So it turns out that opposition politician James Gomez was not formally arrested but merely questioned by police.  He has had his passport taken away and is not allowed to leave the country.  It all sounds quite straightforward, as if there really were a consistent rule of law in Singapore.  But we know that is not true.

   What is true is that the ruling party routinely uses the legal system to advance its political interests.  The first rule of Singaporean law is: the PAP always wins; or, to be more precise, Lee Kuan Yew always wins.  Lee threatened opponents during the campaign: "…you’re going to move on out of politics in time," and this most recent use of the "law" is obviously the old man’s revenge.  Lee’s son, who still labors under his father’s authority, followed suit with his own threat during the election: "Instead of spending my time thinking of what is the right policy for
Singapore, I have to spend all my time thinking what is the right way
to fix them, what’s the right way to buy my own supporters over," he
said.  He has already bought the votes with public money; and now he is going about "fixing" the political opposition. 

    The question is: do any of us really believe that the Singaporean legal system can deliver a fair verdict in a case involving the Lees?  Of course not.  Singapore is a Legalist fief of the Lee dynasty.  The "law" is designed and implemented to serve the Lee family’s personal political and economic interests.  The rise of opposition politics holds out the hope for change at some point.  But, for now, it is PAP politics – abusive and mean and inhumane politics – as usual.

     Too bad the Lees do not take Mencius seriously.  That they rule by "force" is just an illustration of their lack of integrity:

If you use force to gain the people’s submission, it isn’t a submission of the heart.  It’s only a submission of the weak to the strong.  But if you use Integrity to gain the people’s submission, it’s a submission of the sincere and delighted heart. (52)

    If they were gentlemen (junzi) they would not have to harass James Gomez.