There are no beatings or torture. There have been no deaths.
Ambassador Chan Heng Chee, Embassy of Singapore in Washington, defending the ISA
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Paid to lie…..just like the Chosun Ilbo’s wayang.
I don’t think anyone will believe her.
no words to describe her….
why the big fuss when even the US practices torture?
Don’t mean to nitpick … but the letter from CHC refers to terrorists. There was no statement in the letter that this is true under ISA at ALL TIMES. Perhaps a more accurate headline should be ‘No beatings or torture of terrorist suspects detained under ISA’.
This letter will of course not hold water if in reference to Op Spectrum.
I believe that there is no physical treatment by the ISA and I also believe that there is no beggar in Singapore as claim by LKY even though I see lot of it in Singapore.
““You go down New York, Broadway. You will see the beggars, people of the streets… Where are the beggars in Singapore? Show me.” said MM Lee Kuan Yew.”
http://byon.wordpress.com/2008/12/25/mm-lee-where-are-the-beggars-in-singapore/
but then I also believe I living in the make-believe world of Singapore gahmen.
The funny thing is that Dr Chee’s letter addresses the issue of ISA as a whole, and thus his allegation of beatings and torture hold. But deaths? Hmm..
So Ambassador Chan chose to ignore his allegations completely, instead focusing his argument on the terrorists. How deft.
Shouldn’t Chan Heng Chee be visiting Iraq to get business because there is no beheading, no killing and torture. There have been no deaths and terrorism. Everything so peaceful in Iraq.
Dear TOC
For the benefit of ignorance of the honourable Dr Chan, I would suggest that you forward to her all your articles on the Marxist Conspiracy and Operation Spectrum.
Of course no torture lah, she is a govt servant. If she says there is torture, then her rice bowl will be broken the next day. These are people who work against their conscience.
which planet is she from?
Wah ! was she wearing a face mask when uttering that – didnt expect her to stoop to this level to match her standing.
she is a paid employee….
a well paid employee.
Like Vivian bala, raymond Tan -
they are all paid by PAP.
What does she mean when she say ‘torture’?
Isn’t being stripped naked and left in an aircon room for hours and days torture?
Isn’t being splashed with cold water, naked in a freezing room torture?
Isn’t being deprived of sleep torture?
Isn’t being brainwashed and coerced into submission to admit the crime torture?
Isn’t being shut off from your family and friends for an indefinite time torture?
The lies being dished out by this government are simply out of this world. We must send them into the orbit where they belong.
Correction: the word ‘not’ to precede the word ‘torture’.
Don’t blame her lah. Not many people can resist the temptation of money, wealth and status bestowed to anyone who willing to sell one’s soul and conscience to the monarchy. Like Vivian, Raymond and she who are once critical of government, now all so YES-man because million dollar money never taste so sweet !!!!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chan_Heng_Chee
“She became Ambassador to the United States in 1996. At the time, she was the first woman ambassador from an East Asian country to be assigned to the United States. Chan expressed surprise at her appointment, noting “I’m antiestablishment and was a bit of a dissident before I was appointed ambassador. It came as something of a shock to me when I was offered the ambassadorship because I was highly critical of government in a society that is not used to being critiqued.” [“
One day, Ambassador Kong Kong is been asked by the Korean reporters.
Reporters: “ISA is so evil, why do the tiny red dot still use ISA against innocent people nowsaday ?”
Cong Cong: “There are no beatings or torture. There have been no deaths.”
Reporters: “How do you know ? Are you so KONG KONG TAI TAI to believe that ? Have you work in ISA before ? ”
Kong Kong: “I know. Trust Me. It is based on TRUST. I trust that ISA has no such treatment and death. I trust the ISA just like the citizens of Singapore trust the gov for the use of reserves, for the investment of Temasek and GIC, even though citizens are so blind and ask to Shut UP”
Reporters: “Haha, what a lame answer ! I heard that Singapore gahmen are very unique. They earn millions that is not commersurate with performance and yet ask people to trust them blindly. If I trust that millions go into my salary, what else I cannot trust ?.”
As the same with Guantanamo, no terrorists died there.
Just a stupid pseudo intellectual/academic who got lucky to get this job. Since then she’s busy attending fashion shows, plays,musicals..sipping champagne, eating caviar..b seen at all who’s who functions..blowing air kisses..blah blah blah and this she left her brain in e freezer. At least she makes auntie catherine lim looks relevant.
by there is ‘no toture’ , what does it mean?
ZERO? Completely no torture whatsoever?
What is the definition of torture used by her?
Is it the common definition or a definition proprietary to the environment?
How could she prove there was no torture?
Oh, their own experts can certify that?
is there independent experts to certify that?
How about from the usa?
like this can or not?
Remember how David Marshall was sent to be Ambassador by the almighty for several reasons?
I am sure David Marshall is not corrupted.
Not all anti-establishment are converts.
#15 Daniel….
If those were her words….now we know what happens to people who are anti-establishment or rather those who try to correct it for the better….
They are simply sent away….as ambassadors….which I have heard many a times.
