I don't deny the fact that Bello is an asshole, he's a total idiot, he said some pretty stupid and xenophobic remarks about Singapore on social media. I can't be any clearer about how I feel about him. However, should he be arrested for sedition for those remarks? No, clearly not. Because if you were to arrest him for sedition, then what about the thousands of other Singaporeans who made equally racist comments about Filipinos in response to his post? Shouldn't they all be arrested as well for sedition? Surely what is sauce for the gander is sauce for the goose? Or is the sedition law only applicable to those who insult Singaporeans but as for those who insult Filipinos, is the government happy to look the other way? This whole ludicrous situation has been clearly explained in this post here.
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| Should Bello be treated like a criminal? Or an idiot? |
According to the report on CNA, Bello's comments had the "tendency to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between different classes of the population of Singapore", namely between Singaporeans and Filipinos here, the charge sheet stated. Fair enough, but if you are going to arrest Bello, then kindly arrest all the other Singaporeans who spouted racist anti-Filipino remarks as well for they are equally guilty of sedition, they are also guilty of trying to promote feelings of ill-will and hostility between Singaporeans and Filipinos. Where is the justice then? Singaporeans have long had a history of being very xenophobic and racist towards their Asian neighbours: in particular against Filipinos and Indians who bear the brunt of this xenophobia and racism.
What depresses me even further is the constant stream of ignorance from Singaporeans that one encounters on social media: there have been so many Singaporeans who are keen to express an opinion even though they have not even bothered reading up on the case and are not even aware of some of the basic facts. This is why I find it depressing to visit such Singaporean websites and read their comments: if you're politically apathetic, fine - then please surf away to some other website and read up about football, fashion, travel or anything else that is of more interest to you. But why do these stupid people bother even leaving a comment when they are not even aware of what actually happened? Can't they just spend just a few minutes reading up on the case before spouting an opinion? How can it be that I live 8 time zones away on another continent yet I still know more about the facts of the case?
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| The quality of the discussion online is depressing. |
Let me be clear about my stance on this: I don't support Bello at all, I think he should face the consequences for having said what he said - it was extremely stupid for him to have spouted those remarks and his English is atrocious. However, I do believe that arresting him for sedition is really a step too far - believe you me, if you wanted to arrest people for saying stupid shit on the internet, then you had better start building a lot more prisons right now because there just aren't enough jail cells in the world for the amount of idiots who spout bullshit online. Bello is guilty of being stupid - he is extremely stupid but is he a criminal? Not unless stupidity is a crime. Is he a menace to society? I don't think so - he has heard the feelings of some nationalistic Singaporeans who took offence at his remarks, but is that a big deal? If I were to get upset over the stupid remarks that idiots like Bello spout online, I would drive myself to an early grave - no thank you, I have better things to do with my time.
I don't even agree with the way he was sacked from his job at Tan Tock Seng Hospital (TTSH) - granted what he said was extremely stupid, he did so in a personal capacity. He didn't commit the offence whilst at work nor was anything he said connected with TTSH in anyway. It was not like he did anything that could directly affect his ability to do his job as a nurse. Now if he was working in some kind of corporate communications or PR capacity, then yes I would be concerned about how such an incident could reflect very poorly on his ability to do that kind of job. But he is a nurse, one that TTSH would have invested a lot of money recruiting and training in the first place, so I do question the decision of TTSH to cave into the pressure of public opinion and sack Bello. Don't get me wrong - I do condemn the idiotic statements that Bello made in social media, but how is that related to Bello's ability to work a nurse at TTSH?
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| Is Bello a good nurse and can he continue to do his job as a nurse? |
I have said this before and I'll say it again - if you Singaporeans are sick and tired of people like Bello in Singapore, you should really ask yourself the question: which government decided that it would be a good idea in the first place by allowing thousands of foreigners like Bello to come and live and work in Singapore in this push to reach 6.9 million residents in Singapore? You can drive someone like Anton Casey out of Singapore, but the fact is, 40% of the people in Singapore are non-Singaporeans like Bello and Casey; what are you going to do, hound them out one by one, all 2.2 million of them? Who should you be angry with? And likewise for Bello, if Singapore is really such an awful place as you've described, then what are you doing in Singapore? Why aren't you in the Philippines or somewhere else then?
