James Gomez

[Green Light]

In an interview with TOC, James Gomez (JG) proudly proclaimed: “I am straight shooter and I don’t back down in a fight. So I want to be in the company of people who have the same temperament and solidarity."

The definition of “straight-shooter” is someone who is honest and forthright.

One wonders how honest and forthright JG in reality is. To figure that out, we can easily look back to the notorious “James Gomez Saga” for reference. Let me dreg out the dirt... err, I meant “story” (extracted from Wikipedia)

“On the 24 April, Gomez went to the Elections Department to fill up the minority-race candidate certificate application form. Instead of handing in the application form to election official, Gomez slipped the form in his bag and went off for an interview

On the eve of Nomination Day, James Gomez went to collect his minority-race candidate certificate claiming he had submitted the application form. After failing to get the certificate, Gomez warned an elections officer of the "consequences".

At 1pm that day, an Elections Department staff called Gomez and told him that he did not submit the Indian and minority candidate certificate form. During the call, which was recorded, Gomez changed his story and said that he would get back to them.

Following two days of dispute between both sides, the Elections Department was able to produce video evidence showing that James Gomez did not submit the application form; a day later, James Gomez apologised to the Elections Department at a Worker's Party rally saying he was distracted by his busy schedule.”

He only conceded his guilt when confronted by the Elections Department that it had video proof. Is this his interpretation of “honesty and forthrightness”?

As a consequence of this, LKY said that Mr Gomez was a liar and dishonest. He added that if JG claims he is not so, he can go to court to clear his name. In other words, LKY dared JG to sue him.

And what was JG’s response?

JG, with his flair for faux-magnanimity, said: "I've also been brought up with values where my parents told me to be gracious and kind and that's the way I am. And as far as the party is concerned, we're not the suing type. So I don't think l have anything more to add. I have moved on."

JG calls it "moving on", but we know that he was simply chickening out of a challenge by LKY.

But this does not quite sync with what JG now tell TOC in his latest interview. He said: “I don’t back down in a fight.”

The truth speaks for itself.


Double-face
So in seeking a party possibly to join for the coming GE, I wonder where he is going to find the same “company of people who have the same temperament and solidarity” as his cocky double-face. Or maybe there are quite a few around.


Bryan Ti

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

In an interview with TOC, James Gomez (JG) proudly proclaimed: “I am straight shooter and I don’t back down in a fight. So I want to be in the company of people who have the same temperament and solidarity."Bryan Ti

Bryan Ti,

James Gomez is essentially a rabble-rouser. His action caused PAP to focus their firepower on Aljunied, and paradoxically, caused Aljunied to have the most percentage opposition score amongst all the losing wards.

As to why JG did this, it remains an enigma. Some say he was planted by PAP to create a distraction, as the PAP always loves to have a distraction in every election to force voters away from the bread and butter issues. But that theory faded when JG was held for several hours of police interrogation after the GE.

JG is now heading SFD which is used to produce research output for his use in his academic career.

 

[Sideswipe]

As to why JG did this, it remains an enigma. Some say he was planted by PAP to create a distraction, as the PAP always loves to have a distraction in every election to force voters away from the bread and butter issues. But that theory faded when JG was held for several hours of police interrogation after the GE.

maybe the police interrogation was wayang only.
why the double standards?
CSJ was jailed and declared a bankrupt but many still believe he is a pap mole but JG - interrogated by police so he's likely not a pap mole.

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

maybe the police interrogation was wayang only.
why the double standards?
CSJ has been jailed, declared a bankrupt but many still believe he is a pap mole but JG - interrogated by police so he's likely not a pap mole.

The aim of interrogating JG is not to charge him with anything. There is no case against him in the first case. The main aim is LTK because LTK challenged LKY to sue him in declaring that the apology was drafted by him and JG, not by any lawyer as proclaimed by LKY.

LTK will definitely win any defamation suit brought forward by LKY because he has witness who was present when they drafted the apology. In fact, part of the wording used in the apology came from me via SMS (i.e. apologize for the distress caused). He must have kept that SMS message. There is absolutely no lawyer involved.

Goh Meng Seng

 

[scroobal]

JG is a non-starter. Thats the story of his life.

Bryan Ti,

James Gomez is essentially a rabble-rouser. His action caused PAP to focus their firepower on Aljunied, and paradoxically, caused Aljunied to have the most percentage opposition score amongst all the losing wards.

