cash rebates to appeal to voter materialism.
Perceptions of a whole network of informal pressures that pulsate through the state machinery also contribute to fear. This is believed to take the form of “advice” and “pressure” put on civil servants or those in employment outside the civil service but who are nonetheless susceptible to pressure in having their actions deterred or curtailed. A frequently cited example is that immediate superiors advise their junior workers on the wisdom of
engaging in particular political activities or associating with certain individuals and their causes. Failing to adhere to such advice is viewed as courting risk in losing one’s job, being demoted, being passed over for promotion or transferred to lesser departments in the organisation.
It is easy to agree that fear caused by perceptions of the surveillance and intimidation activities of the ISD, the wrath of the service machinery plus informal government pressures can be a powerful deterrent to alternative
political activity and thought. However, ethnicity, economics and fear offered as individual explanations of a typically Singaporean political culture are not satisfactory. They do not demonstrate clearly the relationship between the political structure and behaviour, and how the two are part of a complex interdependent and mutually constitutive relationship in a dominant one-party regime. More importantly they do not reveal the dynamics of political self-censorship and the act of censoring others that are central to how this political culture manifests itself in material form. Thus other perspectives and ideas are needed to complement present understandings of how the system is constantly reproduced.
Culture is often treated as an abstract value system but it has its physical manifestation in people’s behaviour. The structural determination of a dominant Singaporean political culture and its material manifestation are
significant. Censorship should not be understood in negative terms as an “absence” or failure in political life, of what is not done, but as an active material behaviour that itself shapes events in the real world. Censorship impacts on political structure and participation and is in turn constituted by these. Simply put, the current system is responsible for facilitating the censorial behaviour one witnesses in Singapore and such behaviour in return helps keep same the structure and fear in place. Each is necessary for the other.
In such an environment how does one think of political development or reform? What is the way forward? What strategies should one adopt? In the next chapter, Singapore’s political history is briefly surveyed to
trace the emergence and character of this dominant culture of self-censorship and the act of censoring others. It shows that it is mainly in contemporary Singapore that such a censorial climate emerged - a consequence of a systematic attempt by the PAP to contain alternative political expression.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Singapore to launch tougher public order law
http://in.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idINTRE52N25920090324
Tue Mar 24, 2009 4:03pm IST
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Singapore, which already has tough restrictions on freedom of assembly, plans to tighten them further ahead of a major Asia-Pacific summit in the city-state.
The Public Order Bill, introduced in parliament on Monday before the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in November, was needed to "squarely address gaps in the current framework to enhance the ability of the police to ensure security during major events," the Ministry of Home Affairs said.
Under the proposed law, police could prevent activists from leaving home if they knew they were going to a political rally. It would also allow police to order a person to leave an area if they determine he is about to break the law.
All outdoor activities that are cause-related will need a police permit, no matter how many people are involved. That is a change from the current law requiring a permit for gatherings of five or more people.
Opposition politicians and activists were quick to criticize the proposed law. "Even in communist China, peaceful protests are tolerated," said Chee Siok Chin of the opposition Singapore Democratic Party.
The bill allows police to stop people from filming law enforcement if it could put officers in danger. The bill cited live media coverage of Indian police trying to rescue hostages in the Mumbai attacks last November as posing risks to the officers.
Police could stop small peaceful protests against unpopular visiting government leaders, such as from Myanmar, if the law was introduced, activists said.
Last week, three Singaporeans tried to present a bouquet of orchids to visiting Myanmar Prime Minister Thein Sein for him to give to detained Myanmar opposition leader Aung Sann Suu Kyi.
Thein Sein was having an orchid named after him at the Botanical Gardens, a Singapore tradition for visiting heads of government.
The law is certain to pass, since the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has an overwhelming majority in parliament.
It also passed an amended law on Monday to ease a decade-long ban on political party documentary-like films, but introduced restrictions on dramatized political videos.
"These two sets of amendments should be viewed as part of the longstanding periodic adjustments the PAP has made to limit politics to tightly controlled electoral contests conducted in the absence of a meaningful civil society," said Garry Rodan of Murdoch University in Western Australia.
Others said the two laws were pre-emptive measures for the government to prevent a repeat at the APEC meeting of confrontation between police and protesters that took place during the World Bank/IMF meeting in 2006, and also to deal with potential social unrest during Singapore's worst-ever recession.
"As long as the government feels a threat, it needs greater measures to deal with greater problems," said Terence Chong at the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies in Singapore.
(Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Bill Tarrant)
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Monday, March 30, 2009
Wrong man for the wrong flower
http://www.mizzima.com/edop/letters/1876-wrong-man-for-the-wrong-flower.html
by John Moe
Monday, 23 March 2009 11:24
Dear Editor
Burmese and Singaporean pro-democracy activists should be outraged over the Singaporean government’s latest act of adulation shown toward Burma’s military rulers, the christening of a new orchid at the National Orchid Garden named after Burma’s unelected Prime Minister, General Thein Sein.
Singapore’s People’s Action Party (PAP) leaders have failed to contemplate whether the hypocritical Burmese general deserves to have an orchid, the "Dendrobium Thein Sein", named after him. Instead, the government of Singapore continues to direct its relations with Burma’s military junta according to the principle of economic self-interest – utterly ignoring the desires of ordinary Burmese.