The fact is Bello was first questioned by the police back in early January. what took them over three months to decide to charge him with an offence then? There were many Singaporeans who did raise the point that if Amos Yee was charged with sedition, surely Bello should be charged as well? But if Yee and Bello are to both face charges of sedition, this surely then opens a whole big floodgate of sedition cases - but we know that is not going to happen; all that is going to happen is that the sedition law is going to be selectively used to suit the government's purpose when either someone insults the PAP or if they know they can win some support by throwing the book at a foreigner. If that is the case, is this really the right way to use the law? What does this tells us about the nature of justice in Singapore?
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| What does this episode tell you about the justice system in Singapore? |
So much has been said in the days since the passing of LKY and I don't even feel surprised anymore when something else like that emerges from Singapore. I just feel relieved that I had made the right choice to leave Singapore all those years ago. The news from Singapore is just getting more and more depressing all the time. Thanks for reading.
"What does this tells us about the nature of justice in Singapore?" This is a rhetorical question right?
ReplyDeleteHi Limpeh, great post as always; I agree that the Sedition Act should cut both ways. I have a personal question to ask you, which I would rather not be published, and I was wondering if you have an email account that I may direct it to? But I will understand if you’re uncomfortable with sharing it. Have a great weekend!
ReplyDeleteSorry Abigail, I have taken a decision never to engage in personal correspondence for a simple reason: if we discuss an issue here, it can be read by hundreds, even thousands of other readers who may be able to pitch in, share in the discussion and we may have a really productive conversation like this. This is what my blog is all about. If we do a personal private conversation, then I don't think it will be as productive.
DeleteWhy don't you ask the question anyway here but strip out any personal details that may identify you if you wish to discuss the problem or issue without divulging personal details? Would that be okay?
A very long time ago, charging someone was a very serious matter and I don't even recall one case in Singapore. That's how rare it was, but now it is like playing 'masak masak'. I marvel at the overdrive by both the police and AG at doing it. It is a sad thing but it is crystal clear that the LHL govt's way to solve problems and meet challenges is to either sue, charge or 'generate' even more laws to cope with and to curb! Do we have to pay a minister or prime minister millions to do this?
ReplyDeleteYes Gary, it is totally masak-masak, chincai-chincai, suka-suka, anyhow luan apply now. It makes a total mockery of the Singaporean justice system. I despair, sigh.
DeleteIt is simply a big laughing joke. An American friend used to tell me that you can virtually sue over anything in the USA. For example, if you dislike your landlady and place hair removal cream inside her shampoo or body lotion as a kind of prank, while it would be interpreted as a form of prank in Canada and get you a warning and a tap on the wrist, in the USA, there would be people who would sue you till Sunday comes, so to say. It looks like Singapore is going along that direction of "sue everyone and everything until Sunday comes".....
DeleteAmos Yee's case was basically like that. Please, yes, he made insensitive remarks about religion, so you want his pound of flesh, and to even things out, you also go after the Pinoy nurse so that things do not look biased. Well, are they going to go after anyone in any religion because the basis of any religion's proselytes is to prove that his or her faith is the 'true' faith so to say, and are they going to arrest every atheist, because many atheists share the same views as Amos? Shudder....
Nice blog
ReplyDeleteThanks Yuko :)
DeletePolitics is power. Nothing more..those who are in power will discourage those who challenge them. Amos yee basically said F@#K YOU LKY LHL.PAP.
ReplyDeleteIn lhl's mind he must be thinking : must whack amoa yee or more and more will point out the shit i am.doing wrong. Imo lhl is running scared. Roy ngerng was sued by lhl and within 4 days sporeans gave ngerng 70k. That is a big F you to lhl.
Well as the saying goes, you cannot have your cake and eat it.
DeleteSingapore wants to be a prominent world class city and be the envy of the world - that will attract the attention of the Western media who are going to pass judgement on incidents such as the way Amos Yee is treated. Thus there is little you can do when people pass harsh judgement on you - all you can do is turn on the charm and go on the PR offensive: there is certainly no 'whacking' anyone when they give you bad PR and stupid Singaporeans need to understand that.
What is the alternative then? You can turn yourself into some kinda pariah state like North Korea and Myanmar - they lock people up, shoot political dissidents and have no human rights and they don't give a shit what the rest of the world thinks - but look at the state of their economies. They are amongst the poorest in the world.
No, you cannot have it both ways. Either you play by the rules, or you become a pariah state.
Hopefully amos yee gets a fine and nothing more.