As to why JG did this, it remains an enigma. Some say he was planted by PAP to create a distraction, as the PAP always loves to have a distraction in every election to force voters away from the bread and butter issues. But that theory faded when JG was held for several hours of police interrogation after the GE.

JG is now heading SFD which is used to produce research output for his use in his academic career.

 

[Perspective]

JG is a non-starter. Thats the story of his life.

Why would you want to agree with the rambler Bryan T? Though both of you are my acknowledged unparallel kings of sarcasm neck-to-neck, there is no need to find so much common ground with him.

 

[Ramseth]

The aim of interrogating JG is not to charge him with anything. There is no case against him in the first case. The main aim is LTK because LTK challenged LKY to sue him in declaring that the apology was drafted by him and JG, not by any lawyer as proclaimed by LKY.

LTK will definitely win any defamation suit brought forward by LKY because he has witness who was present when they drafted the apology. In fact, part of the wording used in the apology came from me via SMS (i.e. apologize for the distress caused). He must have kept that SMS message. There is absolutely no lawyer involved.

That was a bizarre interlude of GE 2006. Either the ED officer (the alleged victim) accepted the apology or not. What does it matter whether a lawyer or whoever helped draft it for JG? Was it illegal to get engage a lawyer even if he did? What defamation was there?

It didn't have anything to do with defamation. It was a police case of criminal intimidation of public servant. JG was lucky he got away with a verbal warning. Sue for defamation his head! If he wanted to, pressure the A-G to prosecute. That's all, but even that he didn't.

 

[[email protected]]

Anybody that have dealt with the gov't department will know the frustration that Gomez has gone thru.

Make your vote count! Do not void it!

 

[leetahbah]

I want to vote for the opposition but if James Gomez is contesting in my constiuency, I will have to either void the vote or vote for the PAP candidate, chances are that the PAP candidate is a lot more honest than James Gomez.

 

[Wang Ye]

James Gomez is the biggest embarassment to WP. That damn episode made the WP look like a bunch of screw-ups and it was extremely unfair the the rest.

 

[Thick Face Black Heart]

Why would you want to agree with the rambler Bryan T? Though both of you are my acknowledged unparallel kings of sarcasm neck-to-neck, there is no need to find so much common ground with him.

The common ground may be made up of quicksand. :p

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

That was a bizarre interlude of GE 2006. Either the ED officer (the alleged victim) accepted the apology or not. What does it matter whether a lawyer or whoever helped draft it for JG? Was it illegal to get engage a lawyer even if he did? What defamation was there?

It didn't have anything to do with defamation. It was a police case of criminal intimidation of public servant. JG was lucky he got away with a verbal warning. Sue for defamation his head! If he wanted to, pressure the A-G to prosecute. That's all, but even that he didn't.

Ramseth,

This is not the case. LKY says something and someone says, no this is not the truth. LKY will sue for defamation because that is basically insinuating that he is lying.

If it is only about James Gomez intimidation, the police would not have questioned LTK at his office. Go figure it out.

Goh Meng Seng

 

[Ramseth]

This is not the case. LKY says something and someone says, no this is not the truth. LKY will sue for defamation because that is basically insinuating that he is lying.

If it is only about James Gomez intimidation, the police would not have questioned LTK at his office. Go figure it out.

LTK was material witness in that case. If police didn't question him, then I worry what's being thought at police academy.

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

LTK is material witness in that case. If police didn't question him, then I worry what's being thought at police academy.

Utter rubbish. LTK didn't even at the place of event, how to be material witness? The only "witnessing" is for him to be the one drafting the apology together with JG. THAT IS THE KEY to the whole investigation.

Goh Meng Seng

 

[Ramseth]

Utter rubbish. LTK didn't even at the place of event, how to be material witness? The only "witnessing" is for him to be the one drafting the apology together with JG. THAT IS THE KEY to the whole investigation.

You have to learn to stop using sweeping terms like "utter rubbish" in procedures or matters you don't know well. It's election and party related. How can the police not question the party leader? What's a material witness? You don't even know the legal definition of the term. Captain, you'd be well advided to stay in your army camp.

 

[scroobal]

The clown obviously has not read the ground when it comes to JG. I am just helping him tie himself up.

