24 April 2006

PAP's Lawsuit Against SDP

(I'm assuming political discussion by individuals are allowed. Let me know if that's incorrect.)

"Singapore doesn't have a First World opposition; neither has it a First World Government." I was itching to say this, but I thought I'd better let someone more professional say it. So finally, Low Thia Khiang has voiced it out. Hooray!

Now to the main topic, I never agreed with PAP's defamation lawsuits. I'm not referring to the content; I questioning the method. The media is in their control, they can rebut easily. People are not stupid: they can compare SDP's words and PAP's accounts, and do the evaluation by themselves. In my opinion, if someone sues another person for defamation/slander/etc., that's because the suer has something to hide (*ahem* Durai *ahem*). But that's just my opinion, and we know that PAP have a long history of suing people, so I suppose they're just carrying on the tradition.

And I thought it was a bit extreme to lasso the publisher in too. Why bring the publisher in? Isn't the publisher in charge of printing and not the writing of the content? Sure, they do some editing too, but that's just spelling/grammatical corrections only. Okay, yeah, I know, a publisher should also judge if an article is printable or not, so in a way they are partially responsible too, but... isn't it too much? How would a publisher know if something is printable or not? The OBs are so grey! Who would dare to print for an opposition party in the future? Well, at least MM and PM has dropped the lawsuit against the publisher after the publisher apologised.

This is not to say that I support Chee's recent actions of defiance; quite the opposite I think he's getting a bit too much and out of touch with the public. I'll speak more about this in a later post.

ADDED 250406 0945: It seems that MM has countered Low's accusation that PAP's government is not First World. But wierd thing is, he justified himself only by saying that if PAP is not First World, then how can Singapore be First World. Personally, I don't see the link. Plus, he did not attempt to respond to Low's arguments on why PAP is not First World.

4 comments:

The Negative Man said...

Is the PAP a First World Government ? If you consider only the 'contents', such as its policies, then perhaps it is. It is usually not valid (nor safe) to suggest that the PAP is incompetent.

However, the way the PAP treats the opposition is certainly not First World standard. If you're better than your opponent, you're better than your opponent. What sort of message are you sending if you still need to 'cheat' ?

This reminds me the the ACS rugby player who bit the SJI player. ACS was winning by a significant margin. There was little doubt which was the better team. Then why the dirty tactics of biting ? It is said that rugby is a ruffian's sport played by gentlemen. Obviously there is one less gentleman in one team.

Jackson Tan said...

I'm certainly not saying that PAP is incompetent. (I know you're not meaning that I said that; this is just for clarification, in the event IDA is watching).

But there's something not quite correct about your comment of cheating. The PAP is not cheating. At least not according to the laws. But who sets these laws?

"Parliament is just a collection of 84 people in a room, and most of whom are there by walkovers."
- Mr Wang Says So

The Negative Man said...

That's why I wrote 'cheat'.

It's like we are playing a game of chess, but because it's my chess set I make the rule that you start without a queen. You have to play by my rules to even have a chance to play.

Technically I didn't cheat because it was agreed that you started without a queen. But obviously it isn't fair.

Of course if it were only a game you have the choice of looking for other players to play with. But in real life you don't really have a choice but to live with it until you have a chance to 'kope' the chess set :)

Jackson Tan said...

That's a brilliant analogy!

And in any case, in meaning, I agree with you. What I disagree with is the use of the word "cheating". It's politically incorrect, especially in this period when PAP is in a defamation fever. I'd rather call it... umm... "patching up the game".