DeleteOh Alex, I guess you mean you cannot have your cake, eat it all and expect not to grow fat! Anyway, the boy is now starting some sort of crowdfunding for his case. And his mum has finally spoken up to clarify that she did NOT report her son to the police that he is out of control. Rather, she simply asked if there were avenues she could turn to for counselling of her son. Apparently, the papers took what she requested totally out of context and tried to paint them all as "problem child" folks.
DeleteAnd my ex boss in Germany just texted me and asked how can it be that someone in Sg actually got arrested for an annoying Youtube video? So, you got it - the rest of the world at large is going to pass judgment and it is not flattering.
"Hurt", not "heard".
ReplyDeleteIf I'm not wrong, TTSH was listed as his workplace in his FB Profile. And this, in turn, caused TTSH a certain amount of public embarrassment, after which they took the expedient way out and cut him loose. Some of the benefits of hiring foreigners - cheap, compliant, and most of all, EXPENDABLE. Plenty more where those came from.
Was it unfair of TTSH to sack him? I don't believe so. He made it inconvenient to keep him around, therefore he had to go.
If I were an employer, I would expect my employee to display a certain amount of common sense. Not only did he shoot his mouth off online, he even lied to the police claiming his account was hacked. Too dumb to be a nurse in TTSH? Try "too dumb to feed himself". (OK that's an exaggeration, but you get my point, I hope!)
Being stupid isn't grounds for dismissal, especially if you're being stupid on your own time. But if you drag your employer down with you... aha, whole new ball game.
So, no. It sucks to be Bello right now, but TTSH was perfectly within their rights - moral, ethical, legal.
For the record, I feel that it should have stopped with the sacking. Charging him for sedition is overkill, and it looks suspiciously like they only did that just so that they would have a leg to stand on if they charged Amos Yee. And let's face it, whatever Amos Yee is OFFICIALLY charged with, a lot of it smacks of "he insulted LKY, our Founding Father. He must die.".
Aristotle once said "the law is reason, free from passion." I'm seeing little evidence that this is so, at least here in sunny Singapore.
And if any of you object to what I just said, my company isn't linked to my profile. :)
You said it . Amos yee sabo this pinoy nurse big time. Buwahahaha. I should not feel gleeful but i cannot help it.
DeleteI have a pretty low opinion on the IQ of Filipinos and that is from experience working and being in contact with them. This is not a xenophobic rant but i have yet to encounter an intelligent Filipino. I bet those are still in their home countries running successful businesses (Philippines economic growth of late is to be envied) and not coming over to find some way to earn money to send back home.
DeleteOr better yet, Choaniki, the smart Pinoys and Pinays are actually all the way in the USA and Canada doing their businesses or working for someone else without getting into silly trouble like this. The Filipinos and Filipinas I met and befriended in North America are nowhere near to those down in Singapore who get into this kind of trouble which is what made me realize that there is something wrong with the system in Singapore for foreigners to turn out that way. (It attracts the WRONG people because by default, it is a system built on the wrong principles.)
DeleteIn the USA, being the MINORITY as a foreigner is seriously something that puts someone who immigrated (whether as temporary workers or skilled workers) in his or her proper place, so that he or she does not display an immensely entitled attitude such as ranting and screaming at everyone and anyone as if he or she is the leader of the country. Singapore does not have a system to put foreigners in their proper place so to say to remind them that they are under the host country's auspices of generosity and should not abuse them, and that is probably why you always read about news of how PRCs scream and shout at taxi drivers and store assistants and even use violence, and how whoever can knock down someone and assume that his or her being a foreign national will exonerate him or her from blame.
He made disparaging about religion too in addition to his Singaporean bashing.
ReplyDeleteAnyway why bother with what Singaporeans feel about him? It's not like we have any right to pass judgement on him. Most rational Singaporeans feel the sedition act is ridiculous and guys like Roy Ngerng should never have been charged. But since we have no power to do away with the sedition act, the next best thing is to hope it gets applied fairly to all parties, despite it being ridiculous in the first place.
Nope i think the sedition act is stupid. I can argue from my point as an agnostic that Christian evangelism is insulting to my intelligence and hence the person who is trying to convert me should be charged with sedition. But you would go down this slippery slop of freedom of religion (shouldn't that include atheism, agnosticism, theism).
DeleteI believe there has already been a Christian couple charged under the sedition act for trying to covert some Muslims. But if Buddhists or other religions were to be involved I doubt the outcome would be the same. This could also due to the fact that under sharia law, apostasy is punishable by death.