Singapore's Edward Snowden: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood Opens Up On His Harrowing Experience

After our latest article where The Unseen Singapore likened Mr Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood to be Singapore's version of Edward Snowden, the article was extremely well received by our online readers and readership has shot through the roof!

It was also a pleasant surprise when our friends at The Real Singapore informed us that Mohamed Jufrie had come out to give further clarity on what transpired. Unfortunately, Mr Jufrie may have misunderstood our intentions. Perhaps he thought we were painting him as an Opposition mole as he took a harsh tone against our writing and argued for his innocence. Jangan sensitive uncle!

On the contrary, Mr Jufrie's past actions showcased his valiant struggle for democracy and firm defiance against the lack of free speech in Singapore, both qualities befitting of whistleblowers like Edward Snowden and himself.

Also, since Mr Jufrie himself said that his previous employment with ISD was well-known within the opposition circles, he should have confidence that his friends would not see him with a different light. Evermore so when he is a seasoned opposition warhorse who after being removed from ISD/CID joined JBJ's Workers' Party and ran for three elections (1984, 1988, 1991) before eventually switching his allegiance to SDP in 1997.

Having clarified our position, it was heartening when Mr Jufrie mentioned that "many friends and party comrades were surprised to learn ... that he had at one time worked in ISD". It truly validated the existence of The Unseen Singapore where we bring out such little known facts into the public spotlight. Despite this little success, we at The Unseen Singapore will continue to unearth such little gems and we look forward to the continuous support from all Singaporeans.

Moving on to Mr Jufrie's revelations, we were genuinely appalled at the treatment he endured and we urge him to sue the Singapore government for this outrage. Mr Jufrie must have his reasons for taking a long 34 years before coming out into the open on these outrageous series of events but justice delayed is justice denied.

If Jufrie argued that he was wrongly jailed for speaking up against the government, coerced to lie under oath in court and was physically abused during his detention, then Jufrie should hire prominent human rights lawyer like M Ravi or Choo Zheng Xi to represent him and fight against his wrongful arrest and punishment.

Given M Ravi and Choo Zheng Xi's track record (SMRT bus drivers & Little India rioters) in taking up cases involving police brutality, they are best positioned to help Mohamed Jufrie in this legal endeavour.

There are however a few issues which may work against Mr Mohamed Jufrie if he were to sue the Singapore Government. Once these issues are comprehensively explained, Mr Mohamed Jufrie will have a rock solid case at undoing the injustice done to him 34 years ago.

In his FB post, Mr Jufrie admitted to phishing for information (detainee whereabouts) from his ISD colleagues after being approached by the relatives of ISD detainees. Depending on how the learned judge interprets or twists this, it could be easily perceived as spying and that could be problematic.

Next, Mr Mohamed Jufrie also mentioned that ISD found translated documents which he was not supposed to have under lock and key at his CID office. We are not certain of the exact terms and conditions of the Official Secrets Act, but having unauthorised documents under one's possession could be an another technicality used by the prosecutor to do him in. Perhaps Mr Jufrie should reveal the nature and ownership (CID or ISD) of these documents and debunk these baseless accusations of unauthorised document ownership against him.

The Unseen Singapore wishes Mr Jufrie good health and a better showing in the coming general elections. Hopefully, Mr Jufrie will finally get the justice that he so deserves!      

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The Unseen Singapore #17 Whistle Blower Series: Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood aka Singapore's Edward Snowden

On Christmas day, Edward Snowden the now infamous ex-NSA contractor came out of the shadows and declared "mission accomplish"!

Snowden claims to have leaked top NSA secrets so that the American people can have a say in how they are governed and is satisfied that the mission was already accomplished. His unprecedented leaks caused a diplomatic furor worldwide and led to numerous internal reforms within the NSA.

In his own words, "I am not trying to bring down the NSA, I am working to improve the NSA."

It got us at The Unseen Singapore curious since civil servants and national servicemen alike are bounded by the Official Secrets Act (OSA) and are required to guard our nations' secrets stridently. Do we have a Singaporean version of Edward Snowden in our short but yet colourful history?