Some of you people are so hard on her. What do you expect her to say instead? It’s easy for us to criticise her remarks in the comfort of our homes and offices. But she is on the ‘frontline’, and is representing the Singapore government. What would you do if you were in her shoes?
By the way, I am not saying that to condone or to support her remarks in defence of ISA.
last post..she can simply shut up n sit down..is anyone pointing a pistol at her head?
No choice take salary from them have to sing the same tune, or else tomorrow out of job and go for retraining.
After retraining still no job because still dont know how to sing the same tune.
What to do if we do not dilute their power, this is what will go on and on until one day when all singaporean are awake and realised they are being cheated by the elites.
#3
no words to describe not only her but to a lot of them who are muted now with dollar notes on their mouth.
Understand their problems, but things will change when the time is up for the emperor to go to the burner or dig his own hole.
What would you all have her say? She is the Ambassador to the United States, and as such, is duty bound to speak for the government and portray the government’s official policy on such matters.
It is really funny to see people expect an accredited diplomatic representative to actually have the liberty to speak as a common citizen.
Look at things circumspectively and realise that we have evolved over the past decade or two in the use of the ISA.
At least we do not perform rendition operations. *rolls eyes*
ya… right….. “as if”!
Instances of the application of the ISA
* 1963 – Operation Coldstore, a joint Malaysian-Singaporean operation to arrest 117 opposition party and labor union leaders, some of whom were detained for up to 17 years.
* 1966 – Chia Thye Poh, a member of the Barisan Sosialis, was detained without trial for 32 years under the ISA. He spent the last nine years under forms of house arrest and civil rights restrictions, including confinement on the island of Sentosa.
* 1987 – In a security operation known as Operation Spectrum, 22 Roman Catholic church and social activists and professionals were detained under the ISA. They were accused of being members of a dangerous Marxist conspiracy bent on subverting the government by force and replacing it with a Marxist state.
* December 2001 – Fifteen alleged members of the Jemaah Islamiyah (JI) militant group were arrested for involvement in the Singapore embassies attack plot.[4]
* August–September 2002 – Another 21 alleged members of JI were arrested.[citation needed]
* February 2006 – Alleged JI head Mas Selamat bin Kastari extradited from Indonesia and detained without trial under the ISA. He escaped from custody in February 2008. Rearrested on 1 April 2009, this time under the Malaysian version of the Act.
She said so.
So, we accept.
Thats the way in the digital age…
7) Terence on June 11th, 2009 3.52 pm
The funny thing is that Dr Chee’s letter addresses the issue of ISA as a whole, and thus his allegation of beatings and torture hold. But deaths? Hmm..
The allegation of beatings and torture is based on accounts that is 20 yrs old. It is a matter of the past or is it is still in use now? If it is a matter of the past, how should we weight it?
BTW, whether there is beatings and torture or not, we don’t need ISA.
Read “To Catch a Tartar” by Francis Seow (forward by former President Devan Nair), published by Yale University South East Asian Studies in 1994.
Dr Chee Soon Juan’s perspective of the ISA dates back to the pre-Independence days. Prof Chan Heng Chee’s perspective of the ISA dates back to 2001 when the ISA has a new lease of life.
http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com/2007/03/surviving-long-term-detention-without.html
Chan Hock Hua was arrested on 17 February 1971. He was initially detained at Whitley Road Holding Centre but was transferred to the top floor of the Central Police Station where he was kept under solitary confinement for two years. During long periods of interrogation at these two interrogation centres, he was frequently beaten and several times immersed in cold water. As a result of this treatment, he also complained in later years of severe rheumatism. In 1973 he was transferred to Moon Crescent.
During the next four years and more at Moon Crescent, Chan Hock Hua suffered frequently from ill-health, so much so that other prisoners complained about the inadequacy of the medical treatment he was receiving and urged the authorities to consider his early release on humaitarian grounds. In early 1978 his health deteriorated rapidly and caused considerable unease amongst his fellow-prisoners. As a result of their protests, on 13 March 1978 Chan Hock Hua was transferred from Moon Crescent to Singapore General Hospital. According to the doctors there, Chan was suffering from carcinoma hepatitis (cancer of the liver), and a few days later he was discharged from hospital because of the incurable nature of his illness. On 25 March, Chan’s family took him to a private hospital, but the following day he died from his illness.
The tragic case of Chan Hock Hua illustrates in a striking way the serious shortcomings of medical attention at Moon Crescent. Moreover, Chan’s family have repeatedly alleged that he was suffering in fact not from cancer of the liver but from a lacerated liver caused by beatings he had received in the early years of his detention.
Is she acting or reacting?
Hi Confused Citizen #35,
Prof Chan Heng Chee cannot contradict her colleague Vanu Gopala Menon, (Singapore’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations) who told the UN General Assembly that no torture was committed under the ISA in 2002.
What Ambassador Chan preaches are right: there should be absolutely no beating, torture and cruel tactic to deal with political detainees.
In this civilised world, even political detainees are educated and human, except they have different form of political appreciation and admiration.