8:25 p.m. - 2003-03-01
selective exposure, selective attention, selective retention.
this appeared in the Sintercom forums.(http://forums.delphiforums.com/sintercom/messages/?msg=1212)
Chief Justice Yong: �I didn�t have a good breakfast�
26 February 2003
In dismissing Mr Gandhi Ambalam�s appeal of a fine of $2,000 imposed on him, Chief Justice Yong Pung How said that it was because he �did not have a good breakfast� that morning.
Mr Gandhi, a Singapore Democrats leader, was fined for violating the Public Entertainments and Meetings Act on 1 May last year outside the Istana. He had accompanied Dr Chee Soon Juan, SDP secretary-general, to hold a public rally outside the presidential grounds on May Day.
Anyone fined $2,000 or more is barred from standing for elections for five years.
Chief Justice Yong made the comment when Mr Gandhi cited that his fine was manifestly excessive and asked for it to be reduced.
The appellant pointed out that Mr Yong had reduced Dr Chee�s fine on a previous conviction. Mr Yong then replied that he must have �had a good breakfast� that morning when he made that decision, which was not the case in Mr Gandhi�s appeal.
The chief justice had earlier asked Mr Gandhi whether he had gone to the Istana on Labour Day to see the President of Singapore. Mr Gandhi said he was there with Dr Chee to speak at a rally to highlight the plight of Singapore workers.
The SDP leader had told Mr Yong that he had contested in two elections and indicated that he was not successful on both occasions. Mr Gandhi said: �I was shocked when he asked me whether I had lost my election deposit and later said that he wouldn�t vote for me anyway.�
Mr Gandhi also indicated that he was seeking to have the fine reduced so that he will not be disqualified from standing for elections in the future. Mr Yong replied, �But why do you want to be elected?� The chief justice added: �I�ll save you the trouble� and proceeded to dismiss the appeal.
Mr Gandhi had earlier submitted arguments to the High Court in which he maintained that the $2,000 fine was manifestly excessive. He told the court that on February 2, 1999, Dr Chee was fined $1,400 for his first offence of speaking without a licence at Raffles Place in December 1998.
For speaking at the same place a second time during lunch-hour, Dr Chee was fined $2,400 by a District Judge on February 24, 1999. But this amount was reduced to $1,900 on appeal before Chief Justice Yong himself on May 25, 1999. However, after hearing Mr Gandhi, Chief Justice Yong upheld the fine of $2,000 imposed by a district judge on October 9, 2002 and dismissed the appeal.
-------------------------------
Hegemony is the domination of a certain elite by ideological means through the mass media and other social instituitions, upon the masses. Hegemony exists without the prior knowledge of the masses but it is by their willingness to accept, that a certain group is allowed to rise as the elite. We has a 'discussion' in class the other day. About the topic of 'cheerful robots' as posited by this guy i forgot who. Anyway, one guy spoked up and said about the army. How he doesn't see himself as a cheerful robot. How it takes a certain sense to lead and motivate the men under him, to fight and so on. The teacher asked, "but what are you fighting for?" He said, "to defend our nation...i know that when it comes to war, i will stay and fight." then the teacher said, "but what is a nation?" Another guy spoke up, " a nation is an ideological construct...a legal fiction." ----------------------- A hard knock on the head. If you knew that everything was predestined in a certain sense either by genes you inherited or your time of birth to a certain place where the world (as shared by everybody) is shaped by enormous power relations and maintained by a strong web of associated influence; what can you do? ------------------------- "there are two groups of people in this world...those who go for what they want, and those who don't...well, those who go for what they want, they may not get what they want...but at least they stay vital...and that's important...having fewer regrets at the end of the day lying on your deathbed...and for those who dun do what they want... well... who gives a shit about them?" ---- Maxine in "Being John Malkovich".