After much research, the most prominent and apt case study was that of Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood the current Chairman of the Singapore Democratic Party (SDP).

SDP as Singaporeans know is the bastion of liberal democracy in Singapore and it was a startling revelation that its current Chairman was formerly from the infamous Internal Security Department (ISD).

However in 1979, Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood was charged under the the Official Secrets Act (OSA) for divulging ISD operational secrets. For his act, Mohamed Jufrie served 9 months jail and till today, nobody knows the contents supposedly divulged by Mohamed Jufrie Bin Mahmood.

Whether it was a trumped up charge to discredit Jufrie who was openly critical of the Singapore Government or a genuine mis-step by Mohamed Jufrie, it is refreshing to know that brave whistle blowers in the mould of Edward Snowden exists in Singapore.

Mohamed Jufrie may not have gained the public's adoration for his brave resistance against Singapore's Secret Police but he has definitely proven his mettle and is most definitely a man ahead of his time, in fact 34 years ahead of Edward Snowden.

The Unseen Singapore #16 PAP MP Series: Lee Kuan Yew - Internal Security Act

Singaporeans are familiar with the Internal Security Act, it is the law which gives the Government of the day broad powers to detain any individual without open trial. Essentially, if someone is deemed a security threat to the country, the government has the right to throw him in jail and lock him away indefinitely. These powers if left unchecked can lead to abuses and many are concerned with it being immorally used against the government's political opponents. 

These allegations of abuse were most evident in 1963 Operation Coldstore and 1987 Operation Spectrum when the ISA was invoked to arrest numerous individuals on grounds of Communism and Marxism. Ever since those controversial and highly debatable events, the ISA has been used in recent years against the Jemaah Islamiyah terrorist network in Singapore. 

Despite the perceived "legitimate" usage of the Internal Security Act against these terrorist elements, The  Unseen Singapore would like to re-emphasize the dangers of investing such unregulated powers into any authority. What better way to demonstrate this than to take point from Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew. 

Going back to 1959, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew's own words epitomized the very dangers of such abuse. In order to push for Singapore's merger into the Federation, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew brazenly threatened any journalists who wrote anything that could "sour up or strain relations between the Federation and Singapore". 

He proclaimed that any such journalist would "go in for subversion ... and will be taken in under the Preservation of Public Security Ordinance (Internal Security Act)" and that he would "put him in and keep him in"! In order to further his own political agenda, Lee Kuan Yew was willing to abuse the ISA and clamp down on the concept of the Free Press. 

Such is the dangers of the Internal Security Act and Singaporeans must understand its dangers and stand up for their own civil liberties. 

 

The Unseen Singapore #15 CSI Series: SPH Reporter Meredith Woo

On 26 November 2013, Asia One published a defamatory article alleging that NSP politician Nicole Seah uploaded a photo of herself with a man believed to be married.

http://www.theonlinecitizen.com/2013/11/hatchet-job-by-msm-on-nicole-seah/

This turned out to be untruths spread by MSM reporter Meredith Woo whose email is stated as dithwoo@sph.com.sg.

Up till now, Meredith Woo has not apologised personally but chose to hide behind the safe walls of SPH. Instead, it was Asia One Editor Adrian Tay who apologised on her behalf.

http://news.asiaone.com/news/singapore/asiaone-apologises-nicole-seah

As a journalist, one is expected to uphold journalistic integrity and accountability. Hence, it is a shame that Meredith has chosen to keep mum till this day.

We at The Unseen Singapore did some research and came across some interesting artifacts which may interest the public. 

Hopefully these put a face to the faceless reporter who slandered Ms Nicole Seah.

