Quashing the rumours about Roy Ngerng seeking asylum

Hi everyone. Now a story one social media has caught my attention and I want to spend a few minutes quashing it. Another Singaporean blogger 'Anyhow Hantam' has speculated about Roy Ngerng trying to drum up this whole CPF episode simply to seek asylum in a country like Denmark. It is an article based pretty much on a conversation this blogger had with Ms Han Hui Hui (Ngerng's NMP proposer). Now 'Anyhow Hantam' went as far as to provide a transcript of the conversation between Ms Han and himself - where it was alleged that the cartoonist Leslie Chew suggested that Ngerng should consider Denmark as a country which he would consider when seeking asylum.

Now Ngerng has clarified his position and I am going to reproduce his statement here for you to read for yourself:

You can read it if you haven't. In it, the following was said: " Roy wants to be a martyr and seek asylum. Is he who ask me to help him one." I would like to clarify that this incident has never happened. 

Please let me explain what I've been going through. The past week or so has been a roller coaster ride. Today is especially distressful.

I believe that if one would not need to go through such an experience, most would choose not to. I would be glad if I could go on in my daily life, advocating for fairer and kinder policies.When I started writing 2 years ago, it was because I got to a stage in life where I felt at ease and at peace with myself. I saw the stresses that others felt and hoped that if I could advocate for a change of policies, more people could live happier lives.

That was why I started writing.

As more people read my articles, I realised that I have a further responsibility to raise more awareness, so that we could continue to improve the lives of one another.My closest family and friends have asked many times why I choose to do this. I told them that it is only because I am able to. I am able to research, put things together and write about them. That's why I do what I do. Some people are better at other things. I just happen to be good at writing.

I wish that Anyhow Hantam could have spoken to me, for if he/she/they did, they could find out more about my life and my reasons for doing things. My friends laugh at me when I say this but I tell them, "I write because I just want to be happy, so that everyone can be happy." And this is the simple truth. The past week has been a very unexpected journey and something that I would never imagine that I would go through. I knew that with my writings, at some point, I will face threats. But even then, when it actually happens, going through such an experience is still one that one can never prepare for.

I thank everyone for your well-wishes, support and encouragement. It means a lot and has helped me to go through every step of the way. I have remained strong and will continue to remain strong. I've always lived my life with the belief that if I do what is right and I stay true to myself, things will be alright. And I hope they will be.

Thank you for being here with me on every step of the journey, in each and every capacity you can. I thank you. And I hope for the best. If you would like to read more and gain more insight about me, you can read more here:
http://theindependent.sg/roy-ngerng-from-loner-to-polarising-figure/
http://joochiatroadonline.blogspot.sg/2013/10/interview-my-interviw-with-activist-roy.html?m=1

I leave you to make up your own conclusions about this accusation by Anyhow Hantam and Roy' Ngerng's response. I am not surprised that Ngerng has refuted the claims made by Anyhow Hantam. It seems like a pretty crazy idea to begin with. Let me discuss the reasons why such a move would not and should not be on Roy Ngerng's agenda at all.

What I do know is this: Roy Ngerng has good legal advice - his lawyer M Ravi would have discussed every possible outcome with Ngerng and even if you doubt the intentions of Ngerng, you should not doubt the quality of advice from a lawyer like M Ravi. Let's talk about why Ngerng shouldn't even contemplate this option:

• His chances of being granted political asylum (by any country) are very low at best. 
• His treatment by the Singaporean authorities is still not that harsh (ie. he has not been imprisoned, interrogated, tortured - everything has been handled in a formal, civilized manner through lawyers thus far). 
• He got himself into trouble by crossing the line from criticism into defamation (note that other bloggers who have talked about this issue have not been 'contacted' by the authorities). 
• Ngerng cannot easily leave Singapore to get to another country to seek asylum under current circumstances. 
• If Ngerng wanted to move to live in another country, there are far easier, less risky methods to use.

Let's look at these points in greater detail.

The chances of Ngerng being granted political asylum is very low at best. You may think that Roy Ngerng is being persecuted for being anti-PAP, but the problem in this case is that Roy Ngerng did cross the line from criticism into defamation. Even by his own admission, Ngerng has tried to settle the case by offering $$5000 in compensation to the prime minister for these 'false allegations' he has made on his blog - this offer has since been rejected by the PM's legal team. It can be argued that if Ngerng had not crossed the line from political commentary into 'false allegations' (defamation), he wouldn't be persecuted the way he is right now. And indeed, the PM, like any other citizen in Singapore, has the right to defend himself and react when someone makes such allegations in public or online (whether or not the PM has handled this delicately in another matter altogether).

