Chee Soon Juan challenges George Yeo to online debate
August 10th, 2009 | 
Author: From our Correspondent
The Secretary-General of the Singapore Democratic Party, Dr Chee Soon Juan has issued a challenge to the Foreign Minister George Yeo for an online debate. (read article here)
Noting that he has been active on the internet of late, Chee posted to his Facebook an invitation for an online debate on issues “close to the hearts of Singaporeans.”
Posting on the SDP website, Chee wrote to George:
“You will note that the active censorship of the mass media prevents the news and views of the SDP reaching the mainstream public. The little information that reaches Singaporeans about my party is often biased and inaccurate. Your party, on the other hand, is always positively portrayed.
The Internet offers no such refuge. It is a greater leveller of information flow. In this medium, the SDP’s views are transmitted accurately, as are yours. We are judged by readers on the merits of our arguments – not by how the Singapore Press Holdings spins and adulterates the information.”
No Singapore ministers have ever debated with an opposition politician either online or in real life. Chee was written off as a political outcast in Singapore after his numerous altercations with Singapore leaders. He was declared a bankrupt after failing to pay the defamation lawsuits brought upon him by MM Lee and his son, the present Prime Minister.
George Yeo was slammed by netizens lately on his ignorance of Myanmar’s modern history. He claimed during an interview with a local blog that Myanmar had been ruled by the military junta since independence (read article here)
The ruling party has made some serious attempts to engage the online community, the majority of which are hostile to them. The internet remains the last bastion of free speech for Singaporeans where criticisms can be levelled at the government without repercussions.
Last year, the government relaxed rules regarding public assemblies when it allowed rallies to be held at Hong Lim Park without the need to apply for a police permit. However, the police has since installed CCTVs there for “safety and security” reasons.
Other than George Yeo, few other senior PAP leaders are net-savvy, preferring to communicate their intentions to the citizenry via the official mouthpiece of the government – the mainstream media.
It is highly unlikely that George Yeo, one of the highest, if not the highest paid foreign minister in the world will accept Chee’s invitation. Even if he is keen to, his boss “upstairs” will probably not grant Chee the publicity he so craved.
UPDATED:
George Yeo did give an ambiguous reply to Dr Chee as below:
Dear Dr Chee,
May I suggest you write to the PAP as what you propose seems rather formal. I don’t really want my FB activities to be so formal or serious. I am happy to engage as and when issues arise, but I do so as an individual without getting the PAP or MFA involved. Short responses, not long exchanges if possible. So far it has been fun for me and I hope to keep it that way. Hope you understand.
George
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“It is highly unlikely that George Yeo, one of the highest, if not the highest paid foreign minister in the world will accept Chee’s invitation. Even if he is keen to, his boss “upstairs” will probably not grant Chee the publicity he so craved.”
Agreed absolutely, he CANNOT engage anyone without the approval from the famiLEE. Doing so would be political suicide for him because: If he isn’t torn to pieces by Dr Chee, the famiLEE will have his rice bowl.
These so-called elites cannot even answer questions posted by aunties and uncles on the street, how can he take on a PhD? LOL
I just visted the P65 Blog today. It is now a P65 Blog. LOL. The MPs that were tasked to take ownership of the blog and post “regularly” have probably decided that the blog is not “fun” and they couldn’t post “without getting the PAP or government involved”.
He still needs to seek approval from higher authority in order to make a comment. Soon we will have PAP Facebook Agency to censure and approve all comments by politicians.
sgcynic,
right. That is laughing stock of P65 blog. Suddenly all the NMP, MP stop contribution to the blog and all the previous posts and comments are totally removed. This is the new P65 blog now manned by small fly who know nothing and give nothing, and their post that can’t be taken seriously. It is essentially run by small clowns who suck to the establishment.
TOC and Temasek Review should do a review of P65 blog, so much for engagement of public. Those NMP, MPs, and ministers find that they no longer that con the people anymore with ridiculous one-side argument, so that they give up totally.
taiwanese politicians are more on the ball with the new media, though some still face difficulties like ma ying jeou.
i can confirm George Yeo wont dare to debate with CSJ. he should just see the LEEs vs the Chees saga and he’ll know why.
without a xxx judge to “protect” him and his elite dogs, he confirm get bashed up down left right centre by CSJ and the netizens.
so many unanswered questions.. but how many ways and times can they deviate from it??? ultimately, they’ll have to face it.
well. all the best Dr Chee!
ROTFLMAO!
When I read George Yeo’s reply, only 2 words came to mind, “chicken shit”.
Dr.Chee can take on LHL and George Yeo at the same time in a live telecast debate. And before it is over, either nitwit will crawl into Dr. Chee’s pocket. So much for oldfart’s choice of freaking wimps to run the country.
WHy not debate with Mathias Yao – a rerun of MAcpherson SMC Electorate ward.