Singapore's bilateral trade with Burma reached 1.2 billion dollars in fiscal year 2007-08, with Singapore standing as Burma's third largest trading partner. The total amount of Singaporean exports to Burma accounted for 816.3 million dollars, while imports from Burma amounted to 401.8 million dollars.
Yet, amidst a vibrant trade relation, leaders of the Lion City seldom have a critical word for Burma’s men in green. The Singaporean government rarely mentions the situation of either the democratic process or human rights in Burma. Nonetheless, true-hearted Singaporean activists continue to show their concern for Burma and detained Nobel Peace laureate Aung San Suu Kyi.
Recently, Singaporean activists dedicated a bouquet of eight orchids in honor of the 8-8-88 uprising of August 8, 1988. On that day, student protests spread throughout Burma. Hundreds of thousands of people from all walks of life – monks, children, university students, housewives and professionals – demonstrated against the then government. However, the military violently suppressed the aspirations of the people. Do PAP leaders know of the role of Prime Minister General Thein Sein during the 8-8-88 uprising and subsequent crackdown?
Actually, as opposed to their naming of a flower after a general of the Burmese junta, leaders of a first world country – such as Singapore – should honor a world class democracy icon such as Aung San Suu Kyi with a garden and street dedicated to her.
It should be remembered that just as Singapore has a founding father in Senior Minister Lee Kuan Yew, Burma has its own in Aung San, the father of the now embattled opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi.
In fact, Singapore government is well aware of the corruption within Burma’s military and their mismanagement of the economy. Commenting on the extravagant nature of the wedding of Senior General Than Shwe’s daughter, Lee Kuan Yew said, "Flaunting these excesses must push a hungry and impoverished people to revolt," and that the ruler's daughter looked "like a Christmas tree" in the video.
Lee further once commented that Burma's ruling generals “are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy. How could they so mismanage the economy and reach this stage when the country has so many natural resources?"
Current Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong should be aware that according to the 1990 general election result, Aung San Suu Kyi earned the right to be Prime Minister, as leader of the National League for Democracy, but that the military to this day continues to deny her this right.
As a matter of fact, the PAP government very much hesitates to appreciate a democracy icon such as Aung San Suu Kyi. Instead, thousands of Burmese nationals who are working in Singapore find a flower-naming ceremony in recognition of Burma’s current military Prime Minister hugely demoralizing.
While Burmese are overwhelmed with the solidarity and support they receive from Singaporean activists, such as the gift of the eight orchids, these actions should not be misunderstood as in any way coming from PAP – which instead insists on standing alongside Burma’s military leaders.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Singapore urges Myanmar to reconcile with opponents
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20090318/tap-myanmar-singapore-c3bb44c.html
By Nopporn Wong-Anan
SINGAPORE, March 18 - Singapore urged Myanmar's military rulers to reconcile with the opposition and engage with West, even as the junta renewed a crackdown on pro-democracy activists.
Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong told his Myanmar counterpart Thein Sein on Tuesday the city-state would "do what we can" to help the junta revive ties with the United States and Europe.
"Countries are grappling with the financial crisis, and asking themselves what is the most effective way to conduct their affairs with other regions," said Lee, whose People's Action Party has governed Singapore since independence in 1965.
"We hope Myanmar will seize this moment to take bolder steps towards national reconciliation and in engaging the international community," he said in a dinner reception speech.
The junta, which has ruled the former Burma since 1962, has refused to recognise a 1990 landslide election victory of the opposition National League for Democracy. Its leader Aung San Suu Kyi has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades.
Hours before Lee's banquet speech, an NLD spokesman said Myanmar authorities had detained five of its members in Yangon last week, but did not know why. It was the latest in a series of arrests of pro-democracy activists ahead of an election next year, the last step in the junta's "roadmap to democracy".
Western governments have criticised the poll as a sham aimed at entrenching military rule.
WEALTH MANAGEMENT
Lee's remarks came as a U.N. investigator called on the junta to release more than 2,100 political prisoners and allow them to take part in the election.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, U.N. special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also urged the military to halt its use of civilians in forced labour. [NLH943136]
Washington, whose sanctions on Myanmar include freezing assets of the ruling generals, wants the 10-member Association of South East Asian Nations , which includes Singapore, to press for reform and political progress in Myanmar.
But Singapore, a strong U.S. ally and a growing centre for wealth management, has opposed sanctions on Myanmar and is believed to be home to the generals' offshore bank accounts.
Lee said resource-scarce Singapore would continue to develop business opportunities in resource-rich Myanmar, urging the junta to provide a "stable environment for businessmen to operate in, and take concrete steps to remove barriers and bureaucratic hassles".
Critics say the junta has turned the "Rice Bowl of Asia" into one of Asia's poorest nations, but the regime says it is pursuing its own seven-step "roadmap" to democracy and shrugs off calls for reform.
On Wednesday, Singapore's state-run Botanic Gardens hosted an "Orchid Naming Ceremony" for Thein Sein, the number four in the junta's hierarchy, a ceremony that the government traditionally conducts to honour visiting dignitaries.
Three Singaporeans at the gardens tried to present a bouquet of orchids to Thein Sein to give to Suu Kyi, and called for her release. Protests are rare in Singapore and gatherings of five or more people are illegal without a police permit.
