Chee Siok Chin calls on EU not to sacrifice human rights for trade

Home

News

Singapore

Friday, 25 April 2008

Singapore Democrats

Ms Chee Siok Chin called on Members of the European Parliament (MEP) not to ignore the the abuses of human rights in Singapore even as it continued to trade with the city-state.

Ms Chee made this point at the 2008 ALDE-CALD Meeting held in Brussels, Belgium last week.

ALDE is the Allaince for Liberals and Democrats in Europe and CALD is the Council for Asian Liberals and Democrats. ALDE and CALD alternate their annual meetings between Asia and Europe. The meeting was held in Jakarta, Indonesia last year.

Following that conference, a delegation of ALDE and CALD stopped by in Singapore to speak at a public forum organised by the SDP. The PAP Government banned the forum, however, and threatened to arrest the European Parliamentarians. (Contrast this with the Institute of Policy Studies who recently invited Malaysian bloggers and MPs to speak at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy.)

Dr Chee Soon Juan, chairman of CALD, was scheduled to give an opening speech and a welcome address to the participants. However, his application to travel was again rejected by the Government.

Ms Chee attended the meeting in his place and gave a brief opening address (see below). The SDP Central Executive Committee member pointed out that commercial interests and business relations between the European Union and Singapore seemed to overshadow the abuses of human rights by the Singapore Government.

As a result, the political situation in Singapore was brought up several times during the conference. Parliamentarians from Asia and Europe noted especially of Dr Chee's prohibition from travelling even to preside over meetings.

Mr James Moran, Director-General for External Relations, whose portfolio includes the appointment of European Commissioners (ambassadors) around the world, spoke at one of the discussions.

Responding to the incident in Singapore last year, Mr Moran said that he “regretted” the incident and said that the European Commission had sent a letter of protest to the Singapore Government.

He said that the Commission is working hard to make sure that such embarrassing incidents will not happen again. He also assured Ms Chee that the EU's trade with Singapore will not be done at the expense of the rights of Singaporeans.

Dr Paul Lim, the ex-deputy director of the European Institute for Asian Studies, also spoke about how little the general public knows about the nature of EU-ASEAN relations and the cooperation between them.

Dr Lim was accused by the Singapore Government of being a Marxist conspirator in the 1987 arrests and has been living in Brussels for 20 years.

Ms Chee's opening address

Dr Chee Soon Juan would have dearly liked to be here to catch up with old friends and also meet new ones. Unfortunately, the chairman of CALD has not been allowed to leave Singapore for two years now. He is virtually under city arrest.

The last time he attended an ALDE-CALD event was when it was held in Singapore almost exactly year ago where MPs from ALDE and CALD were to speak about democracy in Asia and Europe at a public forum. Unfortunately, the event was banned by the Singapore Government at the last minute and the foreign parliamentarians were threatened with arrests.

Dr Chee had written a message for this opening, but advanced technology has failed us and I am unable to obtain a copy of his message to read it out to you.

But I know that Dr Chee would very much have liked to be here in the company of liberals and democrats. As the Chair of CALD, I know he is determined to work with CALD, ALDE and LI (Liberal International) to advance democracy and justice all over the world. As he is prohibited from travelling, Dr Chee is especially grateful to the CALD Secretariat to help him fulfill his duties as Chair.

The recent elections in Thailand, Taiwan and Malaysia have had a significant impact on CALD, especially when three of our member parties were involved in the elections and have been directly affected by the results. However, these events have proven that democracy is well and alive in some of the Asian countries. Although democracy may not always bring about the results that politicians desire, the voices of the people were heard and their choices respected.

Those of us in Singapore, Burma, Cambodia and by and by the Philippines are hopeful that democracy, good governance and the rule of law will materialise in our countries. We are struggling to make this happen. It can be achieved with the support of and solidarity action from regional and international communities. This is where I want to thank ALDE and LI for having stood solidly with us through our struggles.

