Singapore Opposition Leader Speaks

[dohrs@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Subject: Singapore Opposition Leader Speaks in U.S.


FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Singapore Opposition Leader Speaks in Seattle

Sees Authoritarian Politics Undermining Information Technology Growth

April 15, 1999 -- Seattle -- Dr. Chee Soon Juan of the Singapore
Democratic Party will speak on ÒFree Speech and Political Maturation in
SingaporeÓ at the University of Washington in Seattle, Thomson Hall Room
317, from 12:30-1:30 on Friday, April 16.  He is available to the press
immediately following.

Dr. Chee has recently given several public talks in Singapore without an
Òentertainment licenseÓ as required by Singapore law.  Chee asserts that
the law is used selectively to restrict criticism of the ruling PeopleÕs
Action Party.  His campaign has landed him in SingaporeÕs notorious jails
twice this year, but has propelled him into the headlines of The
Economist, Far Eastern Economic Review, International Herald Tribune,
Reuters, Associated Press and others.

Dr. Chee, who received his Ph.D.. from the University of Georgia, is on a
speaking tour that will take him to San Francisco, New York City, and
Washington, DC.  The National Democratic Institute in Washington has
organized a World Affairs Briefing by Chee and other leading oppositionist
Joshua Benjamin Jeyeratnem.

The trip is meant to create awareness of SingaporeÕs anti-democratic
practices.  ÒThe constant demands for conformity in Singapore are stifling
the creativity that is needed to compete in the ÔInformation Age,ÕÓ says
Chee.  ÒOur government has become ossified, and that is dangerous.Ó

SingaporeÕs domestic lack of transparency and accountability creates
problems far beyond the borders of the island state.  In Burma, Singapore
investors have close ties to well-known heroin traffickers, and the
Singapore government has supplied weapons and spy technology and training
to the Burmese military junta, one of the worldÕs most violent regimes.
ÒSingaporeÕs involvement in Burma doesnÕt just harm the Burmese majority.

The ties to drug dealers mean that many others are harmed, and that is
irresponsible,Ó adds Chee.  Most of the heroin in the US and Canada comes
from Burma, where the military is accused of complicity in the narcotics
trade.

ÒSingapore is seen by some as a model, a repository of ÔAsian Values,ÕÓ
says Chee.  ÒBut repression and intimidation are not Asian Values, nor
should they be anyoneÕs model.Ó  In his latest book To Be Free:  Stories
from AsiaÕs Struggle Against Oppression, Chee profiles a number of Asian
campaigners for freedom.



Contact:  Seattle, Larry Dohrs, Free Burma Coalition, 206-784-5742 (or
          206-954-5171)
          San Francisco, Leslie Kean, Burma Project USA, 415-485-6030 
          Washington, DC, Andrew Fuys, National Democratic Institute, 
          202-328-3136