Let's compare this to another case - remember the teenager vandals who were arrested in the Toa Payoh case? Now could you argue that these teenagers deserve to be granted political asylum in another country because they are facing jail time for their actions? After all, they were expressing their opposition to the government (albeit through the medium of graffiti), so does that automatically means they will be granted asylum in a liberal country like Denmark? No, it doesn't. Simply facing a possible jail sentence (or any other forms of punishment) doesn't mean that you will be granted asylum - it takes more than that. Asylum isn't granted to anyone wishing to avoid the consequences of their actions - so if Ngerng or the teenage vandals could prove that he would not receive a fair trail in Singapore or if they could prove that they had been framed for the crimes they were accused of or something equally serious that means they can't get a fair trial, then that would be grounds to consider granting them political asylum.

This would mean putting the entire justice system in Singapore under international spotlight - would someone like Ngerng or the teenage vandals get a fair trial in Singapore? I would say that with both of these cases, it would be rather easy to prove that the judiciary system in Singapore does stand up to scrutiny. Anyone country that does grant Ngerng asylum would incur the wrath of Singapore: what would Denmark gain by offering someone like Ngerng asylum when he doesn't have a strong case for asylum? Often it is public opinion in these countries that ensures that genuine cases of political asylum are granted. If the Danish or UK government deports someone who is facing the death sentence over trumped up charges, there will be a huge public backlash against the government for being heartless and cruel. Is Ngerng facing the death sentence or a long jail sentence for what he has written? No, he isn't.

I would like to cite another Singaporean case study. Let's compare Ngerng's case to the case of Francis Seow (we're going way back to the period 1988-89), Seow fled Singapore after a prolonged falling out with Lee Kuan Yew (including a jail term) and is in exile in the USA. Please have a read of this account taken from Seow's wikipedia page:

His new appointment led to a falling out with Lee Kuan Yew after he became embroiled in the politics surrounding the role of the Law Society. He had envisaged a restoration of the role of the Law Society to, inter alia, comment on legislation that the government was then churning out without any meaningful parliamentary debate, a role which Prime Minister Lee took especial exception to. In the result, Prime Minister Lee caused special legislation to be passed depriving the Law Society of any powers to comment on any legislation unless the government specifically asks the Law Society for its comments. He ran for the Parliament of Singapore as part of the Workers' Party team that contested the Eunos Group Representation Constituency in the 1988 general election. However, his team managed to secure 49.11% of valid votes, losing marginally to the PAP stronghold.

Just before the election, he was detained without trial under the Internal Security Act for 72 days, accused of having received political Campaign finance from the United States to promote democracy in Singapore. According to his account, he was subjected to torture, including sleep deprivation and intense cold air-conditioning. Later, while awaiting trial for alleged tax evasion, he left for United States for health treatment and disregarded numerous court summons to return for trial.^[2][3] Subsequently, he was convicted in absentia. These events are speculated to have been politically motivated, and part of a pattern of lawsuits and criminal proceedings against dissenters in Singapore. Despite his exile he has spoken at events organized by Singapore student societies in universities outside of Singapore.

Seow had a much stronger case for asylum than Ngerng and indeed, the fact that he is an American citizen today means that he is out of reach of the Singaporean justice system and unless he voluntarily returns to Singapore, there's nothing Lee Kuan Yew can do to him. It was no secret that Seow was in America at that time - did the Singaporean government ask for the return of Seow, via an extradition? Probably. If so, was such an extradition granted? No, because Seow is still happily living in America today as an American citizen.

So it is not completely impossible for a Singaporean political dissident to be granted asylum abroad - but then again, apart from Francis Seow, there have been no other examples. The fact that there has not been any other political dissidents in exile since Seow means that the PAP has learnt valuable lessons from the episodes to ensure that mistakes are not repeated because to have someone like Seow in America is an embarrassment for the Singaporean government. Ngerng can hardly be compared to Seow I'm afraid and the PAP are smart enough not to create another Francis Seow out of him. Believe it or not, the PAP has problem learnt their lesson from the Francis Seow episode. 