"We feel it would be more fitting for the orchid flower to be honoured in the name of Miss Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, the rightful leader of Burma," the protestors said in a statement. (Additional reporting by Kash Cheong; Editing by Neil Chatterjee and Bill Tarrant)
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Singapore
Orchids for Aung San Suu Kyi but it’s not from PAP
http://www.sgpolitics.net/?p=2547
March 22, 2009 by admin
Filed under: Voices of the People
By John Moe, for the Singapore Democrats
21 March 2009
Original link
The Singapore Government honoured unelected Burma Prime Minister General Thein Sein by naming a new orchid after him (”Dendrobium Thein Sein”) at the Botanic Gardens on Thursday. This was roundly rejected by Singaporean activists.
The Singapore Government wants a first world class image for Singapore, but the ruling People’s Action Party leaders failed to consider whether the hypocritical Burmese general deserves such an accolade.
The Government of Singapore enjoys warm relations with the military junta for self-interest and in doing so continues to ignore the desires of ordinary Burmese.
Singapore’s bilateral trade with Burma reached up to $1.2 billion dollars in fiscal year 2007-08, making with Singapore Burma’s second largest trading partner after Thailand. The total amount of Singapore exports to Burma amounted to $816 million, while its imports reached $402 million.
But the biggest question to ask is, is the PAP government doing business well? The portfolios of Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) and state-owned Temasek Holdings reportedly fell by 25% and 31% respectively.
The Singapore Government rarely mentions either the democratic process of Burma or human rights situation of its own city-state. In Singapore the freedom of speech and assembly is strictly prohibited.
But true-hearted and valued Singaporean activists have shown their concern for Nobel peace prize winner Aung San Suu Kyi, who has been serving long years of illegal detention under the Burmese military rulers.
Singaporeans activists amazingly dedicated a bouquet of eight Orchids intended to echo the digit 8 of the uprising started by students in Yangon on on 8 August 1988. Student protests spread throughout the country. Hundreds of thousands of ocher-robed monks, young children, university students, housewives and doctors demonstrated against the regime. 8-8-88, a date that now carries great significance in Burma, was violently suppressed and a new military junta holds power till today.
Did the PAP find out what was the role of the invited Prime Minister Gen Thein Sein during the 8-8-88 days?
The Singapore Government does not dare to honour, a hero for democracy in Asean like Aung San Suu Kyi. The first-world class Tiger island should honour the first-world class democracy icon with places such as Aung San Suu Kyi Garden or Aun San Suu Kyi Street instead of naming a flower Dendrobium Thein Sein, after a brutal military elite.
The United States House of Representatives awarded Burmese democracy icon Aung San Suu Kyi the Congressional Gold Medal, bestowed to only a few prominent people, including Mother Theresa, Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela, the Dalai Lama, Martin Luther King Jr, Robert Frost and Elie Wiesel. It remains the highest civilian award in the United States.
Aung San Suu Kyi was also given the honorary citizenship of Canada by the Canadian Parliament, the highest civilian award in Canada. She was only the fourth person in Canada’s history to receive this award.
Minister Mentor Mr Lee Kuan Yew may not have forgotten her father, Aung San, who founded the modern Burmese army and negotiated Burma’s independence from the United Kingdom in 1947. He was assassinated by his rivals in the same year.
Singapore Prime Minister Mr Lee Hsien Loong should be aware that according to the 1990 general elections result, Aung San Suu Kyi earned the right to be Prime Minister as leader of the winning National League for Democracy. Her subsequent detention by the military junta prevented her from assuming that role till today.
As a matter of fact the PAP Government very much hesitates to appreciate a global democracy icon like Aung San Suu Kyi. The Singapore Government’s motives are obviously absurd because one of strongest Singapore pro democracy activists, Dr Chee Soon Juan and Burma’s Nobel Laureate are of the same vision, mission and values to stand against such totalitarianism.
The PAP has been well aware of the corrupt Burma generals and their mismanagement of the economy. During the extravagant wedding of Senior General Than Shwe’s daughter, Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew commented that, “Flaunting these excesses must push a hungry and impoverished people to revolt,” and that the ruler’s daughter looked “like a Christmas tree” in the video.
MM Lee also commented that Burma’s ruling generals “are rather dumb generals when it comes to the economy. How could they so mismanage the economy and reach this stage when the country has so many natural resources?”
Despite knowing and saying all this, the PAP Government has been ordering Burmese pro democracy activists to leave the island. Thousands of Burmese nationals who are working in Singapore find the invitation of the Burmese premier’s, and his flower-naming ceremony, hugely demoralising.
The Burmese are working hard-in-hand with Singaporeans intending to overcome this recession. Burmese love Aung San Suu Kyi but they hate the military generals who violate human rights through murder, torture and rape of the innocent, including nuns and monks.
The Burmese are overwhelmed with gratitude to the Singaporean activists who stood up for righteousness when they displayed a banner reading “Long Live Aung San Suu Kyi” and placed at the gate of the Burma Embassy in Singapore the bouquet of orchids.
Sadly, it’s not from the PAP.
Tags:
Friday, March 20, 2009
Singapore to face worst economic crisis since World War II
Lee Hsien Loong, the Prime Minister of Singapore has warned that his country faces its worst economic crisis since World War II, as exports from the country are falling at their fastest rate, down 24% last month on 2008 figures, and down 35% in January.