Dr Chee would want to meet all of you again and I know that he hopes that Singapore will be the venue of choice in the next joint conference. Despite bankruptcy, lawsuits, arrests and imprisonments, he is determined to continue working with all of you to perhaps one day free the world of dictators.

Thank you.

Share this article:

Comments (16)

Fri 25 Apr 2008 5:37 PM | | seebeng - Expose PAP dictatorship

Excellent! Keep it up SDP in unmasking the PAP dictatorship to the world, especially in the First World countries on whom the Lee regime depends for investments and trade.

Sat 26 Apr 2008 5:27 AM | nick

everyone is guilty of wayang. even the sdp.

has anyone noticed the sdp never condemn the shit gg on in zimbabwe, the blatant human rights abusese. maybe they dont care wats gg on there. maybe the sdp is just a bullshit party.

i've said this before the situation in s'pore is not as bad as in zimbabwe. it saddens me tt the sdp makes it look worst den it really is.

Sat 26 Apr 2008 7:57 AM | Dick - Why don't you go?

Nick,
If you can't even take care of SG, don't talk about Zimbabwe, if you feel so strongly about it, why don't you make the trip there and speak?

Sat 26 Apr 2008 10:14 AM | Anonymous - re:

[quote=nick]everyone is guilty of wayang. even the sdp.

has anyone noticed the sdp never condemn the shit gg on in zimbabwe, the blatant human rights abusese. maybe they dont care wats gg on there. maybe the sdp is just a bullshit party.

i've said this before the situation in s'pore is not as bad as in zimbabwe. it saddens me tt the sdp makes it look worst den it really is.[/quote]

------------------------
SDP priority is focusing on Singaporeans rights and the poor livelihood.

Zimbabwe people have support of UN and Bush.

SDP have to take care of own backyard or else who will?

Sat 26 Apr 2008 12:32 PM | Zimbabwen

Nick, you idiot. The S in SDP stands for Singapore, not Zimbabwe.

Sat 26 Apr 2008 12:36 PM | nick

i just feel that chee siok chin is gg ard the world exxagerating the situation here.

if we all lived in burma n she did wats she doing now, den i'll be more den happy.

i dont think we're living in a repressive dictatorship, unlike other countries.

Sat 26 Apr 2008 2:15 PM | To nick

Well, I guess you want trade first not HR. After all if there is no trade, there will be not strong economy and no wealth and the right to be able to live basically might not be fufilled.

To all, do you hope for the day the US invades like in Iraq or places sanctions here? Or labelled the island an axis of evil?

Sat 26 Apr 2008 3:39 PM | Anonymous

It is precisely that we don't want to be another Burma that we should keep up the pressure on the government. Ask yourself why so many people have left the country for good? Isn't Singapore the most prosperous country in Southeast Asia? Well, the regime might not be repressive to you but it certainly is for many who has left the country for good.

Sat 26 Apr 2008 4:07 PM | To Miss Chee

why don't you encourage the EU to impose arms embargo and trade sanctions?

Sun 27 Apr 2008 3:31 AM | Gary Teoh

Nick,
Why dont u compare spore with, Finland or Norway,if Dr Chee campaigns for Tibet, then u will say another thing again

Sun 27 Apr 2008 5:02 AM | nick

if u ask me about tibet, den tibet should be free of china

Sun 27 Apr 2008 5:28 AM | Chua Chuan Seah - PAP Ball-carriers

Journalists from Singapore Press Holdings are just a bunch of People's Action Party (PAP) Government backscratchers, functionaries, toadies, lackeys, flunkies, henchmen, ball-carriers, minions, arse-lickers, bootlickers, flatterers, fawners, parasites, underlings, running dogs, suckers, sycophants, yes-men, pawns! May all discerning and freedom-loving Singaporeans continue to pour scorn on these useless spineless cowards!