Ever been to a discussion, where one chap rambles on and on about such a minor issues that you know that he can't tell the wheat from the chaff. The amount of time he spent on the SDP wagon, a foreigner fresh off the boat must think that Chee is going to overthrow the govt at the next elections with the majority of seats swept by the SDP. Getting 25% in the best seat is going to be challenge for them.

This is the type of guy that you ask to make the coffee to give him something to do while the real discussions take place.

Tomorrow, I suppose he is going to expose Harbans Singh. We maybe lucky and he might do a double expose and include Uncle Yap as well.

ps. credit must however must be given for the depth of analysis provided for something that has no bearing on anything.

Why would you want to agree with the rambler Bryan T? Though both of you are my acknowledged unparallel kings of sarcasm neck-to-neck, there is no need to find so much common ground with him.

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

You have to learn to stop using sweeping terms like "utter rubbish" in procedures or matters you don't know well. It's election and party related. How can the police not question the party leader? What's a material witness? You don't even know the legal definition of the term. Captain, you'd be well advided to stay in your army camp.

If it is about questioning the leader, the more relevant person to question is Sylvia Lim who is also leader of WP as well as the Leader of the Aljunied Team.

Nobody is with JG when he made that mistake. There are no grounds for anyone, least LTK to be questioned unless there are things other than the incident. If they are really interested in "material witness", I would be most important material witness so to speak. I was the one who reminded JG to get that minority certificate form as it was party's SOP.

Goh Meng Seng

 

[Ramseth]

If it is about questioning the leader, the more relevant person to question is Sylvia Lim who is also leader of WP as well as the Leader of the Aljunied Team.

Nobody is with JG when he made that mistake. There are no grounds for anyone, least LTK to be questioned unless there are things other than the incident. If they are really interested in "material witness", I would be most important material witness so to speak. I was the one who reminded JG to get that minority certificate form as it was party's SOP.

If you want to pursue this discussion, then let's be frank and logical. You were a nobody then. How the hell the police know you and James Gomez share pens or pants? The police went to ask the Sec-Gen. of the party as a matter of commonsense. After hearing from LTK, they proceeded accordingly. That's all. I don't know what's your problem with that.

 

[Green Light]