Then challenge PAP Government to allow him to stand for Election GE2012 against MAthais YAo again?
Why not arrange Chiam See Tong vs Mah Bow Tan in a debate as well?
WHy not Low Thia Khiang vs Lim Swee Say (NTUC President) as wel?
There are indeed better & more pressing things for the Minister to do than debate.
Let the debates begin when the GE is near.
Empty vessels make the most noise.
44 blessed years.
Thank you PAP.
Ask CSJ to put his other hand into the till again?
@IR on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 8:22 am …Greetings… taking a cue from your moniker, I am against the casino that IR brings. Going to Gentings & Macau is a vacation luxury, and having one right available 24/7 all year round on your doorstep is another different dimension. Cannot imagine anyone consistently beating the establishment casino and I really fear for many that money will simply disappear in the black hole.
MM was against casino but he changed his mind. It was disappointing. Instead of restructuring our economy to bigger and stronger pillars, we took the soft option of two pygmy IR and casinos. Wrong bet, I think.
LHL? Laugh HOW Loud???
Without much effort CSJ will put 2 George Yeos in his pocket. That was what Francis Seow did to LKY in their debate on the White Paper on the Law Society many years ago. That video has not seen the light of day since. I guess we all know why. For an accurate account of what took place read Francis Seow’s all-revealing book ( To Catch A Tartar?).
I ain’t a gambler, so IR’s casino is of no issue to me. I do not consider Genting to be luxury vacation as well and that place does not appeal to me. I might, once in a blue blue moon throw a few tens of RM to the slot machine but that is about all. Likewise, I too will throw some spare change to those casinos in Korea, Australia, New Zealand, Macau, Las Vegas even Seychelles…..
But, it isn’t the Casino that draws me there. It is all in the mind of the individual…… If you are a die hard gambler, god bless you and it is not likely to stop them from gambling however far the casino is.
I heard Taiwan, the Phillippines, even Indonesia (Batam), etc. are also busy starting up casinos. Why erh?
Reality my dear.
Jobs and taxes for the common good.
Critics simply have no answers to solving today’s unemployment and the like. Only good at the 3 Cs.
“Condemn, Criticise, Curse.”
Today’s readers are matured people. They can judge.
I am just sick of bg yeo as a fm on the mymnmar issue. it just shows that you are a hypocrite with no mind of your own or empathy for the people of burma. your ministry praised the junta’s general for reducing the sentence from 3 year to 18 months. i sincerely think you should be replaced or have a 50% pay cut for not being true to yourself. As for the csj debate, you are the minister in charge, surely your party will have the confidence in you to deliver.
@Lok Mun on Tue, 11th Aug 2009 11:41 pm …greetings…
HEARSAY is EXACTLY THAT – HEARSAY…lots of hot air but no substance of truth.
Leaving that aside, the two pygmy casino adding to IR was mean to sustain the project and create employment. Employment for who? Foreigners, according to recent MSM, and the costs and social consequences of another influx of foreign workers to add to our weight of infrastructure support cost and the risks of social and family disintegration from gambling. Casino in Australia provide cheap food and free after-hour transport 24/7 to bring addicted gamblers home and fetch them as well.
Is this good for Singaporean society? If the casino is in Gentings or Macau, casino could NOT provide after-hour transport home? Can they?? I just hope no tourist will patronise those casino here, let it die a white elephant natural death – the sooner, the better.
@jolly on Wed, 12th Aug 2009 9:57 am …greetings…this is called
accountability to reality or hei si bai?. Wait till this nation is deep in trouble and begging. Maybe then we will be call to account for our reckless commitment to the military gangsters of Burma. This is the first case in law when an intruder breaks into YOUR HOUSE against your will and you are convicted for that violation and rewarded with a “reduced” discount sentence.
The world is not blind nor is Singaporean niave.
SHAME SHAME SHAME. Our pride as a proud dignified nation in civilisation celebrated on National Day few days ago has been taken 10 notches down.
Jolly : “i sincerely think you should be replaced or have a 50% pay cut for not being true to yourself. As for the csj debate, you are the minister in charge, surely your party will have the confidence in you to deliver”.
Agreed. maybe georgie boy isn’t worth the million dollar salary he is getting?
if highly paid ministars have to refer to more highly paid ministars in order to speak, than they are not performing independently. they are no better than robots!
c-p-k said: Without much effort CSJ will put 2 George Yeos in his pocket.
I beg to differ, I would like to boldly add if I may, Without much effort CSJ will put 1 MM, 2SM, 1PM and 2 DPM in his pocket.
But then after giving it 2nd thoughts, we don’t need Chee to take George on, any auntie and uncle on the street will fry George’s arse with the million dollar question: Where is my money?
Anyone disagree?
