This is Gopalan Nair in Singapore today, May 29, 2008. I have been in Singapore since May 25, 2008, and staying now at Broadway Hotel, Room 708, 195 Serangoon Road, Singapore 218067.Update: No reply from MM Lee and company, so he writes another post.
I am deliberately stating my identity and my present exact location for a definite purpose. On day 2 of Lee Kuan Yew and son verses Dr. Chee Soon Juan case, Lee senior had said in answer to a question by Dr. Chee, that if he, Lee Kuan Yew, knew the identity of bloggers in cyberspace who defamed him (defamation being used of course in the Singaporean sense), he will sue and bankrupt them.
He had earlier sidestepped the question by saying, that he had difficulty suing critics of his in the Internet because their identities were not usually known. When pressed, he categorically and deliberately stated that he will sue if they made known their identities.
Update: According to the Sunday Times (1 June 2008), Gopalan is now under police custody and charged with e-mail abuse. He was believed to have sent an email which was directed against Judge Belinda Ang. The police are charging him under the offence of "threatening, abusing or insulting a public servant". No updates on his blog about this yet. Channel NewsAsia's report here. (Thanks Mr Big, ANG, Lancerlord)
7 comments:
Mr. Nair is an American citizen and an attorney at-law in Fremont, California. He recently gave up his local citizenship and took back his CPF monies. He has been attacking the PAP government from his blog since day one and this is nothing new.
The ruling PAP government would have sued him but they couldn't- he's an American, protected by the constitution and free speech.
And this is the difference. Our Constitution does not protect you.
He got balls. Wait till he got sued till his money all dry up.
>Lee senior had said in answer to a question by Dr. Chee, that if he, Lee Kuan Yew, knew the identity of bloggers in cyberspace who defamed him (defamation being used of course in the Singaporean sense), he will sue and bankrupt them.
*shivers*
im so scared
This is another of the loose nuts that lives for the sake of hating LKY.
He is another of those psychopath that critises everything about Singapore in his website but will not allow comments rebutting his views.
Hahahaha, like real it's hard to trace "dissidents"
if they can come a-knocking on your door because of downloaded pirated content, i'm sure they can trace your blog too.
that blogger is without fear...and sound mind.
This is a reply to the first comment (above) by aidil omar:
you are very mistaken - the PAP CAN sue him if the party so wants to - his nationality has no reference to the merits of his defamatory remarks. Further, Nair's behaviour is a deliberate act to submit to the jurisdiction of Singapore to prove a point that he has up his sleeve (which I suspect is to invoke the political clout of America if he is later found guilty of insulting a public servant); in this respect his actions are similar to the tactics of civil disobedience consistently displayed by the Chees. It is therefore irrelevant that Nair is an American, and a lot of people have failed to realize that notwithstanding the wider ambits of free speech in America, America does have its defamation laws; accordingly an American, even if he is in his own State, can be sued for making a defamatory statement. Free-er speech in America does not equate to blatant freedom to speak without disregard for the reputation of others.
Finally, it is a misconception that our constitution does not afford protection, which I would take in your comment to mean protection of the freedom to speak. There is no single country that allows an unqualified freedom to speak without responsibility - not even in the UK or US. If that were the case, Parliament in these countries would have abolished statutory defamation laws, and you will be surprised to know that in that event, the value of your worth would be null, simply because you no longer have recourse against people who defame you to clear your name.
Respectfully yours,
e.
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