Dear SDP,
Your article
http://www.singaporedemocrat.org/articlegovtapplieslaw2.html
reminded me of a Hong Kong movie starring Andy Lau called Tian Di that I watched.
Basically in Tian Di, Andy Lau plays a good cop sent by the Nanking goverment to affluent Shanghai, circa 1930. His job is officially to stop the opium trade. But his main problem was the opium trade was not solely just run by an evil businessman but also a also the Police Commissioner. In fact all the cops and several higher-ups in Shanghai were corrupt and didn’t support of his actions and placed lots of obstacles and red tape to stop him.
He did manage to find 2 allies in his war against opium but in the end his wife and both allies were killed by the bad guys. He managed to destroy most of the opium operation and faced off against the evil businessman. Although he won a surprise lay in stall
for him. A general from Nanking came down to congratulate Andy Lau’s character for his success. But the same general shot Andy Lau’s character dead since the general was also corrupt and in cohort with the businessman.
So this ending of this movie made the whole thing seem pointless. Although its fictional but its story is actually historically based. I can’t help drawing a comparison between the movie and present day Singapore. Against such overwhelming odds and high-level support in the government no matter what the layman does it will all be futile in the end. That’s what happened to Dr Chee, Martyn See, Boon Suan Ban and all the others who went against PAP. They might be doing the right thing. Unfortunately they won the battle but lost the war.
TERENCE TAN