Experts are predicting that Singapore`s trade-dependent economy will contract by up to 10% this year. Trade has driven Singapore`s economy throughout its 200 years of existence.
Singapore urges Myanmar to look West
http://english.aljazeera.net/news/asia-pacific/2009/03/200931892223961313.html
Myanmar's Prime Minister Thein Sein, centre, is on an official visit to Singapore [Reuters]
Myanmar's military government must take "bolder steps" to promote reconciliation with its political opponents and step up cooperation with the international community, Singapore's prime minister has said.
Lee Hsien Loong was speaking at a dinner to welcome his Myanmar counterpart, General Thein Sein, who is on an official visit to Singapore.
During his address Lee said the global environment was changing and it was time for Myanmar's diplomatically-isolated rulers to engage with the international community.
Nonetheless he said Myanmar remained an "an old friend" of Singapore and said he hoped the relationship would "develop and prosper."
Singapore and Myanmar are both members of the 10-nation Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean), a regional body which has been criticised for tolerating human rights abuses by the Myanmar government and not pressing for reform.
Singapore, which is one of the biggest investors in Myanmar, has been a leading voice in opposing sanctions against the country and its rulers.
The city state is also believed to be home to much of the finances held in offshore bank accounts owned by the Myanmar military.
Call for prisoner release
Lee's remarks came as a UN investigator called on Myanmar's ruling generals to release more than 2,100 political prisoners and allow them to take part in an election set for 2010.
Tomas Ojea Quintana, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in Myanmar, also urged the military to halt its use of civilians in forced labour.
Myanmar's military has ruled the country formerly known as Burma since 1962.
It refused to recognise a landslide victory of the opposition National League for Democracy in national elections held in 1990 and has jailed or detained many of its members including Aung San Suu Kyi, the party leader.
She has been under house arrest for most of the past two decades.
Western governments have criticised the government's plan to hold fresh elections in next year as a sham aimed at entrenching military rule.
Source: Agencies
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Burmese activist exiled from Singapore recieves UN refugee status
http://seelanpalay.blogspot.com/2009/02/burmese-activist-exiled-from-singapore.html
Published by Seelan Palay on Tuesday, February 17, 2009
From Moe Kyaw Thu, one of the 2 Burmese activists that we protested for recently:
Dear All,
I would like to update my situation as a Burmese activist who departed from Singapore.
1) I had applied UNHCR refugee on the 24th Nov 2008 once I know that non-renewable of my work pass.
2) I had interviewed by a protection officer on the Dec 5th Jan in Singapore. I left from Singapore 27th Jan 2009 after expired date of my work-permit.
3) I had reported to UNHCR Jakarta office on the 28th Jan 09 and I had received "Asylum Seeker Certificate" on the 30th Jan 2009. [According to official from UNHCR-Jakarta presently, Asylum seeker from Singapore is regionally covered by Malaysia and Thailand] so that my profile has to transferred to Jakarta accordingly.
4) On the 9th of Feb I've received phone call from UNHCR for notification of my asylum decision and given appoint date on 16th Feb 2009.
5) 16th Feb 2009 I met up with Protection officer and I had received recognition of "UNHCR REFUGEE CERTIFICATE".
That is my update for all of you, presently; I'm living here with under UNHCR protection and code of conduct.
I'm strongly committed to freedom and democracy of Burma and Singapore.
I'm greatly appreciates all Burmese and Singaporean pro-democracy activists whose sacrificing their lives for freedom and democracy.
We shall overcome someday!
Sincerely
J Moe
Categories News, Noteworthy Opinions
3 comments:
Anonymous said... February 17, 2009 9:54 AM
cool!
that's a big SLAP on singaporeans.
thanks, 66.6%, for voting in these pple.
Anonymous said... February 17, 2009 10:13 AM
The PAP gahmen in cohort with the Burmese dictators, tries to silent and push individuals to the wall.
One day, the PAP gahmen leaders and the Burmese dictators will get a retribution.
I wish that the 66% of those who put the PAP gahmen in power.
Wake up ! The PAP has lost it already.
Anonymous said... February 17, 2009 11:05 AM
I feel sorry that he had to resort to this just because our country chose to stand on the side of the junta. Speaks volumes about our values and Yes, I hope the 66.6% can see what thier stupdity has led to. A simple act of protest against unhumane actions to his own people doesn't warrant him to deserve having to become a refugee.
Blood is on your hands voters.
Chose with your Hearts or Lose with your Soul.
Monday, January 26, 2009
S’pore and Myanmar Red Cross sign agreement on Cyclone Nargis relief
http://sg.news.yahoo.com/cna/20090124/tap-673-spore-myanmar-red-cross-sign-agr-231650b.html
SINGAPORE : The Singapore Red Cross signed an agreement on January 22 with its Myanmar counterpart to provide humanitarian aid to victims of Cyclone Nargis.
For a start, the collaboration will see three rural health centres and a cyclone shelter being built in three townships in the Irrawaddy delta. Money to do this will come from funds raised by the Singapore Red Cross.
This latest development adds to other efforts the Singapore Red Cross has been making, as part of its cyclone relief work in Myanmar.
The organisation had collaborated with various Singapore welfare organisations, as well as agencies in Myanmar, to provide assistance to victims in the immediate aftermath of the cyclone.
