"SINGAPORE REBEL" DOWN FOR THE COUNT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 SINGAPORE 001178

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: DECL: 04/14/2015
TAGS: PGOV PHUM SN
SUBJECT: "SINGAPORE REBEL" DOWN FOR THE COUNT

REF: 2004 SINGAPORE 3001

Classified By: E/P Counselor Laurent Charbonnet, Reasons 1.4 (b)(d)


1. (SBU) Summary: The withdrawal under government pressure
last month of the film "Singapore Rebel" from the Singapore
International Film Festival has brought its subject,
opposition figure Dr. Chee Soon Juan, once more into the
local headlines. This may be one of Chee's last curtain
calls now that the long-running defamation suits brought by
Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior Minister Goh Chok
Tong have ended, leaving Chee on the brink of bankruptcy and
banned from seeking political office. End Summary.

Let a Hundred Flowers Bloom
--------------


2. (SBU) Long one of the most visible figures among
Singapore's political opposition, Dr. Chee Soon Juan's latest
headlines revolve around the withdrawal under government
pressure of a 26-minute independent documentary about Chee
entitled "Singapore Rebel" from the Singapore International
Film Festival. The GOS informed festival organizers that it
had classified the film as a "party political film" and that
the filmmaker should be "advised" to withdraw it, else "the
full extent of the law would apply." Under the terms of the
extremely broad and arbitrary 1998 Film Act, the exhibition
of "party political films" is illegal. Violators can be
fined up to S$100,000 (US$60,600) and be imprisoned for up to
two years.


3. (C) With Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and other cabinet
ministers exhorting Singaporeans to speak up in a new
atmosphere of "openness and inclusion," first-time filmmaker
Martin See decided to make a film about Chee to see "what
made him tick." See told PolOffs that many of his friends in
the arts community had cautioned him against making it.
Sounding somewhat shell-shocked, See lamented, "I thought
maybe things had changed." The withdrawal of the film has
prompted considerable internet discussion of censorship
issues, some of which has surfaced in print media. See's own
blog, which details his experience, can be found at
http://singaporerebel.blogspot.com.

The Saga in Brief
--------------


4. (U) Aside from the controversy over the film, Dr. Chee's
media profile has dropped since the defamation suits brought
against him by Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew and Senior
Minister Goh Chok Tong wrapped up in January and his
countersuit against Lee was dismissed in March. Goh's and
Lee's suit had arisen from Chee's accusation (without
evidence) during the 2001 parliamentary campaign that then
Prime Minister Goh had made an improper S$17 billion (US$9.8
billion) loan to former Indonesian President Suharto. Chee
later filed his own defamation suit against Lee for calling
him a "political gangster, a liar and a cheat."


5. (U) Chee petitioned the Court twice to allow him to retain
foreign counsel, but he was denied. With Chee (a non-lawyer)
representing himself, the High Court ruled in Lee's and Goh's
favor in 2002. It took more than two years for damages to be
set--Chee was granted a delay to go on a fellowship, but he
still missed the damages hearing and several court-imposed
deadlines. On January 6, High Court Justice Kan Ting Chiu
awarded the plaintiffs S$500,000 (US$303,000) in damages.
Chee has not yet responded to demand letters from Goh's and
Lee's attorneys and expects to see bankruptcy proceedings
initiated soon. Bankrupts are not allowed to run for public
office.


6. (U) The High Court dismissed Chee's counterclaim against
Lee on March 1 ostensibly because Chee had failed to respond
to the defendant's interrogatories by the February 28
deadline. Among the 96 questions Lee's attorneys had put to
Chee were a number which focused on his sources of funding:
Lee and his attorneys over the course of the trial repeatedly
alleged that Chee was being bankrolled by unnamed foreign
parties intent on blackening Singapore's reputation.

The Party's Over
--------------


7. (SBU) Dr. Chee remains Secretary General of the Singapore
Democratic Party (SDP),though it is questionable whether the
party can still be considered a viable political force. In
1991 the SDP won three seats in Parliament, the first time
since independence that an opposition party had won more than
a single seat. Dr. Chee's star began to rise within the
party following a hunger strike he staged in 1993 to protest
his dismissal as a neuropsychology lecturer from the National
University of Singapore for allegedly misusing research
funds. Chee's high profile, confrontational leadership style
was attractive to some, but it alienated others, including
former SDP Secretary-General Chiam See Tong, who (now with
the Singapore People's Party) has managed to hold onto his
seat in Parliament. Under Chee's leadership, though the SDP
has stayed in the public eye, membership and voter support
has steadily dwindled. The party's 11 candidates for
Singapore's 84-seat Parliament all polled less than 22
percent in their individual districts in the 2001 election,
and party meetings now attract at most a dozen people
(counting Dr. Chee's sister) according to media sources.

Chee's Next Steps
--------------


8. (SBU) Now 47, facing bankruptcy, and barred from running
for Parliament (because of a prior run-in with the law),Dr.
Chee persists in looking for ways to crusade against the
perceived injustices of the Singapore political system.
Asked what his next steps would be, Chee advised PolOffs that
he would continue his "investigations" to expose the
"undemocratic nature of the system." He is currently looking
into the alleged politically motivated "involuntary
incarceration" of people in mental health facilities. He
said that the SDP would contest the next parliamentary
election, though he wondered aloud what difference winning
even a few seats would make toward achieving his goal of
overturning the entire system. In his view, taking a stand
and holding to core principles is more important than
"playing the game" of trying to win individual electoral
contests.

Comment
--------------


9. (C) With the defamation suits now over, Dr. Chee's
visibility as an opposition leader can be expected to decline
further. His penchant for (by Singapore standards)
high-profile agit-prop activism at best prompts little more
than bemused curiosity from most Singaporeans, and his lack
of attention toward building up the party base has
essentially removed the SDP from electoral politics. The
ruling party's handling of Dr. Chee shows how its ruthlessly
effective tactics can occasionally be used to achieve very
questionable strategic goals. While the People's Action
Party has once again demonstrated that its power cannot be
challenged, using the power of intimidation also carries
costs, as Singaporeans wonder why such overwhelming force
needed to be applied to one who has never posed any serious
political threat. The PAP, perhaps, is unfamiliar with
Wilson's dictum, "Never attempt to murder a man who is
committing suicide."
LAVIN