Mon 28 Apr 2008 7:03 AM | Mekei

Power corrupts, absolute power corrupts absolutely. Never give allow a single political party to have all the powers. Easily said than done because it is too late to do anything. The only thing is to emigrate.

This country will not be what it is in 50 years' time. There is no future for many of us.

Answer: Be a quitter and 2nd class citizen than a compliant, subservient and kiasu Meeky Mouse that dance to the tune of the Elitist Lord of the Devil.

Mon 28 Apr 2008 8:58 AM | Sandy - HardTalk

Yesterday, I watched HardTalk in BBC between Kishore Mahbubani, Singapore’s ex-Ambassador to UN and Stephen Sackur.
When asked about the authoritarian rule in Singapore and the government’s disinterest towards democracy in Singapore. I heard a most astonishing answer that it is not the government but the people who wants this because of Singapore’s exceptional economic growth, people of Singapore do not need the western form of human right or democracy so on and so forth, the same old story.
He went on to say that people of Asia laugh at the Westerners when they preach human rights, freedom of speech etc. etc.
I am asian and not a Singaporean live in Singapore for years but really find it hard to believe a person of Kishore’s caliber truly believe that from the core of his heart while defending the regime of Singapore. It is really sad. Being an Asian and from a country of democratic value, I totally disagree with him and urge not to put his view as an Asian view by any means. I think it is time for the people of Singapore to stand up and denounce the people like him to speak for them too. Finally, In my view Singapore ruling government has some extra ordinary achievements in relatively short time but that does not give them the right to take away the basic people’s right by any means.

Tue 29 Apr 2008 4:47 AM | Singa Crew

Nick, you posted your opinions before regarding Miss Chee's 'exaggeration' of Singapore's issue. I posted my reply and questions but never received an answer from you. So I will post them again.

My reply to what you said is: You are approaching Singapore's problems from the wrong angle.

While it is true Singapore's situation is not as bad as Burma's, should we be complacent? Instead of repeating the PAP's cock and bull pronouncement that Singapore is on the lower tier of 1st World nations, let's be constructive and ask ourselves if we want Singapore to end up like Burma! Well Nick, do you want Singapore to end up like Burma?

And if you think the SDP should not point out the abuses of power committed by the PAP, do you have a better idea?

And what is that nonsense you spouted about 'trade first not HR'?? Are you saying that there's a linear progression from trade to human rights? One must happen before the other? Can you cite any references or authorities to back up your thesis?

There is no reason why we cannot have both economic progress and human rights! Why should human rights hinder economic progress? The way I see it, Singapore can still have a strong economy under a government with respect for human rights. All countries around the world who subscribe to the tenets of human rights have not suffered economically for that.

Go on. I challenge you to come up with case studies that prove conclusively that human rights and democracy will hinder economic progress.

Crew

Tue 29 Apr 2008 5:05 AM | Singa Crew

Sandy,

To understand Kishore's comments, you have to know the PAP lingo.

When they say 'Singaporeans say this' or 'Asians say that', they really mean 'The PAP say this or that'. Because the PAP are so unpopular, they have to resort to defending their ideas using third parties as shields.

Also, nobody likes a creep. If Kishore had claimed credit (directly or indirectly) for the anti-democracy ideas by invoking the name of the PAP, he would have gotten so many wedgies at Ambassadors Summer Camp or wherever it is ambassadors hang out.

Crew

Please login or register to post your comments.

Joomla components by Compojoom

Act Now

The SDP National Healthcare Plan


pdf link Executive Summary Facebook Public Consultation

SDP Publictaions

Support SDP , buy our 30th Anniversary Magazine here

pdf link


pdf link


Get a copy

Danny the Democracy Bear


Now available online here!

Singapore Democrats on Facebook

Awesome Words

“The more the courts are asked to handle political issues, the more their fragility is exposed....A judge's integrity, fairness, temperament, and knowledge of the law are all pertinent areas for public inquiry.”

Rose E. Bird

Login

News feeds