Roy Ngerng again

This is the last time his name will appear here I hope.

First, he is not the one who “pressurized” the government to revise the CPF matter.

Note that the opposition parties have been at it for many years before Roy’s first blog about CPF. He was merely a “surfer” above “big waves” (analogous to work done by oppositions to pressurize government to take into consideration things/matters that can be revised under CPF). Take a look at the 2006 manifesto by WP (which indicates that CPF issue had been on WP mind even before 2006 drafting of the manifesto). The government revised some CPF issues after the poor performance in the previous general election (also not because of Roy). Roy is a non-factor.

Roy is a “surfer” who tried daring stunts while trying to show-off but he crashed (when a someone highlighted to PM Lee about Roy’s defamatory blog. If that someone didn’t do that, Roy would have been a nobody and the CPF would still have been revised). Roy crashed because he paid little attention to what stunt he should and shouldn’t do. Criticising a person is one thing, accusing/defame a person is another. I agree that he got foolish enough to be USED by certain quarter to drag on this issue (esp. when he backpedalled on his apologies to PM Lee and dared to take the issue to court) but that is his choice. It is yet to be determined if his choice was foolish or genius because if he gets more attention and support, he wins. He could even get more crowd-funding for the damage claim (or NOT).

In this news, PM tackles questions on S'pore system, freedom of speech at IPS conference (4th Jul 2015; Today), I read with interest the following statement:

“Look at what people call Barack Obama on the Internet. It would have made your blood curdle.” – Dr. Zakaria advises PM Lee about whether it was a right choice to sue Roy.

To me, I’m thinking, “should we emulate the West over this”. Is it okay to damage someone’s reputation just because we are given the freedom to do so (without responsibility, repercussion, and liability)? People tend to trust gossips and bogus news and 1969 race riot set as our reminder. How about the rumours that spread after the Little India riot in 2013? E.g. Man fined $5,000 for false Little India Riot posting on Facebook.

Now, the US is facing lots of tension over police brutality/lethality over blacks. Imagine the implication if someone was to misuse expression-freedom-without-responsibility to fan hatred. I cringe just to imagine the aftermath.

For now, Roy deserve his punishment for his foolishness. Feigning ignorance over term used such as “misappropriation” is a futile attempt when evidence from his posts suggest otherwise.

Last, Roy is a non-factor for CPF changes. Also, changes to CPF is not attributed to PM Lee alone but also the people working behind CPF (if not opposition who highlighted people’s plight).

Just a thought.