By Deborah Choo
TOC recently caught up with local civil society activist and perennial politician Dr James Gomez, a perennial force in Singaporean politics for over a decade. In this exclusive interview, Dr Gomez gives TOC readers a sneak peek into what kind of political party he sees himself fitting into, what he sees as the key issues of the upcoming elections, and his new role as Executive Director of Singaporeans for Democracy.
Dr Gomez ran with the Worker’s Party “A team” in Aljunied GRC at the 2006 General Elections and is now Deputy Associate Dean (International) and Head of Public Relations at Monash University’s School of Humanities, Communications and Social Science.
How did you get first get involved in politics? Was your family politically inclined (e.g. dinner-table conversations about politics), did you get inspired by an issue or person when at university that brought you to politics?
I have been asked this questions several times and it always take me my National University days in the late 1980s. One incident comes to mind and this was during the Tiannamen Square student massacre. Several others and I, this was the days before the internet, organized a petition signing on campus and tried to get other students involved. However, I was surprised how frightened some students were to sign the petition. Instead they disapproved of us organisng the petition. I knew then something was wrong in Singapore if the attempt to speak up against an injustice was frowned upon. Yet at the same time there was fair support from others about our petition. So I decided then, I will henceforth start speaking up on issues that matter to Singaporeans. And support for that has grown very well over the years.
Why the opposition? Did you ever consider joining the PAP to “change things from the inside?”
I am interested in regime change not “change things from the inside” as I believe there is something fundamentally wrong with the PAP style of governance and that it is increasingly not suitable for modern day Singapore. So when I decided to get serious about politics I began using two platforms – civil society and opposition party. In the changing world of the political party as an institution and the movement of people from civil society to politics we need to think outside the box to be effective in politics. I find the mixed civil society-political party approach as being more potent in effecting regime change. Over the last ten years this has been my strategy for political engagement.
Tell us about Singaporeans for Democracy. Why did you start it and where do you envision it going?
Singaporeans for Democracy under local laws is a political association and prevented only from standing for elections as an organisation. It is essentially a collection of individuals who bring to the SFD platform their own networks and resources. Recently we submitted a report to the UN Special Rapporter on Racism, tomorrow we are organizing a public consultation on electoral reforms after which we will submit a report to the UN Universal Periodic Review process. We have human rights film festival planned for November and a public workshop possibly sometime in December.
What are your plans for the next elections? Are you contemplating another run?
I am currently not a member of any political party. But I have been asked by opposition party friends, civil society members, personal acquaintances and family as well as members of the public to seriously consider participating in the next elections. Their opinions are something I am taking seriously
If yes, tell us more about your plans. Which party are you partial to and why?
At this stage, all I am thinking about is where best I can add value. I can bring existing networks and human resources etc wherever I go. I am straight shooter and I don’t back down in a fight. So I want to be in the company of people who have the same temperament and solidarity. I have my personal collection of issues which I plan to weave into an electoral campaign these include (not exhaustive):
a. Less foreign workers, a more transparent immigration policy.
b. Reduce the cost of living
c. Reduce ministers salaries
d. Promote diversity, legislate against discrimination
e. Establish an independent election commission of Singapore
f. Abolish the Internal Security Act
g. Abolish the death penalty
What do you think the key issue in this upcoming elections will be and why?
It will be the foreign worker issue. PAP has overcrowded Singapore with too many cheap foreign workers, bursting our local infrastructure, depressing wages and making Singaporeans feel foreign in their own country and also creating hardships for foreign workers. Whatever policy reversals the PAP announces and no matter what spin the mainstream media puts on it, essentially it is all too little too late. To ensure the foreign worker issue does not get worse the PAP needs to be held accountable and kept in check by defeating it at the next elections.
Another indirect issue going into the next elections will be the credibility of the local mainstream media. I am expecting the local media to get a further beating at the next elections. Already the circulation of many of the print media is down and when the internet shows up the biasness of the local media in the next elections local media credibility will go down further and drive more people to the internet and way from the PAP.
There is a school of thought that believes the Singaporean electorate is inherently pragmatic, conservative, and cautious. Do you think that’s true, and if so, how will you try to overcome that?
This true to some extent but where we need to pay our attention to as Singapore heads towards its 11th general elections is the younger voters and voters who are consuming their political information via the internet. Because the mainstream media is held in discredit for its local political news and because total internet users has increased to 3,370,000 with a penetration of 72.4% and is pushing more people to get their political information online. So I will encourage those interested in regime change to put some amount of attention to reaching out to Singaporeans via new media.
Do you think the importance of retail politics (hand shaking and baby kissing) has diminished with the increasing influence of new media?
Yes because politics is more visual. It is about imagery, choreography, short videos and sound bites. Quite a lot of it is also moving towards mobile hand held devices and this is something to lookout for in Singapore in the next general elections as current 3G Mobile subscription is at 2,927,700 and climbing. Meanwhile the traditional methods are still used but they play a smaller role. With so many foreigners in Singapore, traditional methods such as door to door visits and flyer distribution are not labour and cost effective. In Singapore, the new media is becoming the popular choice as it is less labour and cost intensive.
Tell us more about your family, there hasn’t been a lot of press on them. Are they supportive of your political aspirations?
My father, Thomas Vincent Gomez, who founded the Singapore Manual and Mercantile Worker`s Union was in the news quite a bit in the late 50s and bit later in early 60s with court cases associated with it. But he has since passed on. My mother, who is in her 70s, cuts clippings from the press whenever I have been in the news. She was keeping busy in the last elections but news about me has been a bit thin in the recent years. Who knows she might get busy soon. But since most of my news has shifted to the internet, I am thinking of buying her a hard disk to save stuff there instead.

http://theonlinecitizen.com/2010/10/james-gomez-on-political-future-“i-don’t-back-down-in-a-fight”/

 

[Goh Meng Seng]

If you want to pursue this discussion, then let's be frank and logical. You were a nobody then. How the hell the police know you and James Gomez share pens or pants? The police went to ask the Sec-Gen. of the party as a matter of commonsense. After hearing from LTK, they proceeded accordingly. That's all. I don't know what's your problem with that.

Not about somebody or nobody. Material witness in police investigation, is to interview all those who have somehow related to the case. LTK is MILES AWAY while I was just next to JG on the ground.

When they interviewed JG, JG would have mentioned how and why he has to go and get the minority certificate form even when he doesn't need it. And who ask him to? Me. Simple as that. But they did not verify with me but go and interview LTK? The interest is definitely not JG but LTK.

Deduction by influential logic, QED.

Goh Meng Seng