Frankly, if Ngerng wanted to leave Singapore and move to a country like Denmark or any other more liberal Western country, this whole asylum thing seems like a ridiculously risky strategy. In fact it is downright stupid and I can't believe that someone as intelligent like Ngerng would consider such a terrible plan. Let's imagine for a moment that Ngerng did engineer the whole thing just to seek political asylum abroad - what if Denmark along with all other countries say no to him? The Danish authorities can quite easily say, "you don't have a strong enough case to qualify for political asylum". They are under no obligation to grant someone like Ngerng asylum just because he asks for it.

No, a far simpler plan would be to simply do what I did - move abroad to study or work quietly and work your way towards gaining permanent residency in another country. It is a process that takes many years but at least you don't risk being placed in a terrible predicament if your claim for political asylum is turned down. Right now Ngerng's future in Singapore is not going to be easy: he could face bankruptcy as a result of this case and further punishments as he is up against the prime minister's legal team. In the long run, this could damage his employment prospects in Singapore as well. If this was all a ruse to seek political asylum, as a short cut to migrating to a country like Denmark, well then it's a terribly high risk strategy with a very high price to pay if he fails. Why would he take such risks?

No. Such a plan just simply does not make any sense. It does not simply add up. None of it makes any sense.

Furthermore, even if Ngerng wanted to escape Singapore and seek political asylum in say Denmark, how is he going to get to Denmark? He needs an exit permit even to get as far as Malaysia and under such circumstances, it is possible that an application for an exit permit would be declined. The government doesn't even need to impound his passport - they just need to decline his exit permit. Even if he does somehow sneak into Indonesia or Malaysia through illegal means, he risks being arrested and deported back to Singapore when he tries to board a plane bound for Denmark in a Malaysian or Indonesian airport. Even if he does make it as far as the Danish embassy in KL (22nd Floor, Wisma Denmark 86 Jalan Ampang, 50450, Kuala Lumpur), even the Danish ambassador in Malaysia cannot get Ngerng from KL to Denmark as long as he is on Malaysian territory and the Malaysian authorities could easily arrest him.

The way Julian Assange is stuck in the Ecuadorian embassy in London demonstrates just how troublesome this whole asylum business is. Assange is wanted in Sweden and the British authorities are happy to extradite him to Sweden to face those charges in a Swedish court - Assange has been granted asylum in Ecuador but the moment he steps out of the Ecuadorian embassy in Kensington, he risks being arrested. And of course, we can't talk about Assange without talking about Edward Snowden. The Americans are so desperate to get their hands on Snowden that they put pressure on the relevant authorities in France, Italy, Spain and Portugal to refuse the private jet of Bolivian president Evo Morales into their airspace, forcing it to divert Vienna in Austria because they suspected that Snowden may have been on that plane en route to South America. Now Snowden is such a wanted figure (currently living in Russia) because the US authorities are terrified as to what other sensitive information he may be holding on to.

Now can Ngerng be compared to Assange or Snowden? Hell no. He's just a blogger like me, except that he has made a few foolish mistakes recently which landed him in trouble - but that does not entitle him to claim any kind of political asylum I'm afraid. And guess what? I think Ngerng knows that too and the only people who don't seem to know that are Anyhow Hantam, Leslie Chew (if he did indeed bring up the suggestion of seeking political asylum) and Han Hui Hui (who supposedly passed that information on to Anyhow Hantam). But no matter, even if these three all have no idea what they hell they are talking about, M Ravi - Ngerng's excellent lawyer - will be the voice of reason.

Though I do wonder what motivates Ngerng. After all, even if he is pissed off with the whole CPF minimum sum issue, what did he think he was going to achieve by 'sacrificing' himself like that? I don't want to start to guess how he rationalizes this - perhaps the only way I can end this post is by directing you to his blog and letting him speak for himself. But one thing is clear - this crazy theory about him cooking this whole storm up just to get political asylum makes no sense whatsoever and is probably no more than a malicious rumour by someone who dislikes Roy Ngerng. As usual, please do feel free to use the comments section below to let me know your thoughts. What do you think will happen next in this saga? What will happen to Roy Ngerng? Thank you very much for reading.

PS. Unlike Julian Assange who is hiding in the Ecuadorian embassy to avoid extradition to Sweden, I'm actually on my way to Sweden on and will be there until the 2nd June. I will have Wifi whilst in Sweden but as I'm on holiday, I may be rather slow to respond to comments as I'll be out having fun, doing touristy stuff.