Exclusive Interview with Gopalan Nair in California

It was a cold morning. The whole San Francisco bay area was covered by dense fog, like a pall of gloom, as I was driving along the highway from San Jose to Fremont. Surprisingly the traffic was not as bad as what Shitty Times would like me to believe back home, even during such severe weather condition. Visibility was only less than 100 metres at times, but most American drivers were pretty patient and cutting lanes by signalling seemed to "work" in this part of the world. My mission was to pay homage to an old freedom fighter, Gopalan Nair, who had been persecuted and fined by the PAP system in the early 90s for saying the "wrong" thing. We connected before embarking on this USA trip and were given detailed directions on how to reach his office in Fremont.

The sky started to clear when I reached the destination. There was a nice public park right across this 2 storey office building in surburb settings. Greeneries, mountains and open space, all luxuries in our homeland, but seemed abundant in this part of California.

I was 10 minutes early and Mr Nair was meeting a client in his office at that time. I looked around and had this strange feeling that I was transformed back home. The settings and office layout were so similar to those lawyers' offices in Singapore.

"You must be X," an old fatherly voice exclaimed from the background.

"Welcome to my humble office!" This 170cm, well built gentlemen in dark suit came forward to shake my hand and this was followed by an exchange of greetings. I was even more surprised to hear from someone who had been living in USA for the past 10 yrs to use typical Spore style ice-breakers like "I grew up in Somerset Rd Indian corners where the PUB building stands now" and "Tell me where you live in S'pore, X", etc. This place was certainly more like home than any yankee office.

So this set the tone for our two-hour conversation that morning. Among which were issues he raised during his campaign period in the 88 and

91 elections and the events following the court cases afterwards.

"It was a tough battle, not during elections, but the days after that," said this old fighter who spoke with a commanding voice. He related with disappointment on how his friends deserted him, his law business in S'pore suffered and his dignity's being diminished.

"You know what? I'm lucky," he said. "I have a very supportive wife!"

He recalled on how his family had to depend on his wife to bring food on the table during his days of selling Worker's Party's "Hammers" on the street to spread the words of democracy more than 10 yrs ago.

Without his wife's support, Nair said he would not have the stamina to continue his fight after the loss in 88 election.

But during the height of the 91 election, Nair mentioned his dissatisfaction of the lack of independence of the judicary system in S'pore during an election rally. The PAP government took offence on this remark and fined him $8000 for contempt and struck off his roll.

"I have only two choices at that time," sighed the old fighter who had

3 young toddlers at that time, "Either kow tow to PAP or find another place to make a living."

"The PAP wanted to cripple me, just like what they had done to my hero JBJ," Nair said angrily. "But I'm determined not to let they enjoy seeing me & my family suffered." Armed with a law degree, Nair knew that he was in a much better position than many of his comardes at that time to find greener pesture outside S'pore.

"I sold off everything and with $25,000, we came here, California," he tapped on his 2 metres long teak wood office desk. I then asked about why he chose America, instead of more popular Singaporean favourites like Australia, UK or New Zealand.

"Each place has its merits, but I believe California is a place where for most people, a dream would come true if you are willing to work hard, regardless of your background," said this lawyer. "But let me warn you... this is also a very cruel place where only the fittest survives."

This was followed by sharing of his experiences when he first stepped foot on this "Land of Opportunities", initial hiccups and how he slowly built up his business and eventually established himself in the local immigrant communities.

"You see those Vietnamese, Mexicans, Indians, Pakistanis, Chinese, Russians etc... Everywhere!" he pointed out from his office windows, which had a nice paranomic view of the neighbourhood. "And you know, most of them can't even speak good English and for many, none at all!"

"If that Vietnamese can own a petrol station right across the street,"

he said. "what is the problem of S'poreans who had such a good headstart and strong foundation in terms of English education?"

He leant forward, pointing to his head slowly,"It's here! Creative and independent thinking!"

Sensing that the California sunshine had cleared the morning dense fog and the sun was once again embracing the land, we decided to take a walk outside.

"I practically live in this office," Nair laughed. I was then being told that he had devoted most of his time in his work and once he had holidays, he would fly back to S'pore to see his family and old friends.