Projects completed included the rebuilding of a new village at Auk Pyun Wa, which include homes, a school, a clinic, a cyclone shelter, a school and an orphanage in Thanlyin.
Projects underway include a cyclone shelter in Twantay, two schools, a cyclone shelter in Bogalay and another cyclone shelter in Kungyangone.
The Singapore Red Cross has received a total of S$11.6 million from members of the public and corporate sector for its Cyclone Nargis fund. Of this, almost S$9 million has been expended or committed.
The Singapore Red Cross will continue to be the custodian of the fund and says it will assist victims of Cyclone Nargis, so long as the funding remains available. — CNA /ls
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Singapore to toughen protest laws ahead of APEC meet
http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/1768-singapore-to-toughen-protest-laws-ahead-of-apec-meet
Saturday, 17 January 2009
Reuters
Singapore will toughen its protest laws ahead of this year's Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit to reduce the number of civil disobedience acts, state media reported on Saturday.
Wong Kan Seng, Singapore's interior minister, told the pro-government Straits Times newspaper the city-state will look to enact regulations in the coming months giving police greater power to prevent protesters from gathering.
Singapore will host an APEC ministerial meeting in July and the annual summit in mid-November.
It hopes to avoid a controversy like the one in 2006 when an opposition politician was prevented from holding a march during the World Bank and International Monetary Fund meetings, resulting in a long standoff with police and criticism from the meeting organisers.
APEC's 21 members include the United States, China and Japan.
"For cause-related or ideologically-related activities, including those pertaining to race and religion, we should address them squarely as higher risk," Wong told the newspaper.
"We must empower the police to deal with public-order problems more effectively, especially when mega-events are held," he said.
Protests in tightly-controlled Singapore were only made legal last year in a designated zone, "Speakers' Corner", modelled after the one in London's Hyde park.
Any public gathering of five or more people is illegal in Singapore without a police permit.
Singapore defends the need for tough protest laws, citing concerns over public safety and order. But several international human right groups such as Amnesty International have said Singapore uses these laws to stifle dissent.
http://in.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idINIndia-37501620090117
Singapore govt to tighten laws against protests
AFP
Singapore's deputy prime minister said the island state, which is hosting a summit of Asia Pacific leaders this year, may further tighten laws against public protests, according to reports.
Wong Kan Seng, who is also Home Affairs minister, said the government is reviewing public order laws and may pass legislation to deal more effectively with illegal protests and other acts of civil disobedience, the Straits Times said.
The legislation is expected to be passed in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in November which could attract both local and overseas protesters, he said.
US president-elect Barack Obama, due to take office next week, is among the 21 leaders scheduled to attend the summit.
Public order laws are already tight in Singapore, where protests require a police permit if held outside a designated free-speech zone and gatherings of five or more people are illegal.
Nevertheless Wong said fresh legislation is needed to deal more effectively with political activities, while relaxing regulations on people gathering for social and recreational purposes.
He said police could be granted power to take action before protesters could gather at specific areas such as parliament, and cited protests by the political opposition, and by Myanmar nationals against their country's ruling junta.
"They make a show of breaking the law," Wong said of the protesters.
"The police watch and do nothing and can only follow up with investigation after the show is over when they pack up and leave. This cannot go on," he said.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20090117/wl_asia_afp/singaporepoliticsprotest
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Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Singapore in Human Rights Watch's Report 2009
http://yoursdp.org/index.php/news/singapore/1763-singapore-in-human-rights-watchs-report-2009
Friday, 16 January 2009
Human Rights Watch
The 19th annual World Report summarizes human rights conditions in more than 90 countries and territories worldwide. It reflects extensive investigative work undertaken in 2008 by Human Rights Watch staff, usually in close partnership with human rights activists in the country in question.
Sixty years after the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the governments demonstrating the clearest vision on international rights protections, sadly, are those seeking to undermine enforcement. In their foreign policies and in international fora, they invoke sovereignty, non-interference, and Southern solidarity to curb criticism of their human rights abuses and those of their allies and friends. Governments that champion human rights need urgently to wrest back the initiative from these human rights spoilers.
Singapore
Event of 2008
Singapore remains an authoritarian state with strict curbs on freedom of expression, assembly, and association; denial of due process rights; draconian defamation laws; and tight controls on independent political activity. Since 1959 the ruling People's Action Party (PAP) has won all elections.
Internal security and criminal laws permit prolonged detention of suspects without trial. Caning is obligatory for certain categories of crimes, as is the death penalty for others. Although reforms have improved employment conditions for some of the country's 180,000 migrant domestic workers, the government still fails to guarantee them basic rights.
Freedom of Expression and Assembly
Singapore's constitution guarantees freedom of assembly and expression, though parliament can and does limit both on security, public order, and morality grounds. Opposition politicians and their supporters are at constant risk of prison and substantial fines for simply expressing their views.
On October 13, 2008, Singapore's High Court ruled that opposition Singapore Democratic Party (SDP) Secretary General Dr. Chee Soon Juan and his sister, Chee Siok Chin, must pay Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and his son, Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, US$416,000 in damages for an article in the SDP's newsletter. The article had compared how the government is run to a scandal at a well-known charity. The ruling may bankrupt the SDP and permanently shut it down. Dr. Chee and Ms. Chee are already bankrupt because of previous defamation rulings against them.
