In the course of the past few months, I've been warning of the emergence of a 'Looney Fringe' that has appeared on the political landscape. Under the guise of 'speaking up and raising issues', a group of people have hijacked national issues and turned peaceful and legitimate protests into a no holds barred campaign of hate and smears. By upping the ante, they hope to portray themselves as 'saviours' and if that fails, as some kind of political martyr. Nothing is beneath them and it's thus no surprise that they have chosen the 1 day when the whole of Singapore comes together to celebrate our independence and nationhood - National Day, as a day to engage in petty political squabbles.
As always the 'face' of these events is ex-Malaysian new citizen, Ms Han Hui Hui. Hiding in the background will be her political mentor, Leong Sze Hian, with political 'victim', Roy Ngerng, delivering a rousing speech on martyrdom and accountability. In fact Ms Han had planned for a full day event beginning 12 noon and scheduled to end around the same time the National Day Parade is well underway, but now has delayed it until 4pm because there's no drinks supplier ostensibly. Perhaps it's because more and more people can see through the charade? Ms Han has already planned another protest on August 23rd, so why have one on of all days, National Day?
Well this is what the Looney Fringe will do, anything to score a few points, something of a gimmick and to make themselves look good is always an opportunity to be seized. In last month's protest, she made wild allegations against former PM Lee Kuan Yew, calling him a traitor and worse than a dog, but she's not content with that. In fact the National Day protest carries the stupid slogan - 'To sin by silence when one can protest, makes us cowards of men!' Since when is silence a sin? The millions of voters who do not protest are sinners? The hundreds of thousands who will vote against the PAP in an election are sinners because they do not want to join in a stupid protest that achieves little or nothing? Well that's the Looney Fringe's take on us.
And what has the Looney Fringe achieved for us by these protests? Has the Govt softened their stance? Is the Minimum Sum going to go down because of the protests? No, instead the Govt has closed ranks and said they will stick to their guns. The only way the PAP Govt will change policies is if the voters express disapproval of policies at the ballot box or through points raised by opposition MPs in Parliament which garner widespread support. Not by some Looney Fringe shouting and screaming like a mad dog and making wild and unsubstantiated claims. But don't worry if per chance there are changes or softening of policies, the Looney Fringe will jump on the bandwagon and take the credit.
That's the whole point of these exercises and protests. To make themselves look good, to try and boost their image so they can stand for elections. Despite no evidence no suggest it, Ms Han seems to think that an election will be held this year and that's why they have desperately been organising protest after protest - to build their image up in the hope they will get a chance to be elected. The millions of Singaporeans who have to work and survive is immaterial, they are sinners because they remain silent! Why? Because Looney Fringes like Ms Han don't work or hardly have worked. They make wild claims, play the victim, so people will support them and pay for their escapades. The more protests the better.
Finally onto this National Day protest. It's in total poor taste. National Day is not a celebration of PAP rule, I have never met anyone who equates National Day with PAP Day. It's Singapore Day, it's day Singaporeans can feel a bit of pride to be Singaporeans. Uniformed groups doing drills, skydiving, flyovers, sing-alongs and cultural items, not to mention reciting the pledge and singing the National Anthem. Is this a political event? If it was, do you think J B Jeyeretnam and Chiam See Ting would have attended previous parades? The answer is no. Is this a day to protest, to have a minute's silence for Lim Bo Seng, Lt Adnan, Lim Yew Hock, David Marshall or Ong Teng Cheong? Do you celebrate your grandmother's birthday by having a minute's silence for your dead grandfather? There's a time and place for everything, you don't celebrate a birthday at a funeral and you don't turn birthdays into funerals. But this is par for the course for the Looney Fringe, nothing is sacred, nothing matters except to make themselves into some kind of heroes or to score some political gimmick.
It remains to be seen who will speak at the event. Reform Party chief Kenneth Jeyaretnam (KJ) shared the same stage last time around when Ms Han made the distasteful remarks about Lee Kuan Yew. If he and other minor politicians want to share the same stage as the Looney Fringe, then he must also be prepared to be tarred with the same brush, when they do or say something stupid. The Looney Fringe doesn't care, they are happy to revel in their new found fame, people like KJ will lose votes and have their parties message drowned out by the ruckus created by the Looney Fringe. Finally to those who cheer the Looney Fringe like Ms Han, ask yourself this question, if she can be disloyal to her country of birth, what makes you so sure, she won't be disloyal to Singapore in future? Looking at some her comparisons with other countries, I won't be at all surprised if she and gang one day come forward and say, 'Oh Singapore is very useless, the people are stupid, they don't want to change, better I go to Norway or wherever where there is more democracy.'
By all means celebrate National Day in your own way, but steer clear of the Looney Fringe. Nothing good will come out by supporting a lost cause. I gather Ms Han has now even trained her disapproval against the Workers Party, if remarks on her FB wall are anything to go by, further confirming my beliefs about the agenda of the Looney Fringe.