"I don't understand those S'poreans here, why subject yourselves to being monitored by PAP by joining those S'porean clubs in USA," he remarked. "You can always spend US$600 to go home as & when you have time to eat your laksa and char kway teow," and he recalled an interesting encounter days ago on a heated exchange with the S'pore Consul General in San Francisco in one of those S'porean functions.

"Jai is a big disappointment," he shoke his head. "A shame for the PAP government to have such a representative in this land." Nair recalled how Jai-sohan, the Consul-General, took on him in a public debate because he raised an issue about overcoming that bad image of S'pore during the meeting.

According to Nair, Jai-sohan challenged him to talk about human rights issues of S'pore infront of many S'porean expatriates and Americans, probably thinking that Nair was just another overseas S'porean who cared nothing much about the political scene back home. That was a wrong move and as soon as Jai sensed his foolishness, he quickly wanted to call an end of the debate & even claimed that Dr Chee Soon Juan "deserved all these" because "he broke the law" by asking that kind of question during election. It was a clear indication of the presence of PAP affiliation with such sensitive topics being discussed in PAP lingo at such event.

Noting that many Spore government missions of "persuading overseas S'poreans to return home" had been closed down recently, Nair pointed out that Sporean folks who wanted to escape that political stiffening place would never want to be subjected to another PAP brainwashing or organisation again. "Having people like Jai-sohan to do MARKETING is certainly a big turn off for many."

As we walked, Nair recounted his happy days of being a Worker's Party's member and the days of having the company of his old comrades.

He never failed to express his outmost respect for JBJ and great respect for LTK at every chance.

"Ben is a gentleman," sighed Nair. "He played by the dirty rules set out by PAP and I'm sure history would be kind to him."

Asked about if he still kept in contact with the present WP's leadership, Nair shook his head. "Many of those old guards are no more there, many many unsung heores like that bike shop owner in Toa Payoh and those ex-Barisan guys. They put their hearts and souls for the country. I respect them."

As for other oppositions, Nair seemed not to have much knowledge excpet CSJ.

"I went to CSJ's court hearings, you know?" he clunched his fist while we were walking along the busy street. "It's a total sham. How can the judge do such things to a guy who is not trained in law at all?"

We came to a restaurant in a Mall and Nair was stopped by one of his clients whose kid had run into legal problem. I excused myself and saw from a distance his client's eyes filled with tears while he's holding Nair's hands.

"You see, it's all about long term relationship and trust," said Nair as we sat down in a restaurant. "People know you can do the job and what is more satisfying than helping others while earning a living of being a lawyer at the same time?"

We had a decent lunch and as we ate, Nair never stopped asking about the current political and social situation in S'pore. He had a strong interest of his motherland and he also shared with me his impression on S'pore from afar.

Asked about what he felt about the future of S'pore. "S'poreans are going to be extinct," he sighed. "Somewhat like some middle east countries where only 10% of the populations are locals while 90% are made up with foreigners who are there to make a living."

Unfortunately, not many S'poreans can live like those oil shieks in the middle east.

"If you are not connected," said Nair, "Don't expect to live like what a normal American does." Nair pointed out that despite all odds against new immigrants, USA still attracted all the talents in the world while not many real talents wanted to take root in S'pore. "If these foreign talents see how S'pore government treat their own citizens, would they want to subject themselves and their children to the same?"

Nair further illustrated that point on how his clients, who were immigrants, had no problem amassing US$1-2 million in their working lifetime and will eventually retire happily in Asia, while many of S'pore lawyer friends were still barely surviving under the PAP system.

At the end of the two-hour session, I was able to get an insight into the man's political reasoning behind some of the current issues and understanding his post election endeavours from a veteran's viewpoint, something which Shitty Times can never provide.

Nair had been in USA for over ten years now. He remained a cheerful person full of humour at mid-50s. But somehow the sadness of not being able to fight for the underdogs back at home and lines of weariness from years of hardwork were beginning to show in his face.

Does it also mean that fighting against PAP is a deadend unless one is willing to play some nice guy opposition character in local politics?

But the saddest part is that the whole political process has resulted many ordinary "unconnected" Singaporeans only making a decent living outside his motherland. No one should be deprived of chances to develop his fullest potential at own country. Not if the PM says that every Singaporean matters.