US embassy cable - 05SINGAPORE1178

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