In September 2008 the Lees also won a defamation suit against the Far Eastern Economic Review and its editor Hugo Restall for commentary on the same case. Damages had yet to be assessed at this writing. The government is also seeking contempt proceedings against the publisher and two editors of the Asian Wall Street Journal for editorial comments related to the case.
In May Dr. Chee and a colleague were fined for speaking in public without a permit during the 2006 election campaign. They were charged with trying to sell copies of the SDP newsletter on a Singapore street.
Movies, music, and video games are routinely censored in Singapore. The Media Development Authority controls website licensing. In May 2008 the authority interrupted a private screening, sponsored by the SDP, of the video One Nation Under Lee.
The Newspaper and Printing Presses Act requires that locally published newspapers renew their licenses each year, and empowers authorities to limit the circulation of foreign publications deemed to "be engaging in the domestic politics of Singapore."
How far Singapore's leadership will loosen curbs on assembly and expression, as Prime Minister Loong suggested in August 2008, remains to be seen. The only step taken in 2008 was the government's decision in September to rescind the need for police permission for gatherings and rallies of more than four people at a popular park site officially labeled the Speaker's Corner. Race and religion still may not be publicly discussed, police may still intervene on public order grounds, and a permit is still required elsewhere in the city.
In March, on World Consumer Rights Day, police stopped a protest against rising prices outside Parliament House. The organizers, among them Dr. Chee, had been refused a permit; 18 protesters have since been charged with illegal assembly and procession. A day after the attempted rally, the non-political Consumer Association of Singapore was able to hold a public event without incident.
Due Process
Singapore's Internal Security Act (ISA), Criminal Law (Temporary Provisions) Act (CLA), Misuse of Drugs Act (MDA), and Undesirable Publications Act permit arrest and detention of suspects without a warrant or judicial review. Both the ISA and the CLA also authorize preventive detention. The MDA permits the Central Narcotics Bureau chief to send suspected drug users for rehabilitation without recourse to trial.
The ISA is used against suspected Islamist militants, many of whom have been detained for long periods without trial. There is no right to challenge detention on substantive grounds. As of April 2008 some 30 suspected Muslim militants were being held, almost all members of Jemaah Islamiah. Another 25-30 former detainees live under restriction orders.
Caning
Singapore's penal code mandates caning combined with imprisonment for some 30 offenses, including drug and immigration felonies. It is discretionary for other offenses. Courts reportedly sentenced 6,404 men and boys to caning in 2007, some 95 percent of whose sentences were carried out.
Death Penalty
Although death penalty statistics are secret in Singapore, available information indicates that it has one of the world's highest per capita execution rates. In December 2007 Singapore joined with 53 other states in voting against a nonbinding UN General Assembly resolution calling for "a moratorium on executions with a view to abolishing the death penalty." Earlier, Singapore's home affairs minister, referring to the law's deterrent effects, commented that "there is no room to go soft."
Migrant Domestic Workers
Singapore's labor laws exclude some 180,000 migrant domestic workers from key protections guaranteed to other workers, such as a weekly day off, limits on working hours, annual leave, paid holidays, and caps on salary deductions. In May 2008 acting Minister for Manpower Gan Kim Yong said it was unnecessary to mandate a weekly rest day. He instead supported the current standard contract provision that provides for at least one day off a month or compensatory pay. However, many employers forbid domestic workers to take a rest day; their isolation and employers' power to have them deported at will make it difficult if not impossible for them to bargain effectively for their due.
The government has prosecuted some employers who physically abuse domestic workers and imposed penalties on labor recruitment agencies for unethical practices. However it has failed to regulate exploitative recruitment charges that can consume a third or more of workers' two-year wage total.
Privacy
In October 2007 Singapore's parliament rejected a proposal to repeal law 377A, which bans private and consensual sexual relations between men. Although prosecutions are rare, those found in violation can be jailed for up to two years on charges of "gross indecency."
In April 2008 the Media Development Authority fined a local television station for featuring a gay couple and their baby under regulations that prohibit promotion of gay lifestyles. It also fined a cable network for airing a commercial that showed two women kissing.
Human Rights Defenders
State laws and political repression effectively prevent the establishment of human rights organizations and deter individuals from speaking out publicly against government policies.
Unless they are registered as political parties, associations may not engage in any activities the government deems political. Trade unions are under the same restrictions and are banned from contributing to political parties or using their funds for political purposes. Most unions are affiliated with the umbrella National Trade Union Congress, which does not allow members supportive of opposition parties to hold office.
Key International Actors
Singapore is a key member of the Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism, along with the US, Malaysia, and others, and is an active participant in regional and sub-regional security issues. It is also an important financial and banking center for Southeast Asia.
In February 2008 Singapore Foreign Minister George Yong-Boon Yeo, then chair of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), expressed ASEAN's concern about the conditions under which Burma's constitutional referendum took place. Since July 2008, after Singapore's term as chair of ASEAN ended, the government has shown more support for Burma's government, even refusing to renew residency permits for Burmese citizens who appear to have taken part in peaceful activities critical of Burmese government policies.
http://www.hrw.org/en/node/79247
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Robox - Sat, 17 Jan 2009 2:42 am
Re: "In their foreign policies and in international fora, they invoke sovereignty, non-interference, and Southern solidarity to curb criticism of their human rights abuses and those of their allies and friends."
