In public trains operating in cities, one often finds a sign encouraging a person to give up his or her seat to someone else who needs it more.
Those in need include the elderly, very young children and pregnant women. In Thailand, this list of needy people even includes priests!
I realise a lot of times people travelling on the trains end up not looking out for such needy.
One such situation happened this afternoon. I was on they way home after having lunch with a friend.
As I walked into the train, I notice a very frail old man standing in the train. He was so weak he had to hold onto the railings on the train with both hands, and his arms were shivering. Seated opposite where the old man was standing were some young persons. I suspect they didn't notice the old man.
I approached one of the young persons and requested that he give up his seat for the old man. He did so as soon as I brought the old man's predicament to his attention. The old man fell asleep within minutes of sitting down. Aww, bless him.
And bless the young man who gave up his seat too. I realised some time later that the young lad was Muslim. This being the month of Ramadan, he would have been observing his fast at that time. He had had nothing to eat or drink since the break of dawn. Thus, he probably needed to remain seated too.
I regretted, at that time, not approaching someone else. But I laud the young person's will to help someone else more in need, even though he was in need too.
We should be sensitive to the needs of others. We can also help others be sensitive to the needs of others.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Friday, September 19, 2008
Thursday, September 18, 2008
Trial for Insulting Judge
Last week, in between sessions for a course I am attending at the Supreme Court, I sat through a few hours of the trial of Gopalan Nair in Court 5C of the High Court.
Nair was charged under Section 228 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224), which reads as follows:
"Whoever intentionally offers any insult or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to $5,000, or with both."
According to Nair's blog, the charge read:
"Gopalan Nair are charged that you on or about May 29, 2008 in Singapore, did intentionally offer an insult to a public servant namely Justice Belinda Ang Saw Een, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore while the Judge was sitting in judicial proceedings namely Notice of Assessment No. 23 of 2008 in Suit No. 261 of 2006 and Notice of Assessment No. 24 of 2008 in Suit No. 262 of 2006 by posting the following words on your blog at http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/index.html:
"The following transpired during the last 3 days in court. The judge Belinda Ang was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders"
and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 228 of the Penal Code (Chapter 224)."
Unfortunately, he was sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment yesterday. I came away with some impressions of the trial. Since the trial is over, I can now share these impressions.
FIRST IMPRESSION: DEFENCE
Looking at the charge and legislation and having watched the trial, I think Nair could have put up a more credible defence.
Nair was given a lot of leeway in cross-examining the prosecution witness, Assistant Superintendent of Police Razak Jakaria. Nair adopted various strategies to discredit the witness, even calling into question the religious beliefs of the witness. The month of Ramadan being an important period for Muslim persons, I thought this was insensitive of Nair to do so.
I hope ASP Razak will find the capacity in him to be forgiving of Nair, since the month of Ramadan is also about being forgiving to those who offend us. I think Nair was caught up by the heat of the charge and ended up taking such desperate measures in order to secure an acquittal.
Nair also brought up irrelevant matters. At one point, he argued that he needed to question the witness and make detailed notes about the answers so that this could eventually go into a book. He disclosed that he intends to write about his personal experience of the justice system in Singapore.
As much as I look forward to reading Nair's book, I thought this was an important lesson as to why a person should not conduct his own defence. If you are charged for committing a criminal offence in Singapore, please seriously consider getting a criminal lawyer to represent you, especially if you can afford one. I am not sure if Nair can afford to appoint a defence lawyer.
SECOND IMPRESSION: PROSECUTION
A lot of the irrelevant questions arose from the fact that Nair had to work blindly. The prosecution had not disclosed all the statements Nair had made to the police and this ended up with Nair conducting a fishing expedition for such information at trial. It was well into the trial that Nair was given a set of such statements by the prosecution.
I cannot appreciate why the prosecution cannot disclose all such statements as soon as a person is charged, since there is no risk of such disclosure jeopardising the investigation at that point. It is possible that early disclosure of the statements may help facilitate and speed up the trial process and reduce the need for a defendant to undertake such fishing expeditions at trial.
THIRD IMPRESSION: JUDGE
The judge hearing the trial, Justice Kan Ting Chiu, left the most significant impression on me. I thought he was extremely patient with both the prosecution and defence. He was decorum and graciousness at its best. At one point, he even went through his notes of evidence and encouraged the prosecution to do the same in order to clarify something Nair could not remember.
