Wednesday, January 28, 2015

The Justice Of The Future

The 71-year-old who caused S$100 worth of damage - incurred to clean up graffiti ("We support CPF blogger" and "Return our CPF money") scrawled on bus stands - was sent to jail for 4 weeks.  Even if he had a valid Pioneer Generation Card on him at time of arrest - conceived to recognise and honour the contributions of Singapore’s Pioneer Generation in nation-building - it would not qualify for a get-out-of-jail-free ticket.

The teenager who was arrested for vandalising the rooftop at Toa Payoh housing block 85A was placed on probation for 15 months and required to perform 80 hours of community service. His graffiti case involved a more explicit message, expletives included, and the writing on the wall could not be missed.

Once upon a time, we had a chief justice who boasted that the quality of his justice dispensed was dependent on his satisfaction with the breakfast he was served that particular morning. He could get away with it; he loaned his lecture notes to a prime minister when both were studying in Cambridge. And you thought Marlon Brando's Godfather knew how to collect.

But Graaaskov was not physically involved in the crime of the century, okay, maybe 50 years. He was such a obedient child, he left early so as not to miss the last bus home, and upset his doting parents for breaking a curfew. In other words, he was not guilty as charged. He was cuffed and locked up in a detention cell for something he did not do, specifically, vandalising a rooftop.

Graaskov was punished for something else. First spelled out in a 1956 science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, and popularised by Tom Cruise in "The Minority Report", "precrime" is a system which punishes people for crimes they would have committed, had they not been prevented. As the narrative goes, had Graaskov not been apprehended, he would have had his wanton way with the spray cans. In the movie, the system of predicting the future is performed by three mutants known as "precogs", because of their precognitive talents by which they can see into the future. The local parlance is "helicopter vision", and we have our own variant of "holy trinity". The next logical step to "read only the right stuff" will soon be "think only the right stuff". Forewarned is forearmed.

14 comments:

  1. Godfather is NOT just a character in movies or story books.
    IT IS REAL, AS REAL AS THE MAFIA
    THE GODFATHER RUNS.

    patriot

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  2. I recall an 81yo pioneer who was given a stern warning for perverting the course of law on behalf of a rich cosmetic surgeon who evaded speeding ticket.

    Now we have a 71 yo pioneer given a jail term for trying to convey CPF justice (no physical harm was done) on behalf of the poor peasants to Authority not to pervert the course of law.

    Not all pioneer citizens are the same.

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  3. A government with absolute power and no checks can easily "fix" your future if you become an annoyance to them. Just ask Roy.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The entire citizenry has already been fixed.. and fixed real good.

      CPF LIFE
      CPF Medishield LIFE
      CPF Minimum Sum

      Try dismantling that.

      Delete
  4. Remember another old man who scrawled he loved Harry on the Parliament plague and he wasn't jailed because Harry loved him too.

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  5. Our Mentor Precog never lived up to his hype and job description.
    Look at the low quality of the current PAP government.
    Riots, train breakdowns, bus strikes, rats gone wild etc.
    Can we get the Mentor Precog to give us a refund of his million dollar salary?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Flash floods, don't ever forget the flash floods!

      Delete
    2. Flash floods of people... LOL

      Delete
  6. Sorry to correct you, but we've been forced to think only the "right" stuff for about 50 decades now. The big problem is we did! It's why we're facing so many problems now...

    To compound matters now, so much of this ''right'' stuff is so totally wrong! And it is being preached by people who obviously haven't thought at all.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Pretend Action Party

      There is only pretend.
      There is no thinking.
      If you want to think, please join the Opposition.

      Delete
  7. Helicopter vision is the flavour of the month, promoted by Harry "Potter" Lee, the Wizard of Singapore. It was supposed to be the quality encouraged and looked for in Shell. In recognition of this, Dr. Richard Hu, who had retired as Shell's local MD, was drafted into the Cabinet. Can anyone remember what earth-shaking thing he did? Anyone who has flown in a helicopter can tell you that your vision is limited to the front and not all around at any one time but who dare tell that Wizard? Our present malaise has its roots in this failed system where the highest paid PM and his Ministers treat the obvious planning required when they decided to open the floodgates to foreigners only as a 'regret' and get away with it. It is time for change.

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  8. In a police or fascist state pretending to be a democracy, there is No Justice, there is Just Us.

    "Whatever the party holds to be truth, is truth. It is impossible to see reality except by looking through the eyes of the Party." - 1984, George Orwell

    "We shall squeeze you empty and then we shall fill you with ourselves." - 1984, George Orwell

    "If you want a picture of the future, imagine a boot stamping on a human face — forever." - 1984, George Orwell

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  9. Nothing wrong with our Justice system here. It is perfectly leegal!

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  10. The local parlance is Prognosticate, ie, to forecast or predict (something future) from present indications or signs; prophesy. Like in "the Old Fart was a Prognosticator Extraordinaire." So now, the Pretender has Precognitive Talents. Seems like being able to look into the future runs in the family, especially when used to pre-empt the opposition in the case of the Old Fart (recall Operation Cold Store), or to fix the opposition or dissidents in Junior's case (ask WP or Roy etc). If they had used these abilities more positively (productively?), we wouldn't be in the shit that we find ourselves now, an overcrowded most expensive country on this planet. Say Cheese.

    ReplyDelete