They also invoke another argument: our pure and virginal culture/s which imbues us with ears so delicate, that we disintegrate when when we hear words like "human rights", "gay", and ...(gasp) ... "SEX!!!".
This ploy is used like a gun pointing at white people's heads: if you are a Westerner who criticizes human rights abuses in non-white countries, then you are culturally insensitive and indeed racist, something the non-white human wrongs thugs know that whites are terrified of being accused of.
According to the same wisdom, we, the non-white cultures, have a masochistic streak so entrenched in us that we cannot have enough of the government's abuse.
I believe that it was our very own Lee Skunk Yew who devised this most disingenuous of arguments, but it has now spread like a cancer to so many countries - China is particularly notorious for this, and when the ever belligerent China speaks, the entire world is cowed into silence lest they lose their share of the China market.
Well, if that is what my culture is, according to the holder of a doctorate in Cultural Studies (Area of specialization: India/n-bashing) Lee Skunk Yew, then I would be happy to dump my culture.
It is time for those of us who disagree with this ploy to stand up to our own human wrongs thugs and tell them in no uncertain terms that:
1. cultures have always evolved over time to adapt to changing realities; and,
2. there is internal diversity within cultures - many of us from the same pure and virginal culture as Lee Skunk Yew do not agree with him on human wrongs.
tan - Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:33 am
Singapore is like a garden without flowers.
maxchew - Caning for illegal assemblers? Sat, 17 Jan 2009 12:05 pm
I predicted as much sometime ago in this blog as well as other blogs.
Read today's ST where dwarfman WKS told the media the PAP Govt will introduce very soon new legislation to tackle illegal assemblers like the SDP leaders and their followers have been doing several times. Apparently the short stints in prison and fines are not deterrent enough.....so what could be a deterrent but CANING? I just knew and smell it a mile away. I predict once more that the mandatory caning is only applicable for the 2nd time conviction onwds.
They did it for illegal immigrants as well as money-lenders. What's to stop them to include caning also for the likes of CSJ, JohnTan, Seelan Palay etc etc?
Hope GE will come this year so the citizens can tell the PAP Govt what they think of them and their cruel laws!They are just desperate to stay in power permanently......
Henry Windgates - Sat, 17 Jan 2009 5:37 pm
Quote:
In September 2008 the Lees also won a defamation suit against the Far Eastern Economic Review and its editor Hugo Restall for commentary on the same case. Damages had yet to be assessed at this writing. The government is also seeking contempt proceedings against the publisher and two editors of the Asian Wall Street Journal for editorial comments related to the case.
Quote:
Movies, music, and video games are routinely censored in Singapore. The Media Development Authority controls website licensing. In May 2008 the authority interrupted a private screening, sponsored by the SDP, of the video One Nation Under Lee.
Pure examples of how a country which has draconian censorship laws would be nothing but constant trouble for it's citizens, the state-owned media only portrays unbiased opinions of foreign news but what about local politics? Nay, I'm afraid not, because everything about the PAP and the ruling government are basically sugarcoated, especially films, political or otherwise.
I think kids and adults alike should be allowed exposure to the political world, starting with political films, rather than sugarcoating everything that has got to do with local politics and forcing us to watch Disney films all the time.
And this report also attests to the evils of social conservatism, hiding under the guise of being "clean" and "morally upright" which in fact, under the innocent mask lies a evil face of oppression and brutal stranglehold on dissenting opinions.
Seelan Palay - Sun, 18 Jan 2009 5:09 pm
"Singapore remains an authoritarian state" - that says enough.
AnnA - Singapore 2028 Sun, 18 Jan 2009 6:44 pm
By 2028, there won't be any respect left for people who claim themselves as Singaporean. 85% of us will have a either a police record, a prison record or a caning mark. Fuck PAP!!
AnnA
Henry Windgates - Mon, 19 Jan 2009 4:56 pm
And in Singapore, it's almost nigh impossible to avoid getting a police or prison record because everything you do is literally criminalized by the ruling PAP government! How much does it have to suck to have your life equated to that of a terrorist if you're a homosexual or just a non-conformist?
Quote:
By 2028, there won't be any respect left for people who claim themselves as Singaporean. 85% of us will have a either a police record, a prison record or a caning mark. Fuck PAP!!
AnnA
I doubt we, the human race, would even live to see 2028. December 2012 marks the end of the world, according to the Mayan calender, remember? Just a thought.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Seelan Palay: "This is the little-est we can do here." S'poreans in support of Burmese Activists
http://singaporenewsalternative.blogspot.com/2009/01/swissport-to-cease-airport-operations.html
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Two Singaporeans defending Burmese workers arrested
http://www.burmabloggers.net/?p=2073
By Khun Tun • January 12, 2009
Two Singaporean activists were arrested after staging a protest on Monday against the government’s rejection of the extension of work permits to Burmese nationals. Seelan Palay and Chong Kai Xiong, who were demonstrating outside the Ministry of Manpower (MOM) office in Singapore, to highlight the plight of Burmese workers, were arrested around 1:00 pm by the Singapore Police.
“Both (activists) held placards of, ‘Stop new treatment of Burmese activists’,” Ho Choon Hiong, an independent documentary filmmaker, who witnessed the event, told Mizzima over the telephone.