Some trainee lawyers hearing the matter thought Nair deserved to be dealt with strongly by the force of law, and be made an example of by being put away longer than was necessary in such cases.
Thankfully, the judge hearing the matter has a less draconian concept of justice. The voice of reason prevailed and he eventually dealt with Nair fairly. The judge was also understanding enough to give Nair some time to settle his personal matters before commencing the prison sentence.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Nair was charged under Section 228 of the Penal Code (Cap. 224), which reads as follows:
"Whoever intentionally offers any insult or causes any interruption to any public servant, while such public servant is sitting in any stage of a judicial proceeding shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to $5,000, or with both."
According to Nair's blog, the charge read:
"Gopalan Nair are charged that you on or about May 29, 2008 in Singapore, did intentionally offer an insult to a public servant namely Justice Belinda Ang Saw Een, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Singapore while the Judge was sitting in judicial proceedings namely Notice of Assessment No. 23 of 2008 in Suit No. 261 of 2006 and Notice of Assessment No. 24 of 2008 in Suit No. 262 of 2006 by posting the following words on your blog at http://singaporedissident.blogspot.com/index.html:
"The following transpired during the last 3 days in court. The judge Belinda Ang was throughout prostituting herself during the entire proceedings by being nothing more than an employee of Mr. Lee Kuan Yew and his son and carrying out their orders"
and you have thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 228 of the Penal Code (Chapter 224)."
Unfortunately, he was sentenced to 3 months' imprisonment yesterday. I came away with some impressions of the trial. Since the trial is over, I can now share these impressions.
FIRST IMPRESSION: DEFENCE
Looking at the charge and legislation and having watched the trial, I think Nair could have put up a more credible defence.
Nair was given a lot of leeway in cross-examining the prosecution witness, Assistant Superintendent of Police Razak Jakaria. Nair adopted various strategies to discredit the witness, even calling into question the religious beliefs of the witness. The month of Ramadan being an important period for Muslim persons, I thought this was insensitive of Nair to do so.
I hope ASP Razak will find the capacity in him to be forgiving of Nair, since the month of Ramadan is also about being forgiving to those who offend us. I think Nair was caught up by the heat of the charge and ended up taking such desperate measures in order to secure an acquittal.
Nair also brought up irrelevant matters. At one point, he argued that he needed to question the witness and make detailed notes about the answers so that this could eventually go into a book. He disclosed that he intends to write about his personal experience of the justice system in Singapore.
As much as I look forward to reading Nair's book, I thought this was an important lesson as to why a person should not conduct his own defence. If you are charged for committing a criminal offence in Singapore, please seriously consider getting a criminal lawyer to represent you, especially if you can afford one. I am not sure if Nair can afford to appoint a defence lawyer.
SECOND IMPRESSION: PROSECUTION
A lot of the irrelevant questions arose from the fact that Nair had to work blindly. The prosecution had not disclosed all the statements Nair had made to the police and this ended up with Nair conducting a fishing expedition for such information at trial. It was well into the trial that Nair was given a set of such statements by the prosecution.
I cannot appreciate why the prosecution cannot disclose all such statements as soon as a person is charged, since there is no risk of such disclosure jeopardising the investigation at that point. It is possible that early disclosure of the statements may help facilitate and speed up the trial process and reduce the need for a defendant to undertake such fishing expeditions at trial.
THIRD IMPRESSION: JUDGE
The judge hearing the trial, Justice Kan Ting Chiu, left the most significant impression on me. I thought he was extremely patient with both the prosecution and defence. He was decorum and graciousness at its best. At one point, he even went through his notes of evidence and encouraged the prosecution to do the same in order to clarify something Nair could not remember.
Some trainee lawyers hearing the matter thought Nair deserved to be dealt with strongly by the force of law, and be made an example of by being put away longer than was necessary in such cases.
Thankfully, the judge hearing the matter has a less draconian concept of justice. The voice of reason prevailed and he eventually dealt with Nair fairly. The judge was also understanding enough to give Nair some time to settle his personal matters before commencing the prison sentence.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Saturday, September 13, 2008
From Ashwinder to just Ash
Petronas, Malaysian oil company, advertisement:
Afterthought:"The world is changing but we should always be proud of who we are."