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The Unseen Singapore #14 PAP MP Series: Highest Paid Politicians In The World

Singapore politicians are the highest paid in the world! Sounds familiar doesn't it? Is this yet another rant about the PAP government justifying their million dollar salaries?

http://sg.news.yahoo.com/7-highest-paid-political-leaders-160000024.html

In the minds of Singaporeans, there is one common perception about the PAP old guard. The founders of the PAP were portrayed as men of conviction who cared for the common folk. They were thrifty and survived on a modest salary. They slogged their guts out for the sake of this little red dot. But based on our research findings, there may have been an anomaly to this long held truth.

Do you know that Mr Ong Eng Guan, one of the pioneer members of the People's Action Party received a $7,000 monthly salary for his position as Mayor of the Singapore City Council from 1957- 1958? This salary made him the highest paid mayor in the world!

After factoring the total annual inflation, $7,000 in 1958 is a whopping $56,591 in present terms. This amounts to an annual salary of $680,000! However, this still dwarfs in comparison to PM Lee Hsien Loong's current $2.2 million salary!

As we can see, the act of paying politicians an exorbitant salary did not start from contemporary PAP but started since the genesis of the PAP.

The justifications for such obscene salaries may be different but the fact remains, PAP politicians still hold the record for having the highest paid politicians in the world both in the past and at present!

What are your thoughts on this? Share it with us!

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The Unseen Singapore #13 Political Series: PM Lee Milking Political Mileage Out of "The Messiah"

On 11 November 2013, prominent alternative news website The Online Citizen broke the news that one James Raj Arokiasamy has been charged under the Computer Misuse and Cybersecurity Act for carrying out suspected hack attacks from a unit in Dorchester Apartment at Jalan Sri Hartamas in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.  

After the arrest was let out of the bag by lawyer M Ravi, sceptical online netizens went into overdrive with many claiming that James Raj was simply a scapegoat for the PAP government. Furthermore, with the inaccessibility of the Straits Times website on the morning of 12 November 2013, it further fed the conspiracy theory that the real "Messiah" was still out there. On the other side of the spectrum, government supporters were quick to wax lyrical on the decisive action taken by the government against such cyber threats.  

However sexy this conspiracy theory sounds, there is unfortunately no credible proof to prove its validity. If this conspiracy was true, it would require the buy in of the Malaysian authorities and that in itself is a bit of a stretch given the at times acrimonious bilateral relationship. Instead, The Unseen Singapore would like to draw your attention to something more interesting. An insight into the psyche of the current political leadership and how they manipulate such events to their advantage.

According to newspaper reports, Mr James Raj Arokiasamy was arrested in KL on 4 November 2013 with the help of the Malaysian police. At that point, the Singapore public was unaware of the identity and the arrest of "The Messiah". After keeping mum throughout the spate of hacking incidents, PM Lee finally broke silence on 6 November 2013 proclaiming that "it's not just anything goes, and you're anonymous, therefore there's no responsibility. You may think you are anonymous. We will make that extra effort to find out who you are".

Publically, this 6 November statement was a taunt to Anonymous but on hindsight, it was PM Lee's calculated move at milking maximum political mileage out of this hacking incident. Knowing full well that the suspect had already been arrested on the 4th, the Prime Minister put out the taunt to play up the gravity of the situation so as to emerge the hero when the "crisis" was resolved down the road.

Little did PM Lee know that his taunt would be replied in force with the subsequent hacks into the PMO and Istana website, resulting in a major slap in the face for himself and the government. This incident clearly demonstrates the current government's wanton lush for short term gains  (milking political mileage out of the hacking incident) than to consider the broader security implications for Singapore and Singaporeans.

In spite of this orchestrated PR exercise that backfired spectacularly, we would like to salute the men and women in the civil service who worked tirelessly to bring the ones responsible for the spate of hacking incidents to justice.  Bear in mind that with or without the PAP, the civil service will continue running like a well oiled machine. 

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The Unseen Singapore #12 Conspiracy Series: November 5th Anonymous DDOS Action?

According to Digital Attack Map, Singapore was electronically attacked for 10 puny minutes this afternoon. 

Anonymous can you please get your act together? Or is my conspiracy theory of this entire show being a governmental plot true?

*Grabs Popcorn* Stay tuned for more updates!