The duo, wearing red T-shirts, distributed leaflets and flyers during the demonstration.
He said, the two demonstrators marched to the MOM office in order to talk to the officials on the plight of the Burmese workers.
“What I understand from these activists is, Singapore turned down the renewal of work permits to those who took part in the Burmese opposition movements,” he added.
The Burmese in Singapore, occasionally held demonstrations against the Burmese Embassy in the country, to show their solidarity with the people of Burma. Several activities including demonstrations were held in May, over the junta’s referendum polling and in the aftermath of the killer Cyclone Nargis.
Recently, sources said, two Burmese persons - Moe Kyaw Thu and Win Kyaw - who had actively participated in demonstrations, were turned down when their work permits came up for renewal, on the basis of a police record.
Both have reportedly stayed in Singapore for over 10 years and their permits are due to expire in the end of January, 2009.
“My stay permit will expire on Jan 27 and I have to leave Singapore before it expires,” Moe Kyaw Thu, who has appealed four times to the Singaporean authorities to renew his work permit, told Mizzima.
“I sent my last appeal letter this morning to both the Singapore Prime Minister and President and requested them to consider renewing my permit on humanitarian grounds,” Moe Kyaw Thu added.
According to Burmese workers in Singapore, the city-state hosts more than 60,000 Burmese, who fill up as general workers, technical skilled labourers and some as students.
The Singapore government in 2008, has rejected at least five people, who have police records of being involved in demonstrations against the Burmese military junta, from renewing their permits.
Categories: Daily News, Human Rights, Politics
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Friday, January 2, 2009
Asylum in the US for Burmese facing deportation -SINGAPORE
http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/2008/12/asylum-in-us-for-burmese-facing.html
Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Readers of this blog who are unfamiliar with the goings on in Lee Kuan Yew's Singapore, may think reading the comments that there are many who think Singapore is a democracy based on the rule of law. The reader is warned that they may be Singapore government employees whose job is to discredit those who criticize Lee Kuan Yew's authoritarian rule. Please use your discretion as to how much weight you will give these comments.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
Here is a urgent short post, for the attention of Burmese in Singapore facing on going and imminent deportation to Burma because they took part in Burmese pro democracy protests in Singapore. Burmese are presently being deported from Singapore with their work passes not being renewed They face life in prison and torture when returned. The Lee Kuan Yew government, a close ally of the junta is collaborating with them in this shameful exercise. Please see the article More Burmese facing expulsion from Singapore of December 30th in the Singapore Democratic Party website.
If you can somehow enter the United States, you will be given asylum. Asylum is granted to those who are being persecuted by a government for among other things, their political beliefs. Persecution can be in the form of, among other things, infliction of punishment by one form or another. It can also be a case where the victim is facing imminent harm, life imprisonment, as in this case.
It does not matter how you get to the US. Even if you enter through fraudulent documents, or other means of illegal entry, you are still eligible for a grant of asylum. The illegal entry is excused. All that you have to accomplish is to board an aircraft bound for the US. Once you arrive at a US port of entry, articulate your fear of persecution, to an Immigration Officer, if you were to be returned. This will entitle you to a hearing before an Asylum officer.
For instance, if you manage to get hold of a Singapore passport, which does not require a visa to enter the US, this may help you board an aircraft. Of course there is the danger of your being apprehended at Singapore airport. The better alternative is to board a flight with a Singapore passport, from an airport outside Singapore. All this of course involves great risk, but this is a choice you would have to make, in these unthinkable circumstances.
Then there are of course, those who may be able to arrange a passage to Mexico, perhaps with a visa from some other country, say Manila, Philippines, or to a Central American country such as Nicaragua. From there, your agent might be able to arrange a passage to the border to help you cross. I am sure there are Burmese in the diaspora who know these things better than I do, to help you to save your lives. My knowledge of these things comes from my having represented asylum clients from many countries.
One possible way is for you to get work on board a cruise ship that stops at a port in the US, say Miami, eg Carnival Cruises on the Caribbean run. This will enable you to get a C1/D crew visa. This will allow you to land in the US, and once this is accomplished, you can apply for asylum. Please note that with this visa category, your only means of remaining in the US is through asylum. You cannot for instance marry an American to get a Green Card or do it by other means. I understand there are agents of these shipping companies in Burma and elsewhere who hire Burmese ship's crew.
Personally I do not know any alien smuggling operations and even if I knew, it would be unethical for me to be directly involved in it. From an ethical standpoint I am however able to tell you what I know.
The United States, unlike Singapore, honors its obligations under the treaties and conventions of the United Nations to protect refugees. They take this obligation seriously.
If you do land in American soil and need my help, don't hesitate to contact me. I will help you. Take care of yourselves and good luck.
Gopalan Nair
39737 Paseo Padre Parkway, Suite A1
Fremont, CA 94538, USA
Tel: 510 657 6107
Fax: 510 657 6914
Email: nair.gopalan@yahoo.com
Blog: http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/
Your letters are welcome. We reserve the right to publish your letters. Please Email your letters to nair.gopalan@yahoo.com And if you like what I write, please tell your friends. You will be helping democracy by distributing this widely. This blog not only gives information, it dispels government propaganda put out by this dictatorial regime.
Posted by Gopalan Nair at 10:50 AM
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