Monday, March 18, 2013

Flexing Muscles

When Hri Kumar Nair (Bishan-Toa Payoh GRC) and Ms Sylvia Lim (Aljunied GRC) suggested in Parliament that statements given by accused persons in custody should be video-recorded, a practice already in place in countries like Australia, the UK, South Korea and Taiwan, to ensure that the words in the statement "fell from the accused’s own lips and were not force fed", Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah's terse response was "there are currently no plans to introduce video recording for the taking of statement".

When NCMP Yee Jenn Jong questioned the high handed antics of the Internal Affairs Office (IAO) of the Singapore Police Force (SPF) in seizing the handphone, laptop and iMac of independent film-maker Lynn Lee without providing relevant provisions under which they were authorised, Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah was equally negative and succinct, "“So the intention is not to not give an answer".

The "rajah" in her name may connote royalty, but her laconic replies from on high doesn't exactly inspire confidence of transparency in the administration of law in Singapore.

Or lend credence to the Foreign Affairs Ministry's lament of "pressure" tactics from the United States over investigations into Shane Todd's "suicide". US Senators Max Baucus' and Jon Tester have introduced an amendment to block American funding to Singapore's Institute of Microelectronics (IME) until the US Attorney General certifies that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has full access to all evidence and records relevant to the death of  Shane Todd. Until the protestations of his aggrieved parents surfaced, the main stream media had been reporting that 31-year-old Shane was found hanged in his Singapore apartment "in what appeared to be suicide".

What also surfaced in this clash of giants is that IME, which is part of the national Agency for Science, Technology And Research (A*STAR) actually received a stipend (US$500,000 in 2010) from the US Defence Advanced Research Project Agency (Darpa) for collaborative projects. Given the disparity in salaries between the heads of state of the two countries involved, it was akin to the "rich" taking a handout from the "poor". In the parsimony of parlance favoured by Senior Minister of State for Law Indranee Rajah, the brief answer for the state of affairs has to be, "Greed".

15 comments:

  1. "L'État, c'est moi" ("I am the state"). Words of the Sun King, Louis XIV, no doubt finding their modern day equivalent in the same red dot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. "Dew Na Seng"
      Honk Kong Cantonese reply to the French King and other would be Sun King pretenders.

      Delete
    2. Touche! Encore! Encore!

      Delete
  2. Greed, yes. Shamelessness, 100%.

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  3. haha ..... so who are those involved in spying activities?

    Darpa?
    CIA?
    Huawei?
    IME?

    pot calling the kettle black?

    pass me a TIGER!!!

    ReplyDelete
  4. The rich taking from handout from the poor?
    What's half a million chum change for a small time project if/when more than half a dozen purchase of F35 contracts might be going towards USA eventually?
    At $400k a jet and the price keep escalating, you can work out the benefits for Uncle Sam, when all we get is more useless foreign trashes.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. correction...not $400k. Is 137million a jet.

      Delete
  5. This system created by the papists is beyond repair. Vote opposition.

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  6. The amendment introduced by US Senators Max Baucus' and Jon Tester is just symbolic as the prior grant is a small pittance.

    The MFA statement is expressing the annoyance that the Foreign Minister could not show to his US host. Let's see what they tickle the PM with when he visit next.

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  7. It`s the mark of a bully. They will whine when faced with someone bigger. They show their courage when they corner a helpless person when they are armed and their adversary is helpless. Remember the famous "cul-de-sac" guy?

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    Replies
    1. Remember one long-time political detainee once mentioned that he was threatened with "We can knock you down from behind and make it look like an accident".

      It just makes one wonder what makes them act like they can be above the law ? So is this the compelling reason why they don't see the need for compulsory video taping even when it is supposed to protect themselves from such allegations ?

      Is there really any other reason for our PAP Govt to behave in such manner ie from getting bad to worse in whatever they are doing ?

      Delete
  8. Lots of stupid sinkies dun know that the efficiency of the police is due to their ability to detain a person for 48 hours incommunicado and interrogate him without video.

    Until they get it themselves.

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    Replies
    1. Pussy Galore3/19/2013 9:22 AM

      Humming sounds from a lazer beam...

      Bond: " Do you expect me to talk ?"

      Goldfinger: " Nooo! Mr Bond!.. I expect you to die!"

      Delete
  9. Singapore's F-35. The most expensive fighter jet ever built.

    http://www.propublica.org/special/the-most-expensive-fighter-jet-ever-built-by-the-numbers

    Why our Leeders must buy it I will never understand.

    But spend one dollar of our tax money to help our fellow Singaporeans.
    We get PAPig MPs asking "where is the money going to come from?"

    Now we know.
    The money to pay for the F-35 is going to come from NOT helping our fellow Singaporeans.

    ReplyDelete