1. When I first landed in England in 1999, I was intrigued by how Asians there had a penchant for shortening their names to biteable English-sounding words. For example, Ashwinder Singh Gill would simply be called Ash or, similar to the case of the video above, Samyveloo Reddy would be just Sam.
2. Coming back to Asia about 5 years ago, I noticed this trend had caught on here. My Chinese peers, in particular, have adopted English names. My friend Sian Teck is now Jason or Kinn Oei is now Jervis.
3. When I asked my friends about this, they said it helped them in the course of their work. They shared it made it easier for people to remember their names.
4. Today, there are various short versions of my name circulating among my friend. To some, I am Dee. To others, I am Dom. To many, I am Dharm. To a few, I am Dharam or Endra.
5. Nevertheless, I am happy to remain Dharmendra Yadav. The world may be changing but it doesn't change who I am or where I came from.
6. Finally, I wish to thank my friend, Michael Chua, for kindly showing me how to embed a Youtube video into a blog posting.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Support Yellow Ribbon
My community legal clinics from time to time bring me face to face with persons, who have just been released from our prisons.
These persons are often eager to start their lives on a new page, and to make a difference for themselves and their families. In pursuing this, they are willing to look into the many opportunities that are available to them.
Quite often, these opportunities are limited and society attaches a negative stereotype to such persons. Over time, these persons lose that passion they once had to turn a new leaf, and risk re-offending only to have face our criminal legal system.
This is really unfortunate because there is something we can do about it. It is also sad because a lot of these person have dependants, such as spouses, children and even old parents, who will all have to suffer. Most will lose the capacity to pay their household bills, others will not be able to go to school, and a few such families may end up having to go hungry.
For this reason, the Yellow Ribbon Project is something I value. The purpose of this project is to check this trend of re-offending and to combat stereotypes attached to ex-offenders. And every year, I do something to show my support for this cause. This year is no different.
September is Yellow Ribbon month. Visit the Yellow Ribbon website to find out more about how you can make a difference!
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this?
These persons are often eager to start their lives on a new page, and to make a difference for themselves and their families. In pursuing this, they are willing to look into the many opportunities that are available to them.
Quite often, these opportunities are limited and society attaches a negative stereotype to such persons. Over time, these persons lose that passion they once had to turn a new leaf, and risk re-offending only to have face our criminal legal system.
This is really unfortunate because there is something we can do about it. It is also sad because a lot of these person have dependants, such as spouses, children and even old parents, who will all have to suffer. Most will lose the capacity to pay their household bills, others will not be able to go to school, and a few such families may end up having to go hungry.
For this reason, the Yellow Ribbon Project is something I value. The purpose of this project is to check this trend of re-offending and to combat stereotypes attached to ex-offenders. And every year, I do something to show my support for this cause. This year is no different.
September is Yellow Ribbon month. Visit the Yellow Ribbon website to find out more about how you can make a difference!
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Wednesday, September 10, 2008
Prominently Politically Pink
Ho Kwon Ping, Chairman of Singapore Management University, Executive Chairman of Banyan Tree Holdings and Chairman of MediaCorp writing in Today Weekend on 6 September 2008:
Afterthought:
1. A blogger hopes that more such "alternative views" about how Singapore should go forward will be expressed by other prominent persons in Singapore.
2. Pink is now a colour associated with the homosexual community. For example, there is the Pink Paper, "Britain’s only national lesbian, gay and bisexual newspaper and the biggest circulating gay publication of any kind in the country". This association to pink has its roots in the Pink Triangle, which "was used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify and shame homosexuals" and "has been embraced by the gay community as a symbol of pride".
3. Yesterday, about three days after Ho's views were published, the Prime Minister of Singapore speaking at the Forbes Global CEO Conference showed why pink is in.
"Optimists hope that the decriminalisation of gay sex — a yawn to anyone except the homophobic and the gays themselves — will eventually occur. In reality, rather than in law, gays in Singapore today have never had it so good, and should within a short time, become fully-accepted — not just tolerated — members of an increasingly diverse, and therefore vibrant, Singapore community. But if we pat ourselves on the back for being so “bold” as to accept casinos and Formula 1 events into staid Singapore, why can’t the boldness extend to a simple act to enable gays to realise their dream — indeed, their simple right — to be normal Singaporeans like anyone else, no more and no less."
