This is a sad case, sadly stupid case in fact. Here’s why.
HJT was apparently accused of making speeches during the 1976 elections which incited the Chinese-speaking to violence on the language issue.
He escaped arrest by ISD officers and managed to find his way to UK, where he is officially considered a refugee.
The C-word; But What about the F-Word?
But now he says that his living in London is not his Choice.
It was his choice to say what he did during the election, it was his choice to escape arrest and his choice to find his way to London.
Of course, he would find the opportunity to blame everyone else for his predicament – including whoever advised him to “seek refuge somewhere else for (his) own safety.”
Yes, it’s everyone else’s Fault, except his own.
Stand up to your responsibility, HJT!
Proud or Humble?
I can decide whether HJT is a proud or humble man.
First, he proudly alluded that it was his case that caused the government to change the Constitution in 1985 to “deprive any citizen living abroad for more than 10 years without returning once, of their citizenship”.
I suppose it is people like him whom we have to "thank" for such drastic legislative measures. (Similarly we must thank CSJ for finding loopholes in various laws that causes the government to react by amending or imposing more stringent laws).
Then suddenly he pretends to be humble – for he describes himself as only capable of mounting “innocuous and feeble” political challenges.
But he forgets one important fact - if his challenge was so "innocuous and feeble", why did he take the drastic step of having to bolt to somewhere so far away. Of course, it is not unexpected that he is trying to downplay the impact of what he said during that fateful election.
Acting Blur
The reality is that HJT is a man prone to “acting blur”.
He somehow foiled ISD’s arrest, and then absconded from Singapore to faraway UK. If he had some guilty conscience of what he did at all, instead of suffering all these consequences, he would have confronted the men who came to take him away.
As a steadfast politician, he would have stood up to his actions during the election and fought his case like an honourable man.
Now he wants us to believe him that “what the police wished to question (him) about has never been clear to anyone”. He is plainly underestimating our intelligence.
Besides, by darting away so swiftly, he certainly did not give the ISD officers much chance to tell him in the first place what they wanted to bring in for.
Then he goes on to claim that he deserves to be treated just “as any Singaporean since (he has) committed no crime".
Maybe we should remind him that resisting arrest by the authorities is a criminal offence. So is leaving the country without undergoing the proper immigration processes.
Hence what is clear is that he is a man who likes to fake ignorance. In case HJT is no longer familiar with local-talk after 32 years, that’s called “acting blur”.
And he thinks we are blur enough to believe that his conscience is clear.
Loyalty, Sure or Not
When he went on to proclaim his loyalty to Singapore, I nearly gagged.
The reason why he is taking this crusade is much less honourable than that.
In fact it is rather comical – the reason why he is fighting for passports for himself and his son is ..... an angry wife!
The (Thai?) wife wants to visit her homeland and HJT has been given an ultimatum to sort out their son’s citizenship as soon as possible!
Yes, he is correct to want to assert his right, but only a right to appease his wife. Nothing more.
His further faux-loyalty is that despite shirking his responsibility to stand up and be held legally accountable for his actions during the election, he wants to make sure that his son (and himself) enjoy the benefits and privileges of a Singapore citizen.
It not wrong to want to make sure his son is NOT a second-class citizen in UK, or to have to send him to Thailand for education. But what has he contributed to the nation for the last 32 years, except to come back to raise a ruckus now?
He clarifies that he is “just like anyone of (us) who cares and loves our Singapore”. I hope HJT will be more veracious – he desperately cares and loves his wife more, especially when she has angrily given him an ultimatum.
Anyway, he should have tested his own loyalty before he scooted. He can’t have his cake, and eat it (now).
Ministerial Intervention
HJT is not happy that Shanmugan ignores his “repeated” letters and gets away with it. Maybe we should remind him of how he ignored the ISD officers' call for him not to run when they came to bring him in. And, did HJT not literally get away with it too?
He then proclaims his full agreement with GCT when the latter apparently stated that “Singapore needs people that are ‘Pak See Bei Chao’”. He reminded us that the "sort of country we are and will be depends on the make up of our people”.
Let’s clear about this : HJT is the type we do NOT need because his “make-up” is very questionable. On seeing the ISD officers, the first thing that came across his mind was to “chao” and dive into the lemon grove!
Bo pak also chao! [.....did not fight also runaway]
He goes on to accuse the government now of plotting against him. He says that it can “rely on the SAF AWOL record” to disqualify him from standing for election in future.
HJT amazes me - he can’t even get back into the country, and he is already planning his political return. Anyway, after his laborious episode of 32 years and his current spate of lost logic, I doubt any of the Opposition parties would even touch him with a long pole for the coming elections.
I suggest to HJT not to think so far, yet.
Conclusion
Finally, I would like to know which Opposition party wants to mount a campaign to fight for HJT’s personal case. The prime candidate for taking up his case should be WP, since HJT got into trouble on its ticket during the 1976 election.
But I am sure WP is generous enough to let others share this bumbling case as a political cause célèbre.
Recommendation for HJT
As for him, I suggest to him to reflect on what he has done and more importantly whether the 5-steps he is proposing will get him those elusive passports.
I doubt so.
The Singapore authority does not want him back - it does not want to place him under ISA detention, but neither does it want to charge him in an open court.
In other word, he is a political inconvenience.
If the Singapore authority has its way, it would wish for HJT to live out his days in UK (or wherever else eg. Thailand).
But I think there are grounds for the Singapore authority to empathise with his plight, since he is a spent political force anyway. However, he must not pose as an embarrassment to anyone.
There is the price to pay and pride to swallow for what he wants.
If he regards his pride and mistaken sense of justice is more important than his son's future, he can go ahead and fight his case publicly.
The government is unlikely to admit any past mistake or grant HJT's re-entry publicly. And that is why HJT's tactics to rouse the people will be a total failure towards achieving his aim.
You do not play hard against hard, especially not when you are on weak grounds.
If HJT makes the correct moves, and even quietly show some remorse, even without admission of guilt, I believe the authorities might quietly live-and-let-live, and call it a day for his case.
Fighting this government openly will openly be a failure. (HJT to note)