OIC said: if highly paid ministars have to refer to more highly paid ministars in order to speak, than they are not performing independently. they are no better than robots!
If I rememberd correctly, in 1995, Willians College had wanted to organise an open debate between GCT and Francis Seow, who had already left Sinkapore and is a fellow at Harvard Law School.
The instructions from the top then was: Avoid it at all costs and duck the dissident (Francis Seow) without appearing craven.
Thus imagine if the PRIME MINISTER of Sinkapore has to take instructions from the top and avoid a dissident which the system tried to fix, what can we expect from a small fly millisters?
* For the benefit of those who have no idea who Francis Seow was, he was the Solicitor General of Sinkapore and President of the Law Society, whose crime was to resist the famiLEE’s moves to crush press freedom; even worse, he bested MM Lee and torn him to pieces before a parliamentary select committee.
He was subsequently ‘fixed’ under Operation Spectrum and sought political asylum in USA upon his release from ISD detention. He is now a fellow at Harvard University.
Well said guys ! about CSJ’s ability.
Looks like G.Yeo has to wait in line to be in Dr.Chee’s pocket.
LOL
Again for the benefit of readers who were young or misinformed, the PaPies are used to play ducking game and avoid confrontation on any level playing field UNLESS one of their own field with audiences comprising of the famiLEE’s relatives, cane-wielding thugs and famiLEE worshippers.
Even MM Lee, when he was challenged by William Safire, an American Presidential Speechwriter to an open one-on-one debate on universal values at Switzerland, he ducked, of course.
Which brings one to wonder why are Sinkaporeans paying millions of dollars to Millisters who cant take on anyone (aunties and uncles included) in a decent debate on a LEVEL PLAYING FIELD?
GY knows how to #run#
He didn’t stay in the public sector all these years for nothing.
We are always thanking the PAP for providing us with a safe place etc etc.
However, we forgot our own efforts in nation building. We didn’t sit on a train and just enjoy the ride.
More importantly, the PAP is a huge hindrance to our livelihood in the future. Just look at the way (and the difference) they handled our own people’s inquiries about minibond, cpf etc and the foreign workers’ ones.
The PAP never learn as they constantly pass the failure of their experiments as cost to us.
That is why they never learn from all the obvious unintended consequence of their experiments: the cost of their failure is always pass back to us. Minibond, TH, GIC, the escape of the limping terrorist show that.
They even have the face to hand awards to Malaysia for the capture of someone that ran out from their rein. The Malaysian ISA dept is paid peanuts compared to ours.
We don’t have leaders. We have models want to be.
FPC, you are very correct. The PaPies are not learning because the interest of Sinkaporeans is not their top priorities at all. The ‘welfare’ of their famiLEE and relatives is. Sinkapore to them is only a playing ground and stepping stone onto greener and bigger pastures.
Sinkapore is NOT their home to call their own, they will NOT remain in Sinkapore when the going gets tough, this is evident by the number of private properties those elites hold OUTSIDE Sinkapore.
Of course they will try to stay on in Sinkapore for as long as there’s cows to milk but once that runs out, MM Lee or anyone in the famiLEE I dare say WILL NOT stay to fight if things go terribly wrong, they will be the first to leave and Sinkaporeans will be left hanging dry to start from where they started 50 years ago.
LKY saved and build Sinkapore 50 years ago but given the scenario to replay itself again now if Sinkapore fails, it WON’T happen again. 50 years ago, LKY had nowhere to go, he had ambition to be a great man, which he already achieved along with billions of dollars.
He can afford to buy an island or a small city now, why should he stay now and fight given his vast alternatives? Besides, he has already run out of alternatives and ideas on how to rebuild Sinkapore given that what worked for Sinkapore 50 years ago definitely won’t work now.
You said the PaPies never learn from their mistakes, which is true but what about Sinkaporeans? They allowed the famiLEE to sodomise them over and over again, didn’t they not learn anything from the pain?
Whatever the famiLEE did and the PaPies have become, Sinkaporeans allowed it to happen, so don’t blame God, don’t blame the famiLEE or your neighbours, you asked for it!
When moronic caterpillars in this world gets more than what they are worth, they spend their lives sitting on their arse thinking – how much more and where they could get even more money AND NOT WASTING TIME LOOKING AFTER THE BUSINESS.
This is reality of life. Is it ever enough when scam money comes easy for mafia? Is Saddam Hussien, Kim Jong II and those Burmese military gangster passionately loving money or loving their country? Compared to Obama loving money or loving his country? Better compare these money-hungry dogs with South Korean incumbent President who gave away 80% of his accumulated fortune to his country for the privilege of a name in history.
The likes of Bill Gates, Stan Shih, Sim Wan Woo spend their lives REALLY LOOKING AFTER THEIR BUSINESS BECAUSE IT IS BUSINESS.