Afterthought:
1. A blogger hopes that more such "alternative views" about how Singapore should go forward will be expressed by other prominent persons in Singapore.
2. Pink is now a colour associated with the homosexual community. For example, there is the Pink Paper, "Britain’s only national lesbian, gay and bisexual newspaper and the biggest circulating gay publication of any kind in the country". This association to pink has its roots in the Pink Triangle, which "was used by the Nazis in concentration camps to identify and shame homosexuals" and "has been embraced by the gay community as a symbol of pride".
3. Yesterday, about three days after Ho's views were published, the Prime Minister of Singapore speaking at the Forbes Global CEO Conference showed why pink is in.
4. Ho noted in his article that "gays are seen to be at the leading edge of the “creative class” — which Singapore is trying to develop as part of its new knowledge-based, creativity-oriented economy".
5. Perhaps, the creative minds, if any, behind PM Lee Hsien Loong's image are indeed sending a message out to Singapore and the world. What more pragmatic way to have it expressed than at the Forbes Global CEO Conference.
6. For reasons I have made known in the past, it is time for Section 377A of the Penal Code to go.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Monday, September 08, 2008
Foreign Bodies In Singapore
DEDICATED TO SIVA GOVINDASAMY ON THE SOFT LAUNCH OF GEE SIVA!
Former Straits Times journalist, Siva Govindasamy, reacting on Gee Siva! to objections expressed by Singaporeans living in Serangoon Gardens about having a dormitory for foreign workers located there, 7 September 2008:
Afterthought:
1. I have observed from time to time that Singaporeans are becoming increasingly intolerant in some ways. The angst that some Singaporeans express when foreigners move into their respective neighbourhoods, especially those issued work permits, is one example of this.
2. I have lived for the past decade in a neighbourhood with many foreigners, Taman Jurong in Singapore.
3. The presence of these foreigners has brought its own inherent opportunities and challenges. Efforts have been made to integrate both Singaporean and non-Singaporean communities. Community events that see the attendance of both these groups are a norm. The joint numbers have also helped some shops in the neighbourhood stay in the black. To allay residents' concerns about crime, there is also a visible police presence.
4. On balance, I would say it has made a neighbourhood that was once ignored as the appendix of Jurong a more vibrant and diverse place to live in.
5. Looking at the objections raised by the residents of Serangoon Gardens, which Siva has rebutted point-by-point, I would submit that the residents are just being selfish. It only reflects a Singaporean mentality that has become too used in looking to the Government for solutions to the extent of being pragmatically insensitive. We can be more accepting of differences in our society.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
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Former Straits Times journalist, Siva Govindasamy, reacting on Gee Siva! to objections expressed by Singaporeans living in Serangoon Gardens about having a dormitory for foreign workers located there, 7 September 2008:
"Stereotypes are well and truly alive in this modern multi-ethnic metropolis. We want our own space and are selective about which foreigners will be allowed into it, making a serious dent in the attempts to evolve into a tolerant multi-cultural society."
Afterthought:
1. I have observed from time to time that Singaporeans are becoming increasingly intolerant in some ways. The angst that some Singaporeans express when foreigners move into their respective neighbourhoods, especially those issued work permits, is one example of this.
2. I have lived for the past decade in a neighbourhood with many foreigners, Taman Jurong in Singapore.
3. The presence of these foreigners has brought its own inherent opportunities and challenges. Efforts have been made to integrate both Singaporean and non-Singaporean communities. Community events that see the attendance of both these groups are a norm. The joint numbers have also helped some shops in the neighbourhood stay in the black. To allay residents' concerns about crime, there is also a visible police presence.
4. On balance, I would say it has made a neighbourhood that was once ignored as the appendix of Jurong a more vibrant and diverse place to live in.
5. Looking at the objections raised by the residents of Serangoon Gardens, which Siva has rebutted point-by-point, I would submit that the residents are just being selfish. It only reflects a Singaporean mentality that has become too used in looking to the Government for solutions to the extent of being pragmatically insensitive. We can be more accepting of differences in our society.
Happiness,
Dharmendra Yadav
Please consider the environment - do you really need to print this?
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