Singapore Democrats
The stand taken by the Singapore Government on Ms Aung San Suu Kyi’s latest sentence is shameful. Ms Suu Kyi was sentenced to three years in prison after she was found guilty of harbouring an individual in the compound of her house.
The bizarre incident involved an American man, John Yetlaw, who had taken refuge in her property after swimming across a lake.
Ms Suu Kyi said she did not know the intruder who said that he was trying to protect her from assassination. Burma’s kangaroo court found the Nobel Peace laureate guilty of illegally harbouring Yetlaw in her house and sentenced her to three years in prison.
While the Singapore Foreign Ministry expressed “disappointment” with the sentence, it also thanked the regime for being “lenient” because General Than Shwe had commuted Ms Suu Kyi’s sentence to 18 months house arrest.
This is like praising a bully for beating his wfe for only one hour and not two.
In a cruel twist of irony, Yetlaw was released by the regime after US Senator Jim Webb visited Burma today.
Ms Suu Kyi, leader of the democracy movement in Burma, has been under house arrest for more than a decade. The only crime she is guilty of is standing up to the military dictatorship.
Even more bizarre is Mr Goh Chok Tong’s recent comment that Ms Suu Kyi is part of the problem. Mr Lee Kuan Yew said that she should remain as a symbol of resistance but leave the running of the country to the junta.
The PAP Government is devoid of any sense of right or wrong. The moral compass of our nation is tragically lost. Apparently, our stance on Burma is motivated by greed. It is widely documented that Burmese druglords and the corrupt generals continue to launder their loot in Singapore. Many of them come to Singapore’s hospitals for treatment.
The Singapore Democrats repeat our call for Ms Aung San Suu Kyi to be freed and for democracy to be returned to Burmese people.